ATI Radeon 7000 Q's

[Gonz0]

Now after changing resolution to 1024 x 768  and changing from 16 bit to 32 bit I am getting 15 fps  down from 40 fps when running 16 bit and 800 x 600.  I have updated drivers.  System again is an xp 2000  512 ram and 64 mb Radeon 7000.  Any ideas on how to increase frame rate?

[MOSQ]

You need to make sure you are running the very least number of applications in the background as possible.
If you are using Win98 the following works to see what's really happening and make changes. If you are on Win2K or XP, not sure if it works or not. I use it so much I made a shortcut on my desktop to it:
Go to Start> Run> and type msconfig.exe

A little program will pop up. Click on the Startup tab and you will see all the junk you have running in the background. Some will be obvious ones to turn off like hp sched and MS office. Others will be "spyware" you didn't even know were sending out information about you behind your back. Remove the check from the ones you don't want running and reboot. You'll need to leave SYS tray and task mon enabled, and your anti-virus software, ect. Gradually uncheck one box at a time and reboot, making sure everything is working ok until you get it down to a minimum.
On most computers you can also disable Config.sys and Autoexec.bat under the General Tab, Win 98 no longer needs them unless you still run old DOS programs.
Leave Win.ini and System.ini alone !

Also make sure your computer is set to use the monitor your actually using, not the default monitor. See my new post re:Direct X from ATi.
Hope this helps, let me know. Your system is very powerful, something is not right. My old P-3 600 does a lot better than that.

[38ruk]

do you have full screen anti aliasing turn on under direct 3d in ur display settings ???? i had a radeon 64 vivo with a 1.4 tbird that got 85 fps, i cant believe 1.10 could hog that many frames   hope this helps   38

[rabbit]

38rk

that did the trick for me . my frame rates are back up and better than they ever were i have turned it off back when i was trying to tweek  for better frame rates.

i went from  20 fps on the tarmak up  to 40+ made a big difference! i cant wait to try it out on line

once again thanks

[RTR]

Help!  I am having a similar problem. Had a rage pro turbo vid card and just had ATI's Radeon 7000 installed. I used to have framerates in the low 20's (except for on the ground or in hangar..about 10 or so there). now that I have the new vid card I was expecting better frame rates. I just went from an old 4mb card to a 64MB card. My frame rates suck. Still in the 20's (albiet high 20's) but was expecting a bigger jump.
 I run an  emachine with :
 Intel celeron 500mhz
 160MB ram
 ATI Radeon 7000 with 64mb DDR
Checked and have nothing but the bare minimum running in the background.
Anti aliasing is  set to "always on" in the 3d setup.
Have tried every screen resolution there is and have tried with palletized texture & mip mapping in every posiible configuration.
I'm sure I am having "finger problems", But my knowledge here is pretty limited. (where do I put the quarter in?).
Any help to boost my FR would be much appreciated.
Oh and not sure if this is important or not, but just swapped the hard drive as well. (was 4GB..now 40GB), and no other problems noted anywhere else.

Am flyable, but just barely.
Thanks folks
                                                     RTR

[MOSQ]

RTR,
The MB's of video memory don't help the speed of the card. The amount of vid memory is what determines how much color depth and screen res you can handle, but does not affect FR.

This my be a dumb question but I have to ask: Most Celeron systems made in the past couple of years come with integrated video built into the motherboard. On some of those motherboards it's nearly impossible to get a video card to work even though there may be an AGP slot available. You think you're using your new video card, when in reality the motherboard is still using the cheesy onboard video.
You can check this in your windows system settings.  Make sure there's no conflicts there between the built in video and your new card. But the problem may still be occuring even if it doesn't say so. If you don't have built in video w/shared memory, then disregard the above ! If you do you can test by pulling out your vid card all together and see what FR the onboard vid gives you. If it's no different, that's the problem.
Personally I think you've overbuilt your emachine with the new video card and HD. If you can swing it you might get a new MB and processor, there's some good deals out there on them packaged together. Avoid all motherboards with built in video or sound, they aren't made to be upgradeable, no matter what the literature on them says.
IMHO

[RTR]

Thanks MOSQ.
It was indeed an integrated vid setup. It is disabled and there are no conflicts apparent.
As for overbuilding the emachine..well, on a limited budget here, so new pooter out of the question. Plans are to basically turn this one into "new"..but gonna take time. But new MB and Processor next on list. I dicked around with resolutions and am now back to running 800X600 and 16bit. My frame rates are in the low 30's now, except when in the hangar or low altitude, where they drop as low as 13 (in hangar) to 23-24 on the deck.
What is this full screen anti Aliasing? I have it selected to always on, however I have no idea what it's supposed to do.
Am flyable and suspect will have to live with FR as it is. (it is better than before).
Thanks for the help and Info MOSQ. Greatly appreciated.
                                                           RTR

[BakrMan]

RTR,

Turn off Antialiasing, you should see a huge improvement in FR..  works for me with an R8500.

[Skuzzy]

RTR, you CPU is what is holding you back.  The 500Mhz CPU just does not have enough horsepower to drive the video card faster.

Basically, the video card is waiting for the CPU to get the data to it.   You need an 800Mhz or faster CPU to realize the potential of that video card.

[Gonz0]

Thank you peeps for the help.  I can tell you all that from all the research I ahve done...its seems that overall the ATI cards are not good...period.

I replaced the 7000 with an Nvidia 128 Ti4600 and now this game performs (and my puter) are running smoothly.  I can get stupid frame rates now running the game at maximum resolution.

For what it is worth...anyone buying a new puter ought to pay careful attention.  When I bought this system (XP2000 loaded) I just expoected it to have a better vid card than the Radeon 7000.  Now that I know more about what I need...I wont make the mistake twice.

Thanks again.

Gonz