8800GTS (320MB) Performance Issues

[thebaronjocelin]

Hey guys, sorry for the long absence.

I just had a question I felt I needed to ask on here, more than any other site. I recently purchased an 8800 GTS (340MB VRAM, 500/1600) and an additional gigabyte of RAM to go in my Athlon 3800+ (2.58GHz, Rated 3.80) rig.

I thought this would tide me over for some time. Recently, I was disillusioned: I installed the "World In Conflict" demo, only to find that I had miserable framerates and otherwise poor performance.

I thought this was odd, and since my video card and RAM are both relatively high-end, I attributed the difference to the CPU. After all, the framerate in the Benchmark remained the same (+/- 3 FPS) no matter what settings I used as far as graphics quality.

Would I be correct in assuming this? I've heard that WIC is a multi-threaded game, as are a lot of games these days. So I was considering upgrading to an Athlon X2 4200 on my Socket 939 motherboard, just to tide me over until the Intel Quad-cores (Kentsfield?) and AMD Phenom come out, and then I would upgrade mobo, RAM, GFX, and CPU all at once. How would the X2 work out for me?

Also, my 8800 tends to overheat when I knock the core-clock up about 100 MHz, despite superior cooling. Can anybody give me any tips for keeping the temperature down on that card without purchasing aftermarket cooling, or recommend a good OC utility (other than ATITool)?

And lastly, my performance with this card seems to be lagging behind on games that were made prior to about 2006. I don't know if the 8800 just doesn't handle older APIs as well, or if it's a driver issue, but if anybody has experienced similar problems and resolved them, I could use some tips.

 

[thebaronjocelin]

I'm inclined to believe that the X2, being dual-core, would help. Indirectly, as such, your information would as well.

Thanks again.

Now, to pick up eighty dollars. Prostitution time.

 

[pdyckman@comcas]

I didn't read all the posts overhead. I did read your issue. An Nvidia 8800 GTS 320MB graphics processor is an excellant unit. If you are having trouble with World of Warcraft I'm surprised. I have that but I don't run it. I have come to understand that it's not a very taxing game. I use an EVGA 8800 GTS 320MB and can run anything with it with no problem. Your machine must have other issues.

 

[thebaronjocelin]

No, it's not "World of Warcraft" I'm having trouble with.

I'm really more concerned about the Call of Duty 2 issue. It used to perform spectacularly on my X1900GT (of all things), and now with a card about 150% as fast as the X1900, it's lagging behind at a measly 16FPS. I'm about an hour away from trying to get the machine exorcised.

 

[thebaronjocelin]

Er... I mean, it was running spectacularly on the same CPU (Athlon 64, single-core) with a less powerful video card. Unless I swapped out for a less powerful CPU, the CPU wouldn't make a difference.

 

[heavyhebrew]

WIC and COD2 with high (or very high) settings on will crush the frame buffer on the 8800gts card. That is when the extra 320mb on the 640mb really comes in handy. It is the open area, far draw spots that will drain that 320mb buffer.
Tweak the settings a bit or drop resolution. The 8800gts 320mb should be able to tackle most games at 1900x or less resolution.

The reason COD2 ran on the less powerful card is that it most likely had more frame buffer memory.

 

[thebaronjocelin]

Okay. Well, that's laym. I feel as if I have been gyped here. I'm running 1440x900, so I thought it would handle it well. Apparently it didn't share my opinion.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Your CPU is heavily bottlenecking your video card. Upping the frequency will help but not much. Getting a cheap dual-core like the X2 3800+ will definitely remove all of the bottleneck and is the best solution.

 

[tweakboy]

Well this guy says his old ATI 1900 was much faster then his new 8800GTS

Soo lets try to fix that problem before he upgrades to a X2 ,, because once he does he will enjoy even more performance as the video card will be able to perform @ just about peak levels. Your definitly not getting the most out of your GTS ,,, however if your 1900 was faster then we need to fix that first.

I can tell you right now, I know what the problem is

You upgraded from ATI to nvidia ,,,, and once you do that they conflict and thus ATI stuff is still in there and they don't like each other.

I have heard of many people on bigger forums in the past and now with same problem. They say they upgraded from a ATI and nvidia with a clean OS install and that how they have left and right problems and how the performance is slow.

What you need to do sadly enough is redo your system.

Another suggestion before taking that drastic step is to clean up your system then reinstall all drivers.. meaning mobo drivers and graphics drivers in that order, then latest DX ,

Soo go to control panel and uninstall your mobo driver ,, audio also if u use. everything. Then dont reboot and uninstall your ATI catalyst, You have probably already uninstall that soo now what you need to do is download a free app from www.guru3d.com called driver cleaner pro ,,, its on the front page, Simple app, just launch it and find ATI on the list,, then press clean
Try to do this in safe mode.

Now once your back up in normal mode, we need mobo drivers and graphics driver installs.

Soo first mobo drivers from the CD u got. Then nvidia latest official forceware , for your specific card, which youll need to do from www.nvidia.com Install that,, and reboot,, then install latest DX9 march ,,,, that wont require a reboot. Now go see if your performance is much faster then your old 1900 ,,, If not , and if all your connections like molex is correct, and video card tighlty fitted in. Then your done

If performance is still slower then your 1900 ,, Then sorry to say you need to re os ,, into into another directory ,,,, or do a clean format,, up to you,,, But once you do that,, and install your mobo drivers and graphics wqhl drivers and dx9 march, Your rig will fly ,,, it will be a huge noticable difference. Also run a 3dmark and tell us your score @ that point. Now at this poiont that your system is now running much much faster then the old ATi card,,, then your set. Now its up to you if you want to shell out 80 or 100 bucks for a dual core .. But I assure you that will release the potential of your card... gl,,,