Serious frame rate problem

[HomeBoy]

This one really has me scratching my head!

I just upgraded most of my system and have dropped from 20-50 framerates to 6-25!!  This is just incredible.  I have tried everything I can think of (re-installing AH, changing screen resolutions, etc.  Nothing helps)

Old system:
PII 450
256 SDRAM
Asus P2B MB
20 GB, 7200 RPM HD
Voodoo 4500, 1024x768, 32 bit  (3rd party Omega 1.03 driver)
WinMe
AH frame rates:  20-50 fps

New system:
AMD Athlon XP 1800+
512 DDR RAM
Asus A7v266E MB
2-20 GB 7200RPM RAID0 HD
Voodoo 4500, 1024x768, 32 bit (3rd party Omega 1.03 driver)
WinMe
AH frame rates: 6-25 fps

Unbelievable!!
All my other games have more than doubled in frame rate.  In fact, FS2002, which barely ran with my old system, is actually playable with all the sliders at max!

I just don't understand this.

Anyone have ideas on this one?

thanks
-mark

[maddog1]

16 bit or 32 bit color......?

[HomeBoy]

32 bit

I am running the Omega 1.03 driver (3rd party) with great success in all my games (Falcon 4, EAW, and FS2002).  Frame rates shot up in all these games after the system upgrade.  AH is the one exception.

I have anti-alising enabled in the driver.  Do you think that would make the difference?  I plan to turn that off tonight as a test.  Just thought about that.


Side note:
I had planned to swap out the voodoo card as well but with the Gforce 4 coming out, I wanted to wait to see what ATI would do and also to see what happens to the prices.

The V4500 is really not a bad card.  I'm surprised really how well it hangs in there.

[mrsid2]

Did you install 4in1 drivers to your new system?

[HomeBoy]

Yes.  I installed pretty much everything off the Asus mb cd.

[Lephturn]

Depending on what version is on the CD, you might want to get updated ones.  I think 4.37 is the latest.

http://www.viahardware.com/download/index.shtm#4in1  Do this last though, as not everybody has had good luck with the "latest" 4-in-1's.

Also, AA will have a HUGE effect.  I can run 2x FSAA at 1024x768 with an Athlon 700, but I've got the V5 5500 instead.  Also make sure you turn ground clutter off in AH (CNTRL-C), that just crushes my V5 with AA turned on.

I agree with the GeForce 4.  It's the first card I'd call an upgrade from my trusty V5 5500.

[bockko]

i just configured my new 1.8 p4 and the intial rates were low like yours. When I installed the latest directx version from microsoft the frame rates went up to the monitor max refresh rate, about 60-70.  Hope you figure it out!

bockk

[HomeBoy]

Thanks to all (mostly Lephturn) for the advice!

The moral:  don't turn on anti-aliasing if you have a Voodoo card!  Also, turn off ground clutter (CTRL-C) inside AH.  My frame rate doubled when I turned off AA in my video driver and got even better rates (50-60) after turning off ground clutter.

-mark