[rainz]

Still thinking about it and i have to think fast cause i have 9 days left, if i want to exchange the card ..

I was since like 2 years with a Asus Geforce 4 TI 4200 128mb ( the next generation ) A very decent card / stable / ++

Just bought a MSI GeForce FX 5900 XT ... Insane for the price ! 289$ Can + TX ( not USD ) But performing slow with AA + AF ..

So ! the same week exchanged the 5900 XT for an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro !
I had to pay 165$ + Can ( For a total of 493$ Can )

AND ! My freakin ATI perform great maybe ... But i never seen so much bugs .. Everything was always perfect under Nvidia And .. Almost any games are running fast ( example: 50 - 100 FPS all max with 1280x1024 )
but suddenly PAF ... Quick Loading / freeze / choppy dunno how to say that exactly ( example: You Run in RalliSport Challenge the pedal to the metal and you have to break fast ... PAF ... it's Choppy like 3-4 times really quick ... This is really annoying ... and i never saw something like that with my old TI 4200

Is it normal cause all the ATI's are so bugged ? Or it might be my Gigabytes GA7-VAX-A ( VIA KT400A ) Motherboard the problem ? Cause whatever what's the problem i have 9 days to fix that if the problem is the video card ..

And another thing .. After i just spend 493$ Can for my Radeon ... for this amount of money .. Should i exchange it for an ATI or Geforce or whatever but with 256mb ? Or we really still dont have to care for a while about the 256.

If anyone is reading this and has any idea / clue or whatever ! Say what you think i need many advices quick guys ! :?

Thx

RainZ

[kyleb]

sounds to me like you have nvidia drivers still in your system screwing things up.

[AlphaWolf]

$493 cdn is way too much to pay for a 9800 pro. Should be able to find one for $100-150 less.

[rainz]

This is the price down here .. 429$ cdn + Tx

I have uninstalled my old Forceware drivers and even used the Detonator RIP utilities from guru3d.com to remove anything left by the drivers. ( Before installing the ATI )

RainZ :?

[kyleb]

hum, ok. so do you have the latest via hyperion drivers installed?

[rainz]

Via Hyperion 4.51 ( Lastest )
ATI Catalyst 4.2 ( Lastest )

Lastest Drivers for my Sound Card ( Crapy integrated AC'97 )
Lastest Drivers for my Network Card ( Integrated too )

- AMD Athlon XP 2600+
- Gigabytes GA7-VAX-A Motherboard

- 1024mb DDR 400mhz Kingston (Pc3200)
- ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb ( 380/680 Stock)

- IBM E74 Monitor
- Windows XP Home Edition SP1 ( all the windows updates done )

That's another reason why i'm thinking to change my motherboard .. cause i know now VIA KT400A are bad performer and the integrated sound cards on nforce boards area really nice ! Not like mine and no i dont want to buy a 200$+ Audigy 2 thing .. not really in my priorities the sound.

RainZ

[rainz]

So it is normal all the jerky games or not ? The ATI is the problem or not ? Btw i'll change my motherboard in like 1 week cause i hate mine.

RainZ

[MuFu]

The Rallisport Challenge stutter is a known bug in the 4.1s - I'm guessing it affects the 4.2s too from your post. Try the 3.10s, they should be silky smooth in comparison.

MuFu.

[Ailuros]

I don't think the R350 is really at fault here, but I will not influence you on your purchase. If you think a NV35/8 will cover your needs better, than by all means pick that sollution that will make you happier.

I'm personally not very fond of Gigabyte motherboards in general and yes I do think nForce2 based boards are a better idea than that.

Lastest Drivers for my Sound Card ( Crapy integrated AC'97 )

Uhmm and you're wondering about choppy gameplay? Rallisport Challenge is very CPU bound last time I checked. Where do you think that "crappy" sound chip gets it's resources from?

By the way albeit high end nForce2 boards have the Soundstorm chip and it's more than a decent integrated sollution, I'd personally consider a recent standalone sound card (pick also what floats your boat). It's not necessary to break your budget there either; excellent sollutions can be had for US 50-80$.

Not like mine and no i dont want to buy a 200$+ Audigy 2 thing...

Canadian 200$?

http://www.pricewatch.com/1/202/3855-15.htm
http://www.pricewatch.com/1/202/3855-20.htm
http://www.pricewatch.com/1/202/3855-25.htm

[Ailuros]

Originally Posted by MuFu

The Rallisport Challenge stutter is a known bug in the 4.1s - I'm guessing it affects the 4.2s too from your post. Try the 3.10s, they should be silky smooth in comparison.

MuFu.

Uh oh didn't know that. Guess there's a reason why my insticts told me to stick with the 3.10s 8)

[rainz]

it's the same thing in Colin McRae Rally 3 and in Racer Driver ( yeh i like racing games ) :?

And you said it might be jerky in some cases cause of my AC'97 using my CPU .. Ok maybe but why everything was ok with my TI 4200 ? heh

RainZ

[Ailuros]

I too changed from a NV25 to a R300, but I don't seem to have any of those problems (and frankly I used way lower settings and resolutions on the former), so I can't really say with absolute certainty where your problem comes from. Neither hardware nor software setups are identical between systems, yet onboard sound sollutions (with very few exeptions) are far from being ideal.

What resolutions did you use on the Ti4200 and did you use any AA/AF?

[Mendel]

you rainz, try the 3.10 drivers and tell us if that helped, ok?

[kyleb]

Originally Posted by Ailuros

yet onboard sound sollutions (with very few exeptions) are far from being ideal.

actually i think his board has the same realtek chip that my ga7-vaxp utra has, in which case it is less a drain on the cpu than the sblive 5.1 i was useing.

[THe_KELRaTH]

I think more details are required as to how you have your system setup.
Do you use Vsync and if so what's your Monitor Hz, what resolutions - AA/AF settings etc

I too play alot of racing games (though RalliSport is off my list till it gets a driver fix). I play Grandprix 4, Mercedes World Racing, F1 Challenge with loads of the mods. I also have some old racing games on the PC that I use for testing like Motorhead, Ultimate Race Pro & International Rally Championship.

[rainz]

the 3.10's did nothing ... same thing .. Btw i'm gonna get a new mobo in 8-10 days and at the same time i'll format ! Since you guys are sure the ATI card isnt the problem... ( Really sure ? ) So it's prolly something with my suspicious mobo or maybe with the old nvidia drivers .. even if i uninstalled / deleted everything .. or a mix of all this.

But should i exchange my ATI 128 for a 256 ? or when i'll really need the 256 it will be the time to change my card again ?

http://usa.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=...eluxe&langs=09
i think i'll buy this one sounds good ?

http://usa.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=...eluxe&langs=09
This one dont use the Soundstorm

RainZ

[rainz]

Oh and any soundcard not using the CPU at all ?

What's the best soundcard so far ? price / quality / cpu usage !!

Thx

RainZ

[rainz]

Originally Posted by THe_KELRaTH

I think more details are required as to how you have your system setup.
Do you use Vsync and if so what's your Monitor Hz, what resolutions - AA/AF settings etc

I too play alot of racing games (though RalliSport is off my list till it gets a driver fix). I play Grandprix 4, Mercedes World Racing, F1 Challenge with loads of the mods. I also have some old racing games on the PC that I use for testing like Motorhead, Ultimate Race Pro & International Rally Championship.

http://www.clubic.com/t/jeux/shot/909.html U saw this KELRaTH ?

I never use VSYNC ( and i'm not sure why ! lol i know it's synchronize the vert/hor for drawing but are we really loosing somes FPS when enabling it ? and is it really just for the quality ? i took it off cause i want to see my real FPS in all the games ( not blocked at 60 or 90 ))

my monitor Hz at the resolution i always use = 60 Hz
http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/si...id=MIGR-4ECUYK
Need a new one my old 1996 21" Blowed up

My windows is in 32bits / 1280x1024

All my games are in 1280x1024 ( if they can ) with all details maxed out as well

And i never use AA + AF ( but sometimes i use 2X AA 2X AF, i hate when i see my FPS going too low )

RainZ

[THe_KELRaTH]

The only reason NOT to use Vsync is to test the system performance - if your monitor is set at 60Hz then 60fps is THE MAX you will ever see. Having any frames above and below your monitor's Hz will either cause tearing or a visual stutter effect.

My recommendation would be to lower the resolution to 1024x768 / 1152x864, set Vsync On and use a level of AA/AF that doesn't cause fps to drop below 60.
Better yet, I would set the monitor to 75Hz (unless you don't notice the monitor flicker).
For other games and as a general setup I would set triplebuffering ON in the opengl (found in ATI opengl compatibility menu) and if a Directx game supports that feature turn it on too - like UT2K3/4 (in the UT2kx system directory open the ut2kx.ini file with notepad and change triplebuffer = False to True.)

Xpand Rally does look real nice - I hope it plays as good as it looks

[Quitch]

Myself, Im dubious about using VSync in anything that doesn't support Triple Buffering. I don't like my frame rates collapsing simply because I fell short of the magic number for a bit.

[rainz]

Is it hella risky to boost my Hz upto 75Hz at this resolution ? It might runs well for days/weeks/months/years ? or always depends if you are lucky and lucky like me i'll blow the screen in 3 days.

I tested 30 mins so far ( but now bed time ) .. and nothing strange on the screen .. But even with Vsync enabled and all the things you said .. still jerky ( not unplayable but i'm not to tolerate this long )

Btw i still need some comments on the motherboards i said .. if any Motherboard experts are reading And on the soundcards too!

RainZ

[Ailuros]

Originally Posted by kyleb

actually i think his board has the same realtek chip that my ga7-vaxp utra has, in which case it is less a drain on the cpu than the sblive 5.1 i was useing.

Whereby the drain from the sblive wasn't exactly small either.

Oh and any soundcard not using the CPU at all ?

At all would be overoptimistic.

What's the best soundcard so far ? price / quality / cpu usage !!

There are 3 links in my former post with various sound cards from Hercules, Creative etc. in the 50-80$ pricerange. If it has to be Creative than at least an Audigy 2; ideally OEM/bulk to save some money.

my monitor Hz at the resolution i always use = 60 Hz
http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/si...id=MIGR-4ECUYK

I don't know about you, but I can't stand the flickering with less than at least 75Hz. Make sure since you want to buy a new monitor that it's capable of at least 90-100Hz in 1280.

And i never use AA + AF ( but sometimes i use 2X AA 2X AF, i hate when i see my FPS going too low )

Can't say anything about personal preferences, when it comes to performance, yet I don't personally need framerates in excess in racing sims.

Example:

Rallisport Challenge/all details maxed (sound HW acceleration/doppler effects on)/SS1 track from start line to finish with FRAPS.

1280*1024*32/4xAA/16PxAF:

interior cam:

2004-02-15 14:35:33 - RalliSportChallenge
Frames: 11701 - Time: 196031ms - Avg: 59.689 - Min: 39 - Max: 94

exterior cam:

2004-02-15 14:45:54 - RalliSportChallenge
Frames: 9807 - Time: 209156ms - Avg: 46.888 - Min: 32 - Max: 62

Athlon 2400 (12*166)/R9700PRO/winXP Pro,SP1/Cat3.10

[Ailuros]

Originally Posted by rainz

Is it hella risky to boost my Hz upto 75Hz at this resolution ? It might runs well for days/weeks/months/years ? or always depends if you are lucky and lucky like me i'll blow the screen in 3 days.

I tested 30 mins so far ( but now bed time ) .. and nothing strange on the screen .. But even with Vsync enabled and all the things you said .. still jerky ( not unplayable but i'm not to tolerate this long )

Btw i still need some comments on the motherboards i said .. if any Motherboard experts are reading And on the soundcards too!

RainZ

He proposed to lower to a 1024*768*32@75Hz desktop. On that monitor with Vsync on your max framerate is capped at 60fps due to the 60Hz limit in 1280*1024. The purpose of using Vsync is to avoid tearing; yet an at least 85Hz (the higher the better) refresh rate should be a presupposition.

[kyleb]

Originally Posted by Ailuros

Whereby the drain from the sblive wasn't exactly small either.

sure, my point was simply that a lot of people running an add on card are actually doing worse.

[rainz]

But should i exchange my Radeon 9800 Pro 128 for a 256mb ( or even a 5900U 256 if they dont have 9800 Pro 256mb in stock ). Or 256mb Video card are really not important for a while ?

Thx

RainZ