Radeon X800 pro not what I expected

D

dev1nsan

n00b
Joined
Aug 17, 2005
Messages
41
Hi all, first off let me just say that Im far from a computer whiz.

I just purchased a ATI Radeon X800 pro PCI-E and after installing it into my Sony RB-30 desktop the graphics aren't as great as I expected. After reading the reviews I figured this card would blow away my work computer which is a Dell 8400 with something like x300. My testing material is Call of Duty, the max setting I can set it is 1280 x 1024 which is the same as my Dell and the frame rate seems to be the same too. Only difference is my dell is connected to a 19" analog via VGA and this Sony is connected to a Dell 20" widescreen LCD via DVI (not sure if this would make any difference).

The only thing that I can think of that I mest up on is after installing the card, the CD with the software in it didn't seem to install the driver. So I uninstalled everything that the CD instdalled and went to ATI website and manually downloaded the driver and that seem to work. Could I be missing something by not installing some of the other software that came with the CD?

Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated because one of the main point for me to buy this card was to play BF2 with it. Ive tried the demo on my Dell and the X300 in it can barely handle it and if this card is no better than that that, I might as well return it or sell it. :(
 
hmmm... that card should blow the x300 out of the water. what are both of your system specs? also, did you make sure you unisntall all of the old drivers? do you have a strong enough powersupply?
 
I guess that card can enable you a true widescreen resolution rather than 1280*1024, also with high AA and AF levels. As for the framerate, you can test it with FRAPS which you can get it from here.
 
dev1nsan said:
My testing material is Call of Duty, the max setting I can set it is 1280 x 1024 which is the same as my Dell and the frame rate seems to be the same too.
Click to expand...
Unless there is a COD Configuration or Auto Configure utility (in the start -> run -> progrmas menu) you may need to re-install the game (after saving your game save data) to see if it will detect the new video card.
 
Okay the specs on the Sony are ( don't laugh if some of the terms arn't correct)

Intel pentium 4 530J HT
3 ghz
1 gig of ram
200 hd
came with integrated graphics card

The Dell
3.2 ghz
1 gig of ram
160 HD
not exactly sure what graphics card but it was something like X300


I used that Fraps program and I got a pretty consistent 60 fps on Call of Duty multiplayer with 1280x1024 setting.

what is V-sync?

Thanks for all the help guys
 
Your cpu is the limit , not the vga , that's why you're not seeing a huge difference.
The X800pro would barely notice if you upped the resolution to 1600x1200 (or much higher) with massive amounts of AA and AF.
The X300 would notice...

Vsync tries to synchronize the frame output of your video card with the refresh rate of your monitor.
If your monitor has a 60hz refresh rate , then Vsync will limit the vga to 60fps , as long as it is powerful enough to output 60fps or higher.
That is , even if your vga can give you 500fps it will be limited to 60fps.
If it can't give 60fps , then it will drop to half (30fps) outputting a frame on every other scan of your monitor.
Triple buffering changes that , but that's a different story.
Benchmarking with Vsync On is a very big no-no.

Use a newer game , CoD is extremely easy for any modern video card.
Try something like doom 3 , HL2 , farcry or the fear demo and watch as the X800pro demolishes the X300.
 
Wonder if the internal graphics was disabled in bios along with using Driver Cleaner to get rid of the drivers for the internal graphics. Seems obvious but you do say your not a techy.
 
O.K. im at work now, my Dell actually has a X800 Se and I ran the fraps program on my Dell and I get a pretty consistent 60 fps but for some reason it seems to run just a tad bit smoother.

Apocalypse: I have no idea what you just said about V-sync. So you think my CPU is limiting the card.

Wrangler: I called Sony and asked them how to disable the internal graphics before I installed the Radeon and the rep said that it would automatically uninstall itself, I asked him a couple of other questions and he really didn't seem like he knew much about the product, O well the graphics card is definitely in their because before I couldn't even pull up the menu on Brothers in Arms and now im playing at 1280 x 1024. Im wondering if I installed the right driver, it looked like the driver I installed was a generic Radeon driver. I use the ATI uninstaller before installing the card, is that enough. Where do I go to use the driver cleaner?
 
The sony might be CPU limited. Also the X800SE is probably maxing out the game which is also CPU limited so ofcourse you would have the same FPS.

Try playing BF2 with the X800Pro, should be fine. My computer right now with an X800XL works fine with BF2 at all high settings even at 1280x1024(manually change the res).
 
If he is getting a damn near constant 60FPS in a DX7 game than odds are he has Vsync on.

While you are playing, and getting constant good frames like that I would say Vsync is definately the way to go. However, if you are trying to compare cards or system performance. Then:

1) Get a newer (and more demanding) game

and,

2) Turn off Vsync
 
how do you turn off V sync? When I get home tonight I'll download BF2 Demo and I'll post the result here, My work computer with the X800 SE can barelly handle it at 800 x 600 or something like that.
 
Update: I guess to turn off v-sync you have to do it in game option, well for COD I was getting a constant 91 fps after i turned it off, but still can only max my setting at 1280 x 1024.

I got home and downloaded BF2 Demo on my home computer with the X800 pro and I put the video at 1280 x 960 @75 hz, which is the highest option listed ( not sure if it's because it's a demo) and I get between 55 -75 fps which isn't bad at all. Im pretty sure I wasn't able to do this on the Dell at work with the X800 SE.

It seems weird that I can't put higher setting in COD though?

well regardless now I am happy with my upgrade, thanks for all the help
 
As for setting higher than 1280x1024, it sounds like you don't have the monitor drivers installed. Go to Windows control panel and click on display, click the settings tab. If it says "plug and play monitor" you should try and locate drivers for your monitor.
 
dev1nsan said:
Update: I guess to turn off v-sync you have to do it in game option, well for COD I was getting a constant 91 fps after i turned it off, but still can only max my setting at 1280 x 1024.

I got home and downloaded BF2 Demo on my home computer with the X800 pro and I put the video at 1280 x 960 @75 hz, which is the highest option listed ( not sure if it's because it's a demo) and I get between 55 -75 fps which isn't bad at all. Im pretty sure I wasn't able to do this on the Dell at work with the X800 SE.

It seems weird that I can't put higher setting in COD though?

well regardless now I am happy with my upgrade, thanks for all the help
Click to expand...
I don't know much about Battlefield 2...but this little thought int he back of my head tells me I've seen a complaint on the forums from 17 and 19" LCD users who can't run the game in their LCD's native 1280x1024 5:4 resolution without manually modifing a config file somewhere.
 
dev1nsan said:
Wrangler: I called Sony and asked them how to disable the internal graphics before I installed the Radeon and the rep said that it would automatically uninstall itself, I asked him a couple of other questions and he really didn't seem like he knew much about the product, O well the graphics card is definitely in their because before I couldn't even pull up the menu on Brothers in Arms and now im playing at 1280 x 1024. Im wondering if I installed the right driver, it looked like the driver I installed was a generic Radeon driver. I use the ATI uninstaller before installing the card, is that enough. Where do I go to use the driver cleaner?
Click to expand...

http://www.drivercleaner.net/
^^Get driver cleaner here.

What is the internal graphics chip on the Sony. Intel, S3, Ati or nVidia. Whichever it is you need to select that companies name in driver cleaner and let it get rid of the old internal graphics drivers and while your at it, wipe out the Ati and re-install.

I'm pretty sure your gonna need to go in the bios and disable the internal graphics. There might be a bios that does it automatically, but I've never seen it and like you say, the guy didn't sound like he knew what he was doing.

Once your sure that the internal graphics is disabled and the drivers for it are gone and you've re-installed your x800 drivers........if you still have problems, you might just have a bad card. Turning off v-sync is done in the Ati menu where you have the opportunity to select application controlled or always off. Right click on the desktop-select "properties"-select "settings"-click on advanced-then click on Ati tab and look around. You'll find all the settings you could ever want.
 
He said that on his computer at home he has a 20" widescreen.

It wouldn't surprise me if 1280 x 960 is the max resolution for that thing seeing that my 23" widescreen as 1920 x 1200. Actually, no, that makes no sense since he can also play at 1280 x 1024. Are you sure it's a widescreen? 20" is an unusual size for a widescreen.
 
Sorry I wasn't being specific, just figured people knew what I meant from the first post when I said the 20" widescreen from Dell, Im talking about the Dell 2005 fpw which is 20.1" i think.

wickeddl: Im at work now so I can't check but I'm pretty sure it said plug and play monitor, so if it is I will try to find the right driver for it.

Wrangler: thanks for the link, Im gonna do everything you said just to make sure I have this thing installed correctly
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top