New Computer: Slow Performance

a dreams forever

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I just got a new computer today. a compaq. amd 64 3500+, 1 gb ram, and an onboard ati xpress 200 series. before i got this computer i read online about the xpress 200 series and looked at benchmarks. doom 3 1024x768 high detial got 80 fps. (the test computer was a amd 64 3800, but it isnt too much different than my 3500).. i download the doom 3 demo and it runs really bad. loads fast but in game it runs really bad even on med detail. this isnt the 80fps all these sites it ran at. i downloaded the latest catalyst drivers off the ati site so what gives? am i doing something wrong? it says my frame buffer is 64mb and no matter what i do i cant change it to 128. what is going on? can someone help me?
 
Re: i am a little upset.

Monitor refresh rate can affect FPS in games.
 
Re: i am a little upset.

in the compaq bios.. it says something like.. primary video drivers.. and it says pci.. the options are pci, pci-e, and onboard.. what should it be? pci? the defualt?
 
Re: i am a little upset.

On board video sucks. There is no other way to put it. It usually shares main memory which chokes it and does not have room for an adequate cooling solution which means slower speeds.

There may be a problem with the setup on your Compaq or they may not have implemented the video chipset the same way the test machines in the review did.

This review says the xpress 200 chipset sucks. It has 2 pixel pipelines (current cards use 16-24) and a clock speed of 333 mhz (current cards run 400-650mhz). That's 0.66 Gpixels per second for the Xpress 200 compared to 10 Gpixels per second on the current top end cards.
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/radeon-xpress200/index.x?pg=2

Drop a link to the reviews that said ATI Express 200 was getting 80 fps in Doom. I suspect they were running a radeon 200 MB chipset and a seperate video card. Not the radeon express 200 integrated graphics.

Also show the exact model number of the Compaq you got and someone will review the spec's on it for you. Though there is unlikely anything you can do short of dropping in a $250-600 video card.

Minimizing texture quality, turn off lighting effects and shadows and run at 800x600 is the best you can do for now.
 
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Re: i am a little upset.

well in a few weeks i am going to buy a new video card. i don't want to spend more than 400$ so what card should i get? i just want something to run world of warcraft, half-life 2, sims 2... stuff like that. in the highest detail with no slow down.. i have the 360 for other games. tia.
 
Re: i am a little upset.

Yup, what I thought. The MB in the test does not have built in graphics and they used a 6800 GT stand alone card which was one of the better cards about 15 months ago.

ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 reference board
1GB OCZ EL DDR400 Platinum Edition Rev 2
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT reference card

What card to get depends on how radical you are about your gaming. You can get some really good cards for around $300. 7900GT, 7800GT, 6800 Ultra, X1800XT.

The top end cards start at $400 and go up from there. 7800 GTX, 7900GTX, X1900XT.

Don't get a 7600GT it is a crippled card. The pixel pipelines (12) and memory bandwidth (128) are cut back. In the $200 range the X800XL, X850XT, 6800 GT are better choices (16 pipelines and 256 bit memory same as the $300 and up cards).

Pick some specific cards you like and then post them here and watch us all start arguing over which is the best.

Like Scott said the 5200 is probably AGP and probably won't fit into the card slots on you computer. Your new video card has to be PCI-e (not PCI or AGP). The good news is that PCI-e cards are a lot cheaper than the AGP which are going out of production.

Post the model number on your computer. The link above doesn't work. It comes up as no longer valid. I want to make sure the power supply and card slots in your computer will support all the newer video cards. Is it this one? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7739799&type=product&id=1140392808026

Update: Save these links. If you ever have questions again they make it easy for people to help.
This is probably your MB. It's an ASUS. w/ a PCI-e video slot and 2 usable PCI slots.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...roduct=1841851&lang=en&docname=c00496280#N842

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...=en&product=1841851&lang=en&docname=c00609393

There is no info on the power supply so you will have to open the case and read the ratings from the label. The important info is:

Total wattage 350W, 400W, etc.
The Current rating for the +12V. It will say something like +12V@18A. The xxA is the current rating.

Now the important part. If there are (2) +12V ratings then you can handle any video card. If there is only one +12V rating then you will be limited on how fast a video card can be installed.
 
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Re: i am a little upset.

a dreams forever said:
I just got a new computer today. a compaq. amd 64 3500+, 1 gb ram, and an onboard ati xpress 200 series. before i got this computer i read online about the xpress 200 series and looked at benchmarks. doom 3 1024x768 high detial got 80 fps. (the test computer was a amd 64 3800, but it isnt too much different than my 3500).. i download the doom 3 demo and it runs really bad. loads fast but in game it runs really bad even on med detail. this isnt the 80fps all these sites it ran at. i downloaded the latest catalyst drivers off the ati site so what gives? am i doing something wrong? it says my frame buffer is 64mb and no matter what i do i cant change it to 128. what is going on? can someone help me?

The game is capped at 60 fps. You will not get over 60 fps while running the game, unless you change some settings, and then it could screw things up.

For the game itself, run it with lower details. It doesn't affect the game THAT much. It looks almost the same still.
 
Re: i am a little upset.

I dont think it has been asked yet if he has AA or AF on. If you turn off AA it will look like edges are pixelated, but it will greatly increase performance. Most review sites dont use AA while benchmarking, and if I forget to turn off AA / AF on my 6800GT it barely runs most new games..
 
Re: i am a little upset.

GEN3RIC said:
I dont think it has been asked yet if he has AA or AF on. If you turn off AA it will look like edges are pixelated, but it will greatly increase performance. Most review sites dont use AA while benchmarking, and if I forget to turn off AA / AF on my 6800GT it barely runs most new games..

Thats strange we have a 6800gt that runs anything with AA and AF on , maybe you lack the CPU , RAM to enchance your videocard.
 
ok i now see the mistake i did reading the benchmarks. w00ps. still a great computer for the price.. anyways.

yah this is the computer i have.. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7739799&type=product&id=1140392808026

doesnt say anything about the power supply but its a new powerful computer. wouldnt it be the wattage i need anyways?

amd 64 3500+, 1 gb ram most powerful computer i have ever owned. i love it. should i look at the wattage before i buy a card? and i was looking at this card..
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...t&productCategoryId=cat01151&id=1130987444322

is that a good card?

and right after i asked about the fx 5200 card i remembered that i only can get pci-e or pci.. im new to the whole pci-e thing. used to agp..
 
Wattage isn't the only thing to consider when it comes to Power Supplies, but the PSU with that system SHOULD be adequate. If you are going to BestBuy to get that particular video card, when you get to the store ask them to show you the wattage on your PC you bought. They probably still have one on display, so don't take "I'm not sure", or "It's in the manual" for an answer. Have them open the case and look at the PSU, as it should be labeled.
 
so.. wattage and psu? i have no clue what psu means.. heh and im just going to call compaq later tonight to find out.. what should i ask them? and what info am i looking for?
 
PSU = Power Supply Unit. :)

These days with all the newer hardware and it's requirements, it's recommended to go at least 450+ watts for your PSU. If you call Compaq, ask them the watts on your system.

I found a data sheet (reference attachment), no details there about the strength of your Power Supply either :s
 

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youd think they will have that info since it needs to be a certain power for cards heh.. but thank you.. i will call them later.. that card i want to get.. is it a good card? i want to run sims 2, world of warcraft, doom3 and others perfect in high detail.. :D hah..
 
Video card looks good to me.

A thing to note on that description as well is that the card only requires a 350W PSU, which indicates it will take a lot of juice. It won't suck the entire 350W continously, but with the rest of your hardware in the case you DEFINITELY want to know what you are running first. If the PC only has a 350W in the case presently, that may be an issue.
 
wow. phone support isn't winning any awards any time soon. *cough*

i opened it up myself. 300 watt max. boo. i can buy stronger PSUs right? any one will fit?
 

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