# Radeon 9700 Pro Graphics Problems



## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Anybody else having graphics issues with the Radeon 9700 Pro? I just bought this thing. In some games I have worse FPS than with my old GeForce 2 MX 400 even with everything turned off (no AA/AF or TRUEFORM)

Also I got some wierd graphics problems every once in a while with Blocky Colors relating to Fog/Water effects. I think it may have to do with AA/AF being enabled, as that seems to be when things get ugly real fast. Anybody know if it may a driver issue as opposed to being a Game issue?

Best example is Asherons Call 2 (Beta), where the problems really stand out when trying to tweak everything to full.

So if anyone else is having some problems I would love to hear about it to see if maybe we can come up with solutions.


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## brianF (Dec 2, 1999)

check this once, doesn't mention those specific games but what the hay, drivers and ati, some day they will get them right and then look out
http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/4081.html


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Yeah I think those XP Drivers are the new beta drivers as the drivers I have are 6166's. I've been all over that site with a fine tooth comb and even contacted their tech support which hopefully I'll hear back from them today. It's unfortunate, but I guess it's too be expected since they can't possibly test the new card on every game that's still being played today or the new ones that are just coming out. Guess I'll have to hold out and see what happens.

One thing kinda bugging me is 3 days after I buy the thing they announce another one that should be even better, based on some R350 chip...whereas the Radeon 9700 Pro has the R300...rrrrrrrrrr....


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## compaul (Nov 28, 2002)

I've had problems since day 1 with my 9700 Pro, on an ASUS p4s8x board. First, the SIS chipset required a "beta" 1.12 AGP driver before the card would be recognized at all. Now, it works OK, but I am pretty sure it is not running at the 8X AGP setting. The Bios is set to 8X, but I cannot find anywhere else that tells me that. 

SiSoft Sandra 03 tells me its running at 2X, and the Catalyst 2.4 Drivers software tells me its running at 1X. They only options I have on the latter one, is to change it up to 2X, and if I do, it resets its self to 1X.

It is a new p4 2.4 system running a 533FSB, 512 kingston ram, 8X Agp compatible board.

Does anyone know how or where I can find out what AGP speed my board is REALLY running, and why these other apps tell me its not running at 8X?? Any help would be appreciated.

-Paul


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## CPU_Polizei (Jul 23, 2002)

yeah, watch out for the 2x AGP setting, many boards have that problem. Also, make sure you have the newest via drivers from www.viaarena.com , and then if all else fails, I don't know, call gigabyte heh  or try a reformat


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

From what I've seen with the 2.3 catalysts it said under display properties it was running under 4x when in the BIOS it said 8x. It may just be a glitch in the software. The only place it really matters what it says it's running at is in the BIOS.


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## Luthorcrow (Jun 1, 2002)

I wonder how common the problems you are having are for this card. I am looking to add a new game rig in Feb and was debating whether to stick with Nvidia on hold until the GeforceFX is real or just go with the 9700. Honestly, Nvidia just seems to have it wired more tight on the driver end.

As for the AGP, I would worry if it were anything under 4x, but from the tests I have seen 8x just is not resulting in a performance increase with todays hardware. Maybe into next year with new configs but right now it seems to be ahead the cart before the horse.


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## Quinn (Jan 4, 2003)

I have had quite a few people call me with probs with this card. Most have been with the ASUS P4S8X Board. The main problem has been that they did NOT install the Sis AGP Drivers on the ASUS CD that came with the board BEFORE INSTALLING THE CARD!! IF you didn't install this driver first, you have to uninstall the card and drivers and start over.

This card ACtually performs WORSE at lower settings. Try playing all your games at 1024 resolution and make sure you acceleration is set to FULL.

There is a recognized probelm with incorrect AGP reporting that is fixed by installing the updated 9700 drivers from ATI's site. I have been using the card since October and LOVE it.


P4 2.8
1GB DDR
ASUS P4S8X
Radeon 9700 Pro
Audigy 2 
2 WD1.2 TB SATA


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## KrashOmnis (Jan 4, 2003)

Hey madskillz, i had almost the same system you have, and I had the 9700 Pro, but i was able to play all my games, I didn't have asherons call 2, but they all ran. I''ve heard that you need a very fast processor to reap the true rewards from a Radeon 9700 Pro.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Hey...problems have been solved. Your right...since the card is so fast all the problems lie within the CPU now. Seems it's always one or the other...lol. Anyways just upgraded my CPU to the AMD XP 2400+ as well as I am using DirectX 9 with the Catalyst 3.0 Drivers and everything is much smoother.


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## Luthorcrow (Jun 1, 2002)

> Anyways just upgraded my CPU to the AMD XP 2400+ as well as I am using DirectX 9 with the Catalyst 3.0 Drivers and everything is much smoother.


So what are your 3DMark2001 SE score with that rig?


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

15000

(sometimes a little less sometimes a little more....)


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## SigmaXIII (Jan 5, 2003)

Ive been getting a 40+ drop in frame rates when i get into a fire fight in counter strike, and similar drops in Battlefield. Ive reinstalled the card a few times, updated my bios, AGP sis drivers, the ati drivers, and directx 9. Still frame rate drops, i have almost an identical system to Quinn too maybe its a win2k thing :/
Any ideas?

P4 2.8
2x 512 DDR333 Corsair
ASUS P4S8X
Radeon 9700 Pro
Audigy Plat. Ex.
WD 20G HD
Running WIN2K


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Most definately a WIN 2 k thing...although make sure you disable your anti virus software like they say, as well as any background programs.


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## SigmaXIII (Jan 5, 2003)

Any ideas on what could cause frame rate drops with win2k and how to rememdy it? I changed some setting in console for cs i.g. ati_npatch 1 to ati_npatch 0 and ati_subdiv 2.0 to ati_subdiv 0.0 and that helps me stay at the lowest 70 fps momentary in a large firefight. Still unacceptable for a card like this :/ My other system running win2k w/ a gf3ti500 stays at a constant 99.9 to 100 tho. Thats the odd part.


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## pEzYk (Jan 6, 2003)

i have a solution for the 8x agp problem you need sis agp113.exe the 1.13 version anything prior to that will not work and report 1 2 or 4x.. also i have a question for you guys... i have a p4 1.7 ghz with a radeon 9700 and a p4s8x motherboard but i used to have a p4pe motherboard but i wanted agp 8x so i got the new one. now with the p4pe i could clock my processor to 2.1 with maximum stability and got superb performance... 12800 3d marks but with the p4s8x i only get 11800 and i cant clock my processor and am getting quite literally sh**e performance from my radeon... i used to run all games ut2003 rallisport full res full aa and full as no problem but now i cant!!! anybody got any ideas???


Please help!!! 

( have dual boot operating systems winME and winXP)

(ME running catalyst 3.0 dx 8.1 and XP running catalyst 3.0 dx9)


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Yes update your chipset drivers as well as get the new Catalyst drivers for the Radeon 9700, as the Catalyst 2.4's still didn't display the 8x agp properly. Otherwise update your BIOS.


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## GearType2 (May 21, 2002)

ok let's state the facts for all new ATI card owners: Their drivers are not known for their stability or greatness in any way :/. That being said let's get down to buissness

Cat 2.4 and previous didn't quite work well for me with my 9700 pro, but 2.5 worked wonders and I did see an improvement(does work with Asheron's Call 2 as well, and most other games). Now Catalyst 3.0 completely, for lack of better words, sucks. After 30mins - 1hour most games will freeze or just crash with a driver failure.

TIPS: Use Catalyst 2.5
[filename: wxp-w2k-radeon-6-13-10-6218-efg] for xp/2k

Now some people get drops in FPS because unknowingly they have truform on, turn it off and everything will be back to normal , hope this helps.


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## JamesBone (Feb 6, 2000)

Well, whats causing my game SH2 to lock up? I still have the 2.5 drivers. But I can't watch videos or do hardly anything with the chance it going to hang. I'm in a tight hall that I can go left or right, either way I go it hangs, so basically I can't play it anymore.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

SH2 ?


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## pEzYk (Jan 6, 2003)

I think he means Silent Hill 2... by the way i found out something interesting yesterday ... 8x doesnt run properly unless you have a 533 mhz fsb (well with intel p4's not too sure about AMD) 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AGP 8X 

AGP8X (AGP 3.0) is the next generation VGA interface specification that enables enhanced graphics performance with high bandwidth speeds up to 2.12GB/s. With a bus of 533MHz, AGP8X is twice as fast as AGP4X
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i am only getting 8900 3d marks with catalyst 2.5 and directx 9!!

WTF!?!?!?

any suggestions anyone??


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## Luthorcrow (Jun 1, 2002)

I checked on similar configurations on Mad Onions project page and results are typical for your system. The projects ranged from 9820 to 8691. What sort of scores were you expecting? If you want to get into the 1200-1700 range you are going to have to upgrade your CPU. It would be your P4 1.7 holding you back.

I have a P4 1.5 w/Geforce Ti 4400 and my best score was 7600. So I think without a CPU upgrade or some serious overclocking you shouldn't expect much more juice and overclocking isn't going to take you through the roof.

On the other hand if you are looking to get closer to that 9820 cap, keep in mind that person probably tweaked their system for the test and doesn't play in that configuration. But if you want some suggestions how about some more details?

OS?
Have you trimmed your services?
Have you trimmed your start-ups?
Have you tweaked your BIOS?
What tweaks have you tried so far?


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

I did run mine and usually get 14400-15000, turning off all the background programs and after a defrag. Though I do have the newest you can get. As for madonion...looks like they got taken over by someone else... seems to go to:

http://www.futuremark.com/

nowadays. Wonder if they'll put out a new 3dmark now that Directx 9 is out. Though after going to Directx 9 I seem to be getting some major system crashes even with the Catalyst 3.0's. Tried to go back to the 2.5's and still getting random crashes. where the error report states a thread is stuck in the drivers or some such. Crappy... Will have to reformat this thing to go back to Directx 8.1


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## Luthorcrow (Jun 1, 2002)

> I did run mine and usually get 14400-15000, turning off all the background programs and after a defrag. Though I do have the newest you can get. As for madonion...looks like they got taken over by someone else... seems to go to:


For the record my references to tweaking and 3Dmark2001 were directed to pEzYk

But 14400-15000 sounds reasonable to me for your system. I have seen tests as high as 1600+ for a system similar to yours, but then again, that may very well have been from folks that were OCing. Are you doing straight configs with tweaks or OCing short of making an ashtray of your AMD

Keeping my finger on the fire extinguisher.

On the other hand your scores sound very respectable to the P4 2.4 FSB533s I have seen. Sounds like the 2400 has more juice then I had given it credit for.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Stock system, no tweaks, and definately no OC'ing....I spent waaaay too much on all the parts over the last 6 months to have it crap out on me from setting my speeds too high LOL.


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## JamesBone (Feb 6, 2000)

I don't like the card... Every game I play gives me problems of some sort, and every game I play locks up too. I've only had it in for a week or so. So I hate this card and wish I never bought it. Makes me tempted to put my 32 MB Geforece 2 MX back in. Thats sad.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

If you purchased the ati Radeon 9700 the moment it was available chances are you may have received a version 1 card. There is now a version 1.3 of the Radeon 9700 Pro and you could have RMA'd your card in to ATI to receive the newer version.


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## JamesBone (Feb 6, 2000)

well, it was one that the store had for a while, but whats the difference? How would I go about finding out, sending it in, and making sure I got one back?


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Should have emailed ATI tech support to find out how to tell or talk to the store that sold it to you? I purchased mine from www.vibecomputers.com and they found out for me that mine was a v1.3.

Personally I think Directx 9 is the problem (with mine now) even if they do say it's totally backwards compatible with Directx 8.1, since with Directx 8.1 and the Catalyst 2.5's I was rock solid and no problems. Since going to Directx 9 and the Catalyst 3.0's I started getting some problems. Went back to the 2.5's and still had the same problems which leads me to believe Directx 9 is crap, for the time being...maybe I'll wait until Directx 9.1 LOL


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## pEzYk (Jan 6, 2003)

This is to Luthorcrow

Using my old motherboard (asus P4Pe) i could clock my 1.7 to 2.2ghz with complete system stability and i then got 12800 3d marks... with dx8.1 and catalyst 2.5 

I cannot clock my processor with my new motherboard so i have to run it at 1.7ghz (plus my ram isnt running at 333mhz and wont be untill i get a new processor) 

Will this really drop my score from 12800 to 8900???

i am thinking about getting the new p4 3.06 ghz chip 

my new board is an asus p4s8x btw


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## JamesBone (Feb 6, 2000)

GOTzMADsKILLz:

Whats the difference between the two. Why would I need to update to a version 1.3?


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## Luthorcrow (Jun 1, 2002)

> Will this really drop my score from 12800 to 8900???


Proof is in the pudding! I can't speak from personal experience because I haven't used a P4 1.7 but when I searched the Mad Onion (FutureMark) database that was the result I found. Then again, there were only 3 other rigs with your set-up that I have up loaded their data. That would probably be because most folks that are using a card that high end have matched with a similar processor.

Your current scores match in synch with what I am getting with my P4 1.5 and Geforce Ti 4400 card. So yes, the data seems to support that you running reasonable numbers for your rig. You might be able to tweak up a few hundred points without OCing but I would think that you would either have to OC or because of your MOBO get a faster CPU. I am surprised your ASUS mobo doesn't have more OCing options. I thought was the hallmark of their boards. I am curious, I'll have to look up some info your asus p4s8x.

Have you tried posting at a forum geared more towards gaming, tweaking, and OCing? You will get much larger pool of good advice at one of these forums. A couple of quick suggestions...

http://www.hardforum.com/
http://firingsquad.gamers.com/messageboards.asp


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

The understanding I received from vibecomputers where I purchased mine is that since some people kept experiencing freeze ups and crashes in games even after updating the drivers it was because they had an earlier version of the card a v1. Thus ATI corrected some issues and released a version 1.3. So if your one of the very very few who still get constant system crashes and system hangs when playing games or using graphical intensive programs, you should take a look. It has nothing to do with the speed of the card itself or scores under 3dmark only the stability of the card itself.


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## JamesBone (Feb 6, 2000)

Well, now I don't seem to have anymore problems with my games since I got 2.5 drivers. I still get problems with the original UT though which locks up under Direct3D when I change resolutions. It stutters too when you play. Kind of annoying, so I had to change UT to run in OpenGL. But all other games I have seem to run fine. Just UT now.

So how long is ATI doing this? Changing your card for free? Cause it they just recently made changes, then I'm positive I have v1.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

ATI will change your card for free under the RMA plan, but you will have to pay for shipping to and from, which is standard. Also in regards to openGL and Direct3d, I haven't found a card yet that does well under Direct3d from my old Geforce2 to the Radeon 9700 Pro I have now.

openGL always seems the way to go, so your not alone, also you may want to check out the ATI website to see if your particular problem is listed and as to whether or not they are working on a fix for it. If it's not listed under the "driver faq" or under their "need help with" section then they might not know about it and you should report it, although they'll probably send you a generic games faq via email, which can also be viewed on their website.

I do know ATI is taking their drivers seriously and thus they have a driver feedback form to fill out to help fix any issues you may be having. 

Sheesh I'm starting to sound like an ATI Customer Service Rep....maybe I should send 'em my resume lol.


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## jasonpel (Jan 12, 2003)

I've just been looking all over the internet to find out why my card is running like crap. I'm using:
retail ATi 9700 Pro
Athlon XP 2200+
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
2x 256MB Corsair 2400 DDR
Sparkle 300w PSU
Catalyst 3.0 (dated January 10th 2003)
DirectX 9.0

I did a search on google.com to find out if this kind of performance is usual of this card, but I doubt it as I have heard of running UT2K3 in 6xAA in 1600x1200 with no problem.

Updated bioses for everything. I've formatted several times, and still get very low performance.

Although I do score 14000+ on 3dMark, seeing as how it uses Direct3d, I wondered how a benchmark would score for OpenGL. I ran a demo of the torture test and I scored 190 FPS. I seem to notice that games run REALLY bad for my system setup. Tribes 2, Half-Life running Natural Selection, etc. I also notice how if I turn Anti-Aliasing to 6X and Anistopic Filtering to 16X, it seems as though there is no performance difference, yet still below what I would call "good" (60+ fps).

Please respond asap. I'm in dire need of help.


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## SigmaXIII (Jan 5, 2003)

For HL based games turn off vsync and truform. Also in console enter in Ati_npatch 0 and Ati_subdiv 0.0. Helps to keep my frames up and steady.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Since going to Directx 9 and the 3.0
s I find I get a lot of problems now. It's the Directx 9 not the Cat drivers as I have tried different versions of the Cat's and still get the same problems. Get rid of Directx 9 and go back to 8.1 for now. I think that's why Directx 9 hasn't shown up under the Windows Updates yet and why it wasn't really a big news event. I'd avoid it until games come out the require it. Even though it's supposed to be backwards compatible it doesn't appear to be so, either that or the Cat drivers don't work well with it yet.


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## jasonpel (Jan 12, 2003)

Thank you Thank you!!!
SigmaXIII I am your man for life!
Well, just for today 

I did what you said, Ati_npatch 0 and Ati_subdiv 0.0 and my framerates held completely steady at 100FPS in Counter-Strike running at 1600x1200 FSAA 6X , 16XAF.

THANKS!


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## pEzYk (Jan 6, 2003)

Just a quicky to the guy who was having half-life and cs trouble

I have had exactly the same trouble make sure trueform is off that mucks up the fps in most games.

also i have found that if i get poor performance from a game (which seems to be the case recently) it doesnt matter what res i run it at...infact it seems that the higher res i go (1600x1200) the better fps i get!!! anyone know why this is???

am running direct x 9 which might be causing some probs...


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

Just got my system up and running really and i am very dissapointed in this graffx card. Every time i enter an openGL environment [usually Counter-Strike] or even winamp plugins i get a very good demonstration of what this card can do. however, after a short time it locks up! when i reboot i get an windows error that reads something like this:

Computer restarted after an unexpected shutdown.
Microsoft Windows detected a possible device failure.
The driver for the display device was unable to complete a drawing operation.
Please check with the device manufacturer for a driver update.
The display driver for RADEON 9700 SERIES seems to be responsible for the system instability

in sandra i have things like this being told to me:

video card does not have an interrupt assigned

current agp data rate not optimal
agp bus is unused or agp card not fully agp compatible

in windows it tells me its running 8x and all that and everything seems fine. sometimes it locks up when i play media as well. i have tried both cat drivers 2.5 and 3.0. it has done this regardless of installing Directx9 or just running 8.1. i talked to ati and did all the updates as they suggested but still nothing. i have also contacted my vendor to try to find out if it my be the dreaded v1 card. going to call ati on monday for one more shot at it and then its going back  very sad considering it does perform when it works...

A7N8X Deluxe
2700+
Radeon 9700 PRO
2x256 Crucial Micron pc2700


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

It's using the new nVidia 2 chipset eh? Could be why...have you checked for chipset drivers from nVidia. Also Have you checked the resources by type under Device Manager. Does it show any comflicts? You may need to move a PCI device into another slot say if you have you Audio card and the video on the same IRQ. Had the same problem when I first got it and moved my Audigy into another slot to take care of it. Also I'd stay away from Directx 9 and the Cat 3.0's for now. Seems to be causing others problems as well.

Anyways check your resources (IRQs) and see how it goes. If you are using the onboard sound and NIC try disabling things like the serial ports and the LPT port (if your printer is USB you don't need it) under your BIOS.


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

in device manager, under system devices i have an "!" by one of my "motherboard resources". Says that windows connot load the device driver for this hardware because there is a duplicate device already running in the system [code 42]

device type: system devices
location: on PCI bus

that was the only thing that i saw. i am not running any pci cards at all. just using the onboard NIC and onboard sound. im not sure what the hell that means. i DLed the latest nforce drivers from asus and that didnt correct the problem... i know other people who are running the same setup as me and are running fine so i know there is no compatibility issue.


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

how do i remove directx9?


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Hmmmm...no idea what the conflict is...did you turn off a bunch of the onboard stuff you don't need or aren't using like the serial ports? Did you install the chipset drivers for your motherboard? Can you select and uninstall the duplicate device (right click and select remove)? Is there any devices under Device Manager view "devices by type" with the "!" beside it?

Also for a Directx 9 uninstaller you can pick it up here and follow the directions:

Directx 9.0 Uninstaller


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

i can disable or enable the device and i can unistall it. there are no other "!"s anywere else tho... all chipset drivers have been updated... i tried uninstalling everything and reinstalling my chipset drivers first then cat 2.5... i was able to play for about 10 mins so i was like maybe i got this working now... then CRASH lol. i think this card is funked.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Maybe I missed it but what game crashes? Is it the only one? Have you tried others. Also what graphics settings are you sing in it... Is Trueform on or off? Sounds like there's a resource conflict If it's BF1942 I get crashes once in a while as well, totally random. What IRQ is listed for the Radeon? Are there any others with the same IRQ?

Hmmm strange. I think your devices got bugged up from the get go. You might try uninstalling the video card and then reboot and then reinstall the drivers from the beginning. Might redo the IRQ thing as well...


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

it crashes in counterstrike like everytime and any other game that is openGL. seems to run fine in directx. even my winamp JET plugin wont run for too long without hanging. ive tried uninstalling the driver and reinstalling it. and doing that with the chipset driver as well. still all it does is make it work for a little bit longer then it still crashes. i seem to be able to play CS in direct3D mode but i dont even wanna say that kuz i havnt really checked it. im not sure how to check truform so maybe you could tell me how. in my device manager i have 2 display adapters [radeon 9700/radeon 9700 secondary]. the first says that the Location is PCI bus 3 and in the resources it says IRq 19. the second has the same location but has no IRQ in the resources. both say that the device is workig properly. also, everytime i reboot i get the TV ENABLE thing that tells me that my TV mode is enabled so i dont know if that has anything to do with it. i try to disable it but it seems like its not enabled when i go into the settings. i was able to play hitman for a while with no hangups. also if i run my 1280x1024 mode past 60hz i get funny lines going up my screen. i know it has nothing to do with my monitor kuz if i use the digital connector on the back of the card and put the adapter for the monitor the lines go away. plus my monitor has no problem doing 75+Hz in any other resolution. im starting to think that this card is just bugged.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

the two listings of the same Radeon refers to the regular monitor out and the DVI out. Don't worry about that. To check for Trueform, right click on your desktop and select "properties" to view your display properties. Click "settings" the click on "advanced" this will open the Radeon's properties.

Click on Direct3d tab. Near the bottom it should have the trueform setting. Move the slider all the way to the left so it's set to always off. Repeat this for openGL tab as well. Now trueform is disabled. I turn off vsync as well just out of habit.

You can also set the refresh rate from here. Since the 2.5 drivers this has been fixed so it will actually set your refresh rate to the desired amount. One question about your refresh rate problem though...does your monitor show up under Device Manager under "monitors". If it shows up as default monitor, try finding the drivers for your monitor from the manufacturer's website. otherwise it has problems figuring out what the min-max refresh rates for your monitor are. I had to for my 19" Sceptre DragonEye monitor so windows would know the refresh rates for the various display modes.

As stated earlier in this thread if nothing helps, try contacting ATI to see if they can help. You may not have the version 1.3 card you may instead have an earlier version which can be RMA'd for a newer version which might help the problem.

Here's also a link to an ATI adapter utility that gives you some info:

ATI Adapter Utility

Anyways, other than that I'm not sure what else to try.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

wait a minute...tv enabled... check this, get into your display settings. (right click on desktop, select properties, select advanced)

click on the "Displays Tab" what does it say... there should be 4 seperate choices: Monitor, YPbPr, FPD, TV... is yours set to TV?


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

well it looks like my monitor is the only one selected the rest are shaded with X's over the connector cables... hmm iono man... i just reformated and reinstalled everything kuz i was getting some weird conflicts. the motherboard resources conflict we were talking about earlier isnt there anymore after the reformat and reinstall...

i turned off the vsync on both direct3d and opengl. i didnt see truform tho... what i saw was 2 bars that say texture preference and mipmap detail level... are those the bars ur referring to? my monitor is shown and its weird kuz when i switch to the digital connector via the adaptor the funny lines/shadows go away.... weird. also when i rebooted the screen went crazy with weird shiet all over it until i switched to the adapter... im going to try running this again with vsync off and with the new boot but my expectations are low.


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

aight nevermind that motherboard resources "!" is back... not sure wth haha... going to contact ATI in the morning and nag the hell out of them til i am happy... shoot for as much as i paid for this retail card i am going to be a b****


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Sounds like a bad card...take it back or RMA it to ATI to have them send you a new one...could be some other things like memory timings/problems maybe as well. THen again... do you know of someone else's computer you can borrow to try the vid card in it...it may be your motherboard...since those are super new



GOTz


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

when i look in my sandra at the agp stuff it says that it there is no interrupt assigned to the card... what does that mean? i called ati and they have no problem rma'n it...


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Are you able to just take your comp in to where you purchased it and get them to fix it? Or try changing the card or motherboard for you before having to RMA it in? As for Sisoft Sandra...it's never very accurate especially the performance listings I find really really suspect. Anyways, why not try that route. I know it must be frustrating but sometimes you do get bad parts....I once had to get a CD Rom replaced 3 times before I had one that worked.


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

well i built this system myself about 3 weeks ago so there is no one place i can take it too... after talking to ati and telling them all the gross symptoms they concluded it was the card... so i will RMA it and that way i will know for sure my card is good. if there is any problem after that then i will be contacting asus' warranty program LOL. i seriously doubt its my board tho... have all the updated drivers and bios and the thing is stable as hell and quick. no problems with it. plus windows blames the instability on the card when it reboots after a hang. but thanks for all ur advice man its been a learning experience.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

That's good ATI will RMA it no problems. I hope it solves your problems and you can be up and running quickly and in glorious 1600x1200 4xAA 14xAF 32 bit color in no time with over 15000 score in 3dmark2001SE


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## a0n-C (Jan 19, 2003)

haha well ill be back when am i am up and running to figure out exactly what all that means. i am new the benchmarking and graphics world. this is the first machine that i have built that was aimed at learning about benchmarking and dope graphics. my last machine only sported gf3 and a 2100+. sometimes i miss my old one tho... atleast it worked! ;D


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## pEzYk (Jan 6, 2003)

I have recently upgraded my processor from a 1.7 to a 2.4 with 533 fsb...but am still only getting 12500 3d marks when clocked to a 2.7! with my old 1.7 processor clocked to a 2.1 with an intel chipset i got the same score...advice...DO NOT BUY A P4S8X! it has a SIS Chipset and is Naff! i am now buting a Gigabyte 8INXP which supports dual band memory and has the new intel chipset...and if it doesnt improove after that then im going to give up and buy an XBOX!!!

my old board was a P4PE (much better)
I now have a P4S8X

Pezyk


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

....sigh.... I spoke to soon, am getting video card crashes daily now no matter what drivers I am using for the Radeon 9700 Pro. Talking full blue screen with no error messages, have to hard reboot since everything locks up. Been getting this for a while now and has gotten really bad the last couple weeks. Got an advanced RMA card from ATI on the way which should clear up the crashes. Seems I got an early version of the card instead of the current version 1.3. Crap.


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

GOT the new Radeon card today. It came fast. So far so good, not a single crash in 8 hours of use. It's first time in a long time. Finally this problem is solved.


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## pEzYk (Jan 6, 2003)

am doing the same today mate... am taking my card back to shop

hope it solves problems!


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## pEzYk (Jan 6, 2003)

Well What can i say guys...

I took my radeon back and got another one think it is a 1.3 ver of the card!

got a new motherboard... Gigabyte 8inxp (supports dual channel ddr ram so my ram runs at 600 mhz!)

and now i get 15500 - 16000 3d marks!!!

Liquid framerates in doom 3 and unreal 2!

i just wanted to thank everyone on this forum for all the advice and help that you gave me!

also the radeon 9700 is a better buy than the ge-force fx!

www.rivastation.com

read the review!

cheers again guys

PK Out


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## GOTzMADsKILLz (Apr 18, 2002)

Yep I got 4679 with my rig with the new 3dMark03

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=21834

Glad I got the new card also Cat 3.1 drivers are out and they have increased the stability in some instances as well. Glad the RMA/Return worked and your up and running. Truly sucks when you buy something and it's designed wrong and thus nothing you can do can save you from the headaches... Oh well Radeon kicks FX a$$ in most games anyways, especially if you use AA/AF


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## pEzYk (Jan 6, 2003)

Well ... with the Ati catalyst drivers 3.0 and direct x 9 i am getting 

-120 fps in UT2003 @1024x768 in a firefight 
-80 fps in UT2003 @1024x768 in a firefight (4xAA + 16xAF)
-16000 3D marks in 3Dmark 2001
-5001 3D marks in 3Dmark 2003

I am sooooo Happy

and some advice to those agp4x owners who are thinking of getting an agp 8x mobo... 

DO NOT GET THE P4S8X!!! 

It is incompatible with the radeon! 

Thanks again guys 

PK out!


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## toecutter (Feb 3, 2003)

i just build a system with asus p4s8x board and a 9500pro card with windows xp and am having horrible performance. I've updated everything. Has anybody heard anything about IRQ


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## pEzYk (Jan 6, 2003)

Dude,
Seriously ... it is your motherboard... i went from a p4s8x SIS chipset to an Gigabyte 8INXP intel chipset and get an extra 3000 3d marks straight away. that board is S**te ... take it back if you can get a replacment...get any intel chipset but do not get sis... it is such a poor board... im still trying to get rid of my old one... 

I know its a pain in the *** but i had the same problem as you (read back through the posts) and what solved it was getting a board with an intel chipset. the one i had before the p4s8x was an older P4 motherboard and i got better performance from that than the p4s8x.

good luck...keep us posted



PK out


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## MindMX (Jun 12, 2003)

Hello I'm new !

I was searching the web because I also have problems with my Radeon 9700 Pro (an Hercules Prophet one), and I discovered this site. Looks cool ! Guess what ... I have a P4S8X-X :down: (not P4S8X (I don't know the difference)) mainboard, and I cannot use AGP 8x or games crash. So I use 4x mode ... I updated to all the most recent drivers (AGP, graphic card and BIOS), but it still doesn't work. 

Those who have a P4S8X and use BIOS rev. 1004 and latest AGP driver 1.14 don't seem to have the AGP 8x bugs anymore. I e-mailed Asus about this problem, and they told me to try things I've already tried. I will recontact them.

 For now I don't know what to do. Has someone any advice to give me, please ?

Excuse me for English mistakes if there are any (I speak french).


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## toecutter (Feb 3, 2003)

I replaced my 350watt ps to a 450 and things got much better. After a few week my brand new wd hard drive died and I lost everything. Upon replacement of hd agp ran at 8x and all my problems were solved. 

I don't know which one was a culpret but this is running pretty good now.


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## Treyy3 (Jul 8, 2003)

I got my radeon 9700 pro from powercolor, and it has the same general problems that everyone else is having (especially with the P4S8X), I'm sure I have the old version and so I am going to send it off asap. 

I too am lost at the difference in the P4S8X variations... Does anyone know the difference between a P4S8X and a P4S8X-X? 

And is there any way to uninstall my SiS AGP drivers so I can reinstall a different version? 

What would be the best order for installation (starting with a fresh copy of windows 2000 pro on a formatted HDD and ending with a fresh version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein)


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## toecutter (Feb 3, 2003)

reformatting and starting fresh is probably the best thing to do but its so time consuming. Once reformatted and windows is on, install the agp driver first (probably agp 114 zip file) then the drivers for your vid card. 

I also had some problems with the card not running at 8x, but after a clean install and loading agp driver first my gaming perfect. It has been able to handle everything that I've thown at it.

Are you using the onboard sound? If so try turning it off and see if that helps. I purchased a audiology gamer sound card and the performance got even better. 

p4 2.53 chip
1 gig pc2700 corsiar ram
80 gig wd hd
1 can of copenhagen


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## newtronex (Jul 30, 2003)

I just installed a radeon 9700 pro video card to an asus p4800 deluxe mobo once i started my pc , i got vertical lines up and down my screen 2 inches thick , 2 inches apart (they look like the ribbon cables in my case except slightly thinner) and at times i get lots of small boxes(1/4 inch) all over my screen . Is there any way to solve this problem or is the card defective.


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## toecutter (Feb 3, 2003)

YOUR SCREWWED!!! Just kidding. 

I guess you should play around with some drivers and check your agp driver. Do you have the latest directx? I think its 9.0 now.

This is a long shot but make your monitor at a faster hz.

What version of windows are you running? Try running in safe mode. 

Is the board beeping? Then its a ps problem. These new cards suck a lot of power. Try running the pc probe program a see your voltages.

I wish I could give your more help but I don't know what I'm doing either. Your problem sounds like a driver conflict.

One learns from their mistakes 

write a post when you get this figured out. I'd like to know what will be the verdict


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## Pollewopske (Aug 12, 2003)

Hi!

Im new at this forum.

I just wanted to react at IgotMadskills..


I have the graphic problem you talked about.

Things like smoke, water and dark places like shadows etc look really horrible..

Does anyone know what I can do about this??

I tried looking for AA and AF settings but im not that good with pc's 

I had the same crappy graphics with Urban Terror but when I put the resolution to 1600x1200 its gone..

This doesnt work at the rest of the games though 

I tried it with the following.

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
BattleField 1942
Return To Castle Wolfenstein
Soldier Of Fortune 2
Quake 3 Arena etc.
Unreal Tournament
Unreal Tournament 2003
America's Army

Well..All the games had the problem.America's army less then the rest but still their.

I tried multiple crt screens but they all have the same problem.
With my old Geforce 2 mx-400 I never had this problem.

Oow one thing. I dont have the 9700 pro or something.
I have a 8500 LE

Thnx alot for the help.

Here are my specs.


AMD XP2600+ Thoroughbred
Asus A7N8X Mainboard
512 MB-DDR 
Maxtor 8 mb cache Diamond Max 9 Plus, 120Gb 7200rpm Fluid Bearring(hdd) SATA 
Radeon 8500LE
Audigy 2 
Windows XP Pro with service pack


Thanx for the effort!

btw. 

The games all run great except for the graphical issues.

Greetz Pollewopske


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## Pollewopske (Aug 12, 2003)

No one who can help me out????


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## guitar21 (Nov 6, 2006)

i got the ati radion 9250 defalt setting are crap turn of vcu recover turne everything els on
and download powerstrip set up hot keys for 
alt+ctl+and + briter 
alt+ctl+and - darker 
the only problem i have is second life and by the looks of things im not missing out on mutch
powerstrip did improve my card so did adding fan to heatsink as 9250 dosnt have fan
for 50 dollars australian you cant go rong


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