Bad HL fps with Radeon 9500 Pro - Continuation of "New ATi Catalyst drivers (v3.6)"

[MitsuMan]

I make this thread because of agt_alan's comments about not setting up HL right. I also don't want to take over the thread or anything. I have my fps_max set to 71 (and desktop set to 70Hz). That's all I want - 70fps steady - but the Radeon won't give me that. It is choppy and drops into the 40's regularly in big battles. So do tell alan, what am I doing wrong?

System specs
Northwood 2.2Ghz P4
DFI NB72-SC motherboard w/ latest bios
384mb PC133 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9500 Pro w/ Catalyst 3.6
Desktop res: 1280x1024 @ 32bit/70Hz
HL res: 1152x864 windowed in OpenGL
Windows XP SP1

Video Settings
SMARTGART tab: 4x with Fast Write: On
OpenGL tab: AA is on Application Preference (I take screenshots sometimes, so this stays off)
Anisotropic Filtering: 16X
Texture Preference: High Quality
Midmap Detail Level: High Quality
Wait for Vertical Sync: Always Off
TRUFORM: Always Off

In config.cfg
ati_subdiv "0"
ati_npatch "0"

That's all the info I can think of atm. Anything else at request.

Thanks for any and all help!

[agt_alan]

I never said you were setting up HL wrong. Not knowing how to install and update drivers is what im referring to.
That system is pitifully starved for memory bandwidth to begin with, running with simple SDRAM. Add to that running in a window and limiting the frame rates to 70.

Im pretty sure you have not updated the intel chipset drivers:

http://www.intel.com/design/software/drivers/platform/inf.htm

I'm also sure you haven't installed the Intel Application Accelerator either:

http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa/

[Twizted]

Video Settings
SMARTGART tab: 4x with Fast Write: On
OpenGL tab: AA is on Application Preference (I take screenshots sometimes, so this stays off)
Anisotropic Filtering: 16X
Texture Preference: High Quality
Midmap Detail Level: High Quality
Wait for Vertical Sync: Always Off
TRUFORM: Always Off

In config.cfg
ati_subdiv "0"
ati_npatch "0"

Well, first off, set texture preferance and mipmap detail level down one notch.

Set the following in your autoexec.cfg:

ati_subdiv "2.0"
ati_npatch "1.0"

You might also try turning down Anisotropic detail down to application preferance.

The problem people have with HL alot of times is that they expect to get a new video card, or a better quality one and think it is going to look 10000x better or something. It is a 4 year old game, you can not do a whole lot to make it look better. With the settings I mentioned above, it is going to look damn near exactly the same as a GeForce 5900 or a GeForce 3, doesn't matter.

[MitsuMan]

I updated the chipset drivers and it seems to run slower. If I were to upgrade to say an Asus P4P800 with 2x256 PC3200 DDR RAM, would that give me the constant 70 fps I want?

the reason I do limit it is because my desktop is at 70Hz. if I set fps_max to 100 I would still only see 70 frames and have tearing. does running in a window decrease performance as well?

EDIT: I misread your post alan, I'm going to install the accelerator now.

well mitsu, Im stumped, I have a radeon 9500 128 mb soft moded to a 9700 w/ a slower cpu (athlon xp 2000+) and Im getting 100 fps w/ 6x antialising and 16x anisotropic filtering. You might want to add -32bpp to your command line for hl.


ati_subdiv "2.0"
ati_npatch "1.0"

twizted those settings are for truform, truform was really big with the 8500 series cards because a lot of old games looked a lot better with it, but since the focus has been newer games lately, the r300|r350|rv350 series cards(9500+) dont support it in hardware. Your cpu now does it and it causes a massive loss of performance. Those settings wouldnt do anything since he tured truform to always off, but if he had truform on application prefreence the settings you gave him would result in a massive hit in performance(think 1/2)

the 9500 pro is not much different than a 9700, the only difference is the 128 bit memory interface instead of 256 bit for the 9700. In the majority of games they run within 10% of eachother and I believe it should be able to handle hl with those settings.

and mitsu, you might want to check out intels application acceleration drivers(Im not sure if thats what their called but their supposed to give a lot of boosts)



edit dont run in window, ati is kinda picky with mixed 3d+2d

[Twizted]

I have a 9800, with those settings and Trueform turned on. Didn't know it broke any cards besides it.

[pr0be]

Originally posted by ArchEvIlAngel
You might want to add -32bpp to your command line for hl.

that should fix it. and leave both the truform commands at 0 or they lower your fps even more.

[MitsuMan]

well after following all the instructions, the situation still exists. Intel chipset drivers and the accelerator program were installed with little effect. I also added -32bpp to the custom config in ASE after sparky.exe, with no noticeable effect.

I saw a similar problem with my old Radeon 64mb ddr vivo. whenever I would look across large distances my fps would drop. I now believe the problem lies in my slow ram. I'm going to upgrade to the P4P800 to see if that cures the problem. I need to get ready for HL2 anyway ;)

thanks for all the help, guys!