XFX 6800GT Underperformance... I think

[RamaAuran]

I just recently upgraded my ATI 9800 np to a XFX 6800 GT and was hoping to see a rather large improvement. I am by no means an expert on computers, but I have done my best to read these forums and try to understand and try some of the suggestions people have offered for other people's issues.

I am experiencing some choppiness and stuttering with my games. I currently play Doom3 and Everquest. 2 completely different games, but I get the same kind of stuttering in them. When I chose optimal settings in Doom3, it returns with 800x600 on high settings. I play the game at that and get some skipping and some "tearing" when turning. It's definitely a little disappointing. EQ gets choppy on raids and some of the more populated zones as well. My system specs are:

P4 2.8 ghz (not overclocked)
1GB of Corsair XMS pc3200 ram
XFX 6800 GT vid card (not overclocked)
ASUS P4P800 Deluxe motherboard

I scored 10467 with 3Dmark03 but that seems a little low compared to others results with similar system specs. I have disabled Fast Writes in both the bios and with Rivatuner. Is there anything else I am missing? Appreciate the help. Thanks.

 

[nRollo]

If you want to be 100% SURE you have optimal performance for your rig, fdisk>format> clean install.

I know you can use registry cleaners, etc., but IMO there's no substitute for blowing it all away periodically and starting fresh.

Other than that, could be a lot of things. I have an XFX 6800GT, it performs right where it should according to my benches and various websites.

 

[RamaAuran]

I actually did a fresh reformat and install. Going from an ATI to a nVidia card, I figured it was the appropriate thing to do.

 

[Rage187]

try updating your sound drivers, its what was causing my stuttering issue.


Also check and make sure that your card is not sharing a molex/dongle w/ a harddrive.

 

[Keysplayr]

Make sure ALL of your drivers are installed and up to date. Not just your vid card.
Motherboard AGP drivers can be notorious for causing issues as well as appropriate sound card drivers.
Just because the sound works, doesn't mean its working correctly so to speak.

 

[RamaAuran]

That's an issue I have encountered... where do I get AGP drivers for my motherboard? The ASUS site is pretty difficult (for me anyway) to navigate and I haven't been able to locate any anywhere else. I believe my sound card drivers are current. I have an Audigy X-Gamer and I downloaded the latest versions when I reformatted.

 

[klah]

Do you have an Audigy2?

 

[Darthvoy]

This is a thread from the other day..it may be able to help you. http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=1375969&enterthread=y

 

[Rage187]

if yours isnt frezzing or locking up I would not suggest flashing your card's bios as suggested in the link above.

 

[RamaAuran]

Nope, just a plain Audigy X-Gamer. I don't have a freezing or locking up problem, just some stuttering and choppiness.

 

[MidasKnight]

When you get the " stuttering and choppiness " is your HD LED lighting up ? aka: disk thrashing ? And, what Forceware drivers are you using ?

 

[JBT]

well the 3dmark03 score seems about right IMO. I scored 11110 with my card at default. Other than that I would make sure you turn on Vsync to get rid of the vertical tearing.

 

[MidasKnight]

My 3DMark03 @ default was a 11200+ and when I overclocked it to 406/1158 got a 12100+ score. But I'm thinking he's getting hard drive thrashing here and eventhough he's running a fresh format he might need to defrag the drive. And try the Forceware 62.20 beta drivers as well.

 

[RamaAuran]

Did a lot of what was mentioned above. Vid Card has it's own power cable directly to the power supply. I also defragged the harddrive and it really needed it. I also yanked my Audigy sound card and enabled my onboard sound. In doing all of that, I have noticed increased performance. Nothing earth shattering, but games seem to be skipping a little less.

One thing I did notice was that when I ran CPU-Z and the FSB was at 800 mhz while the BUS speed was at 200 mhz and I was able to select between 2 chips with the Process Selection drop down... does that make any sense? Thanks again for the help.

 

[Rage187]

also it sounds like you have a generic PSU.

Find a 350+ Enermax or Sparkle or Antec. I bet that will make a huge difference too.

 

[RamaAuran]

I have an Antec 450W psu so I don't think power is the issue.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: RamaAuran
Did a lot of what was mentioned above. Vid Card has it's own power cable directly to the power supply. I also defragged the harddrive and it really needed it. I also yanked my Audigy sound card and enabled my onboard sound. In doing all of that, I have noticed increased performance. Nothing earth shattering, but games seem to be skipping a little less.

One thing I did notice was that when I ran CPU-Z and the FSB was at 800 mhz while the BUS speed was at 200 mhz and I was able to select between 2 chips with the Process Selection drop down... does that make any sense? Thanks again for the help.

Your system bus is 200MHz. Just quad pumped. (800).