Disable Advanced Graphics

[Skuzzy]

May I see the DXDIAG output again?

Do you have any wireless type connections to your computer (i.e. keyboard, mouse....)?

[Bino]

May I see the DXDIAG output again?

Do you have any wireless type connections to your computer (i.e. keyboard, mouse....)?

I can run another DXDiag tonight if you 'd prefer, but the most recent DXDiag is still here:  http://kenshelby.us/docs/DxDiag-2012-12-04.txt

No wireless connections at all, sir!   

The one and only USB data device plugged into the mobo is a powered USB hub for joystick, throttle, rudder pedals, TrackIR, webcam.  Both keyboard and mouse are in PS2 plugs.  One external disk in firewire port.  An Intel NIC in a PCI-E slot is how I hardwire this PC into my home network.  A Creative sound card in a PCI-E slot is hardwired via 3.5mm plugs into my headset.

[Skuzzy]

Something odd with that DXDIAG.

It shows two installations of the ATI sound card driver.  That is not good.  If you are not using the HDMI audio channel, get rid of those devices.

Which 7900 video card is it?  Are there two installed?  Crossfire?  Do you have a Crossfire profile for Aces High installed?  Where did you get it?  What settings it is using?

[Bino]

Something odd with that DXDIAG.

It shows two installations of the ATI sound card driver.  That is not good.  If you are not using the HDMI audio channel, get rid of those devices.

Which 7900 video card is it?  Are there two installed?  Crossfire?  Do you have a Crossfire profile for Aces High installed?  Where did you get it?  What settings it is using?

I'll take a closer look at the ATI sound driver when I get home tonight.

The single video card is an XFX Radeon HD 7950 (model FX-795A-TDBC).  Here is the PC parts list: http://kenshelby.us/docs/pc-parts.htm

When this "disabling advanced" issue first popped up I was running two x 5850's in CrossFire, with a CrossFire profile I created (no other option for Aces High), which worked fine for several months before I hit this snag.

Thanks for your persistence!   

[Skuzzy]

I am going to take a look at my DXDIAG from my home computer tonight.  Your DXDIAG shows 734MB of video RAM, with a dedicated amount of 3GB, and a shared amount of 1.7GB.

Something looks funny about those numbers, but I have a 3GB 7950 at home.  I'll check it out and see what the numbers look like.

[Bino]

Something odd with that DXDIAG.

It shows two installations of the ATI sound card driver...

I have 3 x ASUS VE258Q monitors connected, two via Displayport and one via DVI.  I think there's only one instance of the sound card driver, but two devices (monitors with speakers) that it points to.

[Skuzzy]

Ok, here is what my DXDIAG output for my card looks like.

Card name: AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series
       Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
          Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x679A)
           DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_679A&SUBSYS_3000174B&REV_00
     Display Memory: 2758 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 3039 MB
      Shared Memory: 3815 MB
       Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Note the "Display Memory".  Where did you lose 2GB?  A frame buffer only takes about 8MB of memory.  I am using an older driver.

[Bino]

Skuzzy, thanks for your attention to this, but I think it's time for me to just cut my losses and do a wipe-and-reinstall on this machine.

I tried to do the uninstall/reinstall dance with the AMD drivers, with the result that the AMD CCC is all glitchy now.  The CCC is *required* for setting up triple screens as one big desktop, as well as for access to the fine-tuning "overdrive" options.  And even after two full reinstalls, my DXDiag still reports those odd-looking numbers in the video section.  About the only thing that went right was omitting the install of the AMD HD Audio junk.

[Bino]

OK, over the weekend I did a complete wipe-and-reinstall of the machine.  No joy.  The error message I now see in Aces High is a bit different, though: "running out of video memory", followed by suggestions to limit anti-aliasing or other advanced options. 

BTW, immediately after installing nothing but Windows and the latest drivers from AMD, I ran DxDiag and still got that odd-looking memory number in the report.  FYI, it turns out that DxDiag is not a reliable tool:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2026022

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/direct-x-diagnostics-tool-dxdiag-may-report-an/3abc80d7-b92c-4dae-afd7-bb441a4a67af?msgId=cafdf0c6-2dfc-476a-ba58-e7a9734c9c05

Meanwhile, the GPU-Z utility reports, accurately, that my graphics card does in fact have 3 GB of video RAM.

[Skuzzy]

Bino, the problem is with DirectX.  That reported memory amount is what DirectX is going to use for its on memory management.  It does not matter if other Windows tools see all the RAM.  It also explain why you are getting the error that you card is running our memory.  When that happens, performance will suffer dramatically.

I am trying to understand why your computer is acting so differently from my home computer.  My DXDIAG output shows 3GB of video RAM.  It is a Sapphire 7950.  My computer also has 16GB of system RAM.

Something in your computer is causing it to behave inconsistently, as compared to other computers with the same hardware.

[Bino]

In that second thread on the MS forum, suggestions include looking at the "msinfo32.exe" output as well as "control panel...display...screen resolution...advanced settings... adapter".  On my machine, the results are contradictory.

Msinfo32.exe reports exactly 1 GB of video RAM (actually 1,073,741,824 bytes).

The Control Panel sub-menu reports as follows:

Total Available Graphics Memory:  4859 MB
Dedicated Video Memory:  3072 MB
System Video Memory:  0 MB
Shared System Memory:  1787 MB

And meanwhile, DxDiag reports this:

Display Memory:  734 MB
Dedicated Memory:  3043 MB
Shared Memory:  1787 MB

I'm really getting to hate nasty old Billgatus Of Borg.   

[Skuzzy]

The "Display Memory" is the number that is the problem.  It would cause the card to run out of memory pretty easily.

Did you try disabling the Aero desktop?  Disable Themes?

I am just trying to think of the things that might lock out memory from DirectX.  Are you running any custom desktop software?

There has to be a logical reason why your display memory is almost exactly 2GB less than what mine shows.

[Bino]

I always disable that Aero thing.  And I disabled Themes.  No change.

Your question about custom desktop (answer: no) led me to try disabling the AMD Eyefinity thing.  Also no change.

And remember, I started to have this issue back when I used 2 x AMD 5850 cards in a CrossFire setup, before my AMD 7950 upgrade, and also before adding an additional 6 GB of main system RAM.

It's especially puzzling since I did the full Windows 7 re-install with the current video and system RAM in place.

[Skuzzy]

Did you format the disk partition when you re-installed or did you install over the top of the existing installation?

[Bino]

Did you format the disk partition when you re-installed or did you install over the top of the existing installation?

I removed all the old partitions on both disks, and reformatted them.