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Hi,
Just installed a new Sapphire 9800 Pro card and haven't been getting the high fps I was expecting. In Counter-Strike 1.6 I get 45-50fps when action takes place, and about 99fps when looking at walls (800x600 res, fps_max set to 99). I've run 3DMark05 and my score was 1028. Below are my system details.
DELL Dimension 4300 - BIOS Revision A06
P4 1.6Ghz Celeron
512MB SDRAM
Sapphire 9800 Pro - Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6517
Page File: Initial Size 384MB / Max Size 384MB
DirectX 9.0c
WinXP: Service Pack 2
Before I installed the 9800 Pro I had an GeForce 3 Ti200. I've noticed my desktop and games to be 'slightly' soft/blurry looking. Is this normal for an ATI card? The picture quality is not as clean looking as my last card. And if I ponder for a while, the 9800 pro seems a little slower than my geforce 3 ti200 card (well, in CS1.6 I think). Maybe.
I bought the Retail Lite version of the Sapphire 9800 pro so there were no hardware install instructions. I clicked the card into the AGP slot no problem. There was a spare power socket dangling from the PSU that fits the card's power cable so I used it. I think I read somewhere that said I should use a socket from the harddrive to power the card, but I'm not sure on this or if it really matters. I get no freezes anywhere so I think the card's getting enough power and is installed correctly. I think.
Something is wrong somewhere, I'm sure. I don't like this 'soft' look the 9800 is doing in-games/desktop, and the fps is too low don't you agree? I'm sure my old gf-3 ti200 is faster...
If you need anymore system info then just ask.
Just installed a new Sapphire 9800 Pro card and haven't been getting the high fps I was expecting. In Counter-Strike 1.6 I get 45-50fps when action takes place, and about 99fps when looking at walls (800x600 res, fps_max set to 99). I've run 3DMark05 and my score was 1028. Below are my system details.
DELL Dimension 4300 - BIOS Revision A06
P4 1.6Ghz Celeron
512MB SDRAM
Sapphire 9800 Pro - Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6517
Page File: Initial Size 384MB / Max Size 384MB
DirectX 9.0c
WinXP: Service Pack 2
Before I installed the 9800 Pro I had an GeForce 3 Ti200. I've noticed my desktop and games to be 'slightly' soft/blurry looking. Is this normal for an ATI card? The picture quality is not as clean looking as my last card. And if I ponder for a while, the 9800 pro seems a little slower than my geforce 3 ti200 card (well, in CS1.6 I think). Maybe.
I bought the Retail Lite version of the Sapphire 9800 pro so there were no hardware install instructions. I clicked the card into the AGP slot no problem. There was a spare power socket dangling from the PSU that fits the card's power cable so I used it. I think I read somewhere that said I should use a socket from the harddrive to power the card, but I'm not sure on this or if it really matters. I get no freezes anywhere so I think the card's getting enough power and is installed correctly. I think.
Something is wrong somewhere, I'm sure. I don't like this 'soft' look the 9800 is doing in-games/desktop, and the fps is too low don't you agree? I'm sure my old gf-3 ti200 is faster...
If you need anymore system info then just ask.
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The 8x 4x only relates to bandwidth from card to rest of the system. It's not hampering performance that much.
You mention a soft look - it probably is that you have anti-aliasing and antistropic filtering at maximum, which would seriously hit the frames.
The 9800 is way out performing the GeForce 3, no question about it. Your system is old, so don't expect wonders. The Celeron is far from a good gaming CPU and SDRAM provides too little bandwidth. All that aside though, the 9800 should give better performance. With up to date drivers and things set right it will.
Oh and don't bother with a new motherboard. It's a Dell so you would need a new powersupply etc.
You mention a soft look - it probably is that you have anti-aliasing and antistropic filtering at maximum, which would seriously hit the frames.
The 9800 is way out performing the GeForce 3, no question about it. Your system is old, so don't expect wonders. The Celeron is far from a good gaming CPU and SDRAM provides too little bandwidth. All that aside though, the 9800 should give better performance. With up to date drivers and things set right it will.
Oh and don't bother with a new motherboard. It's a Dell so you would need a new powersupply etc.
But the thing that really puzzles me is this. Even with the rest of the computer holding back the card, it should still crap all over my old GeForce 3 Ti200 regardless. I just don't believe what has been said. That because the card isn't made for 4x agp it'll be slower than cards specifically made for 4x. I don't buy it.
EDIT: I know I'm repeating my self here.
P.S: I'm still investigating.
EDIT: I know I'm repeating my self here.
P.S: I'm still investigating.
*Cringe
Celeron ALERT!!
That CPU probably isn't quite upto the task of keeping up with the 9800.
As for the blurry effect - tinker around in the ATI control panel, it could be that antialising is set to very high and so is removing all the "jaggies" giving you that blurry look.
Celeron ALERT!!
That CPU probably isn't quite upto the task of keeping up with the 9800.
As for the blurry effect - tinker around in the ATI control panel, it could be that antialising is set to very high and so is removing all the "jaggies" giving you that blurry look.
WickedWare wrote:
> It's also designed to run at 4x, 2x and 1x agp. My system meets the
> spec for this card, I just don't get why it's worse than the old
> one...
>
> I've updated the chipset and the graphics drivers now, but no joy :(
>
> Getting performance of a Voodoo 3 / GeForce 1/2 card.
>
> £87 down the toilet.
>
> Wait a second. My last step will be to contact DELL and see what they
> have to say.
I'll give ya £40 for it.
> It's also designed to run at 4x, 2x and 1x agp. My system meets the
> spec for this card, I just don't get why it's worse than the old
> one...
>
> I've updated the chipset and the graphics drivers now, but no joy :(
>
> Getting performance of a Voodoo 3 / GeForce 1/2 card.
>
> £87 down the toilet.
>
> Wait a second. My last step will be to contact DELL and see what they
> have to say.
I'll give ya £40 for it.
WickedWare wrote:
> It's also designed to run at 4x, 2x and 1x agp.
It's not. It's made to be compatible with a 4x, 2x and 1x but it is designed to be run at 8x.
EDIT: And has been said, you're RAM needs updating.
> It's also designed to run at 4x, 2x and 1x agp.
It's not. It's made to be compatible with a 4x, 2x and 1x but it is designed to be run at 8x.
EDIT: And has been said, you're RAM needs updating.
It's because the card isn't designed to work optimally with a system as low-range as yours.
SDRAM is a complete crippler.
On my old system with a Radeon 8500, the performance jumped by over 30 fps when I switched to a different motherboard and DDR. If that's what it does to an 8500, what do you think it's going to be like with a 9800?
SDRAM is a complete crippler.
On my old system with a Radeon 8500, the performance jumped by over 30 fps when I switched to a different motherboard and DDR. If that's what it does to an 8500, what do you think it's going to be like with a 9800?
It's also designed to run at 4x, 2x and 1x agp. My system meets the spec for this card, I just don't get why it's worse than the old one...
I've updated the chipset and the graphics drivers now, but no joy :(
Getting performance of a Voodoo 3 / GeForce 1/2 card.
£87 down the toilet.
Wait a second. My last step will be to contact DELL and see what they have to say.
I've updated the chipset and the graphics drivers now, but no joy :(
Getting performance of a Voodoo 3 / GeForce 1/2 card.
£87 down the toilet.
Wait a second. My last step will be to contact DELL and see what they have to say.
A 9800 is designed to run at 8x AGP.
My brother had a similar problem. He has a Geforce 3 in his machine and putting my old 9600 in it made things worse.
Get a new motherboard. You can pick a decent one up for around £30.
My brother had a similar problem. He has a Geforce 3 in his machine and putting my old 9600 in it made things worse.
Get a new motherboard. You can pick a decent one up for around £30.
I thought I updated everything before making this post, but now I'm not 100%. I'll go through every driver once again and get back if I'm still having problems. The Cataylist driver I got from PC Zone was 5.3 by the way.
yeah chipset drivers. Same thing.
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