I tried to PM this lot to you but it was too long, then the PM message system seemed to break...
You should have got the first part, but here is the rest:
4400 under XP is certainly low, I would expect pretty much what you were getting under ME. If your motherboard is a VIA chipset one the I would recommend installing the VIA 4in1 drivers - go here:
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2
I'm using the 4.43v drivers, but you can try the Hyperion 4.45's (i've not upgraded as nothing is wrong on my system)
Do a reeboot and a re-test and see if that helps....
As regards going back to previous driver versions:
First off always try and get the drivers in .exe format (my personal opinion) as this means you can run the install directly, rather than getting Windows to search (and then often it installs the drivers IT thinks is best, rather than the ones you actually want). more......
To uninstall current drivers, start by uninstalling them from Add/Remove programs, then doing a reboot - they should then go back to the standard XP display drivers - at this point you should be able to install the new ones. You can go through and manually delete any files left over after the uninstall, but personally I don't think it is necessary, as I've never had any problems...
As regards configuring XP - there are lots of things in XP that are not in ME which can severly degrade performance:
- Try diasbling auto updating - (just do it manually)
- Turn of power management etc...
- Turn off any disk maintenence utilities you may have running
- Firewalls and virus checkers can slow down 3DMARK (although my score was with them left running).
- Check that you have AGP 2x (or 4x if your MB supports it) enabled - you can check this in the driver tab for you video card by right clicking on the desktop, selecting properties.......settings....advanced......
You may also have the issue where XP sometimes thrashes the HDD for no apparent reason (it does it on my system sometimes) - if this happens when 3D Mark is running then it WILL cripple you score....run it 3-4 times and take an average......also make sure that you have put on SP1 and all the critical updates......
Most importantly check your performance in games etc, and compare that with what were getting under ME - if the frame rate is the same, then why worry if your 3DMark score is low?
Let me know if any of this helps.
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