How do you open pipelines?

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lesman

2[H]4U
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Dec 30, 2004
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I've been reading the forums, and people are talking about "opening extra pipelines" on their graphics cards, how is that done, because I am interested! Also, does anyone know why the hell the demos that came with my graphics card don't run good? They run very slow, and since those are the demos that came with the card, I figured that they'd at least run good on the card. Thanks!
 
its not that great, its only a PCI card (dont laugh, please) but it actually works pretty well. Its an Nvidia GeForce FX5500 Verto card.
 
I don't know much about them but I doubt there are hidden pipelines on that card.
 
hmmm, alright, but does the problem i explained sound wierd? I mean, the demos are supposed to be made for that card, but they run like garbage!
 
The tech demos may run bad because you have the PCI version of that card.
 
man, i need a new card. in fact, i need a new motherboard. I've upgraded all except that. would a 256mb PCI card work any better? the one I have is 128mb. I doubt it would be much, if any difference at all.
 
Any PCI video card is gonna lack a lot. I'm guessing you have a mobo that doesnt have an agp slot? Dell/Compaq/HP purhaps? Invest in a new motherboard with an AGP slot, or if your feeling up for it, one with PCI-E.
 
It depends on your price range and what you plan on doing with your computer (gaming, word processing). PCI-E is the new and upcoming format, AGP is still a viable solution. for about $200 you can get a radeon 9800pro, that is a very nice card, or if you have enough money you can get a 6800gt for about $380, but I would wait for PCI-E if I were going to spend that kind of money. if your motherboard doesn't support AGP then you should get a new one, I would give you advise on a new motherboard but I need to know what kind of processor you have, as a matter of fact list your entire computers specs (PSU, CPU, RAM, Motherboard)
 
My computers specs are as follows. oh, but first, yeah, the computer was an emachines, but I decided to do as much with it as i could. new case, more RAM, round cables, graphics card, fans, etc, but the motherboard really isnt cutting it, I will definately go with the PCI-E capable. Ok, specs:
Intel Pentium 4 2.8 ghz
1gig PC2700 RAM (two 512mb sticks)
Lite-On All in one drive-DVD-+R/RW/CD-+R/RW
Seagate 120gb internal 7200 RPM hard drive 8mb cache
Standard Floppy drive
Motherboard specs quite unknown. FSB=???
Integrated LAN/sound output/printer/all the essentials.

So, if I do actually get another motherboard, will I be able to save everything on the hard drive? Is there any easy way of doing it? Because I don't have an actual copy of windows xp, it came pre-installed. I know I'll have to replace motherboard drivers, among other things, so how would i go about doing this?
 
I've only switched out a motherboard once before without formatting my harddrive first, and it worked fine windows updated the nessasary components automaticaly, but it is always better to formatt and reinstall windows with a major hardware change like that.
 
your system is all up to par except your mobo, id say go with a few mobo for sure. you'd see so much more performance. also, i duno how compaitble things are. im still learning about things but wouldnt u need to get a new case as well? to support the new motherboard?
 
lesman said:
man, i need a new card. in fact, i need a new motherboard. I've upgraded all except that. would a 256mb PCI card work any better? the one I have is 128mb. I doubt it would be much, if any difference at all.
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IMO a PCI 256mb card is a total waste of money. PCI is a far slower bus than AGP. Keep what you have now till you can upgrade, as there are no acceptable PCI gaming solutions out there.
 
got it. yeah, im gonna go for a new motherboard. well, i already solved the case problem, as emachines isnt too horribly proprietary with their equipment, so i was able to get a new case, cables, fans, extra USB's, RAM, etc, it was a beeyotch getting the card to work, though, as the integrated graphics got in the way. so, about that new motherboard thing, windows will automatically configure itself to the board? because i really dont wanna have to reformat everything. also, if i have to reformat, whats a good way to back up my hard drive? do i use windows, or should i use something else. i tried using the nero "back it up" program, but it really sucked, i must say. sorry for my lack of correct grammar and punctuation, as i am a lazy guy! thanks for your guys help so far!
 
If you have your own windows xp cd-key handy or if someone can help you locate it within windows, you could borrow a friends windows xp cd to install. Or you can try just switching out the motherboard. Like I said ive only tried it once before you might not have the same luck just swapping the motherboard with your original windows xp installed. Just make sure you backup your important files like pictures and stuff on to a cd before you try it. If you cant find your cdkey or you dont know anyone with a disk you can borrow be prepaired to go out and buy a new copy of windows xp.

You can buy a new copy of windows xp pro here but it does say you have to buy hardware with it maybe buying a thumbscrew with it will work i dunno.
 
hmmm. i will make my decision as soon as i get maybe a few more references. is it really that safe to just switch it up? how does windows know which drivers to use? i mean, as long as i use the same RAM, the same hard drive, the same everything (except the motherboard) then, im thinking, everything will go smooth. but then again, it might not. i guess i will ask my local computer authority people about this stuff. yeah, i know theyll probably charge me, or something, but im willing to do whatever it takes to get some impressive stuff going on.
 
holy crap, imbgetting a new motherboard no matter what. you know what i just found out? well, i ventured off to download cpu-z just to check things out, and guess what? eek, the FSB on the mobo is only 133mhz!!! ooohhh, sh*t that is horrible. one thing contributing to the demos running so bad is that the card runs faster than the FSB, and most of what is done in the demos is calculated by the CPU, therefore ultimately being slown down by the crappy FSB. yikes. im a loser, motherboard, you ae being tossed. im definitly going with PCI-E, because it doesn't look like anything will be replacing that anytime soon. thanks for the help though, folks, my mind is now set!
 
You would most likely need to do a format of windows when you put in your new motherboard. Seeing as how it'll be a completely different chipset, chances are it might not even boot into windows, and if it does, you'll probably take some performance hits and instability as well. Safe thing to do is to always format when swapping in major components, and it doesn't get any bigger than the motherboard.
 
lesman said:
hmmm, alright, but does the problem i explained sound wierd? I mean, the demos are supposed to be made for that card, but they run like garbage!
Click to expand...

the demos run slow because your video card is slow
 
but could everything on the hard drive be saved, or would I have to completely back it all up and restore it later? im just trying to get the easy way out, but i fear that may not be the case!
 
lesman said:
holy crap, imbgetting a new motherboard no matter what. you know what i just found out? well, i ventured off to download cpu-z just to check things out, and guess what? eek, the FSB on the mobo is only 133mhz!!!
Click to expand...

the FSB's on p4 motherboards are quad pumped, so that's 533 mhz effectively. i have a 400fsb p4 1.8 atm, beat that! :p
 
How about a GeForce6800. Any Hidden Pipelines on that?

And, can someone actually answer the question about how people do it and what not. I am more curious than anything.
 
abudhu said:
How about a GeForce6800. Any Hidden Pipelines on that?

And, can someone actually answer the question about how people do it and what not. I am more curious than anything.
Click to expand...

You might want to read the stickies in the Nvidia section, or search. Either way the short answer is yes there's a chance it will have some.
 
Only certain cards can have their pipes opened. For example, the x800 Pros just have 4 less pipelines than the x800 XTs. The cards are all the same really, but it's just what ATI does to them. On some cards the pipelines can be reopened, but some of them may have not had enough good pipelines so they make that card a x800 Pro and disable four pipelines. But sometimes it is possible to open those pipelines.
 
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