Very dissappointed with Geforce4 ti4600

[rraawwhh]

Anybody else forked over the cash and been really dissappointed. I upgraded from a geforce2mx thinking I should get a huge boost in performance and image quality. My framerate in quake3 went up maybe 20 frames per second (vsync is off) and is not playable at high resolutions (1280x1024) with antialiasing or anistropic filtering turned on. Max Payne is essentially unplayable at resolutions above 1024x768 when antialiasing or anistropic filtering are on because framerate hovers at about 25 frames/second. Even at 1024x768 Max Payne pretty much crawls with anistropic filtering and Quincunx antialiasing (I would prefer to use 4xs) enabled.

I'm bummed - I'm an image quality junkie. Since there aren't any directx8 games out I can essentially take advantage of none of the visual improvements my geforce4 *should* offer.

Before I return it and get my money back does anybody think something might be wrong to give me this kind of performance or were my hopes just too high?
I've got winxp installed on a Pentium4 1.8 (williamette core) with 256mb rdram. I'm using the newest non-leaked reference drivers from nvidia (the 28.32s) with the refresh rate fix applied. Visiontek is the manufacturer of my geforce4 and they followed the design specs closely enough that they say the drivers on their webpage and those on nvidia's are interchangeable if that makes a difference to anybody. Thanks everyone.

 

[Electronic Punk]

Definatly give us your specs and run dmark over at http://www.madonion.com and perhaps pcmark at the same place, that should give us a detailed evaluation...

 

[Electronic Punk]

Quake 3 sucks ?

The engine hardly sucks matey

 

[Qumahlin]

Something is wrong if you only saw a 20fps boost in quake...I play qauke just fine with anti-aliasing set to quincunx in 1280 by 1024

DO NOT USE Anistropic filtering..it currently has problems due to drivers and is not working as intended...and to use it and antialiasing at the same is murder...no vid board will handle that.

I cna run max payne smooth as can be AT 1280 by 1024 with Quincunx enabled..I'd stay away from 4x and 4xs because at resolutions above 1024 by 768 4x anti-aliasing is overkill you won't notice much of a difference between it and quincunx

So this appears to be a combo of your hopes were too high + a slight problem somewhere with your system....

And before anyone starts brinign well the X-box does all this into the fray...the X-box is displaying at TV resolution which is nowhere near 1280 by 1024...if you set your monitor to 640 by 480 or 800 by 600 you can turn on all the options you want

 

[BOBbagels]

Yea, I just poped in a Visiontek Ti4600 128 MGb in, had a Visiontek gforce 3 in there previously (first Gforce3 that came out).
Im running a 1.333 Athalon AMD
512 Mgb DDR Ram PC 2100
1024x768x32 true bit color resolution
3D mark Second Edition score went from 6662 to 8764 with the change. (nothing overclocked).
A considerable jump which made me happy. If I tweaked/overclocked I'm sure I could get in the upper 9000's but I dont feel the need for that much speed LOL.

I havent been able to test it that much on any online games yet cause my ISP (RR) is currently having problems and im gettin high ping spikes and serious packet loss. But I did manage to play a game or 2 of AVP2, I did see nicer graphics and smoother game play to some degree.

Quake 3 is a cool game, but it really dont have anything to take advantage of the Ti4600. As a matter of fact many games dont. But they soon will.

RRAAWWHH, hang out bro and wait for the new stuff to come out, alot of new games will be comming out by Gen Con time which is real soon.

Besides, a man of your calibur dont really care, after all, its only money LOL

 

[rraawwhh]

Thanks for your help

Hey Guys thanks for your help. I ran a couple of madonion tests and my scores were pretty on par with the scores of comparable systems. I think maybe the geforce4 just isn't the card for me right now. I actually stuck it in my grandma's computer (she got a dell dimension 8200 back in February) with the intention of transplanting it into the machine I plan on building later for when
I go to college. Honestly I just don't think the geforce4 is future-proof enough. It's gonna crawl when they start making advanced directx8 games along with everything else out right now - and for todays gaming I can live with the geforce2mx that came with my grandma's computer for a couple more months (I'll probably be playing warcraft III exclusively anyway

I agree catch23, quake3 is not very fun I actually only downloaded the demo (I probably should have mentioned that before, I don't know if the engine used in the team arena demo is different than the released version) so I could watch pretty pictures moving fast move faster when I put in my new massively overpowered videocard. I think I just got sucked into the hype and coolness of buying brand new top of the line equipment even though it wasn't the smart choice. I just hope than when I'm building my new system in the fall and the clawhammer is the internet's lovechild I don't end up with the same disappointment.

On another note hopefully not inappropriate for this thread, what's wrong with anistropic filtering in the 28.32's? I think above 1024x768 it makes a bigger difference than anti-aliasing so I hope the next driver release addresses that. Also I would think todays vidcards would be able to perform with anistropic filtering and anti-aliasing on (especially in 'older' games). If anti-aliasing causes a x% performance hit and anistropic filtering causes a y% performance hit then don't the both together cause an approximately x + y % performance hit? Or are the two functions inter-related (does anti-aliasing increase the complexity of the filtering problem or vice-versa)?

Yeah BOBbagels, I have the money now, but next year I'm gonna be a poor college student with an expensive computer and the desire to flex my graphical muscle will probably be greater then than now. So even though I may be a man of my calibur, my moneys going back in my pocket.
--till next year!

 

[Qumahlin]

Aniostropic filtering + Anti Aliasing does create a X+Y performance hit...but its a HUGE hit...the age of the game doesn't matter as all games have jagged edges...sure the less polygons the less of a hit but it's still a huge hit. If you wanna use both your gonna have to set your resolution to 1024 by 786 or even 800 by 600 in some cases...currently no card can do both at high resolutions.

Right now the problem in the 28.32's is just that the filtering is creating a hugeer performance hit then it should.

Don't expect to see a vid board that can do both ani and anti at teh same time at high resolution for awhile...

and you said you notice no real difference in game playing between the geforce 4 and your old mx....I find that to be a system problem...or your not playing any newer games whatsoever....try to play Tony Hawk 3 at 1280 by 1024 AT ALL on the geforce2mx...you'll just get stuttering...try playing dungeon siege at 1024 by 768 with all options enabled...you'll see the speed difference in the menu screen alone...those are just 2 examples of recently released games...

 

[SilverBack]

I have a GF4 4600 from Vision Tek

The GF4 4600 is definately a great card.
It replaced my GF3 TI 500 and there is LARGE difference in performance at the high quality levels.

Q3 1024x768 high everything including geometry and textures
4x AA 8x Anistropic Filtering
103 fps thats amazing

People who are having large issues with performance ( similarities between cards ) don't have a cpu that can push system fast enough. They are cpu limited.

Default 3D Mark 2001
GF3 TI 500 8671
GF4 4600 10576
thats a great jump not to mention that at 1600x1200 I'm pulling almost 6700!!

I have a 1900+ cpu
512 DDR memory
Abit KR7a mobo..

 

[Wrathchild]

Happy Happy, Joy Joy Joy

I'm so glad I found this site. THe geek factor here is off the scale.



HEre's an observation....

I have a P4 1.8 GHZ
Shuttle AV40 MB with 512 Megs of PC2100 DDR
Geforce2 GTS Pro
SB Audigy Platinum
Sony 24/10/40
Pioneer 16x lot load DVD
Creative DXR3 MPEG2 Decoder
IBM P202 21" Monitor
MS Optical Mouse


I'm getting 70 to 85 FPS (consistently) at 1024 x 768 (32) in Unreal Tournament, which is what I play most of the time.

Would I actually notice a difference if I upgraded to say a Geforce3 TI500? I mean really notice in terms of playability and image quality?Or for that matter a Geforce 4?

 

[Wrathchild]

No offense meant

Hey!

I'm a technology geek. My associates and I refer to ourselves as "geeks." We know what we mean. We love technology to the point of giddiness. I meant it as a complement.

 

[Wrathchild]

hehe

(|-|£©|< /\/\ý §|<¡77§

 

[Wrathchild]

Lame

No, what's lame is calling someone lame. Find peace within my child. Then go screw yourself.





Wrath

 

[Wrathchild]

he he. Whatever you say "Computer God."

 

[wyrlwyn]

first of all, if you say quake 3 sucks, you probebly just suck balls at playing it, anyone whos good knows it kicks ass, so, your probebly just one of the people(like my little brother) who can't play worth shit.
second, if you read any magizines or read reviews on websites you'll notice quake 3 is used in ALL of them... so, maybe you think its not worth it, but the rest of the ejucated world does...
and thirdly, in maximum pc(maximumpc.com) they reviewed the g4(ti) and conpared it to a g3ti500. on a p4 test bed (2 gigz) the geforce3ti500 got 104fps in q3a, while the "awsome" g4ti4600 got 103.

do the math, is lossing a fps worth 400 dollars, i hope its not in your book.

 

[wyrlwyn]

goddamnit i hate bitchers... bitching about games.. when there
are a million and one development packs out there for free, whats stopping you from making a "good" game? brains? well, its probebly to late if thats the case, cause you already sound ignorannt enough, but, if you had drive and aren't lazy, why don't you make one better. i make maps for q3(not good ones, but i'm learning).
so, unless you wana solve your bitching and do something about it, don't diss a game you can't own at....

 

[Krux]

ladies, lets keep it civil. No one is lame I'm sure he was making a joke with his wierd whatever kind spelling (talking) that was.

 

[Qumahlin]

okey dokey ladies and gents..this has gotten far off topic, either get back to the topic of the geforce4 or this thread will end..so lets talk about the geforce4 and it's performance in games..not complaining about games and peoples personal opinions

thanks in advance

 

[Wrathchild]

Coolio.

So should get a GeForce4 to replace my Geforce2 GTS Pro on my P4 1.8GHZ system or not?

 

[Wrathchild]

Thanks!

Thanks for the advise. I think I'll pick up a GeForce 3 TI500.

 

[wyrlwyn]

if making games is a waste of time, then why have you spent so much time talking about them smart guy? you must enjoy them alittle, and without the people making them, you couldn't be bitching...