lost 1000 pts at 3dmark 2001 : HELP

[galador]

This is what I have;
Northwood 1.8ghz p4 SL66Q Costa Rica
ATI Radeon 9600 PRO
ASUS p4pe-x MB bios version 1004
Antec power supply= 400 watt smart power
120mm Zalman cpu fan CNPS7000A (HUGE)
Maxtor 80gb hard drive (1) 256 mb Infenion pc 2300 ( yes, that is what cpu-z says, 2300)
(1) 128 mb Samsung pc2100
Temps are as of PC Probe;
CPU = 33 C
MB = 23 C
My system is overclocked to 2377 mhz ( FSB=132)
cpu voltage is auto set at 1.58 volts
everything else is at default setting

My problem is that a couple days ago I set it at FSB 133, windows booted fine, ran 3dmark 2001 which was 10,237. 10 minutes after benchmark my pc probe alarm sounds and it showed cpu fan speed =0 and case fans speed =0 while I could still hear them running. I shut the computer down and rebooted at 132 FSB.
Since then my 3DMark 2001 benchmarks have been 9,227 or a little less.I am a newbe at o/c but I studied alot on the subject.
I have run SisSoftware Sandra for 2 hours without a single problem. At peak testing my CPU temp never went above 46 C.
Everything is running great but what happened to my 1,000 pts on 3DMark 2001?
Any help will be highly appreciated.
Galador

 

[larva]

You need to verify the memory operating speed at both 132 and 133 fsb with cpu-Z. Aditionally you need to disable the alarms, set it to 133, and re-run the test at 133 to see if the 1000 points really comes back. Don't be afraid to increase cpu and/or memory voltage to achieve stability as clock rate rises, it's almost always necessary.

 

[galador]

I checked both FSB 132 and FSB 133 on CPU-Z and this is what I got;
when set to 132: frequency= 132.2, Bus Speed= 528.7, core speed= 2379.4
when set to 133: frequency= 133.6, Bus speed= 534.6, core speed= 2415.5
I was going to up the memory voltage but I was not able to find it on the bios.
Should I try to flash the Bios to version 1006?
I am going to get some better momory soon, would Corsair xms pc2700 seem like a good choise? I am open to suggestions.

Larva: It did not help any (3dMark 2001 result= 9,237pts), but I do appreciate your help. God knows I need it."LOL". If you have any Ideas I will be happy to try it out.

 

[larva]

What I was referring to was the memory operating frequency that results from 132 and 133 fsb. But if you put it back up to 133 and the score didn't increase than there isn't any point to looking at what changes with the fsb, as it appears the variability you saw in scores wasn't a result of the change in fsb.

You may need to consider re-installing windows, and I would update the bios as well as be sure update and patch all aspects of the new windows install and use appropriate device drivers. There are too many variables in you present situation to see the forest for the trees, I would recommend taking software out of the equation as possible cause by re-installing everything.

 

[galador]

Thank you again Larva. "SIGH" reinstalling Windows. That will not be fun. But if I have to I will. First I will try and update the Bios before I go to that.

 

[galador]

To all whom may find that they have a drop in 3DMark scores all of a sudden the culprit could be your display driver or your control panel ( I am using ATI ). I had lost 1000pts on 3DMark 2001se. I tried all sorts of stuff (memory, etc), I wanted to try anything but reinstall my Windows XP. The new ATI Catalyst just came out and lo-and-behold I just scored 10,997 pts on 3DMark 2001. It may not be the answer to your dilema but it is another option to try.
I am hoping this post will help somebody else .