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General FreeSpace => FreeSpace & FreeSpace Open Support => Topic started by: starlord on January 22, 2008, 06:34:38 am

Title: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on January 22, 2008, 06:34:38 am
Hi there, I'm in need of your help:

I recently purchased a geforce FX "something" PCI card for my 700mgz win 98 PC but when I play the game missions, I'm not fighting shivans anymore but chunky pixels  :lol:

Is there a way to improve video quality back to the standards I was used to?

thanks.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on January 23, 2008, 06:03:11 am
Any ideas? Sorry, I forgot: I'm talking about the retail versions of freespace, silent threat and freespace 2.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: karajorma on January 23, 2008, 10:29:56 am
What drivers are you using? The ones off of the CD? Try something newer.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: ARSPR on January 23, 2008, 12:34:45 pm
Hi there, I'm in need of your help:

I recently purchased a geforce FX "something" PCI card for my 700mgz win 98 PC but when I play the game missions, I'm not fighting shivans anymore but chunky pixels  :lol:

Is there a way to improve video quality back to the standards I was used to?

thanks.
:wtf: PCI??? not even AGP???  :confused: :confused:

Are you sure your GPU can render anything more than 3 triangles per second?

Firstly try WITHOUT mediavps: just retail models, textures and effects.

Then try with mediavps, but PLEASE do not even think in using adveffects.vp.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: castor on January 23, 2008, 01:27:24 pm
Not so fast ARSPR, he's plying the retail :)
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: karajorma on January 24, 2008, 04:21:17 am
Yep. And that machine should be powerful enough to run FS2 Retail.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on January 24, 2008, 06:13:27 am
Actually, I had before an incorporated graphics card in my mother board (signed microsoft labs), you know, one of those obscure cards (which are not fully compatible with everything), yet this card was fully compatible with Fs and FS2.

I decided to purchase a "real" graph card to remedy the situation. Even if my computer didn't allow AGP, a geforce FX pci chould have been a good choice, no?
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: castor on January 24, 2008, 11:40:03 am
I'd think so. I was using a Matrox G400 card when I first completed FS2 myself.. the GF FX thing must be a few generations better than that :)
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: karajorma on January 24, 2008, 11:52:51 am
Get us a screenshot of the problem. Sometimes it makes it easier to jog the memory.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: MP-Ryan on January 25, 2008, 04:22:24 pm
I have a very good guess as to the problem.  Incorrectly configured drivers.

With a PCI card you're going to have to crank your graphics options in the driver controls and set the PCI latency rather high.  You'll need a program like RivaTuner to access the more advanced options for your video card.  Also, ensure you are running the latest most compatible set of video drivers for the card.

Most PCI cards are going to suffer graphically anyway (PCI cards were never really intended for 3d applications after AGP went mainstream) but they can be configured to run things properly.

That said... Geforce FX?  FX what?  Some of those FX cards have 3D functionality far below that of even a GF2 MX AGP card.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: jr2 on January 25, 2008, 06:28:03 pm
I had SCP 3.6.5 running on a 500MHz AMD K6-2, 256 MB RAM, BFG FX 5500 256 MB PCI before... choppy, but works.  With mediavps.  (actually didn't seem to make much difference with or without).
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on January 26, 2008, 05:18:22 am
Sorry, the computer's not internet connected and is quite old, so I think I won't be able to transfer a screenie. Hmm, I don't like the looks of what you are saying. If it is true, I'll have to think of a way to transfer drivers up there.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: jr2 on January 26, 2008, 09:26:43 am
Burn a CD, or use a USB Flash drive.  ( 1GB USB flash drives = cheap )
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on January 26, 2008, 11:18:56 am
Do you even realise how screwing hard it is to configure a working USB key under win98?
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: jr2 on January 26, 2008, 06:44:58 pm
Yeah... download drivers, copy them to floppy, insert USB drive, point driver search to floppy.

Why?
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: Turey on January 26, 2008, 11:49:12 pm
Yeah... download drivers, copy them to floppy, insert USB drive, point driver search to floppy.

Why?

 :lol:
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on January 27, 2008, 05:09:26 am
At least when I tried, it didn't work on win98.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: jr2 on January 29, 2008, 03:43:39 am
... Was it Win'98 SE?  Or the first edition?  PNY USB 2.0 1GB sticks, at least, require '98 SE to work.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on January 29, 2008, 05:06:26 am
Hmm, I think it's win98 first edition. anyway that would explain whu it doesn't work.

I tried another game called aquanox (much more demanding then freespace or freespace 2: it works flawlessly: I don't understand).
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on February 11, 2008, 03:45:08 am
Tried again with independence war 2: edge of chaos (2003): It works flawlessly and with good graphics. I have the impression that it doesn't work only with games of the games of the precedent generation.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: SuperCoolAl on February 18, 2008, 11:51:59 am
'Fighting chunks?' Have you made sure you've got the detail settings in options actually turned up?  ;7
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on February 19, 2008, 04:48:51 am
Yeah, to max! But I'm gonna change comps soon (1Ghz under win 98), normally with a bit of luck the problem will disappear.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on February 19, 2008, 10:01:46 am
I got it: It's a geforce 4 MX 440 PCI with AGP8x

Also, I'm using forceware 81.98 for win9x

Any ideas/help?
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: Wobble73 on February 19, 2008, 10:20:35 am
I had one of those, it worked fine but I couldn't use the MediaVps without huge framerate drops. How much memory does it have? The problem with Geforce MX cards are they are the lowest of the low-end cards Nvidia ever made!
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on February 20, 2008, 04:28:16 am
Well I suppose memory is sufficient for freespace as Iwar2 and aquanox work flawlessly!
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: karajorma on February 21, 2008, 03:10:25 am
Don't make the mistake of comparing FS2_Retail and FS2_Open system requirements as if they were the same thing. FS2_Open has requirements much closer to a modern game than Retail does.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on February 21, 2008, 04:28:25 am
Yes, indeed: Once again, I use freespace, silent threat, and freespace 2 RETAIL.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: jr2 on April 25, 2008, 01:42:32 am
I got it: It's a geforce 4 MX 440 PCI with AGP8x

Also, I'm using forceware 81.98 for win9x

Any ideas/help?

PCI with AGP 8X, eh?  :p  Eh, it's either PCI or AGP.. most likely, AGP, but who knows.  is it integrated, or an actual add-on video card?  If it's integrated, it takes from your normal system memory for it's video memory (ie, if you have 1GB memory, it will take maybe 128MB of it for video memory, leaving you with 896 MB of system memory... not bad, but if you only have 256 MB in the first place...)
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on April 25, 2008, 05:27:35 am
Thanks for the reply. No, the card is not intergrated (actually, my intergrated card worked well with FS, but I thought I might make a few more things work with a geforce).
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: jr2 on April 26, 2008, 06:39:20 am
What's your integrated?  You might wanna switch back if it's powerful enough.  But, for around $60, you can get a ATI X1650 512MB card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102086)  ;7
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: starlord on April 26, 2008, 09:00:11 am
I don't know, a custom thing signed microsoft labs which gave me problems with certain games (although FS was fine on it).
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: jr2 on April 30, 2008, 10:00:20 am
Ah... find the IGP (Integrated) manufacturer's site, and get the drivers from there.  It's the same as with an add-on GFX card - don't use the M$ drivers, use the manufacturer's drivers.  M$ drivers suck, as they are designed to make the hardware work in any situation at all costs, so performance gets trashed for compatibility... but to be compatible with games, you need performance.
Title: Re: geforce FX problems?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on April 30, 2008, 11:08:23 am
You've configured in the launcher correctly too? (yes for retail ;) )