Just got my new G card - 9800XT 256Mb =)

So i thought i would download the Far Cry demo to test out the system in preperation of my receiving my ordered copy of Doom 3....
To my disappointment it is pretty glitchy, jumpy and every now and again there is like a 2-3 second pause. (btw all video options set to Medium with no AA AND 1024 X 768 RES)

I have been using Fraps to see my frame rates - they jump all over the place - between 75 and 2 - well weird!

I would have expected that with my old card (Geforce 3) but not with the new beast!

I have been running UT2004 on all its highest settings and with AA + AF and had no problems...

Maybe Far Cry doesn't like my setup but it more than meets the requirements as shown here:

http://farcry.action-arena.com/pages/specs.asp

I hope Doom 3 runs ok (hopefully on High) as thats why i got the new card, relevant spec:

Athlon 2200 xp
512DDR 2700
9800XT 256MB

Anyone got any ideas?

Your CPU is the bane of your system there, Before I say anything else the Far Cry demo's code is different to that of the full game, if you do a google you will see the difference in benchmarks and articles between the 2. The full game there will be a performance increase. But anyway your CPU needs upgrading :P But a rule of thumb for anyone with performance issues is:

Update motherboards BIOS
Update to latest Graphic card drivers (or check out some benchmarks of the latest drivers to see if they will increase your performance or not)
Update your sound card drivers
Run windows update and get the latest service packs etc...
Check the games website for a new patch for the game in question
Scan disk
Defrag

Then if you feel your system is adequate for the game and still not running it well, then check your bios and make sure everything is set up how it should be, a good place to check for advice is your motherboards makers website 99% of them have forums with advised bios settings and will give you advice if you post on there.

Yep as Goat man said your CPU is the bottle neck here.

Mind you even if you have the top CPU, it will still be your bottle neck because they are not evolving quite as fast as GFX cards are at the mo. So all these new Generation cards are going to be disadvantaged from the off anyway !!

Yeah all my drivers are up to date and as i said UT2004 runs perfect on its highest setting so no sure its my systems fault......

Yeah i need an upgrade, planning on getting an Athlon 64 3400+, 1GB PC3200 RAM and a 500w PSU but cos i have just bought the G card I am now skint :(

I should get Doom 3 tommorrow, it better run ok or i will be gutted!

DK199, it will run but not as well as your expecting it to. Your CPU is old hat my friend anything less the a AthlonXP 2800 or a P4. 2.6ghz CPU is no good for the next generation of games

Yeah i know the CPU is over 2 n a half years old now, but cos i am a student upgrades are few and far between = got a car and a social life to pay for.

I posted this prob on a far cry forum and they were like - it should run fine on high settings on that setup - re-install the drivers......i only installed the drivers like 2 days ago and they are the latest so i dunno.

I just hope its a dodgey demo and no reflect my systems performance for the 'next gen' games cos i am really looking forward to Doom 3 and HL2!!!

Anyone got a spare cpu? my motherboard can take a 3000xp :)

DK199, Right with that CPU if your wanting to run games like far cry and doom3 on high settings your going to have to change your resolution to 800x600 instead of 1024x768 if you want to have the detail and everything set to high...thats the only way these games will run satisfactory on your setup with that CPU

On another note, I don't know what motherboard you are using but with a series of nforce 2 boards there is a little bug when you look at clock ratio in BIOS and if its set to auto change it to 1:1, sound silly but for MSI boards in particular you get a extra 2000 marks in 3dmark just by setting that alone. Also another very easy and simple change to your BIOS is your memory timings. If you have a check of it and see what CAS speed you are running, I'm guessing its set to '3' turn it down to 2.5 and again you will see another 2000 marks on your 3dmark score.

Anyway if you want a few more tips pm me or what ever and I will talk you through it more in depth on your BIOS settings and things.

Also if you look on ebay people are selling their athlonxp 2500 bartons for around £50, the special things about these bartons (If you arent sure ask the person for the numbers on the chip itself and if the CPU is unlocked, if you are still not sure ask me and I will find out) anyway the special thing is if they are unlocked you can overclock them to a AthonXP 3200 safely using a normal heatsink :)

Thanks Goat Rider your insight is much appreciated

I have managed to get my FPS to a respectable level average of about 40. I have AA and AF set to 4x, when they were disabled - my FPS shot up :)

Got Doom this morning, got it running pretty good with Medium setting 1024x768 with all the special effects, lighting etc on. No AA or anything but no that bothered. High is a bit too sluggish and I don't wanna drop my res to 800x600.

I did have a problem with it crashing/freezing every 10 mins but I managed to fix it by disabling 'override'. (Btw it scares the sh*t outta you - big time!)

I can build PC's, Fix software, setup and maintain medium sized networks but overclocking I haven't yet dabbled in. The main reason is the chip I have runs at 40c idle according to hardware doctor (system is at 47c and this is with 6 case fans!) with a stock cooler and I am too lazy to go get a good heat sink/fan and start adjusting the multiplier/bus speed etc plus I am don't really know what I am doing and don't wanna risk damaging my system. Plus according to ATI control panel the G card is 64c at idle - not wanting that to go much higher!

The thing that pisses me off about my chip is that it only has a 266mhz FSB while my memory runs at 333Mhz so then it gets downgraded so everything runs at 266mhz :(

That’s why I want an Athlon 64 3400+ and a GIG of pc3200 - they would speak to each other at 400 MHz - huge increase in performance. Also need a new PSU - mine is only 300w :(

Motherboard is an Abit KD7 with the latest bios.

Hey anything above 24fps is good anyway

remember your eyes see at 24 fps anyway :)

don't frame rates less than fourty give you tired eyes and the potential for eye strain injuries though? Or is that an urban myth?

i dont know dom.

I know that low refresh rates do that though.

Yeah, low refresh rates on a monitor can really fuck your eyes because of the flicker. If you spend a long time in front of a screen you're best off with an LCD.

Yeah my desktop is always set at 75hz which is the max my LCD can handle, i notice a big difference if its only at 60!

Doom FPS jump about quite a lot but its pretty smooth, it is clear to see tho when it drops like 20 frames you get a split second pause which is a bit annoying but guess i will just have to put up with it.

Ok, decided that there is no much point having the 9800XT without some CPU juice behind it so i think it might be time for an extension in the old overdraft.

I have been shopping for hours and think i have found the best setup:

AMD 3000XP OEM - £85
Coolmaster Jet 7 Heatsink/Fan - £24
Thermaltake 480w PSU - £50
1 x 512MB DDR 2700 - £53
Total = £212

They are all courtesy of dabs.com - cheapest on 3 of 4 - but will save more in delivery charges and therefore be cheaper overall.

Reason for the chip is its the highest my MB can support and another 512 of mem will mean i will then have 1 Gig of RAM :D

I think that will give me a huge increase in performance and hopefully far cry and doom will run on high everything without a prob.....
Just hope the bank manager agrees! :D

Personally I would future proof your system a little more, What I mean by that is the time of the 32bit CPU is coming to an end, and now games and applications are being released that use 64bit CPU's to their full potential it is a massive leap from the current 32bit CPUs even at the same clock speeds.

For examples of their increased performance even in old software such as Quake3 and also in the newer environments take a look here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040106/athlon64_3400-05.html#opengl_benchmarks

As you can see the 64bit CPU even at the same clock speed as a normal 32bit CPU (the one you are currently looking at) there is quite a massive performance increase.

On another note about future proofing. If you planned to upgrade again say in a year you will have to by a brand new motherboard and CPU just because 32bit CPU's will no longer be in production. So if you upgrade to a 64bit CPU and motherboard you will be able to upgrade just the CPU instead of both the CPU and motherboard.

Hence why I would go for this.

AMD Athlon 64 3200+
MSI K8T NEO-FSR Mainboard
PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB
Plus heatsink and Fan

All for the price of £251

You would have faster RAM and a excellent CPU and motherboard that is future proof and will last you far longer then what your currently trying to buy. So for £50 more its the best deal in the long run.

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=118126&cks=PRL <-- thats the deal im talking about :)

Yeah i was wanting to aet an AMD 64 but as you said i have to change from a scoket A to a socket 754.

I was looking to get the biggest 'bang for buck' and that was the cheapest i could find for the biggest performance increase without changing the motherboard.

That is a good deal, although i need a new PSU so add another £50 onto that and your talkin £300.

Also I would like 1gig RAM but i don't think it would be wise adding my existing RAM to that configuration as that would lower the FSB to 333Mhz would it not?

However i do like to think the performance increase over my current set-up will be massive :D

Think i will go to da bank tomorrow and see what my budget will be to spend with.

There will be a increase but in the end you will be forking out more money in the long run :) But if your happy then so be it hehe

Had a look at Komplett payments - only accepts Mastercard or Visa.... i only have a Switch - don't trust myself with a credit card plus cos i am a student i would prob struggle to keep up the payments and be even skinter than i am now.

However i looked at dabs.com and if you buy an Athlon 64 3000 with the same MB and double the ram (i.e. a gig) its £303 delivered which sounds ok.

The only problem being is that i desperatly need a new PSU - my crappy 300w Mercury thing i have just know will prob over-load and shutdown my pc.

Any ideas - i know Q-Tec are the cheapest i.e. 550w for £30 but they are not good according to the reviews :(

Anyone know where i can get a cheap 420w+ PSU?

I'm using this http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=129219
and it works perfectly powering my system with all this:

AthlonXP 64 3400
512mb PC3200 DDR Ram
Radeon x800 PrO
Liteon DVD writer
Creative CD Writer
3 USB ports all being used by mouse,bluetooth dongle and webcam.

And it works perfectly for me even with all that stuff in.

looks pretty good for the price.

It says 8 x Pheripheral Power connector is this the number of molex connectors?

Nice system BTW, not wanna get another 512 of RAM?; heard you need that amount if you wanna run the next gen games at the highest setting.