Leadtek GF3 Ti200 probs

[Regurge]

Just got my new sytem up and running

AMD XP 1700+
Epox 8KHA+
256M Crucial pc2100 DDR
Leadtek GF3 Ti200
nothing overclocked

Im running W2K Pro and AH and Quake3 work, but arent particularly fast with FSAA on (i get 20-28fps in offline AH with 4xFSAA). The problem is when I enable Speed-runner to overclock the card. Even if I leave the stock settings just enabling it causes 3D apps to crash immediately on execution and show garbage on the screen. From that point on 3d apps crach regardless of whether overclock is enabled or not. Only way I can get them running again is to reinstall the video drivers.

I also tried installing the W2K/Nvidia refresh rate fix but it doesnt recognize the card as being a GF3 (which it obviously is).

I'm thinking I'll ditch the leadtek drivers and go with nvidia reference. I picked up the 14.10 detonators (from guru3d.com) Lephturn recommended but I'm not sure how to install them. They just unzip to a directory and I suspect they arent being used.

[ 12-07-2001: Message edited by: Regurge ]

[mason22]

did you try nvMAX for the overclocking. or there is another one out there, i think nvidia produced it, but i can't recall the name.

what res are you running FSAA in? anything over 1280x1024 wouldn't really be worth FSAA.

did you try a reboot after starting speed-runner? seems like instead of re-installing drivers the reboot should clear it up, as long as there is no "use settings at startup" turned on in speed runner. I've never heard of speed runner, i've always used nvMAX or the drivers from nvidia.

anyhow, i know that's not much help but...just my $.02

[Regurge]

Speed runner is just the name of Leadtek's overclock util. And rebooting does fix the lockup.

I went with nvidia drivers but now AH is screwed. It loads and runs but all the textures and polys flicker and jump around and get all mixed up. Its only in AH, quake and 3dmark2001 run fine.

nvmax doesnt recognize any nvidia drivers even though they are installed.

[mrsid2]

I'm using leadtek GF3 Ti200, 22.80 Detonators. You're right, nvreffix does not reckognize the drivers, you need to use the detonators.. They SHOULD work just fine.
If your card does not overclock one bit, you might have a problem otherwhere in your system, or you simply have a bad individual card.

My card runs like this:    

And offline it gives framerates like this:    

Online in normal combat enviroment framerates vary from 100+ to 60 in heavy smoke (v-sync off for testing, normally on, refresh 85hz)

What you need to do to install new dets is go to device manager (click my computer with right mouse button, choose manage and go to device manager..) find display card, remove the device, reboot (it will start in vga mode) after reboot, go to device manager again, choose display driver update and give the path to the detonator files you unpacked earlier. You can give the install path when computer starts to ask which version driver you should install and there is a 'have disk' button. Press that and give the correct path to the install files.

Do you have the latest 4in1 drivers installed? If not, go get them from www.viahardware.com.  Without them you can't expect anything to work properly in your KHA board.

[ 12-08-2001: Message edited by: Mr RiplEy ]

[bloom25]

Here's some things to check:

First - Are you running Windows XP?  If you are there is a bug with Windows XP that causes 3d games to lockup.  (This affects all systems running Windows XP, but not Windows 2000.)  If you are running Windows XP there is no fix for this yet, but my understanding is that it's on the top issues list for XP.

Second - Go into your bios and set the AGP aperature to 128 MB.  You may find this greatly increases performance on GF 3 cards.

Third - You did remember to load the VIA 4 in 1 drivers (www.viahardware.com - use all but the bus master driver is my recommendation) immediately after installing windows right?  (DO NOT - install video card drivers, or sound card drivers, or direct x before doing this step.)

4 - You know having FSAA on really hurts performance right?

5 - Did you remember to install Direct X 8a or 8.1 if you are using the newest detonator drivers?

[Regurge]

Thanks for the help guys. After dozens of re-installs I've got things about 90% working now.

Strangely enough, I fixed AH by reinstalling Win2000 Pro on a new hard drive. My install procedure was:

OS
Via drivers (4in1, sound, bus, usb)
Nvidia drivers
DirextX 8

For some reason doing that on a new HD cured the crazy flicker, even though the same procedure on my old HD didnt.

But in W2k AH was still slow as molasses, even with the refresh rate fix.

So I went and got XP and installed using same procedure. AH runs ok. With equivalent settings (resolution, fsaa, etc) AH framerate and 3Dmark scores are about twice what they were in W2k Pro. Closer to what I was expecting, but nothing like what Ripley is showing.

So now I'm left with a few niggling little problems.

1. Cant turn off V-sync so AH fps maxes out at refresh rate

2. Running 3d apps with Leadtek's overclock utility (Speed Runner) enabled invariably crashes the system, regardless of clock settings. Even using it to *under*clock kills it. But with Speed Runner disabled and the default clock settings things are ok. In XP just having the Leadtek software package (WinFox) enabled crashes 3D apps.

3. Nvmax has never recognized an Nvidia card on my system. And ive tried tons of combinations of OS and video drivers (both Nvidia and Leadtek). If Nvmax worked I would just chuck the Leadtek stuff since its been nothing but trouble.

4. 3.5" floppy drive thinks all disks are unformatted even when they are formatted.

5. Alt-tabbing out of, then back into AH causes wierd colors/textures. Have to restart AH to fix.

None of them are critical, just really annoying.

I tried setting AGP aperture to 128, there was no noticeable difference. #Dmark scores were the same as with aperture=64.

[Zigrat]

leadtek driver suck monkey balls, i have the same card as you gurgie. i would get the 21.83 or higher

[mrsid2]

Regurge have you tried removing your old HD completely from your system for testing?

If your HD is faulty, it may cause stability problems to the whole system. I had a cyrix board that drove me nuts because of random crashes. I cursed the machine and sent it back, it returned with the same bug.. Long story short, my Quantum Bigfoot was broken and caused crashes. Change of hd - and that box still runs as my mothers e-mail machine.

Epox 8KHA+ has got very good reviews all around, but as always, there are monday versions and you might be one of the unlucky ones.

[weazel]

Get 98Lite and use it to install Win98 on a dedicated gaming partition. Use the "micro" option and choose custom install during setup to remove all the trash below and more.

Active Movie
System Information
Windows Bitmap Tiles
Dr. Watson
Task Scheduler and Tune-up Wizard
Cleanup Manager
Direct3D  
Outlook Express
HTML Stationery
Readme Files
Internet Search
System File Checker
Application Compatibility
Sreen Savers

You can load Win98, MS Updates, the latest drivers, and AH with custom sounds in less than 200 mb of hard disk space and have better performance and stability than you ever thought possible from Win98.

Use XP for surfing and other non essential activities.  

[SunKing]

Ok I got a question I'm lost ..

About 3 months ago Bloom25 answered a question of mine and his said your frame rate will only goes as high as your monitor refresh rate in AH. So...how is Mr.Ripley get a frame rate of 214 online? Please explain this to me. Is there a way to bypass your monitor refresh rate controlling frame rates?

[mrsid2]

I said OFFline not online.. There is a difference.

You can bypass monitor refresh by setting vsync off. You can do that in some oem drivers and third party software like nvmax.

I use nvmax.

Be aware though that vsync off is not good for gameplay because it makes gunnery harder. A steady framerate is better for playing.

[SunKing]

my bad..   even read your post twice.