I have posted several messages about problems with XP. I love the general layout of the operating sytem and also like the new features that it has over Win2k. I will admit the XP operating system runs the fastest out of all of them, but I am having tons of problems when it comes to running video games. I am not sure if Win2k runs games any better or not, since it does use the same file system. Any ways, I have a fast sytem, but I still have issues with 3-D applications. TO summarize my system, I have a 1.4 Ghz T-bird with 266 Mhz FSB, with 512 mb DDR memory (pc 2100), an ATI Radeon 64mb DDR card, which is all running on my ASUS A7M266 board (bios revision 1004a). I didn't have problems with games when using Win98 SE or Win Me, but as soon as I finally started playing games on XP, things went bad. It must be some sort of configuration problem with my ATI drivers and XP. I have tried many different official and unofficial ATI drivers and I also attempted to change some things in the bios that might help. Nothing worked. I know that XP is supposed to come with all the drivers you need as far as your chipset and APG controller goes, so I have not updated that at all (especially since I am running the AMD 761 chipset and no new drivers seem to be available). Any other final suggestions? Should I switch back to Win2k if I want better gaming performance or will should expect to get the same poor performance that XP gives me? I need advice. Thanks
Too Many issues with Windows XP!!!!
- Thread starter bullion416
- Start date
Mem
Lifer
- Apr 23, 2000
- 21,476
- 13
- 81
<< will admit the XP operating system runs the fastest out of all of them, but I am having tons of problems when it comes to running video games. >>
I`m using WinXP now as my main gaming system and find it rock solid for gaming,(I still have my old 98 PC but don`t use it now for gaming).
Finding your problem won`t be easy it could be the ATI drivers then again it could be something else,disable all video shadowing & fastwrites in bios ,and set AGP size to 64 or 128mb, I would suggest you don`t use fast memory settings until you get your games running stable.Also try both AGP 1x and 2x speed.I would also suggest installing latest monitor drivers as well if possible.
I don`t think there`s an AMD AGP mini-port driver for WinXP you can download so you will have to use the one built-in XP.
WInXP runs pretty good with games as long as you have the correct drivers for your hardware. when i started xp, i hated it until i got all my hardware working.
Definately try backing off on your memory settings first. Secondly, you should try different ATI driver versions.
Mem
Lifer
- Apr 23, 2000
- 21,476
- 13
- 81
<< What do you mean by "backing off on my memory settings"? >>
I had an MSI board that on "turbo " setting for ram in bios would run ok until I played games then I had stability problems like major crashes etc,anyway I had to back down to "normal" settings until there was a newer bios update for my MSI board later which solved the problem.
What Radeon driver revisions have you tried? Could you be more descriptive of the actual problems?
"Backing off on memory settings"
Basically, increase the number values of the memory settings one notch from where they are now. i.e. if CAS=2, try CAS=3. The settings depend on your brand of ram and motherboard. There is a brief description of the settings below. Low number i.e. "Less is better" results in higher performance, lower stability. What you want is the opposite, so although "less is better" you actually should increase the value slightly until you're stable.
A DDR based motherboard has some more memory timing parameters that can be changed in order to influence performance:
PH Limit (Page Hit Limit)
Maximum number of consecutive page hits before choosing a non page hit request.
Idle Limit
AMD recommends 8 cycles.
Row Cycle Time (TRC) - less is better
Minimum time to activation of a bank.
RAS Precharge (TRP)
After reading a memory cell, the information usually gets lost, as the electric charge inside the cell is too small to conserve data integrity. To ensure consistency, data will always be written back into this memory cell. SDRAM requires 2 or 3 cycles precharge time for that.
RAS Active Time (TRAS) - less is better
Latency time before access to a non-addressed row within an open page (time from activate to precharge).
CAS Latency (CL) - less is better
After memory addressing, the system has to wait for the Column Address Strobe (CAS), which initiates the data transfer. Either two or 2.5 clock cycles, depending on the quality of memory (a half clock cycle is only possible with Double Data Rate memory). So far, there is hardly any PC2100 DDR SDRAM with CL2 available.
RAS-to-CAS Delay (TRCD) - less is better
The memory address information (which cell has to be read) is transferred in two steps: First the row address followed by the column address. Between that, the system takes a break of 2 or 3 cycles in order to separate those two values.
Though my testing memory from Micron officially only is a CL 2.5 module, it runs properly at CL2. I used the following settings:
PH Limit: 8
Idle Limit: 8
TRC: 5
TRP: 2
TRAS: 2
TCAS: 2
TRCD: 2
I want to emphasize that these settings are only valid for this particular memory module - they may vary with other types of memory. If you don't know the settings of your RAM, I'd recommend using the AUTO setting. Most BIOS versions try to obtain the timing information from the SPD EEPROM. Since many low-cost DIMMs do not have a properly programmed EEPROM, most motherboards will use the slowest timing settings in order to ensure stable system operation.
Basically, increase the number values of the memory settings one notch from where they are now. i.e. if CAS=2, try CAS=3. The settings depend on your brand of ram and motherboard. There is a brief description of the settings below. Low number i.e. "Less is better" results in higher performance, lower stability. What you want is the opposite, so although "less is better" you actually should increase the value slightly until you're stable.
A DDR based motherboard has some more memory timing parameters that can be changed in order to influence performance:
PH Limit (Page Hit Limit)
Maximum number of consecutive page hits before choosing a non page hit request.
Idle Limit
AMD recommends 8 cycles.
Row Cycle Time (TRC) - less is better
Minimum time to activation of a bank.
RAS Precharge (TRP)
After reading a memory cell, the information usually gets lost, as the electric charge inside the cell is too small to conserve data integrity. To ensure consistency, data will always be written back into this memory cell. SDRAM requires 2 or 3 cycles precharge time for that.
RAS Active Time (TRAS) - less is better
Latency time before access to a non-addressed row within an open page (time from activate to precharge).
CAS Latency (CL) - less is better
After memory addressing, the system has to wait for the Column Address Strobe (CAS), which initiates the data transfer. Either two or 2.5 clock cycles, depending on the quality of memory (a half clock cycle is only possible with Double Data Rate memory). So far, there is hardly any PC2100 DDR SDRAM with CL2 available.
RAS-to-CAS Delay (TRCD) - less is better
The memory address information (which cell has to be read) is transferred in two steps: First the row address followed by the column address. Between that, the system takes a break of 2 or 3 cycles in order to separate those two values.
Though my testing memory from Micron officially only is a CL 2.5 module, it runs properly at CL2. I used the following settings:
PH Limit: 8
Idle Limit: 8
TRC: 5
TRP: 2
TRAS: 2
TCAS: 2
TRCD: 2
I want to emphasize that these settings are only valid for this particular memory module - they may vary with other types of memory. If you don't know the settings of your RAM, I'd recommend using the AUTO setting. Most BIOS versions try to obtain the timing information from the SPD EEPROM. Since many low-cost DIMMs do not have a properly programmed EEPROM, most motherboards will use the slowest timing settings in order to ensure stable system operation.
I've ran into problems when I tried the newest Radeon driver. I had to go back to the previous driver. My problems were evident in Medal of Honor and involved several surfaces (walls and sky) changing colors and just not appearing correctly.:frown:
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