DX 10-11 run fine, but DX 9 doesn't

[wuzzupdude5]

I recently purchased a new PC with a FX-8120 CPU and an AMD Radeon HD 6850 GPU, 8GB of RAM.


It ran everything fine for a while, but after a while of running this machine, frame rates started to lower on some games. Skyrim was the first I noticed, it loads with a frame rate of less than 10, so it's completely unplayable. I thought the graphics were too much for a little, but then I turned the graphics down, and it was the same. I tried playing other games too, like Resident Evil 4 and both the Dx 9 and Dx 10 versions of Resident Evil 5. RE4 had the same problem as Skyrim, frame rates dropping at an extreme level, RE5 Dx 9 took ages to even load, but RE5 Dx 10 ran perfectly.

I've recently updated my BIOS, and my GPU drivers, but the new driver says it should have Dx 9 support. Do I have to change settings or something on my driver to "activate" the DX 9 support? This is a big inconvenience since a lot of games still use Dx 9.0c, especially most of the ones I have at the moment.

Please respond if you know of a fix. Thank you

 

[teaser]

Try reinstalling DX 9...........

 

[ahnilated]

Have you also checked the CPU/GPU temps while you are playing to make sure you aren't overheating?

 

[wuzzupdude5]

The highest my CPU gets is 33 Celcius, and the highest my GPU gets is 40, so I don't think it's that. I've tried reinstalling, but I haven't done a complete removal then reinstalled, so I'm going to try that next. Is there no way to change Direct X settings on you're GPU?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Try this:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

 

[wuzzupdude5]

I've uninstalled, reinstalled, and still no change, that is the link I've been using as well. Something is causing a conflict with Directx 9, but I'm not sure what. Anything that doesn't use DirectX 9 runs perfectly. I know that the newer versions are more efficient, but it shouldn't cause a frame rate drop of 40-50+. I may just have to do a system restore and hope whatever is causing the issue goes away.

 

[wuzzupdude5]

I just ran a Dxdiag and everything was normal except this:


The file aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.

 

[Kari]

I just ran a Dxdiag and everything was normal except this:


The file aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.

depends what drivers you are using, if you got the new 12.11 'never settle' drivers that would be normal since the drivers are officially still in beta, and thus arent whql certified by MS. (or any other beta drivers...)
If you have some older driver that should be whql then it might be a problem....

Is there no way to change Direct X settings on you're GPU?

nope, it doesnt work like that

 

[wuzzupdude5]

I did a full factory reset of my system, tried it without installing any updated drivers (only had what was required for it to run and the game itself installed) and still had the problem, which leads me to believe it is defective hardware, but all the PC diagnostic programs I've found either require you to pay, or only diagnose your software. Does anyone know of a way to do a full system diagnosis for free?

 

[Kari]

try 3dmark06, it'll only run in dx9.
also 3dmark11 will likewise only run in dx11.
both are free (basic edition), and compare your results to similar systems in their Online Result Browser (or w/e it's called these days lol)

edit
http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark06/
http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark11

 

[wuzzupdude5]

try 3dmark06, it'll only run in dx9.
also 3dmark11 will likewise only run in dx11.
both are free (basic edition), and compare your results to similar systems in their Online Result Browser (or w/e it's called these days lol)

edit
http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark06/
http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark11

I ran both of these. For 3dmark06 my score was around 1900, and with the components I have I'm supposed to score a minimum of 16,000. 3dmark11 everything scored well above where it should be according to my system specs except for graphics, so maybe I have a defective GPU then? But for some reason I think it may be a mobo problem, how would I check that?

 

[Kari]

At this point you'd better just start swapping parts... Can you try your card in some other computer, friend's perhaps? Or try some other card in yours?
Though it still might be just software problem. Did you install the latest dx9 after the factory reset from the link Jack posted?

 

[wuzzupdude5]

I've solved my problem! It turns out that it was a BIOS update all along. I flashed my BIOS update back from 1.7 to 1.6 and now everything runs perfectly. Thanks to everyone who took the time to help!!

 

[Kari]

nice, I would have never guessed a wonky bios might cause something like that.