Why does my P3 SUCK ?

[TedTheDog]

Theres all sorts of things that affect speed.
The motherboard can address 2 ram chips faster than 4, so if you have 2 chips it could be faster. Also, getting high quality RAM could make a difference, I use CAS 2 ram and I'm told its faster (cant see bugger all difference myself of course

)

Anyway, my main message is this:
I hate you.

You have a monster fuckoff machine from hell and your're moaning! You BASTARD!

A little tweaking plus the TNT2 will make your machine spoogeworthy in the extreme.
ITS NOT FAIR!

 

[[GA] KillmachinE]

Hi, wonder if someone can help me.

Here's my system

P3-500
256MB RAM
15GB WD UDMA66 HDD
Intel BX chipset
16MB AGP Rage 128
12MB Voodoo2

Here are some Q2 Timedemo Results

640x480 V2 = 84fps
800x600 V2 = 68fps
640x480 128 = 70fps
800x600 128 = 89fps

Run with v-sync disabled. V2 set with 120 refresh rate, not overclocked.

Why are my results so crap? [GA]Kryten gets a better timedemo @800x600 then me and he has a celeron 366 (i think) clocked to 550, he has les ram and has a voodoo2.

Whats the problem!!! (if there is none im going to have to give my computer to the bin men

as soon as i've set it on fire.

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[GA] KillmachinE
extreme@barrysworld.com

 

[mookie]

Only 1 voodoo2? get another, or even better, a TNT2 for you intel dood

 

[[GA] KillmachinE]

I have a V770 ULTRA on the way m8

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[GA] KillmachinE
extreme@barrysworld.com

 

[mookie]

heheh.. sorted m8.. should be quite a machine...

 

[[LSoG]YeLLoW]

Right, before you read this a little disclaimer: I know fuck all about hardware, what I'm about to say is from a half remembered conversation on IRC

IIRC someone told me that an overclocked celery is better for gaming than the equivalent P2/3 because although it's cache is small, it's accessed at a faster rate.

Also does Krytes use any tweaks, it's only fair to compare like with like.

I know this bit is patronising, but which demo did you run and how many times did you run it consecutively?

BTW you're moaning about getting almost 90 fps at 800x600. I get 17-18 fps at 640x480.

FUCK OFF AND DIE YOU RICH BASTARD

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LSoG]YeLLoW
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Lava Seals: HOO-YAH!
www.lavaseals.freeserve.co.uk




[This message has been edited by [LSoG]YeLLoW (edited 07 June 1999).]

 

[HangTime]

yeah the scorse will depend a lot on what gfx settings u r using ie polyblend, flashblend, shadows, playermip etc

also he is running at 550mhz, u at 500mhz, so his setup should b faster neway as q2 doestn take advantage of KNI. i would also expect that the diff between 256meg ram and 128meg or even 64 meg is pretty small, its the cpu and gfx card which makes the real diff once u get up to a decent amount of ram

P.S: as u r getting a tnt2 ure rage 128 will have to vacate the agp slot. u really dont want awkward things like that cluttering up the place so id b more than happy to take it off ure hands. heck, ill even pay the postage! u cant say fairer than that can u!

 

[Sres]

Here is my penny werth

Your Bios settings will affect how your PC Runs. Check your BIOS Video Shadow is not conflicting with any cards on the addresses. Also make sure that you are not caching your Video card in BIOS, this seems to slap the newer 3d cards all over the shop.

Latest drivers? Try unplugging hardware, u may find your soundcard is pulling your system down (This has a big impact on ya processing time - I have ISA Soundcard if I remove it I get 5fps more (Course this don't help much cos I can't hear anything!))

hehe stop whinging

surely it's smooth enough!

 

[[GA]KillMachine]

Hey, i didn't expect to get this much help

Right, people have pointed out a few bits and pieces, RAM, its fast PC100 SDRAM, 2 128MB modules.

The soundcard is a SB PCI64

My graphics are setup like this:

set gl_3dlabs_broken "1"
set gl_swapinterval "1"
set gl_ext_compiled_vertex_array "1"
set gl_ext_pointparameters "1"
set gl_ext_multitexture "1"
set gl_ext_swapinterval "1"
set gl_vertex_arrays "0"
set gl_texturesolidmode "default"
set gl_texturealphamode "default"
set gl_texturemode "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST"
set gl_shadows "0"
set gl_modulate "1"
set gl_particle_att_c "0.01"
set gl_particle_att_b "0.0"
set gl_particle_att_a "0.01"
set gl_particle_size "40"
set gl_particle_max_size "40"
set gl_particle_min_size "2"
set gl_finish "0"
set gl_ext_palettedtexture "0"
set gl_mode "6"
set gl_driver "opengl32"

Thats all the gl commands there are in my config.

Right, the last thing is, im not a lucky rich bastard

After buying this machine (and it's not mine yet, finance) i'm in a world of debt

£100 per month for 3 damn years, lot of money.

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[GA]KillMachine
extreme@barrysworld.com


[This message has been edited by [GA]KillMachine (edited 07 June 1999).]

 

[Fish]

Out of interest, does _anything_ support KNI? I thought 3dnow support was bad...

 

[[GA]Kryten]

not as yet for kni but kni aint that good anyway
i dont use any tweaks, use the new q3a v2 drivers, just gl_modulate 10
tahts it

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**[GA]Kryten**
nickspc@hotmail.com
SMEG has gone but not been forgotten...

 

[frankie]

umm, i dunno about p3's they seem dodgey to me.
/me is waiting till k7

i think that should be pretty good.
There aint nothing wrong with amd's
well there is and thats the floating point, crappy really. Ok question
Q. if i were to get a cely of the 400 variety what 1 would i need ??, like what kind.

and how much average for them gems?.

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-------------------------
members.xoom.com/alfa1000

=DI=DR_FRANKENSTIEN

 

[[GA]KillMachine]

The reason i brought intel is because i've had 2 amd chips, a 200 and a 333, both caused the computers to crash and reboot all by themselves! AMD's may be excellent, but not im my limited experiance, and also intel tech moves faster then everyone elses, they are always the first to release faster chips and new features and i'm one of those ppl that keep's the ol computer current

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[GA]KillMachine
extreme@barrysworld.com

 

[craigio]

Yep at a price

)) Also, AMD is a british concern

still fps is capped on the server so unless you love the acid house effect of haing a mental framerate at a timedemo, whats the price?
you will still kick me ass on ctf

with me a farty 25 fps'er:>

 

[[GA]KillMachine]

I don't really care about what my fps are during a game. I just want to prove to myself that i have spent my money on a good pc, the best way to do this is to compare it to other computers.

Of perhaps its just a case of "mines better then yours"

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[GA]KillMachine
extreme@barrysworld.com

 

[thump]

Hey Killmachine try this

set gl_dynamic 0

That turns off dynamic lighting. You'll easily see another few fps boost with this.

-thump

 

[[GA] Shovel]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>BTW you're moaning about getting almost 90 fps at 800x600. I get 17-18 fps at 640x480<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

ahem, Cyrix 166+ 14fps. Feel that your lucky. On the plus side I m unable to see the difference between 800x600 and 640x480. Or if I can, I've adapted. Now you can see my assets as a person and GA clan member... DOH!


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[GA] Shovel

See GA @ www.barrysworld.com/blackgold

 

[.virt]

I think HangTime is right about the ram thing, as long as you have a reasonable amount (64 to 128) you prob wont notice the step up to 256. You benchmarks for V2 dont look too bad to me anyhow.

Something you could try though is lowering the refresh rate to 75/85, seem to remember this making a diff to frame rates on my voodoo. oh, and drivers, make sure they are latest. You also dont say what Graph card you friend has.

v.

 

[Fra]

ermmmmmm b4 you burn your pc m8, hows about swappin it with mine, then u could burn mine and i could have yours??
sounds perfectly reasonable to me

Fra

 

[[GA]KillMachine]

So the numbers im getting in quake2 are normal, not below average?

Does anyone have Final Reality? Perhaps that would be a better comparison.

Anyhoo, i'll post the results for my Viper 770 when i get it (out of stock till the 14th)

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[GA]KillMachine
extreme@barrysworld.com

 

[Mr B]

He is young....but he will learn the truth eventually.....

erm...tips....

Wait for the TNT2 (don't bother getting another V2 if u ain't got 5 PCI slots your gonna run out of them - much like I have done).

My system get's well over 100 fps on demo1 with all the gfx settings turned right up.

PII 350
138MB 100hz RAM
HD (don't matter once the demo's been run once and cached - you do run the timedemo more than once yeah?)
STB Voodoo2 SLI (with 3dfx Ref drivers)

and turn the sound off - can't remember how offhand.....sommink like init_sound 0 or something....

Anything over about 60 fps and the eye starts not to be able to differentiate (oooh.. controversy)...

I personally have fps capped at 85 (I CAN tell the difference between 60 and 85 - just try it on the windows desktop and watch the flicker disappear).

That's it.

[This message has been edited by Mr B (edited 08 June 1999).]

 

[thump]

For a single Voodoo2, yeah, those numbers are probably pretty average. People don't cross the 100fps barrier until they get two V2's in SLI mode.

-t

 

[s@xon]

a few lines you could try adding to your config;

set gl_skymip "1"
set gl_cull "1"
set gl_ztrick "1"
set gl_picmip "0"
set gl_playermip "0"
set gl_dynamic "0"
set gl_polyblend "0"
set gl_flashblend "0"
set gl_bitdepth "1"
set gl_round_down "0"

May or may not make a difference (first 5 should though)

good place to go is;

www.gfxspace.com/gamepower

and meet the really helpfull Love2play and Deathlock

hope this helps

S@xon : )

 

[HangTime]

if like me u want the best fps use:

gl_playermip "2" (or higher)
gl_flashblend "1"
gl_polyblend "0"
r_shadows "0"
gl_ztrick "1"
gl_skymip "1"

as im a qw player i dont no much about the other settings.

gl_picmip 1 or 2 will make gfx a bit dodgy but worth it if u need more fps

 

[DApea!]

My mate has dual v2's (creative) with a p2-333 and he gets the same fps as you with 1 v2.

Personally i would have waited for the K7, as frankie said.

8mb Cache.. 200mhz FSB, same price i reckon as P-3 apart from mobo.. they will be abt 180-200 quid i reckon.

Well worth the wait.
Im sticking with my pii-450 128mb RAM, IBM 10.1gb (7600rpm), Canopus Pure3d-2 12mb, ADI Microscan 5g 17inch, Pioneer 6x DVD..
&lt;&lt;67fps timedemo 1 demo1.dm2 800x600&gt;&gt;

Then i got my second PC .P2-266 64mb RAM, Canopus pure3d-1 6mb, Samsung 4.3 gb, UDMA-2 Panasonic (Matsushita Koto-Buki

32x CD-ROM. &lt;&lt;41fps timedemo 1 demo1.dm2 640x480&gt;&gt;

Then my Q2 dedicated Server p100

16mb RAM.


Thing is i've only got a damn v90 modem.. need ISDN.. (living where i live i cant seem to get xDSL/Cable till 2003 or summat!!!
FFS.

Er.
No tips.. just thought i'd say my bit.

dam

[This message has been edited by DApea! (edited 08 June 1999).]

 

[DApea!]

See, you have edited yur message.. but you havn't changed one of yer mistakes.

&gt;&gt;138MB 100hz RAM

Be a bit slow wouldnt it..


oh yea.. with a machine like that.. its common that you do not in theory have to run the demo twice.. there are 0.001fps differences between 1st and second demos.


i have tried this btw on machines at work. we have just got a few p3's in so i nicked one for a few hours and did some well-needed tests on it with various programs.

Nothing really interesting as said b4 with that 'KNI' business.

but still fast in my opinion

Also get a logitech mouse with dat beast.. thier new drivers have intigrated PS/2 Rate (thier version) and a few other little tweaks which is quite nice.

That last mail was a bit cocky tho.. oops.

Errr, thier was a bit more i wrote here but it seems not to have come out..
not when i go back to editing message either.
its gone

Sorry.. sure you didnt want to really hear any mre of my adelessant bull anyway.


[This message has been edited by DApea! (edited 08 June 1999).]

[This message has been edited by DApea! (edited 08 June 1999).]

 

[[GA]KillMachine]

Why are people saying "wait for K-7" ?

Do you guys really think the K-7 (WhatEverTheirCalled instructions

) will be more widely supported then KNI?

KNI will be huge toward the end of the year, after all, software developers can hardly afford to ignore the largest processor manufacturer, can they

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[GA]KillMachine
extreme@barrysworld.com

 

[.virt]

&gt;&gt;I personally have fps capped at 85 (I CAN tell the difference between 60 and 85 &gt;&gt;- just try it on the windows desktop and watch the flicker disappear).

Refresh rate and fps are diff. Running at 15 frames per second you are still getting 85 screen updates per second. Eye starts to see smooth movement at about 25-30 frames per sec. (hence film is 24 fps and dvd 30 fps) although you may well notice that movement is smoother with even higher fps.
The main point of getting high fps in demos is so that when the going gets tough for your graphics card the fps dont drop below an exceptable level.

PS - I still think AMD have got to prove themselves on the floating point side ...(ouch)

 

[[GA]KillMachine]

OK then boys, thanks for ya help, i'm on the case now, although i cant have what i want till next week (the TNT2 ULTRA's are not avaliable to the public, according to every supplier i've been to) But when i get it, i'll let you all know the scores

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[GA]KillMachine
extreme@barrysworld.com