Unsatisfying X850XT platinum edition plz help

Kenny Lee · 05-21-2005, 11:07 AM

Ariel3black

Hi there, i recently bought an X850XT, i later found i need a new power supply, so now i have 400watts, i also bought more ram, so i now have 768MB of ram. Yet i get sluggish performance whilst playing games, im a bit of a newbie to upgrades, so if u can suggest any reasons why im only getting and average 45 FPS (sometimes 10 or below) and it peaks at 60 FPS and no more, then i would be greatful.

feddup · 05-21-2005, 11:53 AM

Some of the newer games (HL2 Doom 3) are quite demanding. I'm no expert but Wattage isn't the entire answer on PSUs and 400 watts might be cutting it close, at that, with an 850. 768 mb RAM isn't exactly generous by today's game standards either. You might try different drivers and or Google for issues relating to the games you wish to play. By all rights I'd think purchasing that card would make any game playable but there are many variables in PC performance and a leading edge 3d shooter is going to test your system. Sorry I don't have THE answer but the issue is complex.

ebackhus · 05-21-2005, 01:47 PM

What CPU do you have?

**mgoldb2** · 05-21-2005, 02:04 PM

Also what game is you having trouble with and at what settings would be helpful information.

Kenny Lee · 05-22-2005, 04:01 AM

Thanks for the reply, my CPU is an intel pentium 4 1900MHz (19 x 100)
the game thats not performing as well as it should is call of duty and call of duty: united offensive, after putting optimal system settings on, it recommends everything on high to extra for call of duty and medium to high for united offensive both with 1024 x 768 resolution. But these are definatly cant be optimal system settings because its supposed to balance qaulity with performance, the graphics look great but as i said before performance is rubbish. I tried out unreal tournament 2003, which i know is old now, but all the settings were on maximum-ish and i got a really decent frame rate, does anyone know of any issues with call of duty and ATI/AGP cards anything like that?

Kenny Lee · 05-22-2005, 02:21 PM

I just did that games advisor thing on microsoft.com to see what it said about how my pc should run certain games, it said it would run half life 2 way above average, yet doom 3, call of duty, and ,max payne 2 WAY below average this seems weird or is it me?

feddup · 05-22-2005, 02:39 PM

Call of Duty is an opengl title which isn't ATI's strength. I still don't understand why your card should play COD that poorly. Do you know the frame rate? You might download a freeware app called fraps and test your frame rate. My 9800xt does OK on COD and Doom 3 which are both Opengl titles. It prefers DirectX titles like Farcry or HL2 but the difference isn't that big. What drivers are you running?

ebackhus · 05-22-2005, 05:52 PM

That CPU is gonna really limit what you get out of the system. Honestly, I wouldn't pair that powerful of a card with such a weak processor.

Kenny Lee · 05-23-2005, 11:31 AM

my frame rate is between 15 and 60 on COD, i have no idea about upgrading my CPU what would u recommend?

ebackhus · 05-23-2005, 11:44 AM

Depending on the board and BIOS you might be able to just slap in a faster chip. Otherwise you may want to consider a rebuild using all-new parts. Personally, I recommend the Athlon 64 chips. They provide ample power for all your 32-bit stuff and are good for the future with 64-bit. If you're serious and want to go really far then get a motherboard with a socket 939/940 installation base. That way you can go with dual core later on. The rig I have in my signature is great and handles all I throw at it.

Kenny Lee · 05-24-2005, 10:37 AM

well well, i guess i'll consider a new motherboard this one is a MSI (micro star)
MS - 6533, so not too new, by the time i get all the uprgades i want, everything but the case will be new, i should've just saved up for a new pc i guess, but meh!

Thanks for all the help everyone

05-21-2005, 11:07 AM	#1 (permalink)
Kenny Lee Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8 OS: Windows XP (home)	Unsatisfying X850XT platinum edition plz help Ariel3black Hi there, i recently bought an X850XT, i later found i need a new power supply, so now i have 400watts, i also bought more ram, so i now have 768MB of ram. Yet i get sluggish performance whilst playing games, im a bit of a newbie to upgrades, so if u can suggest any reasons why im only getting and average 45 FPS (sometimes 10 or below) and it peaks at 60 FPS and no more, then i would be greatful.

05-21-2005, 11:53 AM	#2 (permalink)
feddup Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Kansas City, Missouri Posts: 174 OS: XP	What Game? Some of the newer games (HL2 Doom 3) are quite demanding. I'm no expert but Wattage isn't the entire answer on PSUs and 400 watts might be cutting it close, at that, with an 850. 768 mb RAM isn't exactly generous by today's game standards either. You might try different drivers and or Google for issues relating to the games you wish to play. By all rights I'd think purchasing that card would make any game playable but there are many variables in PC performance and a leading edge 3d shooter is going to test your system. Sorry I don't have THE answer but the issue is complex. __________________ P4C800-e Deluxe 3.2C 2 gigs Corsair XMS4000Pro 2 WD740gd Raid 0 on ICH5R 2 Seagate IDE on Promise 20378 9800XT

05-21-2005, 01:47 PM	#3 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	What CPU do you have? __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

05-21-2005, 02:04 PM	#4 (permalink)
mgoldb2 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 604 OS: windows xp	Also what game is you having trouble with and at what settings would be helpful information. __________________

05-22-2005, 04:01 AM	#5 (permalink)
Kenny Lee Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8 OS: Windows XP (home)	Thanks for the reply Thanks for the reply, my CPU is an intel pentium 4 1900MHz (19 x 100) the game thats not performing as well as it should is call of duty and call of duty: united offensive, after putting optimal system settings on, it recommends everything on high to extra for call of duty and medium to high for united offensive both with 1024 x 768 resolution. But these are definatly cant be optimal system settings because its supposed to balance qaulity with performance, the graphics look great but as i said before performance is rubbish. I tried out unreal tournament 2003, which i know is old now, but all the settings were on maximum-ish and i got a really decent frame rate, does anyone know of any issues with call of duty and ATI/AGP cards anything like that?

05-22-2005, 02:21 PM	#6 (permalink)
Kenny Lee Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8 OS: Windows XP (home)	continued.... I just did that games advisor thing on microsoft.com to see what it said about how my pc should run certain games, it said it would run half life 2 way above average, yet doom 3, call of duty, and ,max payne 2 WAY below average this seems weird or is it me?

05-22-2005, 02:39 PM	#7 (permalink)
feddup Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Kansas City, Missouri Posts: 174 OS: XP	ATI / OPENgl Call of Duty is an opengl title which isn't ATI's strength. I still don't understand why your card should play COD that poorly. Do you know the frame rate? You might download a freeware app called fraps and test your frame rate. My 9800xt does OK on COD and Doom 3 which are both Opengl titles. It prefers DirectX titles like Farcry or HL2 but the difference isn't that big. What drivers are you running? __________________ P4C800-e Deluxe 3.2C 2 gigs Corsair XMS4000Pro 2 WD740gd Raid 0 on ICH5R 2 Seagate IDE on Promise 20378 9800XT

05-22-2005, 05:52 PM	#8 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	That CPU is gonna really limit what you get out of the system. Honestly, I wouldn't pair that powerful of a card with such a weak processor. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

05-23-2005, 11:31 AM	#9 (permalink)
Kenny Lee Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8 OS: Windows XP (home)	my frame rate is between 15 and 60 on COD, i have no idea about upgrading my CPU what would u recommend?

05-23-2005, 11:44 AM	#10 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Depending on the board and BIOS you might be able to just slap in a faster chip. Otherwise you may want to consider a rebuild using all-new parts. Personally, I recommend the Athlon 64 chips. They provide ample power for all your 32-bit stuff and are good for the future with 64-bit. If you're serious and want to go really far then get a motherboard with a socket 939/940 installation base. That way you can go with dual core later on. The rig I have in my signature is great and handles all I throw at it. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

05-24-2005, 10:37 AM	#11 (permalink)
Kenny Lee Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8 OS: Windows XP (home)	well well, i guess i'll consider a new motherboard this one is a MSI (micro star) MS - 6533, so not too new, by the time i get all the uprgades i want, everything but the case will be new, i should've just saved up for a new pc i guess, but meh! Thanks for all the help everyone