GF4 ti4400 - nVidia drivers compared

[THUGSROOK]

i think this is my 1st post in the Video forum

S Y S T E M
P4 1.6A @ 2720mhz 170fsb 340DDR
Asus P4B266-C i845D
Corsair 512mb XMS2700
VisionTek GF4 ti4400
Windows98SE


3DMark2001SE
27.20 = 11862
27.30 = 12047* compare
27.42 = 11894
27.50 = 11790
27.70 = 11868
28.32 = 11683
28.90 = 11943
29.20 = 11915
29.41 = 11894
29.42 = 11902


X-Isle (Serious Sam engine / OpenGL)
27.20 = 128.7 fps
27.30 = 129.1 fps*
27.42 = 128.3 fps
27.50 = 128.5 fps
27.70 = 126.9 fps
28.32 = 128.5 fps
28.90 = 128.1 fps
29.20 = 128.3 fps
29.41 = 128.3 fps
29.42 = 128.2 fps

 

[Drysdale]

Thanks! However, I can't tell if this is intended to help us or if you're trying to show off....

You're overclock is awesome. I've got to go now to wipe the drool off my desk....

 

[THUGSROOK]

hahaha, no actually i downclocked for this comparison

i was just doing this test for myself, and figured why not share it with everyone

 

[dougp]

Bumpo for Thugs.

My P4 1.6a @ 2.0ghz & an ABIT Siluro GF4 Ti4400 got 10500 with the latest drivers

 

[PowerMacG5]

THUGSROCK, what OS are you running?

 

[THUGSROOK]

ens0mniac using that 3:4 memory ratio really helps you - nice score

KraziKid Windows98SE

 

[PowerMacG5]

How much of a gaming improvement does 98SE have over XP Pro?

 

[THUGSROOK]

as far as i know its like 2-5% faster on 98SE.
i use 98SE because i hated WinXP (pro)

 

[oldfart]

Nice work (and scores) Thugs. Interesting how 3Dmark has a big jump with 27.30s. Did you bench any D3D games? I'd be curious to see if others did the same. Why did you downclock for this test? I would have liked to seen the scores at your normal 2.8G clock speed. If you'd like, 29.42 WHQL's are out. Might be interesting to throw them into the mix.

As a side note, for those who play UT in D3D, the 29.42's give decent performance. The other drivers I have tested, 29.80, 28.32 are absolutely abysmal in that game. I here that 27.42's also work OK, but didn't test them myself. If you play UT in OpenGL, this does not apply.

 

[THUGSROOK]

yes i benched 1 d3d game. total i benched 8 different games - they all pretty much fell in line with what i posted. no driver flat out won every test, but the 27.30s had the best results 90% of the time.

i ran these at only 2720mhz for a few reasons...
i was already busy doing other tests at this speed,
i wanted to be quarenteed 1000% stability,
i didnt think anyone would be able to relate to a P4 running 175fsb!
166-170 maybe, 175 no way!

scores go up about 400 points @ 175fsb and another 400 points if i toss mipmapping on Best Performance.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Do you think that the 2-5% increase in performance would warrant a Dual Boot between 98SE, and XP? I do not want to get rid of XP because I need the stability of the core for software development, flash, etc...

 

[THUGSROOK]

hmmm i dont really know, i guess it would be upto you.
...if you wanted to put the time in, and then test it to be sure.

 

[THUGSROOK]

 

[dude]

I would stick to the latest drivers. I don't think a one frame speed difference warrants using the older drivers. The newer drivers should have bug fixes, extra features, etc.

 

[onelin]

nice post THUGSROOK

I was wondering, do you know if any of these configs exhibit probs in d3d games (the infamous nv4_disp infinite loop) ... I got one yesterday in Morrowind last night with the 28.32's and my MSI GF4 Ti4400 on my A7V333. The weird thing is that was with my mem set by SPD at lowest timings, I'd like to give some ref. drivers more of a spin today but I don't want to keep running into those was there ever a fix?

thanks, hope my sig works

 

[THUGSROOK]

onelin0 i had no problems at all with any of these drivers on my P4 system.
i dont play Morrowind tho.

 

[onelin]

k thx, my main concern is OpenGL anyway and those already fly... guess I'll just keep trying the diff ref's

 

[THUGSROOK]

 

[SupermanCK]

sup thugs...see you expanded your horizon to video forum...anyway...one quick question...did you overclock your video card or you ran all test at stock speed 275/550?

 

[THUGSROOK]

the card is clocked at my usual 100% stable speed - 295x645.
highest quality mipmapping.

 

[oldfart]

One thing to remember here is Thugs is running Win98 (its in his post, but most people go right to the benches). Win98 and Win2K/XP can be VERY different. I'm not going to be the one that goes though all that testing. Any volunteers? From my limited testing, the 29.42's work very well in Win2K on a GF4. OpenGL anisotropic performance is greatly improved, although D3D still needs work. UT in D3D is actually playable, unlike previous versions.

 

[THUGSROOK]

am i the only person still running Win98se?

 

[oldfart]

am i the only person still running Win98se?

Most have moved on to a STABLE OS. Actually, as far as Win9x goes, 98SE was pretty decent. However, you couldn't pay me to go back. Win2K is SOOOOOO much nicer. Stable, better networking, better security, MUCH better memory management, better file system (NTFS) on and on.....just better in so many ways. I tinkered with XP a bit but never went to it. Its just Win2K with a more colorful interface and lots of Microsoft "Big Brother" type stuff.

 

[THUGSROOK]

i know alot of ppl have problems with 98 but believe me when i tell you....

i never ever have had a problem with 98 - and you guys know im a pretty sick user

if i did have even the slightest problem id be looking to upgrade - but im more than fine

 

[oldfart]

98SE will run well enough, but it is antiquated. Memory management is just poor. It does not take advantage of 512+ meg of ram like an NT based OS does. The 4 Gig file size limit of fat32 is a huge problem for me. I do video capturing with files that are over 30 Gig in size. NTFS is a must. I guess it depends on what you use your PC for.