Dear Mad Mod Mike,

I have a few questions for you, if you please. I own a kick-ass NVIDIA SLI system: 2 GeForce 7800 GTX's, an AMD FX-55 CPU, 2 Raptors (RAID 0), 2 GB Corsair Twin-X DDR-550, NVIDIA SLI Motherboard, PC Power & Cooling 510 Watt SLI power supply, and so on and so on.....you get the idea.

My question is about why my 3DMARK05 score is so low. I have ALL the best components! My score is a bit below 11,000. I'm seeing scores like 15,000 to 16,000.......How do these guys get scores like this?

Thanks!!!!

That's a pretty sweet system you have there, but it looks like you skimped on the RAM - I KNOW you could've fit two more GB in there somehow…(I'm kidding of course - 2 GB of RAM is any gamer's dream!).

You pose a very valid question, and I've heard lots of enthusiasts ask the same thing, after pouring lots of time and money into creating a PC as powerful as yours. First, let's get this straight - your PC kicks ass and benchmark scores like yours are absolutely nothing to sneeze at. A score of around 11k in 3DMark05 is standard for your setup (I am assuming, of course, that you've installed all of your components at their stock clock speeds and settings).

So how do these guys do it? How do other PCs break the 15,000 barrier in 3DMark05, like you're seeing in Futuremark's "Hall of Fame?" It's simple - they are exploiting the full potential of their hardware (most notably their GPUs & CPU) by overclocking.

Overclocking is like supercharging your PC's hardware components (GPU, CPU and RAM). It pushes the hardware beyond its "stock" core and memory clock settings, eking out additional performance gains. But, like slapping a blower on your stock BMW, overclocking does void your warranty, and typically will reduce the life of you components, so you're doing so at your own risk.

As you may or may not know, silicon's enemy is heat; the cooler you can keep a chip, the faster you can make it go, without losing stability. The guys who are putting up the big numbers in benchmarks (like in the Futuremark's Hall of Fame) are most likely using [ridiculously innovative and effective!] methods to cool their GPUs and CPUs, allowing them to manually increase the clock speeds and gain more performance.

The most popular method used to achieve these unnatural levels of coolness is through watercooling, which uses a radiator, coolant, and pump system, much like that in a car. Other more determined overclockers use extreme cooling methods, like phase-change and liquid nitrogen. These more extreme methods don't usually provide for a convenient PC setup and are almost always dedicated to benchmark shattering, rather than everyday gaming.

If you decide to take your 3D performance up a notch or two, you'll want to start in small increments, watching your GPU temperatures closely to ensure that things don't get too hot. There are many easy to use utilities out there, such as Coolbits, for overclocking your GPUs.

But remember - while overclocking gets you better performance without spending additional dollars, you're risking doing permanent, irreversible damage to your GPU - if you can't stomach that, it's best you stick to your stock settings.

Just an FYI - some NVIDIA partners such as BFG actually overclock their graphics cards out of the box and attach a full warranty - this is a good way to experience the "OC" without the risk of frying your hardware.

-MMM

PS - I've received a ton of questions over the past couple weeks, and as a result, have asked the folks at NVIDIA to update their FAQ sections, as many of these questions have short, easy answers. Check out the most recent additions to the SLI FAQ page - each one links to the updated FAQ section, with its respective answer.

And always remember to check the FAQs before you 'Ask Mad Mod Mike' - the answer to your question might already be right in front of you!

Do you have dedicated hardware for NVIDIA SLI or is it just software?

What applications are supported with SLI Technology?

Which driver should I use?

How many monitors are supported with SLI in Multi-GPU mode?

How do I switch from using two or more monitors in 2D/Single GPU mode to 1 monitor in SLI mode?

What are the green lines that appear on my screen when in SLI Mode?

Can I mix and match graphics cards?

Do graphics cards that have 2 GeForce GPUs on one card use SLI Technology?

Can you use more than two graphics cards with SLI?

NVIDIA makes no warranties with respect to the information provided through the "Ask Mad Mod Mike" column and in no event shall NVIDIA be responsible for any damages arising out of your use of such information. Mad Mod Mike image © 2005 NVIDIA Corporation.