Geforce 2 mx400 64mb AGP

[southrk]

I am having a problem, in any game that i play, nascar 4, madden 2002 etc, the edges of everything are jagged. i have the latest direct x drivers, and the latest detonator drivers. on my old video card (geforce 2 mx 200 32mb agp) nothing was jagged, it was all smooth. any help would be appreciated.

[mike breck]

Hi Southrk,

Have you tried adjusting the settings for the Geoforce in Display Properties?

[southrk]

what would i have to change? they are all at the default mode

[mike breck]

Well for starters, you could try playing around with the different settings in Direct3D Midmap detail level. The settings range from best performance to best image quality. I have mine at "blend" but a different setting might be better for you.

If not already ticked, tick the boxes for Z buffer, enable alternate depth..etc

Try playing around with the OpenGl settings as well.

If that fails, and you cannot stand the the image quality, then you can always try reverting to the previous set of Det drivers that worked fine.

At least that would tell you if it's the drivers or the card.

Different sets of Det drivers seem to work better, worse, or not at all with different games.

HTH

BTW I'm running the 12.41 Dets on all my systems and they work fine with a TNT2 Ultra, Geoforce 256, and Geoforce 2mx.

[southrk]

Well, i just installed windows xp and installed the xp drivers from ndivia and i am having the same problems.

[mike breck]

Have you tried the most recent AGP driver from your mobo manufacturer?
If it's a Via chipset then try the latest 4in1 drivers.

I assume it's a fairly new mobo? Older mobos can have problems supplying enough power to the Geoforce 2. This usually results in lockups or crashes.

[kohlhk80]

I had this same problem.

You need to download the new detonator drivers. Besides the 50% increase in speed that they provide, they should also fix your problem.

then go to display properties. then to geforce properties.

Restore all the opengl and direct 3d settings to default.
That worked for me.

[southrk]

i have the latest detonator drivers, i got them for xp. I have a ep-8k7a mobo, ive tried reinstalling everything, changing everything to default and none of that changes it.

[southrk]

I just tried to install the new 4 in 1 drivers, and it keeps saying cannot find the software to install the drivers, are theses compatible with xp?

[Tiretool]

VIA 4 in 1 drivers are required by any motherboard with a VIA chipset, so let's hope Bill didn't make XP intolerable to the drivers.

Are you sure you're unzipping your 4 in 1 drivers to the same folder windows is looking for them in? Ideally, you should install WinXP, then the 4 in 1 drivers, then all the device drivers. If your card still acts weird after you successfully install the VIA 4 in 1 drivers, you should probably look at exchanging the card. Also, make sure you're using the right monitor drivers, and not the generic plug and pray drivers for it.

[southrk]

Now im getting frustrated, lol. I have tried all your suggestions, ive enen tried a new video card, and i still get the same jagged edges. Even straight lines are jagged.

[mike breck]

Try running Dxdiag in the Direct X folder. Does the card pass all the tests?

Are you getting jagged edges in the Dxdiag tests?
Are these jagged edges showing up anywhere else apart from your games?

I would try reinstalling your DX version again. Just run the installation program and it will overwrite the existing DX drivers. It is usually a good idea to do this if you update video drivers.

Other ideas: Try a different monitor. Try using the specific drivers for your monitor.

BTW I'm haven't got the games you mentioned but is this happening in
in UT or Quake3? These are benchmark games to test any graphics card on.
It's a long shot, but if this was just happening in the two games
you mentioned, it could be that both of them needed a patch.

[southrk]

i dont have ut or quake 3, i ran all the tests, they all passed, but in the test where the boxes spin the edges of them are all jagged. Ive tried reinstalling direct x8, the detonator 3 drivers for xp, the via 4 in 1 drivers, iver even tried reformatting and starting from scratch, ive tried a new video card, ive tried using my monitor drivers instead of plug and play. ive tried almost everything. I Have a 1.4 ghz athlon thunderbird on an EP-8k7a mobo with 256 mg ddram, geforce2 mx-400 64mb, 60g maxtor 7200rpm hd, kenwood true x 52x cd, creative 8x4x32 cdrw, sound blaster pci128, and the graphics look better on my old pentium III 450, 128 mg ram, geforce 2 mx 200 32mb, creative 32x cd. Im almost ready to throw my computer out the window, i get good frame rates, everything is just jagged, majorly.

[mike breck]

Yes,

I'd be frustrated too. It's what I call a process of tedious elimination.

If there is a card in the PCI slot next to the AGP slot, remove it as it shares resources with the AGP slot. Run DX diag again.


Is Anti-Aliaing enabled in Display Properties-Settings-Geoforce-Additional Properties"? If it isn't enable it. If it is enabled, try increasing the slider or settings. Anti-Aliasing is suppose to have the job of smoothing the edges of displayed images. I've never found it to have much effect on my systems but it's worth a try.

Some Bios Tweaks. Try one thing at a time and check results.

Check in Bios that the "Init Display First" or "Primary VGA Bios" is set to "AGP" and not PCI.

AGP Sidebanding - "enable" if present
AGP Fast Writes - " " "
Video Bios Cache - disable
Video Bios Shadow - disable
PCI/VGA - "disable" if present

Try adjusting the "AGP Aperture Size" in the bios. Usually the default is 64mb. Try 128mb, 256mb and 32mb. Changing the size can allow some games to run better and some worse. So you need a flexible approach depending on the game. In this case, see if it improves your graphics. However, don't put it any lower than 32, as that turns off AGP.

Check the "AGP Capabilty" (it may be listed differently on yours)in the Bios. If your card supports 4x mode, then changed it to 4x.
Also, I seem to remember reading somewhere, that for some cards, when installing the AGP driver in the 4in1 drivers you should install it in "Turbo" mode. If you don't, then you are running the card in AGP 1x. I don't think this will solve your "edge" problem, but it's worth checking on your card manufacturers site. Epox also have a registry tweak to enable 4x.

Try changing the colour depths and resolutions e.g. does the problem still occur at say 800x600 @ 16bit colour. Experiment with all the combinations and see what effect these changes have. You may at present, be pushing the card to the limits and suffering some graphical abnormalities in return. Some have reported graphic corruption problems running at high resolutions and 32 bit colour even with a Geoforce 64mb card.

Depending on what components are in your case, the card may not be receiving enough power. Try disconnecting all power cables apart from the mobo.
See if that affects the situation. If it does, you may have to upgrade the power supply.

I think you should still try to eliminate the monitor as an improbable cause. Borrow and try a different monitor. Borrow and try a different monitor cable. Just so you can eliminate these components.

In Display Properties-Settings-Advanced-Adapter is the refresh rate set to "Optimal"? This is the setting I use for all my Nvidia cards.
If it is set to Optimal then try "Adapter Default".
If that doesn't work, you may also want to check the maximum recommended refresh rate for your monitor and try setting that refresh rate in the drop-down list.


Strip the system down in the case to mobo, ram, video card, hard drive, mouse, and keyboard. Try running DX diag again. Is the problem still there? If not, then a PCI card (eg Sounblaster)could be conflicting with the AGP card.



If nothing works then give us some additional info:

What OS were you using before upgrading to XP?
Please clarify: Did this problem occur before you upgraded to XP?
What DX version were you using with the old card (that worked) and with the new one?
Which card graphic card is it (make and model)?

Was the second, new card you tried exactly the same make and model as the original or was it different?
If it was the same, try your old card, or borrow a different Nvidia card, and see if it's still happening. It may be that, for whatever reason, the make of card plus drivers does not work well with your current system.

I'm throwing ideas at you in the hope that something works. These are the things I would try myself. Sorry I can't be more helpful and give you an exact solution.

[Tiretool]

Thorough, solid advice mike, good to have you around!

Southrk, keep in mind that if you enable FSAA (Full screen anti-aliasing) you are going to suffer significant performance hits with an MX Geforce card.

[southrk]

ok, i have tried changing the bios settings, didnt do a thing, ive tried different monitors/cables, same thing. when i turn anti aliasing to x4 it just makes it worse, i have it set to "allow applications to control the antialiasing mode". ive tried 800x600 16 bit color mode. ive tried stripping my mobo. ive tried chanign my refresh rate, it is currently at 85 mhz, there is no "optized" in the list, its from 60-100 mhz, 100 makes the screen look really wierd. I have nothing in the 3 pci slots under the agp

I just built this system from scratch, fresh install of xp, no operating system used before it. I also tried a geforce2 mx 200 32 meg, and it did the same thing. I am now using the ABIT siluro geforce2 mx 400 64 meg.

[Tiretool]

You said this problem didn't exist on your old motherboard with the Pentium 450, this may boil down to an incompatability issue with the new motherboard. I guess anything's possible. Have you tried this video card on any other motherboards (other than the P 450 board)? If you don't have any other motherboards to test it on, take the video card to a local computer shop and see if they get similar results on any of their motherboards. Stay there and visually determine whether they are seeing the same jaggies that you are at home. If they are not, the obvious answer is the motherboard has a problem or is incompatible with that card. I was unable to find anything on incompatabilities with that card on EPOX's web page, and in fact I can't remember hearing of any incompatabilities in any of the recent reviews of that motherboard using an NVidia card. If you aren't prepared to return the motherboard or the video card just yet, try the above mentioned suggestions. I hope you find a fix for your problem.

[mike breck]

Thanks Tiretool. This is an unsual problem and like you I haven't come across it before.

However, I don't think it's the Abit Siluro, as you have tried the old Geoforce in the Epox mobo and that was showing the same graphic fault.

So, it could be a fault with the mobo e.g. faulty AGP slot.

Of course the other unkown factor here is Windows XP. This is new and I am sure, as with previous MS OS's we are going to find lots of bugs and incompatibilty problems. In a way, it is unfortunate you changed OS, as this is also muddying the waters in trying to find a solution.

What I think you should do (and you're going to hate me for this) is reformat and load your previous OS and see if the old card and new card work perfectly. Remember to load your OS, then 4in1 drivers (AGP in Turbo mode), then graphics drivers - in that order.

If the fault is not there, then XP is the problem and you will need to wait for a patch or service pack which will hopefully solve the problem.

I know it's a lot of hassle, but anyone who is a member of this Forum lives for this sort of PC hassle. We love hassle here at PC Mechanic! We all learn a great deal when something goes wrong. So consider this a challenge, rather than a chore, which is contributing to your computer knowledge.

Plus, it will keep other members advised of potential XP problems with hardware. If you just exchange the mobo or card for different brands then we will miss a good opportunity to troubleshoot this problem a bit more.

If changing OS doesn't work, then as Tiretool advised, have the card and the mobo tested by a local, reputable shop. At least, then, you can pat yourself on the back for trying everything you could to solve the problem yourself.

[southrk]

ok, i spent 2 hours this morning remormatting and putting 98 back on. I installed everything in the order you said. still jagged lines :(

[mike breck]

Sorry to hear that Southrk.

I read your other post about the peculiar noise coming from somewhere. You're not having an easy build.

Unless someone comes up with a better idea, I think the time has come to have the card and mobo checked. If you bought locally, then have them check. If you bought mail order, you can still have the local guy check them, tell you what's wrong, so you can inform the retailer.

However, it may be the local guy can come up with a solution.

If you are able to exchange them, then it may be better going for a different card/mobo combination second time round. You don't want to get exactly the same part and then find the problem still exists. Go to Epox and check which other video cards they recommend.

HTH

Mike.

[Hpro]

Do you know someone who is using AMD processor where you live - ask them to let you borrow the CPU for an hour or two - this including you sound problem looks to me like a faulty CPU - which can't handle the 3D-NOW I did made a post in this matter in the general forum a while back - may this helps..

[southrk]

The problem is, i have checked around to the computer shops around here, and most of them want $50-80 to even look at it, i cant afford that, building this computer has dwindled my checking account down to about $20. I had the chair of the computer science department here look at it, he couldnt figure it out, and a couple other professors, and they couldnt figure it out.

[Hpro]

I just responded to your post on the ----- SOUND problem --- follow the link there which I posted and download the utility and test the cpu for free.! you can do this on your own - if you have any questions I can assure you that here everyone is willing to help you...I also just responded to your email...

[southrk]

ok, I looked at the jpg/gif test, and both appeared identical.

i couldnt find anything to download, so i assume you mean the test on the page asking if the jpg and gif pictures look the same?

Thank you everyone for your help and support on these 2 posts, i hope i get t his fixed soon :)

[southrk]

Here is a picture of the jagged lines i was talking about. This is a screenshot from madden2002

[southrk]

here is another picture, this one from nascar 4

[Hpro]

OK I got what you mean . Hold on here it's about 2AM and 8AM I will call some of my friends - gamers to ask them what they think about this..so hold on there.

You could do this - http://www.madonion.com and download 3Dmark2001 and run it -let me know what kind of - statement you got about -hardware not supportet. It's a kind a huge file..20mb or so..

[mike breck]

Well I had a look at both pictures and while the slight jagged edges are irritating, at least you can still use the computer and game until some one comes up with an answer.

If that's the price stores are charging you'd be better to wait until you had some money and buying a cheap little Duron 600 to test Hpro's theory. At least you'd be left with a spare CPU for diagnostic work in the future.

As you don't have much money, have you contacted the retailer you bought the goods from? Can you send the parts back and exchange them for different makes?

Some people on these forums don't seem to have a problem changing parts with online retailers.

I'm not saying you should do it immediately, but it would be wise to check their terms and conditions just now. When does the return period run out?
I'm sorry but I am not familiar with buying goods in the US.
Because if we are not able to pin this down to one component, then it would be prudent to exchage the CPU, video card, and Mobo.

I am not being negative about finding a solution but I just want to ensure that you are left with a good fall-back position should we fail. Especially as you might not have enough money to buy replacement parts in the forseeable future.

[Tiretool]

southrk, you said you were using the most current detonator drivers so I'm assuming you're using the new Detonator 4 drivers version 21.81. If you aren't, go ahead and download them here (http://www.reactorcritical.com/download.shtml). Looking back on this thread, I wish I had asked you this way earlier. When you click this link, scroll down to where it says TNT/TNT2 (don't worry, these aren't old drivers. They just haven't updated the section heading in quite some time.) and pick the top drivers if you've still got WinXP loaded as your Operating system or the second ones if you've reverted back to Win98. Try your games out then and get back with us.

If that doesn't solve your problem, and you feel like trying something fresh, you can install DirectX 8.1 v3 (http://dvdxperience.online.fr/temp/interim3/DX81eng.exe) and see if it provides any change in appearance. Best of luck!

[Hpro]

One more thing before I go back to sleep - are this the only two games you have problem with? DID you go to the website of those games and looked for the Q&A? and eventually issues with the games on certain system and also for patches ?
If not then this would be the next step to do after you had run 3DMark2001 because this will take your computer to the edge of it's possibilities - I got with the same VGA you use on a brand new TUSL2-C Plll 1000 4025 points so try this and let me know - it's very hard to tell because I have no opportunity to sit behind your desktop.

And also in the pic you send me with the taskmanager I can't see the VOLUME control Icon - do you use SP live sound control instead?

I would try to turn of those apps running in the systray at once - I see you have Msn messenger running and also two three others - this I'm concerned about the sound which is still not solved -

If you don't mind go to START > RUN type MSINFO32 and click ok from the ACTION menu select SAFE FILE AS Information file and then send this to me - don't worry there aren't any critical data in there about you just if I can take a look at this file I may know what's going on and what's the trouble are...

I will post back as soon I had my gamer friend on the telephone..got to go to sleep have to be on the road 5 am..

[southrk]

http://gamershq.madonion.com/products/orb/?3d2k1_details.shtml
There is the link to my 3dmark2001 results, i got a 2691. From what i understand reading stuff in this site, this is pretty low for my system.

[southrk]

oh, and also this site is showing that i am running a amd 1396 mhz @ 133 bus, shouldnt this be 1400 at 266?

[Tiretool]

Did you take a look at my suggestions 3 or 4 threads back? They are really worth a try.

[mike breck]

Check your bios. What does it say?

You should be running be running at 10.5 x 133 = 1396. 133 is 266fsb and 100 is 200fsb. So in that case the site is right.

Multipliers don't always give you the exact listed CPU frequency. For example, my T/bird 1200266 is running at 9 x 133 = 1197. At a multiplier of 9.5 (9.5 x 133 = 1263) I would be overclocking it.


Were you still getting jagged edges while running 3DMark 2001?

Have you tried Hpro and Tiretools suggestions?

[southrk]

Tiretool,
Yes i am using the detonator 4 drivers for xp. and the latest version of direct x.

Mike Breck,
Yes there still were jagged edges in the 3dmark2001 but not quite as bad.

[mike breck]

Southrk,

Please confirm that you have a T/bird 1400 266 and not a T/bird 1400 200.

If it is a T/bird 1400 200fsb the fsb should be set to 100 in the bios instead of 133.

[southrk]

yes, it is 266 fsb.

do you think it would be beneficial to upgrade to a better video card? my friend has told me he would give me his video card that he just got from new egg (MSI StarForce 831, GeForce2 Pro, 64MB DDR RAM, 5 ns. Heat Sink, High Quality Fan and 4 pins TV Out Cable - RETAIL 4X/2X AGP, bundled with 1 S-Video Cable, 1 MSI DVD & 3D Turbo 2000 Utilities, on board (S-Video) TV-out, Retail Box.) in a trade for some things i have.

[mike breck]

Well you could ask him to let you try it first to see if it cures the graphic problem. If it does then you can swop.

As Hpro says, don't have anything running in the background while playing games or testing this problem. When gaming, I close everything down apart from Explorer and Systray.
Check Ctrl+Alt+Del and "End Task" everything else that is running. And shutdown any Virus Scanners.

Got to go to bed. Speak to you tommorrow.

[southrk]

when i am playing a game i have everything closed, all tasks.

I want to thank everyone for their help again, the amount of support i am getting on this forum is absolutely incredible, thank you all. Hopefully we can get these things fixed.

[Hpro]

Southrk
Ok I got the *.nfo file even it is corrupted I could open it in notepad
XP Systeminfo also states that the CPU is running at ~1396 Mhz
there is whatever no FORCED HARDWARE and it seems to be in good health - I'm not finished with going through it yet but I hope I have enough time this morning to do so.(because it takes a lot longer to read in note pad than it would when opened in the information format..never mind..no need to send it again.
I've just emailed the Picture of the game to my gaming friend and called him on the cell phone to look at it - waiting for his answer..
I also did a few other things in this matter which eventually will take a day or two to get something out - meaning a reply anyway as soon I get a answer on the problems then I will post back here and also send you a email..

Maybe one short note I just saw did you have anthings on the USB port? If not then disable the port in the bios this will free up some bios recourses and it may help with your mouse problem. Do also disable the legacy settings for the USB if not in use this I 'm concerned still because of the NOISE problems..

Will be in the city today and having a friend whose seeling Epox AMD's building the same system you have except for the Cdroms - and then installing windows and we might get some results..

So keep it cool and hold on it will not take that long.. don't get angry or upset at the system or whatever - I'm sure with the help of the pcmech guys around here we will be able to get to work - because it's only a computer made by mankind.

it's somewhat over 8 AM now an I hope that I have some good news by night fall.

EDIT
also use the following link mayit is some help to you

http://www.sports-gaming.com/downloads/patches/madden2000patch.shtml

EDIT 2
the following text I did send to the online helpdesk of Epox Europe since they always respond if there is a problem..togehter with your computer data (hardware as much I could find out of Systeminfo
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1. first problem we get a distorted picture on games like madden 2000 the surroundings of the players are jagged and even a clean install updating to the latest VDO drivers and also directX8.0 didn't help.
Exchanged the VGA to another and still the same problems -
2.Noise coming from the motherboard as soon the mouse wheel is used we get a high pitched noise ~1250 hertz from around the location where the CPU is located and also this happens with disconnected internal and extenal speakers.The CPU will spike to about 70 % as soon the wheel is activated and it will also be heard over the external speakers as soon the speakers have been connected to the computers speaker output.
If you like to DL the noise you can do this here:
http://www.thedebug.com/noise.zip
and if you would like to see the jagged area of the games you can also do this here:
Http://www.thedebug.com/jagged.jpg
This is a brand new Motherboard CPU VGA HARD DRIVE etc..
For a immediate response we like to thank you.
Chris Hess
Hess Computer

Edit 3
The mail beneath just reached me after posting the last EDIT..
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Chris Hess

This is an autogenerated notification to let you know your message submitted 9/19/2001 has been received and will be reviewed shortly by an EPoX representative. Please do not respond to this email as it is sent from an unmonitored mailbox. Your case has been assigned to our EPoX Europe branch (support@epox.nl). Case # 91919932

IMPORTANT: To prevent delays ALWAYS include ALL previous email text when making replies to technical support.

Best Regards.

=================================================
Technical Support
EPoX Computer
Web: www.epox.com
=================================================
----------------------------------------------------------------------

[Hpro]

southrk,
latest update on your VGA problem .. this below here is what my gaming friend just told me on the telephone..

First he made some statements about the picture

1.The picture isn't in High Color - Screen Resolution is set to low 640x480x256
2. Antialising hasn't been enabled in the Setting >Adavanced >Nvidia Settings = if set to default ANTIALISNG IS DISABLED you should mark the checkbox for it.
3.In the control option of the GAME the Screen Resolution possibly is set too LOW either 400x320x256 or eventually 640x480x256

He told me to tell you to take a look at this and set this to at least to 800x600x16bit or higher - he uses exactly the same card as you do and I will go over to his house later this afternoon as soon his back home and take alook at it -

He also noted that may your VGA adapter is defect so I told him that you already tried another one and the outcome is still the same.

Then he said so you should check the CPU.!

I will be back soon I have some updates..

don't forget to keep it cool...

[southrk]

I have the setting at 800X600 at 32 in the game, and ive also tried 16 bit, neither make any difference, and the antialiasing is set to "allow applications to control the antialiasing mode" if tried setting it at 2x and 4x, 4x just makes it worse.

in 2 of the tests on 3dmark2001 i was getting some minor christmas pocadots (red and green) and another one was really bad.

[southrk]

FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!

i just uninstalled and reinstalled the video card (4th time) and changed the anti aliasing to 4x, and this time it smothed everything out, take a look at this pic. but now a new problem has arison, my normal framerates of 70 have dropped to 35-40. is this normal when you change the antialiasing?

[Tiretool]

Southrk, keep in mind that if you enable FSAA (Full screen anti-aliasing) you are going to suffer significant performance hits with an MX Geforce card.

Remember me telling you this earlier in this thread?
Anti-aliasing makes that video card work very hard and takes away from it's efficiency. If you're not getting jaggies with 4X AA turned on, try lowering it to 2X or even turning it off all together. Also try bumping your resolution up to 1024 X 768. This might smooth everything out a little more, and the frame rate increase you'll gain by turning off AA will get rid of any choppiness or slowdowns in games when there's alot of video action and movement going on in your games.

Glad to hear you finally got it working!

[mike breck]

Congratulations Southrk!

You've worked hard on this and we're glad you got one problem fixed.

Now hopefully, Hpro might be able to shed some light on the noise problem.
If there's an answer, I'm sure Hpro will find it.

I think one of the lessons less experienced members, like myself, can learn from this thread is that sometimes with problematic drivers and/or devices you may have to try a potential solution, not once, but several times, before you can categorically say it doesn't work and move on to the next solution.

Also, when nothing appears to solve the problem, then go back to the beginning and work through the potential solutions again in case you missed something.

You probably have.

Anyway enough philosophy.

Well done Southrk.

[southrk]

thank you everyone for the help and support, it is greatly appreciated, i still have jagged edges but i guess i will have to live with them for a while, as soon as i sell some things i have i am going to buy a geforce3, i dont think i will have that problem then, lol

[mike breck]

Aaaargh! I thought we had it licked.

If you're game, let's try something else. I would like you download the latest certified drivers from Abit for this card. Then completely uninstall the detonators and try the Abit drivers.

Now these are drivers specifically designed for this card. Lets see how they affect the problem.

[southrk]

The latest drivers that abit has out are for w2000, i am using XP, can i still use the 2000 drivers in xp?

[mike breck]

Unless someone can advise otherwise, I would say no.

Pity, it would have been interesting to use Abit drivers. We tend to forget the card manufacturers drivers in our quest for speed but sometimes they can solve problems.

[Hpro]

Epox just has answered about your problem - they send me alos the latest bios update - so hang on I forward the mail for you..

[southrk]

thank you hpro, i will check it in a min

[southrk]

ok........ i updated the bios, turned fast write off, and changed the kbpo to enabled like the email said, nothing changed, except for the fact that i cant even get into madden 2002 now. in fact i cant get into any game now.

[southrk]

I also just realized, that after doing all this, now i have no sound.

[Hpro]

This mail has been send from the manufacturer of the board - I'm sure that they will not give wrong advice - so my question now is :

did you after updating the bios Load System Defaults and afterward safe exit the bios and restart and then go back into the bios to adjust the settings? If not then it must be done prior to boot to windows the next time..

KBPO = Keyboard Power ON
For the bios I can't tell - becaue i'm not sitting behind the computer - but I would go step by step - did you make the requested Backup of your old bios?

[southrk]

I loaded the optimal settings, then restarted. I am at work now untill 1, then i will be back in my room and try loading the defaults. Yes i saved the old bios like it asked. If i need to load the old bios how do i do that?

[Hpro]

The old bios has been saved as a *.bin file from whatever location you gave in when you Flashed the chip with the new bios - so do a *.bin on the media where you backed it up - compare the date this will reveal it..

EDIT
The mistake you made is that you Loaded Optimal settings before loading default settings - may you also reset you bios completley by removing the onboard battery for say 5 minutes this with a unplugged Power supply..

[southrk]

ok, got the new bios working, everything works ok now, except the jagged edges are still there, and i just got max payne, when i am in gameplay triangles pop up out of no where, it almost looks like an old time movie.

[mike breck]

Well triangles or tearing of images can mean the AGP aperture size needs to be adjusted or a corrupt video bios.

I would play around with the aperture size first as flashing the card bios is not going to be fun with the limited help available at the Abit "don't speak to us, speak to our dealers" website.

However, if it's only happening with Max Payne, then the video bios may be okay.

[southrk]

ok, i tried every one of the aperature sizes, 32, 64, 128, 256. Same thing in all of them.

[southrk]

ok, let me go through my bios settings real quick just to make sure i have them all set correctly.

AGP aperature - 64
AGP ISA Aliasing - enabled
AGP secondary lat timer - 20h
AGP fast write - enabled
AGP transfer mode - 4x
AGP always compensate - enabled
Video ram cacheable - disabled
memory hole at 15m - 16m - disabled
OS select for dram >64 - os2
Video Bios Shadow - enabled.

[Hpro]

southrk your post:

AGP aperature - 64
AGP ISA Aliasing - enabled HAVE TO BE SET TO DISABLED Read comment 1
AGP secondary lat timer - 20h
AGP fast write - enabled
AGP transfer mode - 4x
AGP always compensate - enabled
Video ram cacheable - disabled
memory hole at 15m - 16m - disabled
OS select for dram >64 - os2
Video Bios Shadow - enabled. HAVE TO BE SET TO DISABLED Read comment 2

comment 1 - since you are not using any ISA Cards in there sofore there is no need to enable this.
comment 2 - this is a setting to acclerate old ISA and PCI cards there is no need to enable this because all it does it will cause distortion to the picture when caching the VGA ram..

set all the way I corrected it and then let us know.

[southrk]

ok, changed these, but still the same problems
The triangles in max payne flash all over the screen, like on the walls and ground. But when i try to print screen to show everyone what it looks like, the triangles arent there.

[Hpro]

so then it's your monitor which can't handle this and not the computer try another monitor for an instance - do you have access to one? what kind of monitor you are using ? Brand name etc -?Do you have the monitor set to Plug & Play monitor in the Desktop Property setting - also do you have ACTIVE DESKTOP and or View AS WEB PAGE enabled ? If so then disable this first..

when you do a Print Screen and copy it to any picture editor are the Jagged edges gone? Send me a pic of it..

If you did set the refresh rate of the monitor to 60 - or 80 hertz then go up with it to 100 Hertz - if the screen becomes scrambled then just wait for about 15 seconds or press ESC on the keyboard..

This you have to change in the Properties of the monitor and be sure the have the BOX Hide modes that this monitor can not display is checked.. there adjust it to 100hertz - this is the vertical scanning frequency of the Monitor - I think this will get it done..

[southrk]

I have a 19" gem, and i have the latest drivers for it. i changed the monitor frequency to 100 (the highest) and it just made it worse. no, the jagged edges are still there when i do print screen.

Hpro, why cant i get to your webpage, every time i try to it says webpage not found.

[Hpro]

So if it made it worse then it's definately your monitor which for some reason can't handle it - In porpeties change the monito to Plug & Play - this will invoke WinXp Standard drivers for it and mostly matches all monitors on the marked .. try it..

I just clicked on the link here and My website was up within 2 seconds of time there are two of them
Debug Website http://www.thedebug.com
Hess Computer http://www.hesscomputer.com
both of them are operational at present time..
Regards
Hpro

[southrk]

ok, i just tried my roomates monitor, it does the same exact thing on his. I put the driver on plug and play, it makes it a little better but still not playable.

oh, and i got to hesscomputers, but it still wont go to thedebug

[mike breck]

Southrk

Are the triangles just appearing in Max Payne or all the games?

Hpro
Just a question.

"OS select for dram >64 - os2" - why have this enabled? I thought this was just for OS/2 operating systems? What's the advantage of having it enabled.

[southrk]

well, the triangles are just in max payne, but in all my games for example madden 2002, they players look almost like they have small holes in them, like you can see through them.

[Hpro]

Mike to answer your question - if you switch this to NON OS/2 then it will only see 64 Mb to cache - so if this is set to OS/2 then this means that Windows isn't affected of it..and that you will be able to cache the DRAM up to the full amount of ram installed on the computer - for Win2K and also WinXP not so for Win98 the upper limit is 512 - if I'm not completely wrong - if I'm wrong then someone please correct me..

[southrk]

ok, in max payne i changed the settings to 640x480 @ 16 and it took care of the problem, i get a triangle popup about every minute or 2.

[Hpro]

Boot into SAFE MODE OF WINDOWSXP then remove all - and when I say all I mean all OLD NVIDIA drivers from the system - get REGCLEAN - if you do not have it email me then do a registry clean and then DEFRAG the hard drive - Reinstall the original WinXP NVIDIA drivers for your VGA card and then test it again - this is a problem of the drivers or a problem with the GE-FORCE .! do you have a other one to try there? Does the card have a FANH on it and does it work? what the HEAT Sensor program tells you about the card heat - there on the install cdrom you will find the utility to check this out - did you install this?If not then I think you should give it a shot -..

[southrk]

ok, when i go into safe mode and go to remove my nvidia drivers, i go to display adapter and then remove driver, is this correct? no this card does not have a fan on it. ok, i just realized that the only time i get the triangles is when i am in a very larger room, when i am in the small rooms i dont get it hardly at all.

[Hpro]

first thing you have to do is
Go into Control Panel > DEVICE MANAGER > DISPLAY ADAPTER > DRIVER >DRIVERS DETAILS do print screen or note the drivers down which you can see in there..

Next.
Change your NVIDIA to STANDARD VGA ADAPTER and then reboot into safe mode
find all the drivers you have noted before and delete them one by one and also go to ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS and remove any related software from NVIDIA.

Then delete everything in the folder C:\windows\TEMP and also delete everything in the folder C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\Administrator\Local Settings\TEMP if you have set the admin acount to another name then this would be the one ... Note this folder is HIDDEN so you have to unhide it first..

Run Reglcean and then defrag

Afterwards RESTART AND INSTALL THE DEFAULT DRIVERS FOR YOUR VGA either from the NVIDIA CDROM or if there are Windows XP drivers or whichever you have..

HTH

[southrk]

ok, i went to change it to a standard VGA adapter and it is not there, i went to change driver, and let me select from a list, and then i unselected the "show all compatible hardware" and standard is not in there, all they have are all of the nvidia cards.

[mike breck]

I don't know about XP, but with Win98 in the "Update Device Driver Wizard" you enable "SHOW ALL HARDWARE" and click on "STANDARD DISPLAY TYPES" on the left-hand pane. Then click on "STANDARD DISPLAY ADAPTER (VGA)" in the right-hand pane.

Now the boxes may be slightly different in XP but it must give you an option for switching to a standard display adapter. Try it again.

If you're not sure about how to do something Southrk - just ask.
You won't lose any face on this site. We're all learning here and we like to help.

[southrk]

Nope, i dont think you can, i know how to do it in win 98, but for some reason in xp when i click "show all hardware" it only lets me pick from about 20 ndivia cards.

[Hpro]

Sorry Southrk - this time I messed up - Mike he is right, it isn't there in Win2K or XP as soon the adapter has been installed then there will be no standart VGA -

booting into SAFE MODE or VGA MODE will also cause the OS to invoke the Standart VGA..

Go to Device Manager and then DISPLAY > Driver >Uninstall this will equal it - restart - may you have to shutdown some of the SERVICES for it from Adminitstrative tools >Services - if, then it will tell you so.. the rest do as I wrote..

Be sure to remove all of them that there is no one leftover - and then reinstall the corrct one,

[southrk]

ok, i went step by step as you said, did everything, and still the same problem.

[Hpro]

this leads me only to the first and last conclusion -- either Your CPU or VGA has a problem - it isn't definately not the MOBO - did the pitching sound stop at all after you adjusted the bios as they told you from Epox?

3DFX rules!LOL never had any problem with Voodoo neither did I with the same adapter you use ..

I have another option for you even I know it is a stupid one - and I forgot if you already tested this but if not then try - set the GE-FORCE in the bios to 2x instead of 4 X and disable all accleration for it and then enable them one by one - you will have to restart several times but eventually it works - do you get any improvements - what the online help of the game tells you is there any issue with those games - at last I could think of it as a Incompatibility with WinXp but you wrote that this happen on Win98 also..

One more thing do you run this on OpenGL or direct Draw? Acclerated hardware?

Did you test it with directX 8.0 and are the drivers market OK there?

START > RUN type DXDIAG and click ok..

[southrk]

nope, sound still exhists. Im trying one last ditch effort, i reformatted and am trying 98 again, if that doesnt work im just going to be computerless untill i get enough money to take it to someone to look at. Thank you everyone for all your help, it was greatly appreciated, when i find out what was wrong i will let all of you know. Thanks again.

[Hpro]

don't give up that fast -

Strip the computer down to only what you need in there and this is VGA every other Add On's remove and then test using 3Dmark2001 and test using DirectX 8 if you still get the same outcome then OK - I think the best would be to sent the MOBO and CPU back for replacement because you don't have only one issue but two of them - the Noise and VGA so I don't think that this is a good idea to spend money on trying to have someone look at it - but this is your choice - since everythings possible has alredy been checked and rechecked again -

If it passes then add the sound first and retest - then add whatever you like but don't forget to retest.. only that way you will save money and also become successful.
Regards
Hpro
If I can be of further help just let me know..

[southrk]

ok, i just tried my roomates geforce2 gts and it worked like a charm, i think i got a bad Vid Card. i will be sending it back to newegg.com and paying the difference for the geforce3 i love credit cards.... lol if i end up not having enough credit left, which is better geforce2 gts or pro?

[mike breck]

My apologies Southrk,

You were right and I was wrong. That's the price I pay for sticking to Win98. I obviously need to spend some time reading up on these new fangled OSs.

However, thanks to Hpro, I've learned something new about VGA and W2K/XP.

So the current situation is:

1. The jagged edges problem seemed to sorted by the Bios update.

2. But either the bios update or the video card caused the triangles problem.

3. Another Geoforce card now works perfectly so that again makes the original card suspect.

4. The noise coming from the cpu area is still there and may be caused by a faulty cpu or mobo.

All things considered, I must agree with Hpro and strongly recommend that you exchange the cpu and mobo. For your own piece of mind, if nothing else.

However, if you can't or don't want to, then slap in a GTS.

You and Hpro have put a lot of time and effort into this and I sincerely hope, that with a new card, the graphics problem will be resolved.

[southrk]

GOOD NEWS! THE Mysterious sound is gone. I was stupid and only had the mobo attached with the plastic fasteners, as soon as i replaced these with the screws the sound went away. Hpro, if it hadnt been for you and the other guys i would still probably be pulling my hair out. As it ends up, i was almost at my credit limit, so i had to go with a Visiontek Geforce2 GTS 64MB with TV out. I got it for $105. I will be awaiting it in the mail. Thank you everyone for all your help. I will let you know how everything works when i get the card.