Geforce 6800 - Unlocking questions

[astrophysics]

I just bought a Evga Geforce plain/non-ultra.

I downloaded latest nvidia drivers/rivatuner and free/trial version of 3dmarks2005.

Now my system specs are...
P4 1.8GHz (Willamette) / OCZ 512MB PC2700 (value seris ram)
seagate 7200RPM / 8MB HD

I unlocked the extra shader on the card making it 12x6 and I ran a test and scored a bit under 2900. Pretty low since other tests I seen these cards scored around above 3000 and around 3500.
So I figured it has to be this CPU.

I overclock the CPU to 2.0Ghz and ran the test again and my score now scored just a bit under 3100.

Now I'm pretty sure of myself that it's the CPU... So I go unlock the extra pipelines making it 16x6 on the card and ran another test and this time I scored a bit under 2800!

Now I'm sure the free version of 3dmarks2005 doesn't let me choose which tests and what I want to test so I wasn't able to select intense benchmarking tense to make use of the extra pipelines but why! did my score drop 100 points?!

Also for those who say their cards artifact when they unlock everything, what exactly do you mean by artifacts? I get black/white speckles(tiny dots) that pop up randomly. However I can unlock the extra shader and not unlock the extra pixels (12x6) and have a clean image... Is this how everyone else is since I am considering returning this card...

 

[mb]

Sounds like you got a card that isn't fully unlockable. Mine unlocked fine 16x6vp. At stock speeds I got 3927 in 3dmark05, and 4580 at 385/820.

 

[blckgrffn]

You are so bottleknecked by your CPU it isn't even funny! Please do us all a favor and at least upgrade to a P4 C Northwood or and A64... please!

Seriously, I have been in the same place as you. When I got my 6800, I was upgrading from a 9800 Pro. My 3dMark2001SE score went down, though! I was so CPU bottlenecked that it must have been drivers using more CPU or something and my score suffered, even while my 2003 and 2005 scores shot up.

Again, spend about $150 or so on the forums and pick up a new mobo and processor, and probably another 512 or ram for $35 while you are at it. Those intels love dual channel

Nat

 

[2Xtreme21]

Astrophysics, yes, that is artifacting. Please do not return your card if the pipelines don't unlock, as it's a gamble... not every one is subject to be unlocked. At least you got your shader open, though, which does yield a performance boost.

But yeah, new CPU.