ATI SMARTGART, Ram timings and my new system

[speedypc]

Hi there,

Does anyone know what SMARTGART is? I have an ATI Radeon 128 Pro and this app appears in Control Panel -> Display -> Settings Tab -> Advanced -> SMARTGART Tab. It gives me the option of choosing 4x or 8x AGP, but it is set to 'Off'. How is this different than the default AGP setting and shouldn't it already be 8x? (both my mobo and vid card support 8x, and I thought they would both select 8x when I put my PC together, but I never actually set the AGP speed anywhere). Do I need to configure my AGP speed somewhere, and should I set this SMARTGART this to anything higher than 'Off'?

Also, I am trying to find out how fast my RAM is (1Gig Mushkin pc3200) and PCMark04 gave me a speed of 3546. Is there a way to determine the actual timings using PCMark04, or should I use a different app for that? I can't seem to find a way to do that.

Edit: Anyone know how to determine the speed at which my RAM is running?


Thanks for any help.

 

[flexy]

your AGP in smartgart is off ?

Thats definatly wrong....it should be at 4x (orm8x if you dont experience any problems, 4x better in case you get some problems)

I guess yu have the latest DirectX9c and chipset drivers (for your motherboard)..i'd first go into Startmenu->"RUN"-> type 'dxdiag' (the directx diagnostic program)...it should show that (under display) all three DirectDraw, D3d, AGP hardware acceleration are ENABLED.

ALso.cehck your BIOS, AGP aperture (64MB) adn the right AGP speed is set.

Oups..btw you have an old card.....ever thought of getting a more recent one ? I dont eve know whetehr 128 Pro *is* AGP....

 

[oneshot47]

Originally posted by: speedypc
Edit: Anyone know how to determine the speed at which my RAM is running?

Google for WCPUID. Itll tell you everything you ever wanted to know about your proc, fsb speeds, memory speeds, and such.

 

[Regs]

What's your motherboard? You have to update your motherboard chipset drivers for the new smartgart.

 

[speedypc]

Thanks for the replies, I'll check into WCPUID. As for my motherboard, it is an MSI K8T NEO (K8T800). I haven't updated anything on it yet, sounds like I should, though.

I am about 99% sure my card is AGP, but I tossed the box already - I'm sure it was but now I'm doubtful =/ I ran dxdiag and it said that DirectDraw Acceleration is Enabled, Direct3D Acceleration is Enabled, but AGP Texture Acceleration is Not Available... My BIOS says my AGP apeture is set to 128 MB, but I can't find where the AGP speed is set.

Edit: I just checked in the dxdiag window and the chipset for my video card says RADEON 9800 AGP, so it is AGP.

 

[naruto1988]

i had the same problem as you speedypc. just install your motherboard drivers and smartgart will be enabled and 'agp texture acceleration' and so forth. u're going to kill your performance if you don't got it at 8x =)

 

[speedypc]

Hmm, ok so I installed the new motherboard BIOS (1.8) from here:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/bios/bos/spt_bos_detail.php?UID=496&kind=1

but I still see SMARTGART AGP setting as 'OFF' and the dxdiag AGP setting is still Not Available...

Do I need to install any of these drivers?:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/driver/dvr/spt_dvr_list.php?part=1

 

[speedypc]

Ok, I updated the VIA drivers from the second link I just provided in the last post (I actually used the MSI Live Monitor app that came with the mobo to search for updates for my board) - and this included an AGP update. All fixed! Thanks again for all the help.

 

[peacemaker1ps]

Had exact same problem. updated VIA driver and problem solved.
However, live update sucks...
Took couple hours to recover everything because computer would freeze or just automatically restarts because of live 3 updater.
oh well, i got everything fixed and running well.