Problem with Graphics Card (7800GTX) when playing FEAR!!

rHy0

Distinguished
Feb 23, 2006
444
0
18,780
Yeah so i just set up my new 19' LCD monitor and a razor copperhead mouse with my gaming system, which i hadnt used for about a week, and just when i started playing FEAR i noticed i was getting 37fps min!! when before i got the new monitor it was 45fps min!!? Also when using FRAPS i see that it even drops to 28fps at times! Even more confusing is that when i reduced the graphics settings a bit it still wouldnt go above 40!! Im using a geforce 7800 gtx so this souldnt be happening and hadnt until now. What do you think could be wrong?? Plz help, thanks.
 

rHy0

Distinguished
Feb 23, 2006
444
0
18,780
Sure thing. System Specs; AMD Athlon 64 3700+, Asus a8n sli Premium mobo, 2gigs Corsair RAM, Xfx 7800 Gtx (256mb), WD Raptor 150GB, Seasonic s12 600W Psu, Win XP.
 

Dr_asik

Distinguished
Mar 8, 2006
607
0
18,980
Yeah so i just set up my new 19' LCD monitor and a razor copperhead mouse with my gaming system, which i hadnt used for about a week, and just when i started playing FEAR i noticed i was getting 37fps min!! when before i got the new monitor it was 45fps min!!? Also when using FRAPS i see that it even drops to 28fps at times! Even more confusing is that when i reduced the graphics settings a bit it still wouldnt go above 40!! Im using a geforce 7800 gtx so this souldnt be happening and hadnt until now. What do you think could be wrong?? Plz help, thanks.
Try disabling VSync in FEAR. Maybe your new screen has a lower refresh rate, and the game has to adopt lower frame rates to keep the Vertical SYNChronization. Try testing what happens with other games, is the problem specific to FEAR, or not, etc.

Maybe you just got to some point in the game which is more graphically intensive and that it has nothing to do with the monitor or the mouse. Maybe you just downloaded something big and now there isn't enough space on your HD, which reduces performance.
 

chuckshissle

Splendid
Feb 2, 2006
4,579
0
22,780
FEAR is the most demanding game right now, so it's normal getting those frame rates. As far as frames going down from switching monitor, maybe it's just your monitor. Your monitor maybe in lower refresh rate or has low responce time. Good gaming monitor right now are 12ms or lower responce time higher ms means lag on gaming.

Yeah like the other Dr said, disable the v-sync if it's on becuase it's trying to get a fixed frames rates for optimization. Like for example, if I turned on the v-sync on BF2 I only get a fixed 60fps and disabling it I would get an increase to 75 to 80fps.

Also do not use softshadows and volumetric lighting on FEAR, they kill performance like high AA and AF. Do not set everything on high I don't have mine on the highest and I could barely notice the difference in quality.
 

rHy0

Distinguished
Feb 23, 2006
444
0
18,780
I never have VSync on :( I'll try battlefield 2 in a sec but i did try AoE 3, which i dont really play, and i did have some small jerks at max detail :? . So could a monitor actually reduce performance if its not generally aimed at gaming? cause the one i have now was quite pricey!? Here it is: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=309691&view=detailed let me know what you think, thanks.
 

Dr_asik

Distinguished
Mar 8, 2006
607
0
18,980
I really don't think the monitor could cause a slowdown in your minimum framerate; the maximum, maybe, because of the refresh rate, but not the minimum. Try installing (or re-installing) the newest drivers for your video card, that's all I can say.
 

rHy0

Distinguished
Feb 23, 2006
444
0
18,780
Alright ill try that. So what do you think of of my monitor overall? Sorry for repeateing myself but i just spent alot on the monitor and i just wanna know if its specs can handle gaming.
 

rHy0

Distinguished
Feb 23, 2006
444
0
18,780
Okay good news for me! I got kinda mad after doing all the speed tests on FEAR and seeing 40fps min so i went and put absolutely everything on maximum settings (no soft shadows) including AA 4x and AF 16x, and i got 35fps min, 150 max! I was a bit surprised! What do you think?
 

chuckshissle

Splendid
Feb 2, 2006
4,579
0
22,780
Okay could you take a look at my monitor's specs and tell me what you think of it (gaming wise) http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=309691&view=detailed

Well, your monitor has 8ms response time and mine has only 12ms. Yeah your monitor is faster than mine alright. But I just don't get it with frame rates going down on your pc with this 8ms monitor. So definitely it's not your monitor that cuasing the slow down.
 

chuckshissle

Splendid
Feb 2, 2006
4,579
0
22,780
Okay good news for me! I got kinda mad after doing all the speed tests on FEAR and seeing 40fps min so i went and put absolutely everything on maximum settings (no soft shadows) including AA 4x and AF 16x, and i got 35fps min, 150 max! I was a bit surprised! What do you think?

That's good, with my sli I would get average of 45fps on max settings at 1280x1024 resolution. For your result that's normal. But turned off the volumetric light and soft shadows, its' not that great or not a big really a big difference in quality.
 

rHy0

Distinguished
Feb 23, 2006
444
0
18,780
Okay so i guess i should look towards my graphics card for the problems. I really thought that 35fps min i got recently with all settings maxed out crossed my g card off the list... By the way does contrast ratio of monitors really affect gaming performance cause my monitor only has 500:1?
 

russki

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2006
548
0
18,980
Guys, it's just sinful to reference stated latencies for monitors on Tom's boards - they have been perhaps the best reviewer of monitors around, with tests that consistently show that stated latencies, alas, very often have very little to do with real life performance. Read some of their monitor reviews for further detail.
 

chuckshissle

Splendid
Feb 2, 2006
4,579
0
22,780
Okay so i guess i should look towards my graphics card for the problems. I really thought that 35fps min i got recently with all settings maxed out crossed my g card off the list... By the way does contrast ratio of monitors really affect gaming performance cause my monitor only has 500:1?


Download and install the new Beta driver from Nvidia. It's the 84.20 forceware and I got it installed on mine and wow!!, I have notice some good increase in performance. Im getting 20 more fps with these driver at max settings. Try and install the new driver to see if you get more performance. :D
 

delanooch

Distinguished
Mar 15, 2006
178
0
18,680
Actually there are new WHQL drivers as of the 17th 84.21 so I would use them over the older beta ones.

Your new monitors native resolution is higher than your old monitor? If you raise the resolution of your display adapter / monitor you are going to lose FPS, I can't believe I did'nt see anyone post a reference to this.
 

Lan

Distinguished
Mar 29, 2004
277
0
18,780
If you can't find it don't worry too much. I recall reading somewhere that there is very little if any difference between the beta 84.20 and the release 84.21.
 
"Your new monitors native resolution is higher than your old monitor? If you raise the resolution of your display adapter / monitor you are going to lose FPS, I can't believe I did'nt see anyone post a reference to this.
"

LOL!

Please tell me this isnt a case of "my card is for some reason slower in FEAR at 1280x1024 than at 1024x768!"!!!! :)
 

sojrner

Distinguished
Feb 10, 2006
1,733
0
19,790
wow, funniest thing I have seen in a while, that just brightened my day... wasnt sure if anything funny was going to happen today, then I read this... and now I can leave work a happy man! :lol:
 

KagedShadow

Distinguished
Mar 15, 2006
11
0
18,510
Lol I had my F.E.A.R running at 1024x768 without softshadows before and it ran ok... now thanks to my new-found love of overclocking it runs more or less just as well with softshadows YAY. Now I can have an even better experience than before ^_^ with all the pretty effects on. Best 0 dollars i ever spent.