AGP X1950PRO 512 & P4 Bottlenecks - Questions Answered

[nullpointerus]

1. What GPU do you have? Chances are you have integrated video, which, sadly, will play any 3D game very poorly. Modern games all but require a dedicated video card. EDIT: Oh, 7.5K in 3DMark '05--didn't see that. Maybe you should start a new thread for troubleshooting unless #2 applies.

2. Are you using Windows Vista or XP? The power saving setting in Vista will keep your CPU in a low power state even when running 3D games, and it will kill your framerates. If this is the case, switched the profile to Balanced.

 

[aircool]

No ive got a x1950pro, (i forgot to add that to my specs ,*slaps face* ) im on windows xp.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: aircool
Hello, can you help me.

My computer:

-Pentium 4, prescott core, running (OC'ed to) 3615mhz, from 2800 stock.
-1.5gb ram
-ASUS P4C800-E DELUXE
-200gb HDD, in total.
-500w dual railed psu, 18a each.
-Sapphire X1950pro AGP

I cannot play fear smoothly, even at low settings.

1280x960 at low settings, even minimal, plays bad.

i score 7.5k ~ in 3dmark05.

no reason it shouldn't

do you have patch 1.08?

except for your CPU, our specs are very similar ... i play at 14x9 with *everything maxed*
- except Soft Shadows [you DO have Soft Shadows *OFF*, i hope] and with 2xAA/4xAF ... ZERO FPS below 25!

 

[Paratus]

What version of CATs are you using?

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: aircool
Hello, can you help me.

My computer:

-Pentium 4, prescott core, running (OC'ed to) 3615mhz, from 2800 stock.
-1.5gb ram
-ASUS P4C800-E DELUXE
-200gb HDD, in total.
-500w dual railed psu, 18a each.
-Sapphire X1950pro AGP

I cannot play fear smoothly, even at low settings.

1280x960 at low settings, even minimal, plays bad.

i score 7.5k ~ in 3dmark05.

The x1950 Pro should be scoring between 8500 to 9600 with 3dmark 2005, are you sure the drivers have been installed correctly with the complete removal of the old drivers?

 

[aircool]

Originally posted by: apoppin

no reason it shouldn't

do you have patch 1.08?

except for your CPU, our specs are very similar ... i play at 14x9 with *everything maxed*
- except Soft Shadows [you DO have Soft Shadows *OFF*, i hope] and with 2xAA/4xAF ... ZERO FPS below 25!

All patched up.
Softshadows are off
using 7.2 NGO's

Yes remove completley (reformatted )

 

[apoppin]

are *all* other games OK?

7.2 NGO ?

i am using 7.1 Cats

i had some instability in the FEAR's Expansion Point with my 2.80c at 3.31Ghz at resolutions over 10x7 ... my upgrade to P4 3.4EE @ 3.74G took care of that so it is fluid at 14x9

just for *fun* try lowering your resolution to 10x7 [yes, it will look bad without 1:1 pixel mapping] and give the results

 

[aircool]

Originally posted by: apoppin
are *all* other games OK?

7.2 NGO ?

i am using 7.1 Cats

i had some instability in the FEAR's Expansion Point with my 2.80c at 3.31Ghz at resolutions over 10x7 ... my upgrade to P4 3.4EE @ 3.74G took care of that so it is fluid at 14x9

just for *fun* try lowering your resolution to 10x7 [yes, it will look bad without 1:1 pixel mapping] and give the results

FEAR is the only game installed right now, ill install BF2 later when the patch has done downloading.


These are the drivers im using:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1596

Should i fall back to 7.1's ?

 

[apoppin]

Use the latest Cats

and try 10x7

i wouldn't use ANY "optimized" drivers to test

Check you other games and run 3DMark05 ... report back and we'll go from there

i have some "theories"

 

[aircool]

Aye cap'n.

Just 7.2's it is? with or with out CCC?

 

[apoppin]

heck ... use CCC ... just for the tests ...

you can do better with ATi Tray Tools ... but for *testing*, use the "usual"
*hang on*

wasn't there an "issue" with 7.2s and CCC?

:Q

let some other members weigh in or use 7.1 and CCC

 

[Chadder007]

Originally posted by: Stumps

Originally posted by: apoppin
when we die or are too senile to care anymore

or homeless

:Q



that's about $650 for a 'minor' upgrade into a dead end system i am *really* upgrading next year

what do you think close to 9K in 3D Mark 05?
--if i can get close to 3.8Ghz and o/c sapphie a bit?

worth it

EDIT:

think there's an argument for PCIe ... about ...

... right now?
:roll:

that's why I went for the 4coredual VSTA for my C2D...no more excuses to keep buying AGP video cards...it has a PCI-E graphics slot as well as an AGP 8x...my Sapphire is the last AGP card I'll probably ever purchase.

Have fun when they switch to PCI-E 2.0 like they did from AGP here soon.

 

[apoppin]

PCIe2 will be backwards compatible, i believe

not as sever a change as from AGP >PCIe ... although i may likely buy a PCIe2 system when i upgrade next year

 

[Feldenak]

This is the first x1950 AGP thread I found and I have a question regarding power.

I have an Antec TruePower 500W PSU (I'm pretty sure that's what it is...I'm at work and can't easily check ). Will I run into power problems upgrading to this card on this power supply?

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: Feldenak
This is the first x1950 AGP thread I found and I have a question regarding power.

I have an Antec TruePower 500W PSU (I'm pretty sure that's what it is...I'm at work and can't easily check ). Will I run into power problems upgrading to this card on this power supply?

nope you'll be fine, that PSU has 19a+17a on the +12v so it has more than 30a which is the minimum requirement for the X1950Pro.

I have tested my X1950pro with that PSU (I have one spare as a backup incase my Antec TPII 550 goes south) and it worked perfectly with it.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: Stumps

Originally posted by: Feldenak
This is the first x1950 AGP thread I found and I have a question regarding power.

I have an Antec TruePower 500W PSU (I'm pretty sure that's what it is...I'm at work and can't easily check ). Will I run into power problems upgrading to this card on this power supply?

nope you'll be fine, that PSU has 19a+17a on the +12v so it has more than 30a which is the minimum requirement for the X1950Pro.

I have tested my X1950pro with that PSU (I have one spare as a backup incase my Antec TPII 550 goes south) and it worked perfectly with it.

Thanks for the info. Now to find a deal with a reliable reseller for that video card and a new proc.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: Stumps

Originally posted by: Feldenak
This is the first x1950 AGP thread I found and I have a question regarding power.

I have an Antec TruePower 500W PSU (I'm pretty sure that's what it is...I'm at work and can't easily check ). Will I run into power problems upgrading to this card on this power supply?

nope you'll be fine, that PSU has 19a+17a on the +12v so it has more than 30a which is the minimum requirement for the X1950Pro.

I have tested my X1950pro with that PSU (I have one spare as a backup incase my Antec TPII 550 goes south) and it worked perfectly with it.

Thanks for the info. Now to find a deal with a reliable reseller for that video card and a new proc.

that was quick

i guess the microcenter AGP x1950p is gone for $169

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: Stumps

Originally posted by: Feldenak
This is the first x1950 AGP thread I found and I have a question regarding power.

I have an Antec TruePower 500W PSU (I'm pretty sure that's what it is...I'm at work and can't easily check ). Will I run into power problems upgrading to this card on this power supply?

nope you'll be fine, that PSU has 19a+17a on the +12v so it has more than 30a which is the minimum requirement for the X1950Pro.

I have tested my X1950pro with that PSU (I have one spare as a backup incase my Antec TPII 550 goes south) and it worked perfectly with it.

Thanks for the info. Now to find a deal with a reliable reseller for that video card and a new proc.

that was quick

i guess the microcenter AGP x1950p is gone for $169

Yeah, I don't even see it listed on Microcenter's website.

 

[apoppin]

long time

haw about an update comparing the p4EE/DDR/x1950p with C2D/DDR2/x1950p

from MY experieince, i would have to say a P4 EE @ 3.74 is NOT bottlenecking a x1950p
--at least not by much

C2D e4300 1.8Ghz at 2.763Ghz /ASrock MB / 2x1GB Corsair XMS PC640 1:1
-- 'rock solid' at 307 FSB ... 2.763Ghz ... much above that it doesn't post

BUT 3DMark05 is *only* 10132 [P4 - 9300] and '06 is 5172 [P4 - 4300]
--most all the gains from the CPU scores

i think it may even benefit from an XTX class

certainly my C2D setup would ... but i would need to dump my MB and OC my e4300 *further* to take advantage of HD2900xt or GTX

 

[Paratus]

Another 800 points is nothing to sneeze at.

It does show you exactly how crappy the Prescott is at games. At 3.6 I still only hit 7800 in 05 however I was right up with you in 06 on your P4 EE. Of course the C2D is an awesome upgrade.


I guess the next thing is to see if your min FPS came up a bit.

All in all quite a nice upgrade I would think.

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: apoppin
i think it may even benefit from an XTX class

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=2043491&enterthread=y

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Paratus


Another 800 points is nothing to sneeze at.

It does show you exactly how crappy the Prescott is at games. At 3.6 I still only hit 7800 in 05 however I was right up with you in 06 on your P4 EE. Of course the C2D is an awesome upgrade.


I guess the next thing is to see if your min FPS came up a bit.

All in all quite a nice upgrade I would think.

first i have to install some games
:roll:

i spent all weekend - since Friday afternoon ... and still D/L'ing, installing and testing
:Q

the performance increase is probably ~ +20% ... probably over 33% when i get another MB and allow my RAM to speed up and OC my CPU to over 3.0 Ghz

but it does allow me a GPU upgrade ... since PCIe 4x is about the same as AGP 8x, i bet my current setup could handle a HD2900xt or 8800GTS

ANYWAY, it is *good* to KNOW that a x1950p is not such a bottleneck for a p4 3.0 and up

... probably 'not at all' by the top P4s and Athlons

 

[Summitdrinker]

well I would say that my P4 2.8 northwood bottle necks my x1950 pro some, but not all that much, I don't feel that I have way too much GPU. it just depends on the game and the game settings

 

[apoppin]

yours definitely bottlenecks it

what was the reason you can't OC?

 

[Summitdrinker]

it doesn't bottle neck it in UT 2004, I have done some futher testing, more GPU limited than cpu limited, sure I may be cpu limited at 1024@768 and at meduim game setting, but at max game settings at 1600x1200 it's gpu limited or maybe graphics card memory limited. well the x1950 pro isn't a great UT 2004 card, heck a 7600gt can keep up to it

I will play some old serious sam tonight at work maybe, but so far in that game I would say it doesn't matter both cpu and gpu can handle that game, I will take my system to work tonight I think, as I will be bored there

it's the old deer hunter games that make my system work the hardest