• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Rig not fast enough to handle games?

R

Rebel7254

Senior member
Specs:
AMD Athlon XP 1900+
Asus A7V333
256 MB DDR RAM
PNY Geforce Ti4400

I am very disappointed that I have to play Red Faction, Unreal Tournament, and RTCW (demo) with VSync enabled. The tearing is noticably annoying with it disabled. I don't understand why I have to do that. Isn't my rig more than sufficient to play these games without tearing? Also, on Red Faction it's fairly unsmooth with all the features on. Lots of hesitations entering a place with a few enemies.
But Dronez (OpenGL) got hundreds of FPS on average using the benchmark test that's included with the game. The minimum FPS was 84. This is with all the graphics features maxed out, 32 bpp and everything. And if you know anything about Dronez, it's a pretty graphics intensive game. There is no tearing in it and it looks awesome. Too bad I don't like the gameplay, heh. I run everything at 1024x768 res. What's the deal here?

Btw, this goes on no matter what drivers I have. I've tried Detonator 23.11, 27.42, and 28.32.
 
Looks like you're running out of RAM. I would add another 256MB to your system. And these could be chipset issues too. Update the 4-in-1 package to the latest version or install the separate APG driver, it helps in 60%+ cases.
 
Originally posted by: Booster
Looks like you're running out of RAM. I would add another 256MB to your system. And these could be chipset issues too. Update the 4-in-1 package to the latest version or install the separate APG driver, it helps in 60%+ cases.
Click to expand...


Umm.. dude do you know WTH you are talking about?

256mb of ram is more than enough. Updating your 4-in-1's isn't going to help either. The only way to alleviate this problem of tearing is to get a monitor that will handle a higher refresh rate at the resolution you want. Monitors are pretty cheap now, a decent 17" will do 1024x768 at 100+ hz, which will help.

The technical reason for "tearing" is that your vid card is putting out too many fps(this is why putting on vsync fixes the problem completely)and your monitor is only having time to display 1/2 of this frame, and then below it 1/4 of this frame...... and so on. and you see "tearing."

If you need anymore help, just ask.

zs

EDIT: see, it really was 512 megs of RAM anyway, further proves my point🙂
 
I think I do have a pretty cheap monitor. However, it does 85 Hz just fine. Still lots of tearing though without VSync.
 
Double check your refresh rate in the resolutions you play. Seems like whenever I have to install new drivers, I have to set all my refresh rate up to their max again.

*DO NOT* leave your refresh rates on 'OPTIMAL' as its microsoft speak for 'safe and slow'. Check the refresh rate for your monitor (manual or manufacturer website) and manually set it for each resolution.

I picked up this tip somewhere and unfortunately dont remember where. It helps in the games and it helps on your eyes.
 
That's the thing. I don't know what the max rate is for 1024x768. (I run everything in that res.) My monitor has the name "Alton" on it, but the manual for it has no manufacturer name anywhere. And in the specs, it never says "refresh rate" one time. Here's some of the stuff it says:

Max. Resolution - 1280x1024
Dot pitch: 0.27 mm - 0.28 mm
Tinted screen glass non-glare, black matrix

Synchromization Range (Is this refresh rate?)
Horizontal Freq. - 30-70KHz (automatically)
Vertical Freq. - 50-120Hz (automatically)

It has a bunch of other crap here too, but I decided not to put it.
 
shot in the dark, but maybe this'l make it more clear (isolated to >1024?) :
switch to 640x480 for a few mins (eek, yeah) and pump the refresh to 100 or 120Hz...play through and see if it still has the tearing? fps to refresh ratio should be even more off in that situation... so I'd think it might show even more ? or maybe it's just having trouble at 1024x768 @ 85Hz

not sure if it helps but maybe it's worth a try :-/

btw how's that A7V333 serving you? If I go AMD this week it's the motherboard I plan on using due to the usb2.0, firewire, and ata133 raid
 
The Asus board is doing fine for me. Seems to be a pretty good board. Just make sure you have good cooling for your AMD because they run very hot. I'll try your suggestion and see if that's what it is.
 
Ok, I tried playing in 648x480 with the refresh rate at 100 Hz (it would not display 120). I also changed the resolution for my desktop to the same thing. There was still major tearing in Red Faction and RTCW, even at 640x480. I must just have a crappy monitor. I'll look into it. Laters.
 
Try putting it at 640x480 at 100Hz and turn Verticle Sync back on. It should cap your fps around 100 and not allow any tearing.
If you're getting tearing with verticle sync on, you've got something really weird going on.
 
I don't understand why I have to do that. Isn't my rig more than sufficient to play these games without tearing?
Click to expand...
You're confusing tearing with choppiness and they're completely different things. In fact the reason why you're getting tearing in the first place is because your rig is capable of churning out much higher framerates than your monitor is capable of displaying.

Your options are:
-get a better monitor, one that can handle higher refresh rates.
-increase your detail levels and resolution to lower your framerates.
-use vsync.
 
No, I'm not confusing tearing with choppiness. Red Faction tears AND it's choppy. I tried 640x480 with the refresh rate at 100 Hz. Still tearing without VSync. So does this mean my monitor is indeed the problem or is it not?
 
All my tearing in medal of honor went away when I installed powerstrip and enabled OpenGL "Enable SubPixel Accuracy" Option under Performance Profiles Config. The only problem I have now is the annoying powerstrip tip of the day that shows up every time I turn on my comp and I can't seem to disable it. but it works on my radeon card so give it a try.
 
Red Faction tears AND it's choppy.
Click to expand...
If the game's choppy at 640 x 480 then it's a problem with your system. Make sure that you have the latest BIOS and chipset drivers for your system, don't overclock anything and make sure that your card isn't running in PCI mode.
 
Tearing also should not be the monitor. More the graphics cards settings / drivers. Are you overclocking your graphics card? Or did you change any of the default settings?

Getting choppy frame rates can also be hard drive swapping. Make sure you have defragged and you are using a good cd-rom/hard drive.
 
I've found that you must set your refresh rate to 70 or 75 hertz (depending on the game) to get smooth, movie-like gaming. Give it a try.
 
Red Faction is not choppy at 648x480. I meant that for 1024x768. UT, RTCW, and Red Faction still tear with VSync enabled. It's just not as bad as w/out it, but still very noticable and annoying. It doesn't matter what I set the refresh rate to, I get tearing. I guess I can try defragging and stuff.
 
Originally posted by: Rebel7254
No, I'm not confusing tearing with choppiness. Red Faction tears AND it's choppy. I tried 640x480 with the refresh rate at 100 Hz. Still tearing without VSync. So does this mean my monitor is indeed the problem or is it not?
Click to expand...

It's ALWAYS going to tear without vsync.
 
But it shouldn't be tearing with VSync. I made another mistake in my info. Red Faction is not tearing with VSync on, but it very choppy. Unreal Tournament still tears whether I have VSync on or not, as does RTCW. If my games would run smooth with VSync on, that would be fine. But they don't. Any other reasons for why it's still tearing?
 
Why are you guys saying Red Faction tears without Vsync enabled?

I run it with my Geforce III without any tearing and no vsync at all.


As far as things to check:

Have you tried setting different refresh rates on your monitor (Dont use optimal or default, set it like 85hz or 100hz)

You are sure you unistalled all your old video card drivers before you installed your new video card?

You are using newest version of directx?

You have newest drivers for sound card, video card, motherboard, etc?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top