Author Topic: AIW 9700 refresh rate help please (Read 588 times)

San · « **on:** March 09, 2003, 12:48:17 PM »

I bought and installed the ATI AIW 9700 PRO yesterday. I was very carefully removing all Nvidia drivers and the install went very well. I used the Catalyst 3.1 Driver Suite from ATIs webpage. My only problem seems to be the refresh rate is locked at 60. I looked around a few forums for some fixes but cant get them to work. Even with vsync disabled when I first start aces high I might see frames as high as 80 to 85 but after a few seconds the frames start coming down and eventually settle right around 60 FPS

Heres what I have tried
Rage 3d tweak V3.8
Dirx refresh-rate override under monitor properties

My system
Athlon XP 2100 O/C 13x140
Thermalright AX-7
Lian-Li PC-60
430W Enermax Power Supply
Crucial 512 PC2100 CAS 2
Asus A7V333R
Windows XP Pro SP1 with DX9
SONY CRT MONITOR CPD-E540
Maxtor Twin 60s Raid 0
Lite on 24x Burner
ATI AIW 9700pro
Creative Audigy Gamer
Z-560s

Vermillion · « **Reply #1 on:** March 10, 2003, 06:55:57 AM »

San, you also need the "ATI Control Panel" as well as the Catalyst 3.1 drivers. This is available from the ATI website as well.

Once you install that, you can adjust your refresh rates.

San · « **Reply #2 on:** March 12, 2003, 12:59:36 AM »

Verm

It was installed forgot to say so.
I did a fresh install of windows on sunday and I guess its better
Although I am not getting the frame rate I expected. If any one has about the same systems as me could you post your frame rates in 1200x1600. I am getting 85 in flight and 55 to 60 on the runway. Not really bad I am not complaining I just expected a little more.

Athlon XP 2100 O/C 13x140
Thermalright AX-7
Lian-Li PC-60
430W Enermax Power Supply
Crucial 512 PC2100 CAS 2
Asus A7V333R
Windows XP Pro SP1
SONY CRT MONITOR CPD-E540
Maxtor Twin 60s Raid 0
ATI AIW 9700pro
Lite on 24x Burner
Creative Audigy Gamer
Z-560s

Siaf__csf · « **Reply #3 on:** March 12, 2003, 02:53:12 AM »

You can't expect to get any higher fps at 1600x1200 and Gf3ti200.

Vermillion · « **Reply #4 on:** March 12, 2003, 06:51:55 AM »

San, I haven't run AH since I got my 9700 Pro, so I can't compare framerates with you. You might ask around some to see who has a similar system.

Shane · « **Reply #5 on:** March 12, 2003, 07:55:33 AM »

seeing as how his fps seems locked at 60, it might be the monitor refresh locking in that rate at that resolution.

also, in win XP, under display properties, the "use DCC info" might
be checked and is holding him to what the monitor supports. that can be unchecked and overridden, but.... ymmv.

i'm putting my money on the monitor being the choke-point.

hmm nice... 21" huh? it says suggested refresh at 1600*1200 is 85hz.

i'd double check to see what the settings in display properites are. you might need to use the .inf files from the manuifacturer, win xp is a slightrly different beast than win98 when it comes to handling monitors.

San · « **Reply #6 on:** March 12, 2003, 02:25:13 PM »

Siaf__csf

Bad cut and paste it's an ATI all in wonder 9700.

Shane

Yeah the Sony monitor is very nice. One of the reasons I bought it was for the refresh rate at 1600x1200. My old veiwSonic A90 was limited to 60 at 1600x1200.

I have tried every combination of settings in ATI's control panel including DCC info unchecked and manually setting refresh at 85.

I have came up with some very odd results

My framerates do not change regardless of what resolution I am running Aces High in. Changing the quality settings in the D3d panel Anti-Aliasing or Anisotropic filtering have no affect on frame rate either. I cant even get a difference by turning Vsync off.

I am using Mindanao Rook Cv with a Hellcat with engine running at 1600x1200 as a benchmark. So if any 9700 users want to post
your FPS it would really help me out.

Again guys I am not complaining I am very happy with this card and frames in the 60s are fine I know. I really like to tweak my computer and get every last drop of performance out of it. I am sure a lot of you guys feel the same way.

Wlfgng · « **Reply #7 on:** March 12, 2003, 04:29:56 PM »

nope.. I feel differently.
I'm good with 60fps.. I don't think you can't detect anything faster with the human eye anyway.

actually, you can change it in the display settings for XP.
but why bother?

edit***
kbman said it well:

Quote

When you disable Vsync you still will not "see" anymore frames than your monitor's refresh rate despite your videocard's ability to draw them. Any frames rendered that exceed the refresh rate are simply dumped in the frame buffer and NOT displayed. Vsync off is only good for benchmarking to test the theoretical output of your card and can cause many visual anomalies or even rubber bullets in some extreme cases. Leave Vsync enabled for stable gameplay. It's probably the most common misunderstanding by many gamers about their video system, primarily because it's focused on bragging rights as to who has the fastest system.

San · « **Reply #8 on:** March 12, 2003, 08:55:58 PM »

Wlfgng

Say my new video card is a corvette. I pay top dollar for it and bring it home only to find out it only goes 70 mph. Now you might say ,well thats ok because the speed limit is only 70. The way I see it I paid all that money even if I don't drive 100 mph I damn sure want to know I could if I wanted to.

Your right about not being able to see frames above 60 and I agree with you on that point. The fact is during furballs its gotten below 40 and for the amount I paid for it this is just unacceptable.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #9 on:** March 12, 2003, 09:56:05 PM »

If I disable vsync, I can get around 130-140 fps @ 1600x1200x32 bit with 4xfsaa and no anistrophic set. I have seen it drop to the low 80's around busy/smoking fields.

I always have vsync enabled for game play, which keeps me locked at 85 on one monitor, and 110 on another.

If I read that right, you are running at 1.8Ghz. Your CPU is the limiting factor, believe it or not. The 9700Pro can handle a 3Ghz CPU pretty comfortably. The slower the CPU from that level, the lower your frame rates are going to be.

I have a 2.8Ghz P4 and a friend who has a 3.0Ghz, which consistently gets him higher frame rates than I get.

If you want to push that video card, you are going to need a boost in the CPU area.

hitech · « **Reply #10 on:** March 13, 2003, 09:18:06 AM »

San does the fps stay the same when just looking at the sky? If it does vsync is some how still enabled.

HiTech

Scot · « **Reply #11 on:** March 13, 2003, 10:39:12 AM »

San,

I have read somewhere that XP can default to a 60hz monitor refresh rate setting when entering a game. But I think SP1 was suppose to correct this issue.
There was a very small background program available that locked in your designated refresh rate. I'll have to look around.

Cheers,

Scot

Append: found it !

http://www.xp-refresh.net/

Append II:

http://www.pagehosting.co.uk/rf/

Good Luck!

Siaf__csf · « **Reply #12 on:** March 13, 2003, 12:28:18 PM »

With some Ati drivers it's not enough to set the refresh rate from the normal setup, some need manually setting the monitor max refresh also.

I've never owned any Ati hardware but I've come across this multiple times recently on our client's computers. I was dumbfounded by the fact that the screens were still flickering even though the display properties said refresh was set to 85 or better.

I found out that I had to go into the Ati properties and set them also there before any actual change to the refresh happened. Might be your case also.

San · « **Reply #13 on:** March 13, 2003, 03:16:10 PM »

I did some more benchmarking last night using 3dmarks 2001,2003 , Ut3 demo, Quake 3 and checked around the internet comparing my results to similar systems. Everything looks normal.

I spoke with Skuzzy a few minutes ago and after talking to him I feel much better. He feels that my Athlon 2100 is not enough cpu to push this card in Aces High. He explained that Aces High is a very cpu intensive program.

One thing I want add is that I noticed after doing my benchmarks that the refresh rate is working correctly without using any third-party tweak programs. I guess they fixed that in Windows SP1 or ATI fixed it in there Catalyst drivers.

I think its time to quit worrying about frame-rates and go enjoy my new card.

Thanks to everyone who posted. And thanks Skuzzy for spending the time on the phone with me. You guys at Hitech Creations are awesome.

See you up there.