9800XT - Fastwrites on or off?

[Hazrat]

Can anyone tell me which to use? Also what does fastwrites do anyhow?

Thanks!

 

[McArra]

Fastwrites make my system score 400marks more in 3dmark01 and 20-30 more in 3dmark03. So it makes very little to nothing for performance. I have them on but if you have stability issues with the card you better turn them off.

 

[Mem]

Fast Writes improves all writes from the CPU to the graphics chip including:
All 2D operations
Operations involving writing to the frame buffer or sending any data to the graphics chip.
Loading textures in Direct3D into local memory.
Writing push buffers to graphics local memory ? this is where most of the performance boost is generated

In the real world no real difference,for maximum stability on some PCs you should have fastwrites disabled,if you want the extra 1FPS or whatever try fastwrites enabled,but beware on some systems with fastwrites enabled,it can cause stability problems.

 

[dgerard]

I kept it enabled and haven't seen any stability problem so far (and no significant perf gain either...)

 

[BFG10K]

Keep it on unless you have stability problems.

 

[nemesismk2]

All you need to know is:- ATI fast writes OFF & NVIDIA fast writes ON!

 

[niggles]

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
All you need to know is:- ATI fast writes OFF & NVIDIA fast writes ON!

Actually that's not all we need to know, why do you say that. What specifically is this rule based on.

 

[Flyermax2k3]

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
All you need to know is:- ATI fast writes OFF & NVIDIA fast writes ON!

Hmmmm.... Never heard that one before... Care to actually back up your statement with quantifiable evidence (i.e. benchmarks) or are you just talking out your ass?

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: niggles

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
All you need to know is:- ATI fast writes OFF & NVIDIA fast writes ON!

Actually that's not all we need to know, why do you say that. What specifically is this rule based on.

This is based on my experience fixing and installing computer hardware over the last 10 years. The simple fact is that ATI hardware is usually more unstable than Nvidia hardware with fast writes enabled.

 

[oldfart]

I run 8X fast writes on. Works just fine.

 

[McArra]

Originally posted by: nemesismk2

Originally posted by: niggles

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
All you need to know is:- ATI fast writes OFF & NVIDIA fast writes ON!

Actually that's not all we need to know, why do you say that. What specifically is this rule based on.

This is based on my experience fixing and installing computer hardware over the last 10 years. The simple fact is that ATI hardware is usually more unstable than Nvidia hardware with fast writes enabled.

All my Ati's have benn working with fastwrites on and no problem at all.

 

[Flyermax2k3]

Originally posted by: nemesismk2

Originally posted by: niggles

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
All you need to know is:- ATI fast writes OFF & NVIDIA fast writes ON!

Actually that's not all we need to know, why do you say that. What specifically is this rule based on.

This is based on my experience fixing and installing computer hardware over the last 10 years. The simple fact is that ATI hardware is usually more unstable than Nvidia hardware with fast writes enabled.

pssst, hey nemesismk2: anecdotes do not qualify as "quantifiable evidence"
We can sit here and trade stories all day long, but it doesn't prove a darn thing.
Bust out the benchmarks if you want anyone to believe you. All of my experiences with ATI cards over the past 3+ years have given me the complete opposite result you have arrived at.
"Nvidia is more stable than ATI"

x infinity
that's the same crap as "Intel is more stable than AMD"
Do you really think *any* of the above companies would release hardware that is inherently unstable? There are problems with everything that is man-made, but to think that any of the aforementioned world-leaders in technology would release hardware that is obviously less stable than their competitors is simply ludicrous.
Edit: oh yeah, almost forgot: fast writes haven't even been around for 10 years, so how can you say that your 10 years experience is applicable to this specific scenario? Fast writes have only been around since the introduction of AGP, which was in mid-1997. 7 years does not equal 10, last time I checked. I'm not saying your experience is irrelevant, simply that you can't apply firsthand experience of a particular situation (enabling/disabling fast writes) if it doesn't exist at the time

 

[Mem]

This is based on my experience fixing and installing computer hardware over the last 10 years. The simple fact is that ATI hardware is usually more unstable than Nvidia hardware with fast writes enabled.

My Epox with 11 leaky caps is working fine with fastwrites on(using 9700NP).

As I said it depends on the users system.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: nemesismk2

Originally posted by: niggles

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
All you need to know is:- ATI fast writes OFF & NVIDIA fast writes ON!

Actually that's not all we need to know, why do you say that. What specifically is this rule based on.

This is based on my experience fixing and installing computer hardware over the last 10 years. The simple fact is that ATI hardware is usually more unstable than Nvidia hardware with fast writes enabled.

If you're going to make a statement like "All you need to know is", you should at least have minimal evidence to back up your statements.

I have well over 15 years of experience with computers, and my experience is different than yours. So does that mean my word is more trustworthy than yours?

 

[Flyermax2k3]

Originally posted by: Hardcore

Originally posted by: nemesismk2

Originally posted by: niggles

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
All you need to know is:- ATI fast writes OFF & NVIDIA fast writes ON!

Actually that's not all we need to know, why do you say that. What specifically is this rule based on.

This is based on my experience fixing and installing computer hardware over the last 10 years. The simple fact is that ATI hardware is usually more unstable than Nvidia hardware with fast writes enabled.

If you're going to make a statement like "All you need to know is", you should at least have minimal evidence to back up your statements.

I have well over 15 years of experience with computers, and my experience is different than yours. So does that mean my word is more trustworthy than yours?

Got me beat I've been using computers for about 15 years, but didn't really start using them until 10 years ago. Of course, I'm only 22 so I haven't had as much time as some others

 

[BFG10K]

The simple fact is that ATI hardware is usually more unstable than Nvidia hardware with fast writes enabled.

In my experience FWs are 100% stable on both ATi and nVidia hardware.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
All you need to know is:- ATI fast writes OFF & NVIDIA fast writes ON!

This was true in the days of the R8500, but with the newer ATi cards it's better to leave fast writes ON!

 

[VIAN]

Can anyone tell me which to use? Also what does fastwrites do anyhow?

Normal Operation.

CPU sends data to RAM.
GPU gets data from RAM.

Fast Write Operation.

GPU gets data from CPU.

It lowers the latency, but the performance increase is only a fraction of a fraction of a frame.

I have my Fast Write on. 9700 Pro. No probs here.

 

[CrystalBay]

My machine NForce2 platform appears to run better with F/Wt's off( less crashing) ... IMO

 

[Keysplayr]

I had to turn fast writes off on 2 of my 865PE mobos (ASUS P4P800 & MSI 865PE MAX FISR) when i put my 9700np in them. I got vertical lines all across the screen, in the OS only not it bios.
Had to use SMARTGART to turn off fastwrites. However, my 9700np worked just fine on my P4S533 mobo with a SiS 645DX chipset. So, depending on the platform you have, your results may vary.