New card and framerate has halved :(

[602RAF_Puff]

Bought the 9800GTX+OC and now my frigging framerates have dropped from a constant 50-60 to a low 20 - 30 fps???...all settings are the same, anyone any ideas??

Edit: now AA seems to switch itself off mid game, start up and sit in the cockpit, 21fps, aa is set to x8, all of a sudden aa switches off and the fps climbs to 28...what the hell is going on using the 182 whql from nvidia site

[Fortiesboy]

No doubt the change of graphics card means a change of driver ( as seen by the game ), so that would mean a reset of the config file? Have you done that? Also what about the settings of the card itself?
If it is a higher spec card, it must be something to do with the settings.

[602RAF_Puff]

No doubt the change of graphics card means a change of driver ( as seen by the game ), so that would mean a reset of the config file? Have you done that? Also what about the settings of the card itself?
If it is a higher spec card, it must be something to do with the settings.

I reset the config and use dthe settings I had with the 8800gtx..no go, still showing low, all other games work fine

[Squiffy]

I heard sometimes a card can do better with AA. Try and see.

[602RAF_Puff]

Got a bit better now, 37-45fps at the base

[Vogelscheuche]

Don't forget if you've limited your MaxFPS in the cfs3.xml file to help with stuttering, you're still limited to that figure. Try increasing it.

[602RAF_Puff]

Ok found something very interesting, Shadows!!...they decrease the framerate in my system by a massive 10fps...turned them off and now with sliders at 5,5,3,4,5,4 and density at high I get 47fps over the base in the Verdun sector..all those trees...

[Cameljockey]

The only thing that I don't understand is, why go from an 8800GTX to a 9800GTX+? Is the 9800 a 1Gb card? If not I wouldn't expect much of a performance increase, if any. Pretty much a waste of money IMO, unless the 8800 was faulty. Look at this heirarchy chart for graphics cards and you'll see what I mean.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rd,2064-7.html

CJ

When I retire my 8800GTX it'll be for nothing less than a GTX 280!

[ovs]

Hey, don't pass up the 260! I have one and it rocks!!

It was cheaper, and handles EVERYTHING I have been tossing at it. Most recently, Brother's In Arms: Hell's Highway. Full everything, no stutters, issues... nothing.

Even FSX on moderately high settings is really smooth, with a ton of AI in the sky. FSX can't run much higher as it kills itself before it kills the FPS on the card.

OvS

[Cameljockey]

Had I had the $$$ I would've scooped up that 260 that was on sale for $219. Oh well. The story of my life. I'm perfectly satisfied with my 8800GTX for now.

CJ

[cliff527]

"The only thing that I don't understand is, why go from an 8800GTX to a 9800GTX+?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...ocessing_units

More memory (1G v. 768M). (And more memory has been pretty much drilled into people 'round here, even though I think it's importance has been over-estimated, beyond a certain point - just too many other factors to consider, to reduce it to 'more memory is always better').

Also:

Higher texture fill rate. Higher reference clock (core, shader and memory). Higher rate of GFLOPs.

The 8800GTX is a G80 core; the 9800 series uses a G92 core, which runs much cooler than the G80.

The 8800GTX cards are getting hard to find; the 9800s are plentiful (and the price is dropping, too).

True, the 8800GTX was/is a monster, mostly due I think to the 384-bit memory bus (still 256 in the single core 9800 series). But I'd say they are comparable.

Tom's is a reputable source, but it's still just another opinion, in essence. One thing I think was mentioned somewhere is that, if upgrading, probably not worth it unless you can afford to jump two full steps on that chart. I thought that was pretty sound advice.

(As always, the foregoing is entirely my opinion).

[Cameljockey]

In my previous post I asked if it was in fact a 1Gb card. The 9800GTX+ is also made in 512Mb, which is why I asked.
The 8800GTX can still be found easily. They're all over Ebay and still bringing prices comparable to and even more than a new 9800GTX+, a testament to the card and it's performance.

CJ

[cliff527]

Listen, CJ, I'm not lookin' for a fight here, just stating my opinion - backed up by what the comparison charts I posted show. I use eBay and have for years; most of the 8800GTXs you might find there are *probably* used/recert stuff (without actually having looked, mind you) - *I* have no problem with used stuff, sometimes, but maybe some people aren't comfortable with that. I can't find a *new* 8800GTX at TigerDirect, NewEgg, MicroCenter, Fry's...

The fact is, you're overly defensive about that freakin' 8800GTX, and have been ever since you got it. I already said they are good cards (funny...that's a lot like agreeing with you). You asked the question, I simply posted a response as to why someone might do what you asked about. Chill out.

Yet another example of how disagreeing with certain people here is guaranteed to start an argument. I guess we all have to go out now and buy 8800GTX's.

*Sheesh.*

[Cameljockey]

I'm not looking for one either. Sorry that you misconstrued my post. I do agree with your statement, "Tom's is a reputable source, but it's still just another opinion, in essence. One thing I think was mentioned somewhere is that, if upgrading, probably not worth it unless you can afford to jump two full steps on that chart. I thought that was pretty sound advice." So, back to my original question, asked looking at it from "my" point of view, why spend the money on a card that's going to give you a minimal performance increase at best. Just save that money and do an upgrade that will make a noticeable difference, like the GTX260, which are also getting cheaper, quick, since the GTX285s and 295s have shown up. Puff can buy anything he wants, but personally I can't see it.

CJ

[602RAF_Puff]

The 9800 is the 512, but, and there is always a but, the games I play I can now run with 16x AA and 16x Ansio, with all the bells and whistles, getting the same FPS as the 8800 but with that card the aa was set at x4 and ansio at x8..so I do see a hugh difference..the card I bought is the overclocked card from BFG..anyways, more than happy with it here and for that price I love it

[cliff527]

So, back to my original question, asked looking at it from "my" point of view, why spend the money on a card that's going to give you a minimal performance increase at best.

A darn good question. I'm agreeing with you! The 'two step minimum', I thought, was a good idea - and that's exactly what you were saying. We agree, God forbid

But, do take into account: People's circumstances vary. Take myself, for instance....you gave me similar advice some months ago, as I struggled with two 8800GS cards (apparently lacking memory, as I run SLI and each card only had 384M). I even think I learned, at the time, that two lesser cards in SLI aren't better than one better card alone (say, the two 9800's I bought ultimately, compared to a single 280).

Now, why didn't I just go ahead and buy a 280, rather than staying with SLI and two 9800's?

Well, circumstances:

One, the 280 at the time was still about $100 more than the deal I got on the two 9800GT's I bought. And, since everyone here pounded on memory, I thought the two 9800's with 1G/ea was a good choice.

But the real factor was that I had already bought the two 8800GS cards - the ones I was looking to upgrade from.

eVGA has a 'trade-up' program, good for 90 days. Trouble is, you can't trade up two cards for one. So, I could either:

- Get the two 9800GT/1G cards through eVGA's trade up for <$100 each, by trading in the two 8800GS's, OR
- Keep both the 8800GS's (eat the cost, at least temporarily) *and* pay top dollar for a 280 card.
(and, recognizing your meaningful advice at the time, a third option was to buy two 8800GTX cards which were much cheaper than the single 280 - but there again, no trade-up was available).

Finally, while OFF seems to gain little from SLI, that *definitely* is not true of most of the other games I play. So, I could get a better deal, improve performance in all but 1 game, and save money. "No brainer", as they say.

Long and boring story, but the point is that circumstance often dictates the decisions people make. You asked why someone would do what they did, and I can only guess that 602RAF had his own reasons.

[cliff527]

(*lol* he posted while I was writing a novel...) See? He had his reasons.

602, if I can ask, did you get the framerate business sorted? What are your thoughts, given this experience?

[Rooster89]

Hey, don't pass up the 260! I have one and it rocks!!

It was cheaper, and handles EVERYTHING I have been tossing at it. Most recently, Brother's In Arms: Hell's Highway. Full everything, no stutters, issues... nothing.

Even FSX on moderately high settings is really smooth, with a ton of AI in the sky. FSX can't run much higher as it kills itself before it kills the FPS on the card.

OvS

Thats what I got for my new system. I was going to get the 9800GTX 1G card, but I guess newegg ran out. So instead of going 1 down I went 1 up and opted for the 260. Newegg price : $205. Anyway, I wish I could see it work but as of right now I still havn't got all my parts, but apparently they've all shipped. Come on UPS!!!

-Rooster

[602RAF_Puff]

I got the framerates sorted, by what I experienced with the 8800gtx and according to what others was getting, I think I had a rare framerate, at most it was 60fps, at least it was 48fps..this was with x4 aa and x8 ansio enabled, sliders set at 5,5,4,4,5,5 { this was much better than some was getting with better cards, so I think I was the exception rather than the rule }...now with the new card I seem to get better colour and I can run at x8AA and x16ansio, sliders at 5,5,3,3,5,5 and maintain the same framerate as before..so all in all Im a happy bunny!!!!

[Cameljockey]

I'm glad you're happy with your purchase Puff. I just wish you'd have showed up earlier.