new guy needs a little help with upgrade...

[crypt332]

OK...it's like this...I recently upgraded to an ECS mobo (K5S7A-I don't think that's right, but I can't check now), Geforce 4 and AMD XP 1800+...had a friend do most of the work, as I'm not super comfy with OS installation....we got it together, it runs...BUT... when I ran 3DMark 2001 I only got around 6200 or so, went fishing around, and saw that it says my Geforce is running in "PCI Mode"...after thinking a bit, I'm fairly sure it's because we (he) forgot to install the mobo chipset drivers!
parts of 3DMark ran OK, but others (particularly the vertex shader test) ran absolutely horribly-to the tune of 11 FPS

my question is this: can I install these now without reinstalling/reformatting? if so, should I remove everything in device manager first (WIN 98) and then reinstall all the drivers? I only have a network, video, and sound card, so it won't be too tough...

basically, I need to know if I'm in trouble, or if I can do this without too much hassle...by all means, I could certainly use detailed instructions on how to get out of this mess, and I know I can get great informed help here! thanks in advance, folks!looking forward to hearing your help/opinions!

 

[mcveigh]

so you just want to install chipset drivers?

yes do it now, no prob. if that's what i'm reading

 

[Gaunt]

Was the GeForce4 card a GeForce 4 MX? If so, then maybe the scores you are seeing are correct... I don't have much experience with those particular cards, but 6200 isn't an awful score. My Thunderbird 1400 and GeForce3 give me about 5400... although I suppose it's possible I didn't configure something right either.

Basically, you're not in any trouble at all at the moment. Installing the drivers you need should be relatively simple. That said, I haven't a clue where you'd find them, but the CD that came with the motherboard is a good place to look. I've only installed drivers for that board once, and I don't recall what was involved, but I'm sure it was no more than just clicking install and letting it go. Takes about 30 seconds in total.

Hopefully someone else can provide you with the step by step instructions. Also, maybe the ECS website could help you. It's very unlikely that you're going to do something that's going to hurt your install of windows, let alone your computer. Try stuff out, it's the best way to learn.

 

[HelzBelz]

Well, if your motherboard is from ECS and running an Athlon XP CPU : the model name MUST start with "K7".

Hence, you probably have a K7S5A or K7S5A2...

So first, get the latest AGP/sound/modem/LAN drivers from ECS here .

... NOT from the CD that came with your mobo (they were already obsolete when you opened the box).

Then install them, starting with the AGP driver (might as well solve your problem first). No trouble. (Well, I always "remove" any devices from my "system" control panel before "installing" the new drivers... but some people don't bother...).

If you feel up to it : get the latest BIOS as well from ECS, and flash your EEPROM. (many threads here at AT Forums can help you)

At the very least, go check in your current BIOS (during initial POST, usually holding down a key like "Esc" or "F2" for setup). Have a look around if you can find AGP settings that don't seem right (don't worry, you can always "leave without saving the changes").

As for your Geforce 4 card : indeed, you must find out if you have a full "Ti" or an "MX" card (the "MX" being pretty much a souped-up Geforce 2, hence the relatively poor "shader" support...)

Hope this helps. Get back to us on these, if you find anything...

 

[crypt332]

thanks for the help guys! keep it coming! but to clarify some issues:
it is a Geforce 4 4400..3DMark shows that I only have 31 megs of video memory, which is obviously wrong (128 megs)

my concernis that ive always been under the impression that chipset drivers MUST be installed BEFORE all other drivers are installed...know what i mean? i guess, at worst I may have to remove the hardware and reinstall it...

by all means, keep the suggestions coming, everyone! I would still love a definitive answer...

I'll put it this way...we benchmarked 2 machines side by side. 1 was mine (1.8 Athlon XP 512 megs) and one was a friend's (a 1000 mhz AMD and a Geforce 4 4600/256 megs)...he got a score of 88.5 FPS in the vertex shader portion(and about 5600 overall), and I got 11 FPS!!! something is DEFINITELY not set up properly on my machine, and if any more people can help, I would be very very grateful! thanks guys...

basically, is it ok to install chipset drivers after the fact?

 

[crypt332]

hey HelzBelz...thanx for the input...i did check the AGP settings in the BIOS, but nothing seemed amiss, though im no expert on BIOS stuff...I have seen a lot of BIOS screens watching friends help me out (im a very slow learner , and nothing looked terribly wrong, so I still suspect that it's our (foolish) oversight of not setting up the chipset drivers..I just basically need to figure out if installing them at this late point will "destroy" my current install...

keep the help coming

 

[HelzBelz]

Not a problem at all : go ahead with the install (they will replace the previous ones, it's part of the auto-install process).

When you're done, come back here with feedback on the procedure : did it help ?

 

[HelzBelz]

One question : (you haven't posted it yet) Which board model do you actually have ?

Also, make sure you know the PCB revision of your board (printed by the model on the motherboard itself, open up your case...)

From ECS, I got that there are 3 possible versions :

K7S5A rev. 1.0
K7S5A rev. 3.1
K7S5A2 rev.1.0

The drivers, the user's manual and the BIOS all depend on it !

 

[crypt332]

I will do the things you said and I will report back tomorrow on how it worked! fingers crossed...