Low, choppy framerate.

[mattg14]

Hello.

I recently purchased a AC2 powercolor x1950 pro 512 version and i've have problems which i hope you can help me with

System specs:

Intel pentium D 3.2ghz
Maxtor 7200rpm 150gb sata
2gb pc5300 Memory
x1950 pro
Asus P5VD2-mx se Motherboard
Arctic 600w PSU

- I've had choppy, low framed graphics in all the games i've tested. The framerate i receive within both low-high graphical settings is around 14-20 fps.

- I've checked all my drivers, all seem to be pretty much up to date, including catalyst 8.1

- I've done 3dmark 05 and that turned out pretty bad. (14-20 frames)

Is there anything you guys suggest i purchase or check. I've almost done everything to my knowledge and alot of other peoples help to tackle this. Feel free to ask me anything which you may require to narrow the problem down more.


Thank you .

 

[pauldh]

Did you plug in the power cable to the X1950 pro?

Is your HDD being accessed constantly during these choppy times? If so defrag the HDD for starters. if not, then what steps did you take when uninstalling the old card and it's drivers. You should uninstall the old drivers before pulling the old card. If you did not do this, uninstall the ATI display drivers, shut down. Take out the X1950 pro. Put in your old card. reboot, uninstall all display drivers for that card, shut down, swap cards, reboot and install new cat 8.1 drivers.

If you did do that, then you can download a driver cleaning utility like driver cleaner pro and use it as directed to remove extra leftover bits of drivers.

 

[mattg14]

I have indeed put the power cable into the card. Also, i've completely rebuilt my operating system so there wont be any nvidia forceware on there.

 

[mattg14]

I have indeed put the power cable into the card. Also, i've completely rebuilt my operating system so there wont be any nvidia forceware on there.

 

[bob8701]

what kind of score you get on 3d 05?
use cpuz to verify the pci express link is runnng at 16*.

 

[pauldh]

By rebuilt, do you mean a repair install, or do you mean a Clean Install?

Also, (you did mention drivers but I have to ask), did you install the mobo's chipset drivers? before installing the cat 8.1?

 

[bravo29]

Clean install and install all MB drivers before any other hardware drivers.

 

[truehighroller]

What OS do you have Vista? My 1900xtx was doing the same thing and I have Vista and the whole time my card wasn't kicking into 3d I had to download atitool the newer one and set it to 3d mode speeds then start playing my games after, and that resolves the issue. With XP, which I had installed the other week for an overclocking contest I was in, "it did not do this".

 

[mattg14]

what kind of score you get on 3d 05?
use cpuz to verify the pci express link is runnng at 16*.

AHA!
I did that cpuz thing and my core speed was all over the place!

It was racing 2400.0mhz up and down to 3200.0 continuously. :S

Also, the multiplier is going around at x12.0 to x16.0 continuously! :S


The pci-e was running normal at x16..

Funnily enough, both of my 2gb memory worked out to 666mhz!

DAMN

is that the problem ?

 

[truehighroller]

Do you have Vista?

 

[Smoked Turkey]

The CPU jump is probably a voltage control (Can't think of the the term now.) used for power savings. You can turn it off in the BIOS. It will either adjust the Multiplier or the core voltage. SpeedStep, That's it.

 

[pauldh]

You never answered if you did a repair install or a clean install of Windows and if you installed the mobo chipset drivers.

 

[mattg14]

Do you have Vista?

No, i have xp professional x62. It had problems with the x32 also.

 

[mattg14]

You never answered if you did a repair install or a clean install of Windows and if you installed the mobo chipset drivers.

A complete re-install of windows. I installed all the mobo drivers before the graphics ones.

 

[truehighroller]

The card is shot or the motherboard has issues one of the two,,,

 

[mattg14]

The card is shot or the motherboard has issues one of the two,,,

Well, i mentioned earlier that i used a 8500gt with the same problems, so i presume its the motherboard. There is a chance that both of my cards are dud, lol. I really dont want it to be that I'll purchase a new motherboard soon and update.

 

[mattg14]

Actually, i didn't mention that, but i used the 8500gt before i used the x1950

 

[truehighroller]

Lol that's ok. I would deffinately say motherboard. Have you tried a different power supply?

 

[mattg14]

Lol that's ok. I would deffinately say motherboard. Have you tried a different power supply?

Hmm, i would of thought that this 600W arctic would feed the system well.
it has a max of like 61amp or whatever on one of the 12v rails. The card says that it needs like only 36 or something :S

SO

link me some motherboards that will handle this girly monster machine i have.

 

[truehighroller]

I just figured maybe it isn't delivering what it says it should and you might want to be safe that's all. I seriously think it is your motherboard though.

 

[computertech82]

Funny noone asked the a more important question....What resolution are you trying to run at? If you're trying 1680 by whatever type, the x1950pro is NOT good enough for some games.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html
It does matter what you're trying to do.

Now it is a little strange that cpuz is changing like that. Set up the voltage and multiplier manually. Also check voltage for 12v and 5v (usually in the bios). Getting a .5v difference or higher, will have a negative impact.

 

[mattg14]

Funny noone asked the a more important question....What resolution are you trying to run at? If you're trying 1680 by whatever type, the x1950pro is NOT good enough for some games.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html
It does matter what you're trying to do.

Now it is a little strange that cpuz is changing like that. Set up the voltage and multiplier manually. Also check voltage for 12v and 5v (usually in the bios). Getting a .5v difference or higher, will have a negative impact.

Im running my res at 1024x768
And im talking about all games. Oblivion, WoW, 3d mark, dawn of war, everything!

I'll check out that voltage thing in bios tomorrow.

 

[ZozZoz]

its definitely not intel's speedstep. It's smart enough to recognize heavy load and stop lowering the multiplier.

surprisingly not a single soul questioned your operating temperatures, and to me, it looks like your CPU is throttling, which is in turn caused by overheating. An issue not so uncommon with two Prescott cores fit on a single die.
Check your heatsink (is it stock or not?) - to see if the fan is working, if all of its four legs are sitting properly (the 775 socket is easy to test for that - press on each of the pins/legs - and if any of them clicks - then it was not all the way in. Use a lot of force, socket 775 loves that.

 

[pat]

As Zozzoz said, your CPU is probably overheating and throttlingspeed down. Check for clogged cooler and clean it. I would suggest to remove the cooler, install new thermal coumpound and firmly clip back the cooler, especially if you have this computer since a while.

This is a common problem with Prescott CPU because they are running hot, so cooling failure make them slow down. I've seen clip becoming loose after some year and the cooler fail to make good contact with the cpu.

Once cleaned and with new paste installed, your CPU should be working OK. Hotter than all of the CPU available, but OK, if you have good case cooling.

 

[mattg14]

As Zozzoz said, your CPU is probably overheating and throttlingspeed down. Check for clogged cooler and clean it. I would suggest to remove the cooler, install new thermal coumpound and firmly clip back the cooler, especially if you have this computer since a while.

This is a common problem with Prescott CPU because they are running hot, so cooling failure make them slow down. I've seen clip becoming loose after some year and the cooler fail to make good contact with the cpu.

Once cleaned and with new paste installed, your CPU should be working OK. Hotter than all of the CPU available, but OK, if you have good case cooling.

I'll get to that in a few days and update this further