Quick benchmarking question

I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to upgrading computers and I have a quick question. I recently installed a new graphics card and I've benchmarked it using 3D Mark 2001 SE but the score seems slightly low. I'm using an ASUS P4S533-E mb with a 2.53ghz P4, 512kb memory, 120gb hd and the new card is a Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9800 pro (128kb) using the latest 4.3 catalyst drivers. Using 3D Mark 2001 I've got a score of just over 13,500 but looking at some of the tests run on this site, similar cards are scoring 18,000+. The biggest difference that I can see is my CPU is not as fast as those used in the tests so is it purely the processor that's bringing down the score or am I missing something? If any one could offer some advice it would be appreciated :)

try defraging and turning unwanted stuff off.. also go to the advanced options in the properties window, and change the direct 3d settings to 'High Performance' also i think the catalyst are now 4.4. i think...

Thanks, I'll give that a go.

If you want abosolute speed, nothing beats a reformat and reinstall of Windows. Except for a new Athlon 64 and an X800XT.

With regards to the low 3DMark score, don't forget that some people are using much faster CPUs, which makes a fair bit of difference in 3DMark2001, and that a lot of them are overclocked.

Thanks Mike, I thought it might have been the CPU that was bringing the score down. I can see another evening with flipcharts, graphs and a powerpoint presentation, where I put forward the hypothesis that the purchase of more computer components is the basis of a happy marriage, is on the horizon. :D

I'd also pop over to www.theeldergeek.com and check on that website as to what services and hidden running stuff such as that crappy netsend would be running on a normal install and they also have a list of which ones you can turn off to get that extra few points out of your system.