Help - got x1900xt 256Mb, but something not right.

[ffall1c]

Well, as the title says got this card over the weekend, but something jsut ain't right.

Below is a copy of the description I wrote to the people I bought the card form in the hopes someone somewhere can suggest something which may help, int he hopes I don't have to try RMA.

//start letter
Hi there. I ordered the x1900xt 256mb version at the end of last week to be delivered Saturday.

I abslutely can not fault your service. However, I am worried about the performance I am getting from this card.

There seem to be certain effects which it is struggling to process, and overall I don't seem to be getting quite as good overall performance as I should.

I will say upfront, I know my way around computers fairly well, even if I may not be a tech guru. I am definitely not expecting miracles from the card performance-wise, but definitely feel something is just not right.

In the same system I have now (asrock dual sata-2, 2Gb Corsair Platinum pc4400, Audigy 2zs, 2 120Gb sata Raid 0, 650W QTec PSU) I have run both an x800xl and a 7900gt.

I know the Qtec PSU is not great, but the rest of the system is fairly decent, and certainly powerful enough to run the card. I even tried unplugging everything but the necessities to make sure too much power was not being drawn by the system, and still no luck.

It is hard to explain exactly what the problem is, but it seems to be mostly what I "think" are "particle effects" - things like the distortion from synthesised heat waves. This especially comes into play around Oblivion gates in Oblivion.

In oblivion, for example, it is not that the card struggles out-right, but if I walk past an Oblivion gate a couple of times, sudenly when it comes back into frame the card drops to about 15-16 fps, sometimes even under 10 - when it was processing the same effect flawlessly only seconds before.

Similar problem with Quake 4. And F.E.A.R is known to run better on Ati cards than the 7900gt cards, but it really simply is not. I remember how the 7900gt ran it, and the x1900xt i got is not performing as well.

I uninstalled all drivers before putting this card in. I also ran Driver Cleaner Pro. I have tried both the most up to date drivers and slightly older versions. I have also tried the Omega drivers - which did perform slightly better.

I have also uninstalled Oblivion and re-installed. I have tried both a tweaked .ini for the game and the standard one it creates. Quake 4 still stuggling too...

I just don't know what else I can try. I really am beginning to suspect there is something not right with the hardware. Please let me know if you have any suggestions of things to try.

I was not expecting performance much above the 7900gt (except in Oblivion where Ati are know to run better), but right now, this card is just not there.

One extra thing to note, I ran 3D Mark 2005, which did score higher, but games are just not running better. Could it be that games are utilising some aspect of the cards hardware that 3D Mark is not?

Any help appreciated.
//end letter

Any ideas?

[kalniel]

My first thought is software to be honest.

Did you clean out your old drivers thoroughly (using DC Pro/safe mode etc.)? Have you tried cleaning out your motherboard drivers (going from ATI->Nvidia or vice versa has on occasion neccessitated this) and have you also updated DirectX recently?

[ffall1c]

My first thought is software to be honest.

Did you clean out your old drivers thoroughly (using DC Pro/safe mode etc.)? Have you tried cleaning out your motherboard drivers (going from ATI->Nvidia or vice versa has on occasion neccessitated this) and have you also updated DirectX recently?

Done all that, bar updating motherboard drivers - all that I have for that is the Uli integrated driver which installs only AGP, network and USB 2 drivers. I did re-install in any case though, just to try.

Besides, the most recent card have been running is an X800Xl, which I used to keep me going while moving from the 7900gt to the x1900xt. And the X800Xl ran well. Whereas it was not as fast, it did not give me any quirky probs such as this.

And yes, I have the most up to date version of DX9 I could find - the August release.

Granted, I did not use driver cleaner pro in Safe mode, but is that really necessary?

[BUFF]

256Mb - could be textures etc. larger than that?

[ffall1c]

The x800xl and the 7900gt were both 256Mb cards and did not have this problem.

[shaithis]

Whatever it is, I don't think there is anything wrong with the card.

Sounds like a driver/software issue.

[ffall1c]

But what else can I do? I have done everything I can think of. I have cleaned drivers several times, and tired all different driver versions - catalyst 6.8, 6.6, the latest Omega drivers and I get crap with all of them.

Short of re-installing Windows, which I am loathe to do, is there anything else anyone can think of to try?

[kalniel]

Yes safe mode is needed, because DC PRO can't access files that have been loaded by the system otherwise - and these are the ones that might be incorrect for your card

Only other thing I can think of is defrag your hard drive :/

[ffall1c]

Will try doing it in safe mode when I get home.

Its defo not a hdd access problem, but the drives are defragged in any case.

Any other suggestions to try out when I get home are very welcome.

[Smokey21]

I haven't read all of it, but i don't think i need to. The problem is the Q-Tec PSU, they are a complete pile of ****.

The other cards might of run ok, but a X1900XT uses a lot more power.

[ffall1c]

I haven't read all of it, but i don't think i need to. The problem is the Q-Tec PSU, they are a complete pile of ****.

The other cards might of run ok, but a X1900XT uses a lot more power.

I know the QTecs are rubbish (only thought to read reviews some time after purchase....), but could power really be the cause of the card rendering a scene in Oblivion where an oblivion gate is present perfectly one second, then after a few seconds it lags like hell when the oblivion gate is in-frame? If the gate is nto in frame, FPS goes up again.

I am not defending my POS PSU, but I am having trouble getting my head around this being a power problem.

[Smokey21]

I dunno, but you know what, i wouldn't put a Q-Tec PSU anywere near a card, or system like that.

[ffall1c]

I dunno, but you know what, i wouldn't put a Q-Tec PSU anywere near a card, or system like that.

I bought the power supply about a year ago, and at the time never thought the psu mattered that much. I have learned since, and have been planning on getting a new psu.

Probably get a new one this week. If I can afford it. I guess you are right - it is a fairly decent system to be taking chances running it all on a POS PSU...

[ffall1c]

I am liking the look of the 580W Hiper modular PSU's. Are they good? Reviews seem to indicate so, but just wondering if anyone out there got one...

[shaithis]

I have the Hiper-R...

Had no problems with it, love the locking mechanism for the modular fly-leads...

Running my main (listed) system on it without a problem

[ffall1c]

Have tried running driver cleaner in safe mode to see if that helps. Still got same problem...