Unbeilevable HardWare prob (game related)
by Vivian James · in General Discussion · 12/01/2002 (11:39 am) · 8 replies
Ok i have tryed everything to solve this problem that i can think of, from latest drivers to whole new OS,s
i upgraded my sons computer system.
from an old fugitsu 233 pentium with a tnt2 pci card (32meg card)
to a k6 380 system with more ram (256) and gforce2 agp card (64meg card)
the games he used to play like tac ops are now unplayable because of a massive drop in framerate,
I think this has to be related someway with the hardware because whatever software changes and configs i try seem to make little or no difference. any ideas on this would be greaty appreciated, i realise that this systems are now dated but the reduction in framerates are massive in comparason to the older less powerfull fugitsu system.
yours sincerely
Totaly Stumped
i upgraded my sons computer system.
from an old fugitsu 233 pentium with a tnt2 pci card (32meg card)
to a k6 380 system with more ram (256) and gforce2 agp card (64meg card)
the games he used to play like tac ops are now unplayable because of a massive drop in framerate,
I think this has to be related someway with the hardware because whatever software changes and configs i try seem to make little or no difference. any ideas on this would be greaty appreciated, i realise that this systems are now dated but the reduction in framerates are massive in comparason to the older less powerfull fugitsu system.
yours sincerely
Totaly Stumped
#2
Thanks for the responce.
12/01/2002 (1:10 pm)
well i dont think its the faq the games was designed for intel chips but you may be right in one way, this card works fine on a later chip a amd 650 with good framerates, do you think this is earlier agp prob, should i look at a pci card for this system, and is there any 64 meg cards on pci slot?.Thanks for the responce.
#3
Also, boot in safe mode and make sure you don't have old drivers from the other hardware floating around.
12/01/2002 (1:21 pm)
Might be an agp problem. Make sure you have the very latest video and motherboard drivers, and all BIOS updates.Also, boot in safe mode and make sure you don't have old drivers from the other hardware floating around.
#4
12/01/2002 (1:29 pm)
I highly suggest reformatting. Then try a different video card. (try the old one). Make sure you have the latest dets for that geforce 2. If all else fails, i'd grab him a Duron 800-950, they go for around $30, thats dirt cheap for a CPU, and a refurbished motherboard from www.newegg.com that will still support the SDRAM from your system. That would be a signifigant upgrade from what you have now. That would all be around $70-$80 including the heatsink you'd also have to get, and if that price is out of the question i have no other words of advice to give you. Good luck!
#5
Nvidia Det 4072 for Win 2k / XP
Nvidia Det 4072 for Win 98 / ME
12/01/2002 (2:41 pm)
Make sure you get the latest drivers from Nvidia, in other words not the WHQL one (3140) or the ones that come default with windows, but the actual latest version (4072).Nvidia Det 4072 for Win 2k / XP
Nvidia Det 4072 for Win 98 / ME
#6
A few things to check.
1) Make sure your card isn't running in PCI mode (go to display properties>settings>advanced>geforce2mx[seriesnumber]. Then look where it says "bus type:"...)if it says AGP(pci mode) then you're running in PCI mode, or if it just says AGP, then you're fine. If it does say AGP(pcimode), then you probably need to intall the latest via 4-in-1 drivers. Once you've done that, reboot, go into your bios setting, and set your AGP apature size to 4x (there are a whole load of settings that will help optimise AGP, but I can't remember them off the top of my head and they tend to vary on different BIOS', I suggest you google it).
2) Make sure all "fancy" effects are turned off. While the GF2 supports FSAA, anisotropic, etc, it runs them like a pig. Turn them off if they're on.
3) Make sure you don't have vertical synch turned on. This will match FPS to your refresh rate, severely limiting it (but then a GF2 probably won't reach above your refresh rate on modern games anyway).
4) I've always found that the GF2, no matter what OS, will run much better in OpenGL than DirectX...so use openGL mode whereever possible.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I was having real problems with the GF2 on my win2k machine, and I learned the above from trial and error. The most important point though, is the Pci Mode....that's the real FPS killer.
12/01/2002 (7:11 pm)
Just out of curiousity, did you also upgrade to windows2000? As there are known issues with the geforce2MX series chips on windows2000. You'll probably never get amazing framerates with a gf2 on win2k, but they certainly shouldn't be worse than your previous card.A few things to check.
1) Make sure your card isn't running in PCI mode (go to display properties>settings>advanced>geforce2mx[seriesnumber]. Then look where it says "bus type:"...)if it says AGP(pci mode) then you're running in PCI mode, or if it just says AGP, then you're fine. If it does say AGP(pcimode), then you probably need to intall the latest via 4-in-1 drivers. Once you've done that, reboot, go into your bios setting, and set your AGP apature size to 4x (there are a whole load of settings that will help optimise AGP, but I can't remember them off the top of my head and they tend to vary on different BIOS', I suggest you google it).
2) Make sure all "fancy" effects are turned off. While the GF2 supports FSAA, anisotropic, etc, it runs them like a pig. Turn them off if they're on.
3) Make sure you don't have vertical synch turned on. This will match FPS to your refresh rate, severely limiting it (but then a GF2 probably won't reach above your refresh rate on modern games anyway).
4) I've always found that the GF2, no matter what OS, will run much better in OpenGL than DirectX...so use openGL mode whereever possible.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I was having real problems with the GF2 on my win2k machine, and I learned the above from trial and error. The most important point though, is the Pci Mode....that's the real FPS killer.
#7
I have also tryed using using Open GL, that again has no difference, so i think that possibly what Alex has suggested might be the next route, after trying the old card. I know it isnt the graphics card as i used it for a year on my own system before upgrading to a G4.
As a note Andru i used this card extensivly on win 2k on my old machine without any probs, but i will consider your insights while troubleshooting this problem. as this is a g2 mx card, thanks for that info.
12/02/2002 (2:14 pm)
Thank you @ all for the replys, i have tryed most of what you all suggested apart from what Alex said, about upgrading the processor this was on a formatted drive trying different various OS,s so i think i have covered all the software "bases" from 98 se to XP including the latest drivers, although i havent tryed the old card on this system, i have used the bios to change between agp and pci, (neither makes a difference),I have also tryed using using Open GL, that again has no difference, so i think that possibly what Alex has suggested might be the next route, after trying the old card. I know it isnt the graphics card as i used it for a year on my own system before upgrading to a G4.
As a note Andru i used this card extensivly on win 2k on my old machine without any probs, but i will consider your insights while troubleshooting this problem. as this is a g2 mx card, thanks for that info.
#8
12/03/2002 (12:04 pm)
Well the problem is now sorted, it seems 2 of the ram sticks were either incompatable or mabe of a different type from the 128 meg 133(speed) sd ram i added, possibly slowing all the ram to the slowest stick, the labels arent there anymore, probably why i missed this, so thanks for your input everyone. 
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Max Gaming Technologies