geforce 4 Problems

[SAS]

Hi all, maybe someone here can give me some help first my system:

Pentium 4 1.7Ghz
512 MB DDR RAM
Audigy Platinum Ex
17" Philips 107s Monitor
Win XP Pro
DTT 3500 Speakers
Creative Geforce 4 4400 TI
100GB Hard Drive Plus a 30 GB Hard Drive (30GB has the swap file, 100GB has everything installed)

In 3dMark 2001SE i get a score of about 4500 at 1024*768*32 in games i am getting a FPS of <25 no matter what settings i use, i am running the latest NVIDIA drivers.

Any Help Much Appreciated.

[wolfie]

hi
have you been in the bios and see what fsb your runnin?
you should be getting higher scores. i get close to 10,000 with my setup.

wolfie

[RJ]

Hi,

what mainboard do you have ?
If it's one with a VIA chipset, then you might need to install the VIA AGP driver.

RJ

[SAS]

hi its a Gigabyte GA-8IRXP Motherboard as far as i know its a Intel 845 Chipset, i cant reboot at the moment but next time i can i will check out the FSB but i think the CPU is at 400MHz, and the rest is at 100 or 133 cant remember exactly.

Thanks

[Blakhart]

Have you tried any of the refresh rate tools? There are several out there. I use nvrefreshtool, the only one to work for me yet. It also has a bench to check framerates in 16 and 32 bit as well as diff resolutions. It is under the extras tab, 3d settings. I was getting some 1250 fps in 16 bit no vsynch. I like this tool.
This may not address your fps probs, I feel that there is more to this prob. If it does, great.
Keep at it.
WHO DARES WINS

[SAS]

CPU is at 400 Mhz the FSB for the rest is 100MHz, and the PCI/AGP is 33/66

Blakhart yes i have that tool and have the refresh rate set to 85 evan using the benchmark built in i get a low FPS

[Blakhart]

Are the two drives on the same ide cable? It may be better to use one drive parted up as os and swap. I go with one drive, parted as 1 g swap and internet folder, 2g os, 20g games, etc... Use the faster one as swap and os. And then use the other for p0r err I mean data and whatever will not fit in the other drive. I am kind of wondering if the two drives have anything to do with the prob. If they are the same ata wise, you can keep them on the same ide cable. If not, they will run at the slower ata rate. Don't mix hard drives and cd types as they will run at the slower cd ata rate.
What driver are you using for the vid card?
Also, what temp does your cpu achieve in use?
Cheers M8

[SAS]

hi the 2 Hard Drives are on seperate IDE cabels and ports. The Vid card drivers are currently 29.42 The CPU is usually at 60 degrees (i know very hot) i noticed today it started fluctuating between 39 and 64 degrees.

I need to find out why its running so hot, but everything looks ok

[Blakhart]

This is odd. What is the wattage of your psu? Is there heat sink grease on the hsf? I am wondering if there is a mobo prob.
Right, keep at it then.

[SAS]

350W.
Yes the greese that came with the CPU, maybe i should buy some and add it?

[Blakhart]

Put both drives on the same IDE cable. You may want to put the swap on the same drive as the os is on for experiment's sake. This is easily done, as I am sure you know. The hdd's should be on the same ide as they will run at the same ata speed if they are the same ata. If you pair them up with cdroms and the like they will run at ata33, the speed of the slowest device on the cable.
If you do replace the heat sink grease, clean it all off the cpu and hsf. I use hot tap water and dish soap on both. A toothbrush can be handy here. Many use alcohol or other solvents. If you do it my way make sure it is rinsed well and let to dry. Please do not bend any pins... Oh yeah, washing the hsf with the fan in place is a bad idea!
If you get the chance, use artic silver or the equiv as the heat sink grease. Radio shack type will do nicely too. Only a tiny amount is needed, say a mouse turd (heh heh) in size on the cpu and the hsf. Smear it smooth with a plastic sheet covered finger or somesuch. It should be very thinly applied. Artic has instructions on their site.
I wonder if you have say fsaa/anisotropic/quincunx or any of that lot turned on? If so, turn it off as it is a performance killer.
Also if you are in 32 bit colour depth, try 16, it should be about twice as fast. With the card you have I dare say you will notice no quality hit in any games at 16 bit. If the games you are playing are run in d3d, try opengl instead. Just some ramblings for you!
Cheers M8!