Radeon x1600 glitches

[vanir]

Hi all.

First up, tried all the usual tweak guides and troubleshooting, no dice.

Frame buffer force effects and severe fps drop around smoke effects are the issue. Plus there's little glitches like green dots on the load screens and vertical lines on the GUI screens.

 

Installed ATT which I run instead of CCC. Drivers are the latest ATI/AMD (8.1 released Sept08).

 

System specs are:

AMD 64 3200

1.5G PC400+cacheman/512-1024pagefile #2HDD

Radeon x1600/512VRAM/Shader3.0

Realtek AC97 sound/EAX-god knows what version

windmill supplying power (jk/it's nearly that old)

 

I've played around with pretty much every ATT setting I dare to by trial and error and can manage to get the frame buffer effects on the forcesprint power to a dimming of the screen at best, instead of a kalaedoscope rainbow screen. Still no real visual effects though. I can also get fps up to around 40 in Telos though 20 is more typical for most setting combinations. I'm going to try playing around with widescreen resolutions on the ini files hoping that might help, the in game resolutions really fatten the game like one of those fat mirrors and it's getting to me.

 

All in all it's running much, much worse than my old 9600Pro card and CRT, I can't remember if I played it on the x800 card but at least the game says it supports it. One problem I know is the config.exe doesn't even recognise the x1600/1650 series Radeon and says it fails the recommended system requirements. Man the thing is literally twice as fast, runs half as hot and does twice as much as the x800 I had playing something like NWN2 (it's mostly the step up from shader 2.0 to 3.0 that really does it, but true it's a better running card that doesn't go all stupid on a hot day).

 

First question, naturally. With all the modders around here, anyone do any dll's?

 

Second is, help?

 

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Okay after much trial and error I found the fix. I'll explain for the benefit of others who may find similar issues (unfortunately I can't edit the thread title to add this is now a fix thread).

 

1. Go to NGOHQ and download their driver/ccc mod package based on the cat7.3 (use NGO as the Omega drivers/cat7.1 didn't work)

 

2. Find and download the third party Cat Uninstaller/registry cleaner.

 

3. Find and download the latest version of ATI Tray Tools. Unpack it somewhere (the default folder will be guru3D.com).

 

4. Use the uninstall utility in "start/control panel/add or remove programs" and clear your computer of ATI software and drivers. Clear it of all software and drivers if prompted to do so. Restart computer.

 

5. Use your third party Cat uninstaller/registry cleaner. Restart computer.

 

6. Run the exe for your NGO driver/ccc package. Don't panic if nothing seems to happen, it's just unpacked itself. Go to the default folder "C/program files/NGOATI..." and open the directory. There are two subfolders: ccc and drivers. Minimise the directory for the moment.

 

7. Use the "found new hardware" search feature to search manually in the folder "C/program files/NGOATI.../drivers" and select okay. This will install the drivers for your card type.

 

8. Wait a moment to see if the ccc setup automatically starts once the drivers are installed. Mine did first time, didn't the second. If no go, just double click the setup.exe in "C/program files/NGOATI.../ccc" and follow the prompts. Restart computer.

 

9. Now run the ATT.exe in the subfolder "setup" wherever you unpacked your "guru3D.com" directory for the ATI Tray Tools download (note this is a 7z compressed download and may require 7z freeware to unpack). Restart computer.

 

10. Run a disc check (error check or disc doctor). Defrag your HDD.

 

11. Use the tweakguides link posted in the stickys for setting up your ATI Tray Tools. Note that I like to close/exit the ccc just after startup and use the ATT for graphics control.

 

 

Results: I now have good fps, high graphics settings and have my frame buffer effects back and working as they should. The game looks and runs absolutely fantastic when yesterday I was considering using a forcepower like "drop from high roof" upon my system.

 

[The Kiwi]

Your experience between NGO and Omega was the reverse of mine; I wanted drivers to work with W2K for an X1950 Pro, and all I could find were for WinXP. Meanwhile, I held onto an NF2 / XP-M 2600 PC to use with KotOR (has a 9800 Pro in it now, used to have a Geforce 7800 GT, I'm pretty sure).

 

Comparing my own X*** and X1** experience, only the slowest two X800s that existed (which I never wasted time on) were as slow as an X1600 Pro that I tested with several games, such as NWN2, Oblivion, and The Witcher. My X1600 was one of those stupid SCAM models, with 512 MBs of RAM, to make the noobs think it's special.

 

The X800 XL (AGP) was the slowest X800 I ever had.

 

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=52&card2=369

 

The narrow 128 Bit memory system in the X1600 slows it down by comparison, and is also the limiting factor in making 256 MBs the max it affords to a game.

[vanir]

Yeah sounds about right. I was on a super tight budget for a while a few years ago so had a Radeon 9200, 9600, x800 and then the x1600. I noticed an increase in performance between them, probably because each was limiting to a certain degree so it was telling how much so between the models.

I've just switched to a 7600GS XFX since the price on those has come way down and it's just a totally different kettle of fish. I've maxed all the options out on K1/K2 and the nvidia control panel and it just doesn't slow the fps. I did have to upgrade my power supply..

 

I've got an old motherboard, so the AGP slot kinda limits my choices. But with a monster new case it still looks great, stays ultra cool and it'll do for a while longer.