Low 3dmark Score?

Ok iam at work so forgive me if i dont provide all of the info need.
OK i just built a New pc ( see sig ) and i ran 3dmark01 and i only got a 5600 or so i know my Oh so Powerful (joke) MSi FX5200 is my bottle neck but damn i didnt think it would be that low i expected about 8000 area. Do you guys think my score is on par or do you think its tad bit Low aswell? my 2500+ is o/c to 2200mhz right now i have 512megs of ram ( 8-3-3-2.5 ) i have all the newest drivers. Resolution is set to 1024x768 (default).
Iam just asking if you need more info ill try to provide it from what i can remeber.

Dont know if its a low score but i can tell u how to score more points...

When getting 2200mhz look for the lowest multi x highest fsb e.g. 10x220 is better than 12x200 (quite significantly) on 3d mark.

After you got ur highest stable fsb, set fsb/dram divider to 6/6 then lower ur ram timings till u find the lowest stable.

Turn cpu thermal throttling off, agp spread spectrum off, cpu spread spectrum off, pci enhanced on.

Should score you a fair amount more points into the 6k's probably.

Ill let someone else comment on the card cause i dont know anything nvidia after the gf2 :P

now iam wondering if i should get a 9600pro or a ti4200 i know this question has been beaten to death but its getting harder to decide with the price gap getting smaller.. even the 9800se is within reach.

iam cant find were to set the fsb/dram divider =/

tbh that score is pretty shocking, tho the fx5200 are naff cards :). i scored 6k with an athlon 1600+ and a geforce4mx440, but its still low... I guess you could try overclocking the card some - using something like RivaTuner should work ok.

i would say the 9600pro, or grab the 9700pro in bargain hunt for £130+VAT :) bargain if ever i saw one..

mark

:( Score's bang on where it should be, because the gfx card is so slow you could have the CPU running 1.4ghz (if not lower) and still get an almost identical score. FX5200 aren't that bad when you consider you get DX8 and DX9 which the GF4MX never had and at least perf of the entry level is now at similar levels as a GF3TI200 from some years ago. For gaming the gfx card is easily the most vital component, skimping there is not good at all.

;) Easy to remedy though and you'll find a big boost by upgrading to either the GF4TI4200 or Rad9600PRO which are both fine choices. Unless the 4200 is decently cheaper definitely get the 9600PRO. If you can find a good deal on the Rad9500PRO, Rad9600XT or Rad9700 then they're all decently faster still.

dont worry about benchmarks, are you getting enough fps when you're gaming?

Personally I would NOT get a 5200 for anyone.

My choices for price brackets are....
low budget.... 64MB ti4200 @ $80-90 (lowest I would go for anyone who games at all!)
mid range.... 5900 (non ultra) @ $220-230 (what I got recently)
high end.... 9800Pro or 9800XT @ $300-500 (for the rich)

p.s. who cares about features (dx9 or 128MB on a 5200, etc) if you can only use them at slideshow like fps.

my 3dmark2001 score = 18,633 pts

thanks for the input i was wondering if i was just expecting more from it.. i get good fps in all the games i play but i plan on upgrading to a 9600pro or 9700pro if i can get one at a good price... 9600pro are starting to drop to around 130USD ti4200 still a little more... thanks guys!

the 9700pro has a massive performance increase over the 9600pro so dont be scared to make the leap money wise.