Help: Not getting the FPS I should be from my 9800 Pro

TheShaft · Nov 19, 2004, 03:16 PM

Through much frustration, I finally received my 9800 Pro 128MB. I was really excited.

I plug it in, boot it up, load the 4.12 beta drivers, woot, ready to rock.

HL2 looks amazing. Absolutly beatufiul. But at 30FPS at 1024x768. wtf.

System specs:
Athlon 2100XP
512 MB of PC2100
IDE hard drives
Brand new 9800 Pro 128MB (with the 256-bit memory bus)

This may be the problem: the ATI driver software says the card can be set to AGP 1x, 2x, 3x or 4x, but it says its "off" and greyed out.

In my BIOS, AGP is set to 4x (higheset setting) and aperture is 128MB.

help help! I need better FPS (and I KNOW this card can do better!)

The_Neon_Cowboy · Nov 19, 2004, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheShaft

Through much frustration, I finally received my 9800 Pro 128MB. I was really excited.

I plug it in, boot it up, load the 4.12 beta drivers, woot, ready to rock.

HL2 looks amazing. Absolutly beatufiul. But at 30FPS at 1024x768. wtf.

System specs:
Athlon 2100XP
512 MB of PC2100
IDE hard drives
Brand new 9800 Pro 128MB (with the 256-bit memory bus)

This may be the problem: the ATI driver software says the card can be set to AGP 1x, 2x, 3x or 4x, but it says its "off" and greyed out.

In my BIOS, AGP is set to 4x (higheset setting) and aperture is 128MB.

help help! I need better FPS (and I KNOW this card can do better!)

try reinstalling your chipset drivers

well your system is defanately holding you way back.....
a new CPU, MOBO, RAM, HDD would work wonders

MythicaL · Nov 19, 2004, 03:29 PM

Notice the 4x AGP bus. That means you're only getting half of the card's bandwidth, meaning your system isn't up for it. Maybe it is though, judging by your specs. Could be just a chipset driver problem or something other.

TheShaft · Nov 19, 2004, 04:38 PM

Chipset drivers. That could be it. I just formatted before I upgraded to the ATI and I hav en't installed my chipset drivers. They're just packaged win2k drivers right now. I'll have to try that.

If it doesnt help, and I were to upgrade my PC, would a faster CPU or faster/more memory be better? (If I upgrade, I'll do a MB with 8x AGP and either a faster CPU or more/faster memory)

inet · Nov 20, 2004, 07:25 AM

You got a cpu that is really, really slow. 1.7ghz? Im not even sure because of cpu that your video card is giving your the max frame rates.

I also see that your ram is slow.. that for sure has a negative impact on frame rates. You might try oc the cpu and ram, but do that at your own risk.

eggs420 · Nov 20, 2004, 07:38 AM

CPU is lacking a bit, though the hl2 benchmarks showed you should get a bit above that..not too much though. My last cpu was an xp2000 (@2200 clock), so I'm not just talkin outta my arse.

TheShaft · Nov 22, 2004, 03:35 PM

I've ordered up a new motherboard that will let me do whatever I want (400Mhz FSB, dual channel PC3200 support, 8x AGP, etc). I'll upgrade either my CPU or memory too, we'll see if this helps. At minimum, I'm hoping the dual-channel DDR will help

Zebra · Nov 22, 2004, 04:51 PM

The dual-channel won't buy you much unless you put in a CPU and RAM that can use the 400Mhz FSB! So, in short, you're spending around $500.00 or more to play a $50.00 game! But, the good side is, you can play lots of other games now too.

Partizan · Nov 23, 2004, 04:53 PM

8x AGP will most likely solve the problem.

Regards, Partizan

Structure · Nov 24, 2004, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MythicaL

Notice the 4x AGP bus. That means you're only getting half of the card's bandwidth, meaning your system isn't up for it. Maybe it is though, judging by your specs. Could be just a chipset driver problem or something other.

I recall seeing tests when 8x cards came out that showed no real difference in performance going from 4x-8x. however maybe that's changed, dunno. it looks more likely in this situation that his system is holding him back. look at benchmarks and see if they come near your system.

refraction · Nov 24, 2004, 12:33 PM

indeed, difference in 4x and 8x AGP is minor, you would gain the most from

obviously first installing your chipset drives, and maybe a new processor/motherboard, if you have DDR400 memory and you get a 2500+ chip, you can run that at 3200+ easily, so that should prove a valuable investment in your HL2 speeds

Shadow Lady · Nov 24, 2004, 05:00 PM

running 1024x768 shouldnt be CPU bottleneck, im dure is just the AGP settings, as soon as u install the chipset drivers it should be ok

TheShaft · Nov 24, 2004, 07:00 PM

I installed the chipset drivers, but only helped by about 2-3FPS on average it seems.

My Athlon 2500 Mobile should be here Monday along with the new mobo and PC3500 DDR. I'll be overclocking the 2500 to 3200 speeds, so that should fix my little FPS problem! I hope. I still dont' want to look at my bank account now, I've spent too much money

TheShaft · Dec 3, 2004, 07:11 PM

Confirmed it was my slow FSB/CPU that was causing this issue.

Running a new mobo with a 400 FSB and 8x AGP, even slower clock speed (only at 1.6Ghz for testing) than the old 1.7Ghz 2100XP and FPS is solid at 60 in CS Source (vsync on).

Nov 19, 2004, 03:16 PM	#1
TheShaft DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	Help: Not getting the FPS I should be from my 9800 Pro Through much frustration, I finally received my 9800 Pro 128MB. I was really excited. I plug it in, boot it up, load the 4.12 beta drivers, woot, ready to rock. HL2 looks amazing. Absolutly beatufiul. But at 30FPS at 1024x768. wtf. System specs: Athlon 2100XP 512 MB of PC2100 IDE hard drives Brand new 9800 Pro 128MB (with the 256-bit memory bus) This may be the problem: the ATI driver software says the card can be set to AGP 1x, 2x, 3x or 4x, but it says its "off" and greyed out. In my BIOS, AGP is set to 4x (higheset setting) and aperture is 128MB. help help! I need better FPS (and I KNOW this card can do better!)

Nov 19, 2004, 03:29 PM	#3
MythicaL I like computers. Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: In front of a monitor Posts: 3,399 Rep Power: 89 System Specs	Notice the 4x AGP bus. That means you're only getting half of the card's bandwidth, meaning your system isn't up for it. Maybe it is though, judging by your specs. Could be just a chipset driver problem or something other. __________________ Always knew I didn't belong in this world. I wasn't made for this. But I'll never forget those who betrayed me, and those who never failed my trust.

Nov 20, 2004, 07:38 AM	#6
eggs420 my bud > yours Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: chicago Posts: 399 Rep Power: 0	CPU is lacking a bit, though the hl2 benchmarks showed you should get a bit above that..not too much though. My last cpu was an xp2000 (@2200 clock), so I'm not just talkin outta my arse. __________________ AMD64 2800+ // Chaintech VNF3-250 // 2X512mb PDI ddr400 2-3-2-5 // 80gb 7200RPM WD w/8mb cache // Leadtek 6800GT // 144kbit IDSL Clan -=CCC=- Admin 69.31.96.68 BF2 PUBLIC RANKED SERVER 205.218.65.236 BF2 DEMO SERVER

Nov 22, 2004, 04:51 PM	#8
Zebra DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: California,USA Posts: 198 Rep Power: 0	The dual-channel won't buy you much unless you put in a CPU and RAM that can use the 400Mhz FSB! So, in short, you're spending around $500.00 or more to play a $50.00 game! But, the good side is, you can play lots of other games now too. __________________ My current system as of 04/20/06: M/B: ABIT K8U Socket 754 RAM: 1024MB Corsair Select CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (Clawhammer) VIDEO: ATI Radeon AIW X800 XT 256MB AGP8X AUDIO: SB Audigy 2 DISK: Maxtor 7200rpm 200GB 8MB cache SATA drive DVD/RW: Sony DRU-800A DL Dual Format DVD/CD Burner CD/RW : TEAC 48X CD Burner OS: WIN XP PRO w/SP2 VID DRIVERS: Latest Omega Radeon Drivers PSU: ANTEC 500W

Nov 23, 2004, 04:53 PM	#9
Partizan Fun loving criminal Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Slovenia Posts: 1,182 Rep Power: 62 System Specs	8x AGP will most likely solve the problem. Regards, Partizan __________________ Live and let live!

Nov 19, 2004, 04:38 PM	Thread Starter #4
TheShaft DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	Chipset drivers. That could be it. I just formatted before I upgraded to the ATI and I hav en't installed my chipset drivers. They're just packaged win2k drivers right now. I'll have to try that. If it doesnt help, and I were to upgrade my PC, would a faster CPU or faster/more memory be better? (If I upgrade, I'll do a MB with 8x AGP and either a faster CPU or more/faster memory)

Nov 20, 2004, 07:25 AM	#5
inet DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 109 Rep Power: 0	You got a cpu that is really, really slow. 1.7ghz? Im not even sure because of cpu that your video card is giving your the max frame rates. I also see that your ram is slow.. that for sure has a negative impact on frame rates. You might try oc the cpu and ram, but do that at your own risk.

Nov 22, 2004, 03:35 PM	Thread Starter #7
TheShaft DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	I've ordered up a new motherboard that will let me do whatever I want (400Mhz FSB, dual channel PC3200 support, 8x AGP, etc). I'll upgrade either my CPU or memory too, we'll see if this helps. At minimum, I'm hoping the dual-channel DDR will help

Nov 24, 2004, 12:33 PM	#11
refraction DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 307 Rep Power: 0 $refraction is on a distinguished road$	indeed, difference in 4x and 8x AGP is minor, you would gain the most from obviously first installing your chipset drives, and maybe a new processor/motherboard, if you have DDR400 memory and you get a 2500+ chip, you can run that at 3200+ easily, so that should prove a valuable investment in your HL2 speeds __________________ [color=royalblue]Computer Specs[/color] := [color=royalblue]AMD Opteron 146 2.0Ghz @ 2.9Ghz[/color] = [color=royalblue]1024Mb PC4400 RAM Dual Channel[/color] = [color=royalblue]Gainward BLISS 7900GTX 512mb[/color] = [color=royalblue]SB Audigy 4 [/color]= [color=royalblue]250Gb SATA Hard Drive[/color] = [color=royalblue]Thermaltake Xaser Case [/color]= [color=royalblue]Benq FP91G+[/color][color=royalblue] 19" TFT[/color]
$refraction is offline$

Nov 24, 2004, 05:00 PM	#12
Shadow Lady Avril Fan Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: somewhere in colombia, okok, bogotá city :p Posts: 1,262 Rep Power: 0	running 1024x768 shouldnt be CPU bottleneck, im dure is just the AGP settings, as soon as u install the chipset drivers it should be ok __________________ Oblivion ftw

Nov 24, 2004, 07:00 PM	Thread Starter #13
TheShaft DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	I installed the chipset drivers, but only helped by about 2-3FPS on average it seems. My Athlon 2500 Mobile should be here Monday along with the new mobo and PC3500 DDR. I'll be overclocking the 2500 to 3200 speeds, so that should fix my little FPS problem! I hope. I still dont' want to look at my bank account now, I've spent too much money

Dec 3, 2004, 07:11 PM	Thread Starter #14
TheShaft DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	Confirmed it was my slow FSB/CPU that was causing this issue. Running a new mobo with a 400 FSB and 8x AGP, even slower clock speed (only at 1.6Ghz for testing) than the old 1.7Ghz 2100XP and FPS is solid at 60 in CS Source (vsync on).