Athlon 3000+ 400MHZ FSB - Will UT2004 run faster?

[Sahkolihaa]

Ok, as some of you may know I've got a 9800 XT in this system now, but for some reason it's not acting as fast as it should be. With all settings set to highest in UT2004 and at any resolution, my frame is the same and drops badly in ONS games (10-40 on avg). Half-Life 2 also runs like this, which has lead me to believe the graphics card is too fast for my CPU.

The Athlon XP 3000+ 400MHZ FSB is just a re-named version of the 3200+ (it's approx 33MHZ slower than the 3200+, and i've heard Windows actually picks it up as a 3200+).

Linky to it: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=55149

My system spec:

Asus A7V600-X Motherboard
Athlon XP 2400+
1.28GB PC2700 DDR Memory
ATI Radeon 9800 XT
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Tagan 480W PSU

As you can also see, my memory is PC2700, which it's running in PC2100 at the moment since the FSB of my 2400+ is 266MHZ, so not only will UT2004 have the extra L2 cache + CPU power, it will also have the extra memory bandwidth.

So, any ideas if this will help my frames?

Thanks!

[edhe]

Yes.

[The_Noik]

Well this is straingh, I have a 9800 pro, 768MB RAM
(pc2700) and an AMD sempron 2400+(L1: 64kb, L2: 256kb.).
And my ut2004 is running at the highest settings.
and half-life 2 is also running at full speed at full settings.

[Sahkolihaa]

Originally Posted by Silent Hunter

Well this is straingh, I have a 9800 pro, 768MB RAM
(pc2700) and an AMD sempron 2400+(L1: 64kb, L2: 256kb.).
And my ut2004 is running at the highest settings.
and half-life 2 is also running at full speed at full settings.

Exactly, my mate who has a 9800 Pro 128MB gets better performance than my XT

I've ran 3DMark03 on the card, and the score comes back as 6075, which is around how high it should be so I have no idea what the hell is the matter. I think a full re-install on UT2004 and HL2 may be in order

[The_Noik]

maby, most problems that i had with ut where solved after a fresh new installation.
and patches also do allot.

[Sahkolihaa]

I've just found another weird thing with UT. Just tested it with all settings at max and at 1280x1024, then while ingame I switched to 800x600 and dropped EVERYTHING to low - the frame only went up by 3 avg.

Ok, unistall and deletion of the directory I'm going to do now, will report back if it helps.

[edhe]

You have a memory bottleneck - change to PC3200 (low latency branded, i'd go with a good brand with 2-2-2) and you'll see a big benefit.

The 9800 128mb pro was a beast, the xt could be slightly slower due to the 256mb.

[Sahkolihaa]

Originally Posted by edhe

The 9800 128mb pro was a beast, the xt could be slightly slower due to the 256mb.

The XT is infact faster than the Pro, due to the different core and higher clock speed on the memory.

I know my memory will slightly bottleneck when I get the 3000+, but at least I'll have higher memory bandwidth than I have now and the GPU will have enough CPU power to perform how it should be.

[Deathmaker]

Have your tried cranking your T-bred up? 2400's will do XP2600 (12.5x166) speeds no problem, and at least you'll be utilising the full bandwidth of your ram.

As far as a 200MHz fsb'd cpu, as edhe says, get faster ram as XP's aren't really happy chappies running async.

[Sahkolihaa]

Originally Posted by Deathmaker

Have your tried cranking your T-bred up? 2400's will do XP2600 (12.5x166) speeds no problem, and at least you'll be utilising the full bandwidth of your ram.

As far as a 200MHz fsb'd cpu, as edhe says, get faster ram as XP's aren't really happy chappies running async.

I'll try cranking it up now, hopefully it's unlocked. I have a fast enough CPU fan so cooling isn't a problem. If the problem still persits, it's the 3000+ for me.

EDIT: Wouldn't even post. Looks like it's locked

Looks like the 3000+ will be on my order list this week.

[edhe]

Make sure you get a 400MHz clocked CPU, which afaik the 3000 isn't. Then get low latency 3200 dimms.

[Sahkolihaa]

Originally Posted by edhe

Make sure you get a 400MHz clocked CPU, which afaik the 3000 isn't. Then get low latency 3200 dimms.

Luckily I just found the 3200+ for the exact same price on another website, so I'm going for that

[Deathmaker]

If the mobo won't unlock the cpu then there's always the wire trick. It more often than not works no problem, at least for the 12.5 multi, and it really is easy to do.

[Sahkolihaa]

Originally Posted by Deathmaker

If the mobo won't unlock the cpu then there's always the wire trick. It more often than not works no problem, at least for the 12.5 multi, and it really is easy to do.

That is the last thing I want to do I'm afraid. I'll wait till I can get my 3200+

[The_Head]

Sounds more like a software problem than a hardware problem. My old pc, AMD2100+ 512MB Ram (pc2100) and a radeon 9500 pro used to get 20-30 fps on large ONS maps with high settings in 1024x768.
Check your drivers and maybe reinstall. Check what rendering more ur game is in.
And if you are on an LCD screen - especially an older one, make sure you are running in your screens default resolution. Some don't scale the res well. My old comp did this. 60-70 fps oin high res. at 800x600 would get 10 fps

[Sahkolihaa]

I've just been offered a motherboard and an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (socket 754) for £75, so I think I'm going to go for this as I'll get more performance from this than getting a 3200+

EDIT: The_Head, I've re-installed my drivers and UT2004 it's self which hasn't worked. I get the frame drops in other games too, but Halo seems to not have this problem.

No idea what other software problem this could be

[The_Head]

Thats really puzzling..... I'm stumped for ideas atm, If I think of anything I'l let you know

[Sahkolihaa]

Found the problem. It's overheating.

It's at 77C idle with the case side on, and 73C with the case side off. I ran ATI Tool's artifact finder, when the temperature (with the case side off) got to 79C, it kept detecting artifacts. My guess is 80+C is the GPU's "failesafe" cut-out for the temperature, as this point my games would crash or my system would reboot.

Anyway, I've taken it out and put my 8500LE back in until I can order an Artic Cooler for the 9800 XT.

[The_Head]

The stock cooler should be working fine :s
It might just not be mounted properly, or maybe the fan is dodgy. Either way an Artic Cooler will do a better job

[Sahkolihaa]

Originally Posted by The_Head

The stock cooler should be working fine :s
It might just not be mounted properly, or maybe the fan is dodgy. Either way an Artic Cooler will do a better job

Fan is broken. Bearing has badly worn out