HARDWARE Questions & Answers

[MegaHertz]

After having read through almost every thread in the forum and seeing how many turn from the original question to a hardware related discussion I felt it was probably time to have a thread dedicated to the subject. my other reason is that if all hardware discussions were to stay on one thread many questions would be answered before ever being asked. I hope that this will help to cut down on the repetition of questions on how to improve frame rates and fix sound problems, etc...

Reading about v-sync, flashing bios, overclocking, etc, and all the various hardware combinations, I'm clueless. It might as well be written in Japanese for this relative newcomer to the computer world. I'm not quite ready for the "testosterone crowd". : )

I'm running a Gateway G-6 350 PII, with 128MB ram, STB Velocity 128 graphics card. I downloaded the latest drivers, which are over 2 years old. I'm getting between 18-19 fps with 7 fish at 1024x768, at 16 bits. Too much pixelation for my taste at 800x600. 99G, DX8.

I'd love to upgrade my video card. Any advice from the forum would be appreciated. I'm not a gamer. Games don't interest me. Nor do I have time. (with my proximity to the Gulf, a lot of fishing needs to be done) Just thought I'd throw that out. Any upgrade I'd purchase need not be geared toward gaming. Are there cards that are more ornery than others? I need something simple to use. Is there a limit on speed/memory with my older system? What cards are compatible? This STB card is supposed to have TV out, but there is no connector on the back. (??) That would be a nice addition. Anyhoo, thanks for the comeback. I'll take everything anyone has to say into consideration.

[MegaHertz]

For anyone out there running Win 2000 and a nVidia based graphics card there is a fix out for your refresh rate woes. You can pick it up over at 3DFiles.com or at nV News.net. This will allow you to set your refresh rate higher than 60Hz.

[feldon34]

I'd like to crosslink this topic with one of the other topics regarding DirectX 8 and what success/results people have had with it, as well as various hardware configurations...

pub41.ezboard.com/fsachsa...D=54.topic

[MegaHertz]

There is an update to the GeForce FAQ page. For anyone that has a GeForce based graphics card this site is a must.

www.geforcefaq.com

[asprague]

Is there an ISA video card that gives satisfactory results with the SS? The video card I tried, an old Trident (2MB), kicked in at 0.3fps.

[feldon34]

You absolutely can't do anything with an ISA card.

Cheapest card is a 4MB trident PCI or ATI Rage 128 or Rage Pro 4MB PCI or AGP.

[feldon34]

Just a test to see if posting here works.

xdawg claims it doesn't.

Hello,

Im using a Nvidia Driver (v?) Geforce2 32sdram agp card. Does anyone know where i can download the latest driver.
Im just running at 85fps and i intend to make it to 100. because im using jim SS as a example of how good is my pc is performing, i tend to rely on the fps a lot.
thnx

[Digital Lungfish]

Try www.reactorcritical.com, they might have some drivers. They come highly recommended by Morgan.

- DL

[feldon34]

Jroz,

If you want to run at 100, set your monitor refresh to 100 Hz.

First, let me say what a joy it is moving 'round this group without all the pop-ups - well done!

I'm wondering if I need to install a new driver. My machine is a HP Pavillion, AMD K-7 850, 256MB RAM, 40HD using an NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Pro (16MB) and the driver is the standard NVIDIA 4.11 that was made in 1999. Windows says it is the best driver found, but I understand that to mean "that's in my machine."

I am getting 60fps with 7 fish at 800x600 with no difference at the next higher resolution.
Not bad, but the outer edges of certain fish degrade a tiny bit.

I have the URL of the drivers Feldon posted, but to be honest, I do not know where to save the file to.

The driver I should use with WindowsME would be 6.47, is that correct?

Thanks for any comments.

[snorkler]

Feldon what happened to your plan to post info about drivers and Directx8?
I am NOT a computer geek and need much help, but would like the SS to look as good as possible!!
Thanks!

[feldon34]

I am getting 60fps with 7 fish at 800x600 with no difference at the next higher resolution.
Not bad, but the outer edges of certain fish degrade a tiny bit.

I have the URL of the drivers Feldon posted, but to be honest, I do not know where to save the file to.

The driver I should use with WindowsME would be 6.47, is that correct?

You should be getting ~60fps at 1024x768. If you are viewing the Aquarium at 800x600, you are not getting the full experience as it is really taiolered for 1024x768 or better.

Download the file to your Desktop or C:\, use WinZip to open it, and double-click the README file. E-mail me if you have further troubles.

[feldon34]

Feldon what happened to your plan to post info about drivers and Directx8?
I am NOT a computer geek and need much help, but would like the SS to look as good as possible!!

-Installing DX8 will not improve the appearance of .99K
.
-99K included 95% of the things that HAD been on the waiting list for the DX8 version

-I'm going to wait until a week before the DX8 version hits (weeks from now) before I post the upgrade guide. For now, my recommendation is 6.47 drivers for all nVidia cards. Hooters and Jim have more knowledge about the ATI drivers, and we've seen postings about which Voodoo drivers work best. I'd really like to have 4-5 file links for the best driver for each card and a little online HTML wizard of how to install drivers for different OSes and cards.

Bottom line, AFTER you install a new video card driver, you must install DX8 again on top. It pays to download the DX8 installer to your hard drive when it gives you the opportunity so you can do this as necessary.

I've found that installing a new driver, then forcing it NOT to restart (click No, move the dialog box, whatever you can to stop it), install DX8, and THEN reboot. All in one step. This seems to work well.

And when I recommend 6.47, it is, to be honest, mostly tailored for ALL nVidia cards. Some of the later drivers work better on GeForce 2 + 3 but worse on TnT Riva series cards. So 6.47 is a "catch-all".

I got 105 fps with my Magic Pro Geforce2 MX400
(Driver : 6.5 ship with the card )

Now I got 70 fps with my new WinFast Geforce2 GTS
(Driver : 6.48 download from Leadtek.com )

My setting is almost the same among two cards.
Vertical sync : disable
FSAA : disable
Graphic quality : highest
1024x768x16bits
Windows ME, Pentium III 533EB

Although the fishes swim as smooth enough.
I don't know why it yield a such strange FPS.

[feldon34]

GTS should be rocking the MX400. I'd get parity between the two drivers or play with new drivers.

[valeryan]

hay when I put the 99k on my system I loose sound on my screen saver anyone got any ideas on this one. I'm running windows me and I have a sound blaster PCI 512 sound card.

thanks

vale

[Jim Sachs]

We've had 3 reports of no sound with Sound Blaster cards. I'll get one on Saturday, and try it out.

[valeryan]

Jim!! Jim!! he's are man if he can't do it no one can!!!

Thanks Jim

vale