Why is my GF4 ti4200 "Slower" than my Radeon 8500?

[Se7en01]

Well, not really slower. I got 1000 mor 3D marks in 3DMark2001se with the GF4; however, in my games the ti4200 is "Choppy" where the Radeon wasnt. I am using the "Exact" same system with the ti4200 that I used with the Radeon but it is so choppy. I reformatted before installing the GF4 so I know there aren't any old Radeon drivers around. I have messed with all the settings but it doeasn't help. I am using the 29.42 drivers. Games that are choppy on the ti4200 that "Weren't" on the Radeon are:

SOF2 and Commanche 4.

Is there something I am NOT doing that I should be as far as setup? I am new to the Nvidia products.

 

[Furor]

radeon 8500 is better in sof2, but commanche 4 is an nvidia optimized game, so it might be a problem with your settings..try downloading rivatuner and messing with the settings.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Commanche4 really likes 128MB, is that a 64MB 4200? Even if you have the 128MB 4200 it will be clocked around 250/444 by default, consider setting it to at least default 4200-64MB settings of 250/500. That's where it should be set, but if it was set there by default nobody would bother with 4200-64MB cards. Also check BIOS settings, esp aperture size, a setting of 128MB is optimal although you can set it as high as your amount of RAM this can actually be counter productive. It could also be that many people find probs when changing from ATI to nVidia and vice versa, I think each manu does freaky things with their drivers to try to prevent people switching chipsets. In any case you should try deinstalling your gfx drivers, running Detonator Destroyer, reinstall the latest nVidia or your 4200 manu drivers and then reinstall DX8.1!

Finally, what CPU are you using?

 

[AnAndAustin]

I forgot to mention resolution. You should find one of GF4's biggest advanatges is in both the speed and quality that comes from running with QuinxAA and Anisotropic Filtering (easily as good or better than true 4xAA). You'll prob find it much more pleasurable at 800x600x32 with QxAA & Aniso than running 1280x1024x32. 2xAA comes at very little perf loss too and doesn't req Aniso to keep textures sharp. 4xS is also another good and sharp AA mode, looks even better than QxAA & Ani but is slower!

 

[Se7en01]

Originally posted by: AnAndAustin
I forgot to mention resolution. You should find one of GF4's biggest advanatges is in both the speed and quality that comes from running with QuinxAA and Anisotropic Filtering (easily as good or better than true 4xAA). You'll prob find it much more pleasurable at 800x600x32 with QxAA & Aniso than running 1280x1024x32. 2xAA comes at very little perf loss too and doesn't req Aniso to keep textures sharp. 4xS is also another good and sharp AA mode, looks even better than QxAA & Ani but is slower!

Thanks for all of the great replies. BTW, my GF4 is the "64" meg version and it is the PNY. I got this one due to the reviews about the 64 being faster than the 128. I didn't think about the fact that some of these games would like more RAM. Doh!

AnAndAustin, do you suggest I use the Detonator driver advanced settings to set the AA and Ansio or should I get a program like Geforce Tweak Utility? If you use the "GTU" might you suggest some settings for SOF and Commanche4?

BTW, I did try 4x AA and 64ansio and the game would barely move. 15FPS!

 

[AnAndAustin]

If you enable AA then you should lower the resolution, that's the main point of AA, you can run a lower res and get better quality than just upping the res! 4xAA hardly blurs textures so doesn't really need Ani, it does however run very slowly, QxAA and Ani gives better results than 4xAA and looks the same as 4xAA & Ani but is a LOT faster! You only ever need the lowest Ani setting too!

A lot of people got duped in to thinking the 4200-64MB is faster, it is only faster if nobody ever o/c any of the 4200 cards. 4200 o/c is 99% dependent upon the ns RAM used. Read it off the second line on your RAM chips, it's the last 2 numbers, eg. AB123CD45-EF40 denotes 4.0ns RAM which will averagely reach 550mhz. 3.6ns or faster reaches 600mhz and all types of RAM can be found on 128MB 4200 just as easily as 64MB 4200. Don't be glum though, your 4200-64MB is faster than both GF3TI500 and full blown ATI Radeon8500, both of which were $300 6 months ago and the vast majority also came with 64MB. Unfortunately for you, Commanche4 is one of the current games which does breach 64MB with full details on, perhaps use medium detail settings or drop the res / eye candy a bit. However, I've never played it nor SOF myself.

Utils like Coolbits, RivaTuner and Geforce Tweak Utility are all worth checking out. With any settings you're choosing between quality and perf and generally each game is best with different settings. If performance is suspect then, after ensuring your CPU is up to providing the data, it's worth deinstalling drivers, perhaps running Detonator Destroyer and the reinstalling either the latest official non-beta drivers from nVidia or manu website, then install DX8.1, it won't hurt to get the latest drivers for all of your hw including mobo and BIOS. If your CPU is a little underpowered then it's best to apply AA & Ani as this will help to use up the spare GPU power. Regarding the settings, most of the time it is down to personal preference.

 

[Actaeon]

Ah, AnAndAustin:

Great, and exceptional posts as usual. Keep up the good work .

 

[touchmyichi]

first off, why did you get a geforce 4 ti 4200 if you already had a radeon 8500? that is barely a noticable gain. That being said i agree it has to do with the ram

 

[Se7en01]

Originally posted by: AnAndAustin
QxAA and Ani gives better results than 4xAA and looks the same as 4xAA & Ani but is a LOT faster! You only ever need the lowest Ani setting too!

Again, thanks so much for your informative post. I appreciate you taking the time to help me.

I have a question about your last post.."The quote above." What is QxAA? I see 2x and 4x in my settings. Where do I find QxAA? And...if I use QxAA, after I find it...What Ansio setting should I use?

 

[Se7en01]

Originally posted by: touchmyichi
first off, why did you get a geforce 4 ti 4200 if you already had a radeon 8500? that is barely a noticable gain. That being said i agree it has to do with the ram

I like to try new things and my Radeon was still within the 30 days for return so after reading about how great the GF4 ti4200 was I decided to give it a try. I change hardware about once a month just to see what I like best.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Rad8500 cards are very good, not far off 4200 until you o/c or up the eye candy. QxAA refers to Quincux AA and gives the jaggie correction of 4xAA at only 2xAA hit on GF4 or half way between 2xAA and 4xAA on GF3. It is nVidia only and so some games may have to be forced through tweak tools or control panel. QxAA does blur the textures and game details a bit more so Ani is a VERY good idea, only the lowest setting is needed, but see what you prefer. Some people simply prefer 1600x1200x32 without anything enabled! Also 4xS is yummy, but it does take quite a hit, it's all about playing with every game to find the best settings and res.