Is there something wrong with my GF4 Ti4600?

[noaxark]

I just got a new kick ass computer and I'm really happy, although there's something troubeling me. The Nvidia demos run at something like 15~25 FPS, and some games are not running quite as well as I hoped (i.e. Giants, which has a framerate that compares to my friend's old 900Mhz GF2 pro computer, or Jedi Outcast, which runs good, but not flawlessly). Is it supposed to be so?
My full specs are:
AMD Athlon XP2100+
512 MB RAM
80GB UDMA 133, 7200 RPM HDD (+ a slower 46 GB drive)
MSI KT333 Ultra ARU

Now, do you know any bios settings or other stuff I can change to boost the performance without having to sacrifice image quality?

(PS: I ran the games on 1024x768x32 with the highest possible quality settings, although without FSAA)<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by noaxark on 04/18/02 05:17 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Mnx4]

What drivers do you have? The newest drivers (the 28.80) aren't the best drivers for the card. Try to find version 23.11 drivers. Also, the reason it may be going slow is that you have it on max settings. Even top of the line graphics cards slow down on max settings for a benchmarking utility. Also, if you're interested in Overclocking, try to find an overclocking program like Nvmax or find the CoolBits registry tweak which allows you to change the speed of your memory and processor on your video card.
Here is a comparison of a ton of nvidia drivers:
<A HREF="http://www.guru3d.com/detonator-dbase-xp/index3.shtml" target="_new">http://www.guru3d.com/detonator-dbase-xp/index3.shtml</A>
<A HREF="http://www.guru3d.com/detonator-dbase-xp/index4.shtml" target="_new">http://www.guru3d.com/detonator-dbase-xp/index4.shtml</A>


"If you wear a turtleneck and a backpack, it's like a weak midget is on your back strangling you"

 

[chuck232]

Actually for GF4 series cards, the version 28.32 is the best ones. (I think) They were designed with a lot more optimizations for the GF4. The 23.11 works well with the GF3 and below cards.

 

[chuck232]

Also forgot to ask, what kind of frame rates are you actually getting?

 

[noaxark]

Well, I ran a benchmark on Jedi Knight 2 yesterday, using these commands:

devmap ffa_bespin
timedemo 1
disconnect
demo jk2ffa

These settings:
1024x768x32
High quality, no anti-aliasing.

Got 79.4 fps (max fps set to 200, and I've checked my drivers, to make sure Vertical sync is off)... If ya look at the benchmarks at these sites, you can see that similar machines get 100~120 fps =(

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/jk2/default.asp

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1608&p=9

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphi...acharts-04.html


I've heard people with GF4 Ti4600 say that they never get slowdowns. Well, I do (if slowdowns means FPS slow enough to notice it), so I'm suspecting that something is wrong here...

 

[AMD_Man]

Sounds like something is off, you should be getting amazing FPS in all current games. That 512MB RAM you're running...are they at the most aggressive settings? Is it PC2100 or PC2700?

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[noaxark]

unfortunately PC2100... did something stupid and didn't wait for the 512MB pc2700 ram to come out... but that shouldn't matter, as the FSB on the processor limits the speed of the ram, right?

 

[AMD_Man]

It doesn't matter whether it's PC2100 or PC2700 really, the performance difference is marginal at best.

However, make sure you have the RAM at the most aggressive settings. RAM at the slowest settings (default) is about 20% slower than the most aggressive settings.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[noaxark]

where do I change that?

 

[AMD_Man]

Inside the BIOS.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[noaxark]

heh, yeah, but where in the bios? which options, I mean. I've looked through the bios and changed everything that I thought would boost the perfomance, although I don't know much about those things...

 

[noaxark]

hmm.. there's something called 'Perfomance settings' in my BIOS. Can I activate that with no risk of destroying something?