Well, after my Ti4600 was screwed after my body static killed it, I needed a new card. I wanted an awesome card, for an awesome price. So..I went to CompUSA. They had tons of cards. I ended up leaving with an Xtasy 9600 256 DDR.
I have to say, I am a bit disappointed. It seems to me that it does not perform as good as it should! I am getting around 30 FPS in Splinter Cell, around 70 FPS in UT2003 with all Normal settings, no details. I have no AA on, just V-sync. I am disappointed, my friends with Ti4200s are getting better framerates. What is the cause of this? I am ready to return this, this...THING. Any help would be deeply appreciated. I have not overclocked the card at all. It is at the default clock speeds:
Engine-324.0 MHZ
Memory- 195.75 MHZ
It's really pissing me off when I see people with seemingly inferior cards outperforming me!
My system:
80 GB 7200 RPM
768 SD RAM 133
Xtasy 256 DDR 9600
VIA 4X MOBO (P4vASD2+) 533 FSB
P4 2.53 GHZ 533 FSB

No, you were not screwed. I think the bottleneck in your situation is the motherboard and ram. Your SDRAM and that old chipset is choking your cpu and video card.

I'd upgrade to a Dual-ChannelDDR board such as the Abit IS7-E, and a matched set of Corsair PC3200.

Abit IS7-E Mainboard $89@NewEgg.Com
2x256MB Corsair XMS PC3200 TwinX $129@NewEgg.Com

That...that will cost alot of money...

Quote: Originally posted by XtaSy That...that will cost alot of money...

Should have considered upgrading those central components before buying a video card your board and ram can't provide for.

Yup, but you'll have to upgrade sooner or later...

Overclocking would probably help your situation a bit.

Yeah I agree with tek there that ram will slow you down. But you are getting decent fps with what you have.

Hm..Christmas is coming soon...

How much do you think the new mobo and RAM would cost? And when I upgrade my MOBO, will my video card be obsolete with the new hardware? Ugh..

Isnt the 256 Mb version slower than the 128mb version... and 9500 is faster than 9700 but a hardmodded 9500 can go faster then a 9700 and a hardmodded 9800 nonpro can go faster than a 9800XT Oh jesus i coulda saved 400$

What if...I just keep my motherboard, but replace the SDRAM with 512 DDR? Would that fix the problem? I really don't wanna spend money on a motherboard. If I just do buy the RAM, what kind of DDR would I be buying? Sorry..this is the first computer I've built and clearly..I didn't put much planning into it. I really would appreciate some help.

Quote: Originally posted by XtaSy Hm..Christmas is coming soon... How much do you think the new mobo and RAM would cost? And when I upgrade my MOBO, will my video card be obsolete with the new hardware? Ugh..

Prices and links for both are in my last post on this thread. No your video card even plays Half Life 2 very well, it would not be obsolete.

Quote: Originally posted by XtaSy What if...I just keep my motherboard, but replace the SDRAM with 512 DDR? Would that fix the problem? I really don't wanna spend money on a motherboard. If I just do buy the RAM, what kind of DDR would I be buying? Sorry..this is the first computer I've built and clearly..I didn't put much planning into it. I really would appreciate some help.

Don't bother unless you can replace both.

Thanks for your help everyone--I'll see what I can do...

At all costs, replace that motherboard and RAM with something current....you will probably end up spending about $250 if you buy some good components. 512MB PC3200 at least for the RAM, and a good P4 motherboard...just ask Tek for the motherboard reccomendations Do both upgrades at the same time...it's the smartest way to go.

Then, further down the road you are going to want to replace that CPU with something like a 2.4C, so you will need that motherboard's compatibility and overclocking features to get even more power out of your system.

I'm also taking a guess that you are running a stock heatsink...you just might want to upgrade that too if you can, ThermalRIGHT or Swiftech if you are indeed interested and have the extra $$$ to spend.


[edit] How did you kill your video card? I seriously thought that body static was a highly unlikely way to kill an electronic piece of equipment. Did you touch some bare grounded metal before messing with your card? Annnnd, how do you know that it was killed? Just didn't work?

I'd buy from NewEgg.com or some other online retailer because CompUSA is too overpriced for the stuff they sell. It is nice to have the store right there, but they can't be the prices of NewEgg

I already have a Thermaltake cooler on my CPU. It runs at about 36c-44c.

I REALLY don't have money to spend...So I don't know what to do.

Kage: After touching the bare GPU...by accident...The thing was lifeless forever.

Ok, heres my 2 cents;

Thermaltake sucks, I have the Volcano 7+ on my CPU and its annoying as hell (loud) temps are 52c load, 44c idle. However as long as my load is below 65c niether I nor any of you should care. IN general mobo sensors are as much as 20c LOW of the max temp in your CPU. your CPU however can handle 85c of heat and it will run the same at 35c as at 55c. I am going to get a new fan for my Volcano 7+, a nice quiet one that moves abit of air so I can OC higher....


AS for the mobo and mem;

2x256mb PC-3200 $90 @ newegg.com; Corsair Value Select, Kingston w/o heatspreader or Mushkin basic will all do the trick
for the mobo, you can get a fine mobo for under $100 but for $120 I believe you can get an Abit with the 865pe chipset which will run very well..

all in all though you can upgrade for under $200 if you need to keep it low or for $ 210ish if you want good performance

First off its not a 9600 pro so thats one thing, second its the 256 mg version which is slower, third your memroy is holding you back. Get the abit is7, and some good ram. If your on a budget then dont get 3200 ram get some pc2700 ddr, it will work great. You will end up below 160 dollars if you get pc2700 ram and a decent i845 chipset mobo.

First off, I never said anything about ThermalTAKE. I even went to the extreme and capitalised ThermalRIGHT.

There's a very big difference between Thermaltake and Thermalright heatsinks, but since you're a newbie I'll forgive you as long as you remember that....

It sounds like you are on a very tight budget, one worse than I thought. I wouldn't reccomend it, but going ahead and buying the lower priced stuff would be best then. It will definitely be an improvement over what you have, but you will probably end up being in the same situation down the road with the RAM if you don't get some good stuff.

Quote: Originally posted by XtaSy Will an 800 mhz fsb motherboard be compatible with my p4 2.53 GHZ 533 fsb cpu?

It depends on the chipset. i know both 875P and 865PE chipsets support both,as well as the 865G (onboard graphics) of the intel variety. What motherboard were you looking at?

The one Tek showed me.