6800gt issue

[SpikeVicious]

Hey everyone. So after getting some responses about a vid card upgrade, I decided to pick up a BFG 6800gt oc (I had a Radeon 9500pro). Based on user input and TH guides, I was expecting quite a boost in performance. On Aquamark3, my score jumped from about 32k to 47k. Not bad in my opinion. However, most of the games I've played so far haven't had any noticeable differences. I've tried Morrowind, Spellforce, and Vampire: Bloodlines...all of them perform exactly the same as they did with my old card (actually, Morrowind plays a lot worse than before). Anyone have any idea why that is? It's a tad frustrating...especially since I feel like I just wasted $400. Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated.

PS- BFG should change their name to BFC (Big F'ing Card). I had to rearrange a bunch of stuff in my case to even get it to fit.

Asus P4PE Mobo
P4 2.4Ghz
BFG 6800GT OC
1ghz PC-2700 Crucial RAM
480W Thermaltake PSU

 

[scottchen]

Did you uninstall previous ATI drivers and made sure they were all gone with drivercleaner? Or better yet did a fresh install before installing the new card?

 

[SpikeVicious]

I uninstalled them, but not using drivercleaner. I guess I've always gone through the device manager when dealing with drivers and never had a problem. And I just reformatted my comp about a month ago so I'm hoping I don't have to go through that hassle again.

Asus P4PE Mobo
P4 2.4Ghz
BFG 6800GT OC
1ghz PC-2700 Crucial RAM
480W Thermaltake PSU

 

[scottchen]

Then you still have leftovers of ATI drivers which will affect your performance dramatically, i recommend formatting and reinstalling windows, this way you wil get the maximum performance out of your system. I have to admit your score is too low, my old 5900 got higher score. But it's also true that you have a huge bottleneck, your CPU.

 

[SpikeVicious]

As much as I hate to do it, I guess I'll try reformatting then. Dammit. Do you have any idea what I should have the settings at (AA, AF, etc). I just want to make sure that my setup doesn't further hinder my score. And just out of curiosity, what kind of score should I be expecting on Aquamark?

Asus P4PE Mobo
P4 2.4Ghz
BFG 6800GT OC
1ghz PC-2700 Crucial RAM
480W Thermaltake PSU

 

[SpikeVicious]

Ok, so I reformatted my comp. I got all the updated drivers for my hardware, but I'm still getting a AM3 score of 47k. I haven't bothered trying my games yet since I figure they'll work just the same as they did before I reformatted. So...anyone that can offer me some tips to improve performance (other than getting a new cpu, since I just blew my cash on this vid card)?

Asus P4PE Mobo
P4 2.4Ghz
BFG 6800GT OC
1ghz PC-2700 Crucial RAM
480W Thermaltake PSU

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Damn man, you picked the WRONG manufacturer for those games! Not sure about Spellforce )ask Slava I think he plays it alot IIRC), but Morrowind and Vampires seem to love ATi cards more (not that Elder Scrolls needs it). In general terms the GF6800GT was one of the best options out there, but if those are the only game you play you may be in for somee disappointment. First of all Morrowind doesn't even need THAT much power, (heck I can easily run 1600x1200 on my R9600P with everything turned up), and Vamiper Bloodlines doesn't seem to be nVidia optimized yet. Look at the Vampire results from Xbit and you'll see what I mean X800PRO outperforms the GF6800GT which performs kinda close to the R9800series (PCIe results are an anomoly IMO).

<A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2004-27gpu2_23.html" target="_new">http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2004-27gpu2_23.html</A>

However look at all the other situations and the GF6800GT does very well. But unfortunately the best choice overall isn't always the best choice for an individual as you may play the only games the best choice does poorly in. To see the inverse look at the IL-2 results;

<A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2004-27gpu2_24.html" target="_new">http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2004-27gpu2_24.html</A>

Hopefully nV will give you some boosts in future drivers, but you may be stuck for those games, just like ATI users are for Doom3.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[SpikeVicious]

Dammit, all this technical crap is annoying. I'm really starting to feel like a noob. My main question is, why don't my games run a lot better than they did with my R9500pro? I was given the impression that it would be a huge boost in performence, and so far it's the same or worse. It's really fricken frustrating, especially considering how much I paid for this new card. I understand that certain games prefer certain manufacturers, but I would think they'd still play a lot better with this 6800gt. And another Q, if my comp has way more power than is needed for Morrowind, why does it run worse than it did with my 9500? I find that very perplexing.

Asus P4PE Mobo
P4 2.4Ghz
BFG 6800GT OC
1ghz PC-2700 Crucial RAM
480W Thermaltake PSU

 

[RX8]

greatape cant you see there is a big problem with hes setup sumwhere, 47k is a low low score for a 6800gt.

have you made sure you have connected the power cable, also try using one lead with nothing connected on it straight to ur graffix card.

what nvidia drivers u using?

what DX version you using?

Ans these questions so we can be more helpfull to u?

 

[pauldh]

Is 47K a very low score for the 6800GT when paired with a P4 2.4B on a i845pe motherboard? I know I had a Gigabyte GA-8iexp i845e mobo with a P4 2.4B. It was far below a 2.4C on i865pe. Matter of fact, i gained over 1000 3dmarks in 2001se just switching the motherboard to an IS7 and keeping the 2.4B, crucial PC2100, and video card.

Anyway, I am just curious and asking if that score is ok for his system? To put it in AMD terms, say a KT333/KT400 XP2400+ 6800GT, would it score much better than 47K? Honestly i haven't used aquamark enough to know exactly how system dependent it is.







<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=658042" target="_new">3DMark05</A> <A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=3781954" target="_new">3DMark03</A>

 

[RX8]

aaaaaaaaaa good point i dident think about the cpu much, but then again he should notice a massive difference from a 9550 to a 6800gt in games dont you think?

MY FINGER IS ON THE BUTTON!

 

[pauldh]

Well 9500 pro is far geater than 9550, but I guess like Grape pointed out, it's the games he is playing. If his games do best on ATI hardware, or are somewhat cpu limited even, then would he see a difference? Given the right game he should see a difference for sure, especially with enabling FSAA.


In the future, he should obviously be better off with the 6800GT. What he needs to do is see how high that 2.4B/Asus can OC though.


<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=658042" target="_new">3DMark05</A> <A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=3781954" target="_new">3DMark03</A>

 

[RX8]

yes your right, it could be very much cpu dependant as well, an OC could make a difference, but i would epect to much from the 2.4.

MY FINGER IS ON THE BUTTON!

 

[SpikeVicious]

I'm using nVidia 71.84 drivers and DX 9c. As for the power cables, I've got it hooked up the way the directions said: one molex w/ a y-connector going to the vid card and harddrive. I'll try to find a lone cable and try it that way, but I might have trouble with that since I have so much other crap plugged in (primarily fans...haven't graduated to water cooling yet).

Asus P4PE Mobo
P4 2.4Ghz
BFG 6800GT OC
1ghz PC-2700 Crucial RAM
480W Thermaltake PSU

 

[RX8]

i dont think the power cables your trouble then, as GA & paul have siad its just ur cpu is stuggling to unleash full potential, and the games u play do best on ATI hardware.

MY FINGER IS ON THE BUTTON!

 

[SpikeVicious]

So how much extra juice should I try to get out of my cpu? Just by tweaking the bios a bit I raised it to 2.43 (a huge increase, I know), and on occasion that alone causes some instability. I'm sure someone will mention to look at the guides, which I plan on doing, but I'm just curious if there's a goal I should shoot for.

Asus P4PE Mobo
P4 2.4Ghz
BFG 6800GT OC
1ghz PC-2700 Crucial RAM
480W Thermaltake PSU

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

What exactly do you find slower in Morrowind, I find it hard to imagine the GF6800GT struggling even with your processor (mine's an XP2000+) with the R9600P (always play with slight OC now though). Yes Morrowind is somewhat CPU limited especially in cities, but you should have enough power, even if it isn't the most current. Also what version are you using? Morrowind/ +Tribunal / +Bloodmoon / Game of the Year Edition?

I could understand if it was driver issues, but by the time I saw this you'd already formatted and re-instlaled.

I'm very surprised that you'd have issue with Morrowind. The FX5200 unfortunately has a bunch of issues, but it was only the FX5200, not the rest of the FXs or the quite stellar new GF6 line.

Perhaps the draw distance changed automatically when you added the new card and it went from 20-40% to 100%. The difference between 90% and 100% is noticeable but the performance difference isn't. This may make a noticeable difference if you have the texture replacement mods, and use speed boosts maybe I could see you noticing some hiccups when doing like 360s, but I barely notice that, so I can't see you getting that unless nV just totally ignores Morrowind in their drivers. Heck you load times should be the most annoying load/lag. You should go to <A HREF="http://www.elderscrolls.com/home/home.htm" target="_new">elderscroll.com </A> and check out the fourm where they have performance solutions for quicker loading, stability issues, etc. It's a good and active forum with lotsa help.

Also it could be that your MASSIVE overclock of that PC2700 ram is causing issues, fast ram is good but that's at least 3 times over rated speed! :tongue:


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by TheGreatGrapeApe on 03/13/05 04:19 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[SpikeVicious]

D'oh, I just realized I put 1Ghz RAM on my signature instead of GB. Anyway, I'm running MW+T+B version 1.6.1820 (not GoTY edition). I was having problems with load times (about a 10 sec load for every 10-20 secs of playtime) and horrible framerates. I made a few tweaks that I found on Elderscrolls.com and GameFAQS.com which at least made it playable (no more excruciating load times). When turning off shadows and putting view distance around 15%, my FPS ranged from 30 to 60. If I jacked everything up, my FPS was about 12 to 40. So I guess I just can't max the settings on this game, but at least I can play it now. Now I need to see if I can tweak Vampires: Bloodlines to make that playable again. Speaking of which, someone mentioned earlier that the problem with these games is that they prefer ATI cards. However, with Vampires, it has a nVidia ad during their load up. Can someone explain this to me? And also on that note, I've been told that Vampires uses that HL2 engine. If that's true, how likely is it that I'll have problems with HL2? The reason I ask is that a large part of the reason I upgraded is so I could run these next generation games without having to turn off all the bells and whistles.

I should also mention that I put Far Cry back on my comp to see how that works (since that's the only game I have that's commonly used as a benchmark). With that one, I can pretty much max everything out and have it run smoothly. Even though I'm not a huge fan of the game, at least I now know that some games will be effected by my new card.

And once again, if I'm going to OC my CPU, what kind of speed should I shoot for?

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice.

Asus P4PE Mobo
P4 2.4Ghz
BFG 6800GT OC
1GB PC-2700 Crucial RAM
480W Thermaltake PSU

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

LOL! Yeah I just noticed the 1GHZ at the end of my last post.

As for them "prefering" ATI cards, I meant that more as 'they seem to do better on ATi cards'.

Even games with the nV logo and TWIMTBP slogan can play better on ATi cards (like FartCry or UT2K4 [you can get a UT2K4 mod to make the logo ATi]), and vice versa for 'Get into the Game' games.

Being that it is based on HL2, it's not that surprising, since HL2 originally had a huge performance delta favouring ATi, but nV has done alot to optimize for the game and has brought performance up close to par (well as close as D3 for ATi which also optimized to achieve that).

For mofern games expect alot, but probably for older titles (sounds bad saying Morrowind is older) you may not see much change in performance unless there is a large following (vocal enough to matter) or it is a benchmarked/marketed game/test. You should find that the majority of situations your GF6800GT will play far better than your R9500P did, but still you may be somewhat limited by your system, but by the same token you'll be able to increase the AA/AF with little penalty (you may get 40fps at 1280x1024 with no AA/AF, but may also get 40fps with 1600x1200 with 4XAA/8XAF.

As for Far(t)Cry, it's a game that does slightly better on ATi cards than their equivalent nV counterpart, but like you've noticed your card plays it damn well. Personally I think that Vampires is just a question of optimization, and unfortunately system limitations (HL2 is far more CPU/system dependant than FartCry IIRC)

As for your CPU OC I'm no expert but I do know it will depend alot on what chip you got. The 2.4C is a very well know cpu for it's OC potential.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK