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Some kind of Vsync problem?

eyetrip

eyetrip

eyetrip

Soldato
Joined
8 Nov 2006
Posts
9,237
Well, I have been cursing my e4300 at 3GHz thinking it was causing my fps drops in UT3 and ET:QW, but just earlier when I was running the COH bench, I noticed it was capped at 60FPS.

ET:QW doesn't seem to reach as high as 60, and is usually around the 45 FPS mark, which is low.

UT3 runs anywhere from 80 fps, down as low as in 20's, which is bloody awful.

Can't tell with Crysis, though it seems unaffected. FPS jsut a little lower than would have expected.

F.E.A.R seems unaffected, and runs into hundreds of FPS, but I have noticed some kind of hitching when it loads a scripted event

Now I double checked the vsync setting in CCC, and it was set to use application settings, and I double checked and it was not enabled in any games. I set it force no vsync but still same.

This is running catalyst 8.6 with hotfix.

Anyone got any suggestions? I jsut convinced myself today to keep the 4870 and upgrade cpu, but things like this are *** exact reason I wanted to get away form pc gaming :(
 
Please guys, I need suggestions.

Are my FPS drops likely due to the E4300? Could there be some piece of software causing the issue? Its just that if I don't send this card back tomorrow, then I will no longer be able to return it.

I have an e8500 arriving tomorrow, but won't be able to test with it until tomorrow night.

Unless, the 7 days return option - is that 7 working days? 7 days from arrival? If I received it monday, whats the latest I can return it?
 
That cpu at that speed would bottleneck abit.
I would try reinstalling the driver + hotfixes (using drivercleaner to remove them first)
Check both 6/8 pins are correctly plugged in (worth a shot)
Check the temps of the 4870
Check using "GPU-Z" whether the card is running at x16, not at x1/x4/x8
Put your cpu at stock speed - see if the problems are the same (then overclock your cpu more)

Sorry all I can think of now - Hope that helps.


******Forget cpu bottleneck - just noticed your new cpu :)
 
Thanks for reply.

Re-installed drivers, though will admit have not used driver cleaner yet.
Everything power-wiser is fine
Temps are fine
PCI-E link speed is 16X

Might give putting the e4300 at stock, but stock is so low on it will gets fps anyway.

I just don't get how a 4870 and a dual core processor at 3GHz can have games like UT3 and ET:QW dropping to around 30 fps - or lower sometimes. Surely a 3GHz processor isnt' too slow to maintain fps higher than that. The 4870 should be running it wihout a problem.
 
your monitor is a viewsonic tft ? which has a default refresh rate of 60hz..so if unreal is running as high as 80 and fear in the hundreds why would u think vsync is on ? or have i misunderstood the post.

et.qw and ut3 im guessing your playing online...so it will use a lot of cpu power when lots of players are about.

fear your probably playing sp and its an old game so rightly so it will be in the hundreds
crysis i wouldnt worry abt..


make sure you have installed the motherboard drivers and get the latest drivers for your graphics card...use driver cleaner pro as suggested also

another thing is you can knock the detail level right down and resolution of ut3/et.qw to see if that improves fps....if it does then your graphics card is holding you back and if not then its cpu.

best to find out whats the slow down and work from there.
 
Tried dropping both UT3 and ET:QW to low quality. UT3 was then sticking to 80/90 fps, and ET:QW was usually sticking in the 50's. So putting them on low has improved, but I shouldn't be GPU limited with a 4870. Or could those settings have a bearing on CPU too?
 
UT3 and ET:QW are hardly pushing the 4870 and your CPU ?? Sounds like driver/config issues to me . Uninstall the Cat's and the Hotfix and this time use the latest Driver Cleaner in safe mode, reboot and install the 8.6 hotfix drivers.

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=35298

I think there is a seperate install for the hotfix , as in , you dont install the standard 8.6 THEN hotfix , just install the hotfix (correct me if I am wrong here) . Are you running XP or Vista ?
 
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I had one more test for UT3 before leaving for work. I put texture detail to max and world detail to low, and was getting mostly around 90 with some drops to 70's

So does the world detail setting rely on cpu or gpu?
 
Not sure what your exact problem is but unlikely to be the 4870 as I found both it and my 4850 handle UT3 engined games better than my old 8800GTX as the improved texture management eliminates almost all microstutter. Gears Of War for example is playable @ 1920x1200 on the 4850 but even the 8800GTX could not handle this very well at the same res.

From what you have said so far I would guess your CPU is not powerful enough as it only has 2MB L2 cache + 800Mhz FSB and this can affect some games more than others, the pure clock speed will not make much difference if the actual CPU is very low spec. Are you sure your PSU supplies the correct amps to the card as overclocking your CPU can obviously strain the other system components as their power requirements can increase as well.

What res are you gaming at?
 
^^ Xfire 64bit process reduced my Call of Duty 4 version 1.6 to a juddering mess (all fixed now :)), so, yeah it may be worth checking what other processes you have running,
 
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BaNdy said:
Try going to the bottom of the deck level with your ATI card, then try it on your Nvidia card - If you dont notice any issue, I am pleased that your pleased and ATI are even more pleased pleased you didnt notice.

:D
Click to expand...

Hmmm, actually Deck was the level I kept going into, and yes, as soon as I am in the large open interior section I am getting around 30 FPS.

So is this a known issue with ATI cards?

Still doesn't explain my fps often hovering around 30 in ET:QW sometimes... unless thats jsut another game with ATI issues?
 
AWPC said:
From what you have said so far I would guess your CPU is not powerful enough as it only has 2MB L2 cache + 800Mhz FSB and this can affect some games more than others, the pure clock speed will not make much difference if the actual CPU is very low spec. Are you sure your PSU supplies the correct amps to the card as overclocking your CPU can obviously strain the other system components as their power requirements can increase as well.

What res are you gaming at?
Click to expand...

The CPU is clocked at 3GHz with 333MHz (1333) FSB.

Gaming at 1680x1050.
 
Well, my e8500 arrived today so will see how things are with that in. If I am not getting acceptable frame rates in all games by the end of the weekend, I will be selling the 4870, 3870, e8500 and will game on the pc no more.

Hell, I don't even want to give it til the end of the weekend. I want to put the processr in and have it running well. I am tired of messing around with the pc. I just want it to do what its supposed to, and do it well.
 
ffallic said:
Well, my e8500 arrived today so will see how things are with that in. If I am not getting acceptable frame rates in all games by the end of the weekend, I will be selling the 4870, 3870, e8500 and will game on the pc no more.

Hell, I don't even want to give it til the end of the weekend. I want to put the processr in and have it running well. I am tired of messing around with the pc. I just want it to do what its supposed to, and do it well.
Click to expand...
E8500 is a better CPU so see how that goes and also look closely at your bios to see if you have all the power management options like C1E + Speedstep etc etc disabled. Obviously ATI still need to optimise their 4 series drivers for some games so do not be surprised to see some games work better than others. You can always raise a support ticket with them and they will investigate if its their drivers or not as they rely on the enduser to flag these issues.

Are you crossfiring with your 3870 + 4870?

Read this in case it helps as rivatuner with the d3d overider + triple buffer can help performance as well.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17892507

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17895476
 
If you don't want to mess with the computer why not just use your 8800Ultra or 9800GTX and/or get a GTX260/280 and be done with it :confused:
 
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