Why me...

[chazdraves]

Well... today I was all excited. I was headed an hour away from where I live to finally build a new PC. I've been sitting on the idea of building a nice PC for about 5 years now and I decided it was time. I got nearly everything I wanted at one store, I was left with two parts... motherboard and processor. To give you a quick run down I got 1GB of DDR333, 9800Pro 128MB, DVD burner/player/whatever, Athlon XP 2400+, etc. Anyhow... I got lucky and found a second store that just happened to have motherboards AND processors, I figured it was a good deal. He had my 2400+ and he had a board to go with it... a little MSI Elements board (Or at least he kept telling me it was MSI, I can't find there name anywhere on it though...) anyhow... I was set. Here be the terrible undoing.

I got home to check out this amazing (by my standards) computer I had just bought, terribly proud of myself for finally going through with it. I got everything runnin' just dandy, and I was really enjoying the framerates which were admittedly higher than my friends 9500, but it just didn't seem quite right. I pondered for quite some time on what was haltering my video card... I just couldn't figure it out. Then I took a brief stroll through the BIOS and BAM! 4X AGP... not 8X... 4X. Hence my problem is made ever so clear... I got screwed, me and my "Elements V2MDMP" motherboard; no friggin' wonder.

The moral? Don't buy on impulse... check out your options...

So, tomorrow I'm off to the one computer place in town to see if I can get something decent from them and eventually bring this piece back whenever I get a chance.

Anywho... thanks for readin' this whole bloody thing... needed to vent about it.

- Chaz

 

[Conky]

There is very little noticable difference between 4x and 8x AGP settings.

You might wanna make sure you have all your chipset drivers installed properly and do a proper install of drivers for your radeon by using "Driver Cleaner 3" first.

 

[paruhd0x]

Ebay the board and get a better one. I prefer Abit.

 

[TitanDiddly]

To quote TechTV: "8x and 4x AGP mean almost nothing. Don't worry if you're not running at 8x"

BTW, take that board back ASAP. No name = bad. MSI =bad.

 

[Passions]

Lol, I dont think you can tell a difference with 8x and 4x AGP. Most likely u have a setting incorrect in the BIOS or some thing else.

 

[Rent]

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
To quote TechTV: "8x and 4x AGP mean almost nothing. Don't worry if you're not running at 8x"

BTW, take that board back ASAP. No name = bad. MSI =bad.

Whats wrong with MSI?

I've had no problems with their boards in the past. I've heard stories about their Intel chipsets, but for AMD, they kickass.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Rent

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
To quote TechTV: "8x and 4x AGP mean almost nothing. Don't worry if you're not running at 8x"

BTW, take that board back ASAP. No name = bad. MSI =bad.

Whats wrong with MSI?

I've had no problems with their boards in the past. I've heard stories about their Intel chipsets, but for AMD, they kickass.

I've had good luck with MSI Intel chipset boards. Asus, Abit, MSI, and Epox are my favorite mobo brands in order.

 

[bdjohnson]

yeah i have an msi board and i have had my share of problems with it. its working ok now (knocks on wood)

 

[RaiseUp]

PhasmatisNox is speaking from his ass, like his idol Bush.

 

[nan0bug]

Originally posted by: Rent

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
To quote TechTV: "8x and 4x AGP mean almost nothing. Don't worry if you're not running at 8x"

BTW, take that board back ASAP. No name = bad. MSI =bad.

Whats wrong with MSI?

I've had no problems with their boards in the past. I've heard stories about their Intel chipsets, but for AMD, they kickass.

MSI's high end offerings are good. Their low end offerings are really bad. I had one of their low-end KT133A boards and had nothing but problem after problem with it, but I know people who have nothing but good things to say about their higher end gear. For low-end the best companies are Shuttle and Asrock, I wouldn't even consider anything else.

 

[Yossarian]

is there a reason you didn't order from newegg?

 

[chazdraves]

In regards to newegg - great place, but I thought it'd be fun to do it all in person.

Obviously I'm not very well informed when it comes to AGP, but I know I read that 4x AGP only goes up to 266MHz where as 8x AGP goes up to 533MHz... you guys don't hink that's gonna make a difference on a vid card that's at 378MHz Core/ 335 Mem? Again, I don't know myself, I'm just asking.

In regards to the board's features, I'm actually really impressed with the BIOS, gotta lot of options I don't usually see.

Here's why I think it's having a negative effect - UT2004 Convoy Assault map; average fps around 30 at 800x600... what else would put that so low?

Thanks for all the info, please help me out, I'm really baffled/frustrated by this...

- Chaz

 

[chazdraves]

That reminds me... I just got (I believe) the latest Catalyst Drivers... 4.6 as I recollect. Anyhow... after I installed them there was a new tab labeled "SmartGart" I have no idea what that's supposed to be... but it says my current AGP speed is not 1x, nor 2x or 4x, but "off" and I can't get the bloody thing to set to 4x... any idea what that's all about? Thanks again!

- Chaz

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: chazdraves
That reminds me... I just got (I believe) the latest Catalyst Drivers... 4.6 as I recollect. Anyhow... after I installed them there was a new tab labeled "SmartGart" I have no idea what that's supposed to be... but it says my current AGP speed is not 1x, nor 2x or 4x, but "off" and I can't get the bloody thing to set to 4x... any idea what that's all about? Thanks again!

- Chaz

Sounds rather suspicious.

Can't you return the motherboard for something decent nForce2-based?

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: chazdraves
That reminds me... I just got (I believe) the latest Catalyst Drivers... 4.6 as I recollect. Anyhow... after I installed them there was a new tab labeled "SmartGart" I have no idea what that's supposed to be... but it says my current AGP speed is not 1x, nor 2x or 4x, but "off" and I can't get the bloody thing to set to 4x... any idea what that's all about? Thanks again!

- Chaz

You must install the proper motherboard chipset drivers... that's what that is about. If the disc didn't come with your motherboard you need to find the manufacturers website and download them.

I just did a reinstall of windows with a new motherboard and "smartgart" had my agp setting off until I installed the chipset driver.

 

[ViRGE]

You're right, Chaz, you learned a very valuable lesson. That said, impulse buying is ok, as long as you have a clue of what you're getting before hand. In this case, these are the places where you went wrong:

* You didn't do any prior chipset research(the motherboard in question is using the very old KM266 chipset), so you didn't really know what you were even looking for
* You make no mention of finding the name. A mobo from a big name maker will have their name stamped all over the box and motherboard
* You purchased from what sounds like a small a local shop. This is ok, but there are a lot of seedy shops out there that you should be aware of. You'll be lucky if they let you return the board.

For the record, given the model name you specified, you have a JetWay V2MDMP, a standard fare KM266 motherboard, probably comparable to the KT266 in terms of performance, and bottom of the barrel in quality. Good luck.

PS For the tech heads out there, try to find the number of inconsistencies on Jetway's description of the board. I'll let you start with a clue: there is no KM266A

 

[chazdraves]

Now, am I correct to assume that I'm SOL on getting my video card performing where it should be with this mobo?

In reference to the SmartGart thing - thanks for the tip, those drivers fixed 'er right up, 'cept now Halo crashes... My OpenGL performance seems to be somewhere around half of what it should be... but it's a lot closer than the way my D3D is performing.... less than 20fps average on the first part of Convoy Assault with a 9800Pro, 1GB DDR333, a 2400+ and only 800x600 res? That just ain't right...

I HOPE it's just the board, and, for that matter, I hope it is the board in the first place. Thanks again for all the tips so far, let me know as it hits yah!

- Chaz

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: chazdraves
Now, am I correct to assume that I'm SOL on getting my video card performing where it should be with this mobo?

In reference to the SmartGart thing - thanks for the tip, those drivers fixed 'er right up, 'cept now Halo crashes... My OpenGL performance seems to be somewhere around half of what it should be... but it's a lot closer than the way my D3D is performing.... less than 20fps average on the first part of Convoy Assault with a 9800Pro, 1GB DDR333, a 2400+ and only 800x600 res? That just ain't right...

I HOPE it's just the board, and, for that matter, I hope it is the board in the first place. Thanks again for all the tips so far, let me know as it hits yah!

- Chaz

Just go download VIA's 4 in 1 driver package already.

I use an MSI KM4ML board (KT400) and it works great.

 

[chazdraves]

Heh, that's the thing, I did install the 4in1 Deal, unless there's a newer one available... but my 9800 ain't puttin' out what it's supposed to and I have a hard time blaming it on the vid card. Anyone got any creepin' suspicions?

- Chaz

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: chazdraves
Heh, that's the thing, I did install the 4in1 Deal, unless there's a newer one available... but my 9800 ain't puttin' out what it's supposed to and I have a hard time blaming it on the vid card. Anyone got any creepin' suspicions?

- Chaz

http://downloads.viaarena.com/drivers/4in1/VIA_Hyperion%204IN1_V451v.zip

Try these.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: chazdraves
Anyone got any creepin' suspicions?

My suspicion is that you don't listen very well.

There is no reason that setup shouldn't work good if you get your software straight. Peace and good luck but a new motherboard isn't gonna fix anything if you aren't willing to set stuff up right.

 

[So]

As mentione above.
8x performance = 4x performance

end of story.

 

[chazdraves]

Well, awful blunt, but maybe that's all there is to it. I tried something other than UT2004 and it seemed to work fine. Would getting all the latest Windows updates help performance at all? I'm running short on drivers to update. Thanks for all the tips.

- Chaz

 

[chazdraves]

Maybe it's just me... I updated Windows as far as it goes, I believe I have every driver I could ever need, I have my vid card settings at "Balanced" and I would definitely say I'm not getting what this was meant to deliver. I shouldn't be playing UT2k4 at 20fps on a Radeon 9800Pro. Are you guys positive it's not the mobo? I have my doubts, but you've all proven to know more than I. Thanks.

- Chaz

 

[TitanDiddly]

Originally posted by: RaiseUp
PhasmatisNox is speaking from his ass, like his idol Bush.

I had an MSI board die on me. I RMAed it, the replacement board it working with some problems, but not enough to RMA it.
My friend bought an MSI board, which was defective out of the box. He RMAed it. Repeat 3 times, he still has no working board.