Vid Card not performing

[MulletMan]

I just got a ATI 9600 SE 128mb. But in cs, my fps still drops to as low as 20 when I'm playing. Something seems a little bit wrong, considering I got the same fps with my 32mb GeForce 256. Any ideas?

[Devil]

what's your processor ?

[MulletMan]

Haha... PIII 800 mHz... embarassing. But would that account for such a lack of fps? I thought fps was more graphics related than processing related.

[Shamus]

Not in Half-Life, plus you should have gotten a Pro or XT anyway

You might have gotten ripped off.. you say you paid $200 CAD for it, right? The highest I can find for 9600 SE is $162 CAD and most are $129 CAD.

catalyst 3.10?

if you don't have it, get it. it will probably make a difference.

you can also check your bios and make sure it's running at a minimum of 4x. preferably 8x if your mobo supports it.

[MulletMan]

I heard about some problems with the newer catalyst drivers playing CS, so I downgraded to 3.6. But the problems I read about only occured in 3.7-3.9, so I'm not sure they fixed the problem.

I doubt my mobo supports 8x cuz it's as outdated as the rest of my computer :( but I'll give that a try.

The lowest price I could find for an ATI 9600 SE was like 185$, but this isn't the "sapphire" thing cuz I don't even know what that is. I wasn't sure whether I should go with that or not, but I guess it's too late.

[Shamus]

The real problem seems to be the rest of your computer. It's just holding the card back. Jeez if you think of all the advances they've made since the P3 days, it's just overwhelming. Heck, newer computers are usually at least twice as fast as 800mhz (1.6ghz) and plus DDR memory opposed to PC100 RAM, etc. Chipsets have also gotten better for motherboards. Heck, you can upgrade to an Athlon XP CPU 2000+ for way cheap nowadays (~$84 CAD), and the RAM and mobo's for that hardware set have gotten cheap, too. It's not the fastest stuff anymore, but it still performs.

Think about it.

[MulletMan]

I would, I just don't have the cash AT ALL. To upgrade my CPU, I'd need to get a new mobo as well because it can't handle anything beyond what I have right now. And that means I'd probably have to buy new RAM too right? So it could be the right stuff. I'm 1000$ in debt to my 13 year old sister (go ahead, laugh away) right now, so that's kinda my first priority. After that is a tie between guitar and car stereo stuff. I guess I'll just have to live with what I got for right now, and then when I have the money, or if my computer can't play ANY games any more, I'll get a new one or something.

[Shamus]

And that means I'd probably have to buy new RAM too right?
yeah

[Eternal Dragon]

I just got a ATI 9600 SE 128mb. But in cs, my fps still drops to as low as 20 when I'm playing. Something seems a little bit wrong, considering I got the same fps with my 32mb GeForce 256. Any ideas?

Hey buddy, my new card is running peeerfect, constant 99fps at 1600x1200 in all that HL junk!

[MulletMan]

I just got a ATI 9600 SE 128mb. But in cs, my fps still drops to as low as 20 when I'm playing. Something seems a little bit wrong, considering I got the same fps with my 32mb GeForce 256. Any ideas?

Hey buddy, my new card is running peeerfect, constant 99fps at 1600x1200 in all that HL junk!

Yeah cuz youre computer is only 3 years newer than mine. Surprising indeed.

[Dakine]

fps_max 500, cl_updaterate 40 , rate 29999 (if you have a fast connection).

[snow]

ok the way i see where the proplem is
A. you have old drivers update these and see what happens. if it all works out then great.

B. I doubt that it's you processor because i was running P3 550 and my average was 50- 60 fps.

C. how much ram do you have

D. what is you connection.

[MulletMan]

384 MB of ram, cable internet.

i think my computer SHOULD be able to run it, but I don't know. My drivers are the latest from ATI.

I've got all the things Dakine mentioned. Ohhhh well :(

[Jamblo]

perhaps you are getting conflicts with drivers from your previous GFX card?

Perhaps formatting your HDD and starting for scratch?

[Shamus]

if he was getting conflicts it wouldn't slow it down, it'd just give a big fat error.

[Dakine]

Yeah, if you have not tried this already.. www.ati.com and go to the drivers page.

[Shamus]

My drivers are the latest from ATI.
kthxbye