|
|
|
Mother Technology hates me. But that's okay.. this is not.
|
|
|
baabaa
AfterDawn Addict
|
28. March 2005 @ 10:43 |
Link to this message
|
The 3200 under default should be running at 2Ghz according to AMD specs, have you overclocked this at all?
If you haven't played around with the BIOS at all, then I can't see there really being an issue in there, as default values would be loaded so most things should be ok.
Maybe worthwhile just emptying the BIOS and starting from scratch and clearing out any altered/screwed settings.
The only thing that maybe apparent is AGP aperature (within the BIOS)
The BIOS information should be contained within the motherboard manual along with all the individual settings and explanations.
It may however just be down to your motherboard not being able to fully support the full function of the video card.
Maybe worthwhile emailing ATI and see what they think - they will of course blame the cpu/operating system/motherboard etc etc and not their card.
Explain the problem (in detail), I would have thought they would have references for optimum settings to improve the performance - there may just be a setting within the software you have overlooked.
Have you got the latest Direct X installed?
It just occured to me actually, is all that you have installed are the drivers for the card, I ask because you state in your first post that:
Quote:
ATI OEM X800 Pro
Was this just OEM without any software etc?
Have you read reviews around for your card, I have found some and they paint pretty much the same picture:
http://www.activewin.com/reviews/hardware/graphicscards/ati_x800_pro/index.shtml
...............PIO is no go, DMA all the way...............
Beware of the Pixies - they move in over night and turn your life upside down
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 28. March 2005 @ 11:05
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
28. March 2005 @ 17:48 |
Link to this message
|
It was OEM with all the software included. I got it within the first 2 weeks it came out.
My AGP Apeture size is set at 64MB, according to most articles it is the optimum setting for ATi cards with 256 MB RAM.
Quote:
The 3200 under default should be running at 2Ghz according to AMD specs, have you overclocked this at all?
Y'see this is the thing, I got the Athlon 64 when it was first released and I'm absolutely positive that my CPU is the 754 socket one. Have you heard anything negative about having a 754 socket?
I haven't overclocked the processor at all.. however I'm not sure if the shop I ordered it from has.
I already sent 2 emails to ATi but they didn't reply, so I think I'll send another one at the end of the week... customer service probably fell asleep or something.
I play my games at 1024 with 2AA and 2AF, so I SHOULD be getting around 80fps if not a LOT more lol. Those framerates (in your link) seem awfully low compared to other review sites such as Tom's Hardware Guide...
Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
 |
|
baabaa
AfterDawn Addict
|
28. March 2005 @ 20:02 |
Link to this message
|
I am not a gamer so 'all the little tweaks and stuff' I am not familiar with but what we need to discover is whether a hardware issue is causing your problem or in fact 'a tweak' in the software or via some sort of 'mod' to the card itself.
Just one question, if you didn't have any reference to others obtaining a high fps, does the card actually perform ok whilst playing games or do you actually have problems regarding refreshing/blockiness etc etc?
...............PIO is no go, DMA all the way...............
Beware of the Pixies - they move in over night and turn your life upside down
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
29. March 2005 @ 10:50 |
Link to this message
|
The card does everything it should apart from the frame rate. So for example Far Cry looks as good as it does in the screenshots, and so does Doom 3 etc.
However the thing is I've never really noticed this problem because the card performs so well over games such as Far Cry (100+ fps, eyes can only tell past 85+)
However once I got CS: Source the problem became apparent and I was appalled at the low frames I got.
This article is a little old but:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040504/index.html
Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
|
|
baabaa
AfterDawn Addict
|
29. March 2005 @ 20:00 |
Link to this message
|
|
I think you could do with setting the AGP aperature to 256Mb in your BIOS, this may bring things up abit.
...............PIO is no go, DMA all the way...............
Beware of the Pixies - they move in over night and turn your life upside down
|
|
joniliff
Junior Member
|
2. April 2005 @ 00:46 |
Link to this message
|
|
I'm sure you've already checked, but let's start at the beginning! "Always check to see if it's plugged in first!" What do you have in your startup menu? All of this sounds to me like you have things running that are interferring with max performance. You can clear almost ALL of the junk in the startup...and do you/have you run Ad-Aware (free) and SpyBot S&d (free). Any programs running in the background?
John
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
2. April 2005 @ 09:28 |
Link to this message
|
Woops baabaa, didn't see your reply there lol, will try it very soon and see if that fixes my problems.
John: I scan weekly with Ad-aware and Spybot SD and I haven't gotten any real adware detected, I'm quite paranoid when it comes to spyware. =D
About the plugging in. This is a slight problem I don't think I've mentioned. At the back where you're supposed to plug in the monitor cable to the X800, it doesn't quite go all the way in.
What I mean is that the plug is slightly lopsided and so while my monitor runs perfectly, I can't screw in both the screws. Whether this is causing the problem or not, I don't know.
Not much programs running in the background and I'm sure none of them is causing the fps problem. I have the usual NA, mIRC, MSN and Word.
Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
9. June 2005 @ 14:03 |
Link to this message
|
|
I know this is a long time coming but... I've been quite busy during the last few months and also quite lazy.
I switched to 256 MB, it made a bit of difference. Not much. Thing is, I've been lazy to the point that I haven't updated my drivers yet. So I will do so and update you all if there is any improvement. If not... just gotta keep pushing. =P
|
|
baabaa
AfterDawn Addict
|
9. June 2005 @ 22:53 |
Link to this message
|
|
Don't let it beat you, thats what Mrs PC is after, don't give in, she'll roll over for you in the end, they always do...............
...............PIO is no go, DMA all the way...............
Beware of the Pixies - they move in over night and turn your life upside down
|
|
Omega575
Newbie
|
21. June 2005 @ 10:40 |
Link to this message
|
|
Hey, Toiletman I have the same goddamn problem you have. I have tried: getting new hardware such as a new motherboard, a new processor,new ram etc. I have tried getting new drivers for catalyst..... no good. My only explanation now is that the x800 pro just and it's drivers just dont like Half life 2 or CS:Source for some reason. But I have gone to a last resort, im going to send ATI an email explaining what my problem is.
Even though I had gotten basically a new goddman computer, I cant seem to get rid of this problem...sigh. If anyone has a solution please email me at skykuhlman@yahoo.com or reply on the message board. Well i can just say it cant be the: motherboard, processor, ram or the power supply. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!When someone spends over 1k on computer upgrades and the problem still stands something is just not right!!! Thank you very much and I hope me and Toiletman get a solution!
|
|
ddp
Moderator
|
21. June 2005 @ 11:33 |
Link to this message
|
|
Omega575, edit out your email address as per forum rules above besides getting spammed.
|
|
veredes
Junior Member
|
21. June 2005 @ 12:32 |
Link to this message
|
|
Do you have AA or AF turned on in your driver settings?
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
22. June 2005 @ 10:08 |
Link to this message
|
|
No, I haven't, I've turned them to application preference. I still haven't gotten around to downloading new drivers, pretty busy week being the end of the term and all.
Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
3. July 2005 @ 10:44 |
Link to this message
|
I've turned Vsync all the way to Always Off, just to let you know. Finally got my lazyarse to do a clean install of the new drivers, and it HAS improved. I now get 50+ fps in all gunfights. However, I'm still below the "normal" fps. =(
Lately, I've been noticing that after a few days of leaving my computer on, my sound card screws up and starts playing static till I reboot. It only happens after maybe a few hours or so, and I click on something that produces a sound. Could this have ANY relation to my graphics card problem? Maybe it's because I keep switching between Headphones and speakers.
Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
24. August 2005 @ 20:03 |
Link to this message
|
|
Back from vacation! Lots of fun.
I have a couple questions:
1. Is my 350W PSU enough to power my X800?
2. Could my soundcard have anything to do with this problem of mine?
Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
|
|
ddp
Moderator
|
24. August 2005 @ 20:10 |
Link to this message
|
|
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
25. August 2005 @ 06:22 |
Link to this message
|
|
Thanks for the link, my PSU (350W) is well above the necessary power to run my machine.
Now for my second question, some more information:
My soundcard is a Realtek AC97 Audio.
Thankyou for your time,
Toiletman. =D
P.S. I am going to try and find some updated drivers for this thing.
Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 25. August 2005 @ 06:39
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
25. August 2005 @ 06:40 |
Link to this message
|
There also seems to be a physical installation error, and I've used my wonderful Picasso Paint skills to show and enlighten your mind:
Could this be the real problem?
|
|
ddp
Moderator
|
25. August 2005 @ 07:32 |
Link to this message
|
|
possiblity if i'm reading the picture right, the black line is the bracket & the red line is the vga port, correct?? how is the bracket attached ty the card as the 2 socket screws on either side of the vga connector can be loosened to be re-adjusted to be square with the connector.
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
25. August 2005 @ 10:19 |
Link to this message
|
|
Well the picture is overly exaggerated, it's just that the VGA Port is SLIGHTLY slanted, so I don't know whether that could be a problem or not.
Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
|
|
kaniis
Newbie
|
25. August 2005 @ 11:05 |
Link to this message
|
Uh, that power tool is horribly bogus. Anyone who knows computers should realize that the rating on a given PSU means absolutely nothing. The rated "wattage" is just what the PSU is technically capable of when under a "THEORETICAL" 100% load on every volt rail. In reality, however, such a load never comes up unless you intentionally cross every rail to ground with the apropriate resistors.
More important than what the company claims of their unit's wattage is the current allocated to each volt rail, and the brand name of the PSU. I deal exclusively with PC-P&C (PC Power & Cooling, for all you nubs out there), and have never recieved a single DoA from them, nor have I ever had a single problem yet. I've already lost count of how many other brand of PSUs I've replaced: Antec, Aspire, Enermax, and countless generics (Allied Tech, Deer, etc). For my tastes, even IF they're sufficiently rated for your system the voltages tend to vary too much for safe, prolonged operation under load (I.E. gaming)
Also, an off-center VGA port isn't really a bad thing by itself, but you want to make sure that the card is indeed properly mounted to the mobo. Is it pushed in completely? If the mobo has a clip that holds the AGP in place, is that tight? And what of the holding screw that keeps the card in line? Under most circumstances, a droopy card isn't anything to be worried about, but when you're dealing with a piece of a computer that costs almost as much as an overpriced Dell Trash-tination XPS, you can never be too careful. Warrantee doesn't cover damage due to incorrect installation.
To help clear your computer from crap that doesn't need to be running in the first place, head on over to the following URL and read their downloadable guide on this matter:
http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html
After that, make sure you keep up-to-date with your Antivirus program (I personally suggest the use of Avast! Antivirus: Free for home use), keep up with Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D (both are freeware also), and you should be fine on the OS side of things. Run 3DMark03 or 05 edition and compare your scores to those of other people who have similar systems. If your results are still unsatisfactory, the drivers may be the issue.
As for the drivers, make sure you have updated AGP/IDE/Chipset drivers from your motherboard manufacturer (assuming your system isn't an OEM - Dell, HP, or other trashy brands), and it is especially important to keep updated with Windows Update (assuming you use Windows as your primary OS). Next step is to download updated drivers for your other devices from the manufacturers' websites, and to do clean uninstalls for each device you're updating. I can't emphasize the importance of this enough. I've fixed countless "IRQ_NOT_LESS...." stop errors by simply doing a clean uninstallation/reinstallation of the display and sound drivers. As for exact instructions, you should be able to pull those up from the manufacturers' websites. For VidCards, it really is a good idea to also download a driver-cleaner of some sort to aid in the clean removal of all associated files prior to the reinstallation. They're free, and can save you a HUGE number of painful headaches. Also, make SURE your 3D preferences in the control panel are all set to "Application Preference" where applicable. If you run 3DMark05 with them set to "Always On" in the control panel, your bench score will greatly decline (since your drivers are forcing those options to be used instead of the benchmark, so it won't be calculated into your final score). Same thing can be said for games, too. In general, you want to have the game determine what's used and what isn't (but if you have an LCD monitor with a super-fast response time *like me!*, you may want to set the v-sync to "Always On" simply because it will result in no tearing during high-movement sections - but it can cause a minor delay between movement and response if your computer can't handle it).
With all that said, you should now be in good order. If not, the problem is no longer software-related, and we must then travel into the vast realm of hardware issue troubleshooting. Time to get your multimeter (or borrow from a friend if you don't have one) and report back here if you still seem to be getting lower results than you should.
|
|
Toiletman
Senior Member
|
28. August 2005 @ 10:51 |
Link to this message
|
|
Well I did a clean reinstall of the latest drivers, and while I uninstalled my "test game" (Which was the F.E.A.R. demo by the way, lots of people seem to have problems with it, otherwise a stunning demo), I have been playing all the great new releases out without a hiccup.
However, these great new releases are nowhere near as graphically intensive nor splendorous as F.E.A.R., so we'll see if I still have my problem.
Meanwhile, I'm going to try and correct the slanted X800 port. Right now the games I'm talking about are: Dungeon Siege II, Fable: The Lost Chapters, Advent Rising.
Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
|
|
ddp
Moderator
|
28. August 2005 @ 12:02 |
Link to this message
|
|
any updated drivers get from the chipset manufacturer whether motherboard, modem or whatever as the motherboard manufacturer doesn't always post the latest drivers. i've seen drivers at board sites over 2 years out of date compared to chipset manufacturer site.
|
|
jonni3
Suspended due to non-functional email address
|
28. August 2005 @ 13:16 |
Link to this message
|
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
ddp
Moderator
|
28. August 2005 @ 13:38 |
Link to this message
|
|
|
|
