Ati aiw x800xl agp performance issues

[Corrupted]

Hi guys,I recently purchased an ati aiw x800xl agp from future shop.I get really poor performance in games like "Fear".I play@1024 by 768 with all medium settings and the game stutters and chokes,also my screen blacks out intermittently(only for a split second).My computer specs are(Intel P4-S478 2.53Ghz 533Mhz FSB,512MB ddr (2700),Ati aiw x800xl agp
,SB audigy soundcard.I also have an enermax noisetaker 485 watt power supply.My friend has an ati x850 pro (12 pipes)versus my 16 pipes x800xl.He can run Fear with max settings at 1600x1200 with only slight hitching.I know my processor is oldschool and ram is lacking,but I thought Fear was more graphics card intensive,anyway I'll probably get some more ram and go from there.I love this card,awesome deal from futureshop btw(my first Ati card).It's been rock solid with the exception of screen blackouts and anomolies while windows is booting and on the desktop.Games don't crash,they just don't play very well.Btw,my friend has an A64 3700(san diego),1 gig of ram dual channel and ati x850 pro core@500Mhz mem@500Mhz.My 3dmark 2005 score is 4444,does that look right?So what do you guys think?is there a problem with my videocard or is my system too oldschool?

 

[Boneface]

im thinking it needs more ram like u said i have the same card and i run bf2 on full but if i didnt have the 2gigs of ram it would run like crap even with the card

 

[Corrupted]

im thinking it needs more ram like u said i have the same card and i run bf2 on full but if i didnt have the 2gigs of ram it would run like crap even with the card

Thanks for replying.Anyways,I updated my Audigy soundcard's driver and that fixed my problem,it gave me a huge boost in fear(1024x768)(quite noticable).before that I tried everything,nothing help.I flashed an ati aiw x800xt bios(core@500Mhz-mem@500),patched the game(Fear)to 1.05,and updated to Catylyst 6.5 drivers.I'm get some more ram soon,maybe format and reinstall windows too.What was your 3dmark2005 score?my score 4700@Xt speed....4400@XL(stock).Btw,this is the best card I've ever owned and also the cheapest.My old geforce 3 costed more,hahahaha

 

[Boneface]

i just flashed my to xt but not sure if ill keep it that way or go back...i havent tried mark05 at stock xt settings only at 600/600 and that gave me just over 7000...so maybe ill try it at stock xt next and tell u
and ya i love this card and for 195 with tax u cant go wrong

 

[Corrupted]

your card overclocks great!My card locks up @520Mhz core when using atitool 0.24,it doesn't even detect artifacts,just locks up and stops responding.i actually have to manually power down my computer.It's been stable at 500Mhz-core,500Mhz-mem.I'm happy with Xt speeds,maybe when I upgrade my card's cooling,I'll try overclocking it again.I saw that ncix was having a sale on kingston hyper-x ram kit(2x512MB DDR400) for 100 canadian after 25$ rebate.Are those any good?talk to you later,see ya

 

[raymanxp]

hey guys, been trying to find out about flashing the AIW X800XL to the XT bios. Can anyone tell me how it's done and if the bios hosted on techpowerup.com is the correct one?

In ATiTool, I noticed that the core is an R420, namely the XT core. Yet, when i O/C it, i get 475mhz core b4 my computer locks up. The ram pushes past 500mhz fine however.

I'm running on new X2 3800+ cpu @ 2.3ghz stable with crappy generic ram.
The cooling on the gpu is the ATi Silencer 1 Rev2. I'm wondering if anyone knows also, if the XT version of the silencers would work for the AIW, since Silencer 1 seems a bit small.

btw i got it at futureshop too hehe. it was a steal for the price imo.

 

[Corrupted]

hey guys, been trying to find out about flashing the AIW X800XL to the XT bios. Can anyone tell me how it's done and if the bios hosted on techpowerup.com is the correct one?

In ATiTool, I noticed that the core is an R420, namely the XT core. Yet, when i O/C it, i get 475mhz core b4 my computer locks up. The ram pushes past 500mhz fine however.

I'm running on new X2 3800+ cpu @ 2.3ghz stable with crappy generic ram.
The cooling on the gpu is the ATi Silencer 1 Rev2. I'm wondering if anyone knows also, if the XT version of the silencers would work for the AIW, since Silencer 1 seems a bit small.

btw i got it at futureshop too hehe. it was a steal for the price imo.

There is a guide for flashing your video card on this site.The guide is well written and easy to understand.Before you do anything,make a backup of your card's bios.How are your temps?and what power supply do you have?If you plan on flashing your card to an x800xt aiw,you better make sure your card can run at those speeds.Try overclocking your card again,but with your case panel removed.See if that help,if you see an improvement then you know it's the heat that's holding your card back.Please post back with your results.

 

[raymanxp]

hey corrupted thx for the reply.

I've tested my card once again. It has arctic cooling ati silencer 1 installed. Initially, using stock hsf, i was getting 71+ degrees on my card when running stock and play hl2. After i switched to the silencer it dropped to a managable 69 degrees. After gettin a new case, temps dropped lower to 65 degrees max.

So i tried overclocking it again in the new case. My best stable was 472.50/560.25. I reinstalled teh cooler with as5 and idle temps went down 3 degrees more. I have opened the side of the case as u suggested and tried again. I believe it went up to around 492mhz before the computer crashed and restarted itself. I believe around 480mhz core was ok b4 it detected artifacts. The temps were below 70 degrees for sure.

My conclusion would be that this chip is one of the "reject" chips that didn't make the QC of XT speeds. But i'm wondering whether having front case fans installed to suck up cold air would help it a lil bit more?

 

[Corrupted]

I agree with your conclusion.I think all the aiw x800xl agp were xt's that didn't make the grade.I'm thinking of reflashing my card back to original xl bios.I have had no major issues running at Xt speeds for the last month.Only thing is,sometimes when starting up my computer,when I get to desktop,my screen blacks out(for split second).I'm not not sure if it's software issue but I had a Geforce 3 in my machine before.Maybe when I have time,i'll reinstall windows(clean install) and get some more ram and maybe a new case,hehe.Talk to you later man


Edit:I'm assuming your using atitool 0.24.When your computer locks up,do you have to manually power down?also when atitool locks up,the next time you start up atitool,a notification bar should come up telling you your last clock speed before locking up.How are your cpu temps?Check your cpu hsf installation and reapply AS5.

 

[Corrupted]

Just an update to my original problem.I added some ram,for a total of 1GB DDR400.It seemed to help because I can now play Fear at 1280x1024 resolution with optimized settings(with occassional stuttering).I think my problem originally was a combination of outdated soundcard drivers and lack of ram.I`m happy with my system now.Great site and many thanks for your help and suggestions.For all you guys out there that`s still running an AGP system,I highly recommend ATI x800 series cards.Great performance and awesome value!ATI is currently having a sale at "shopati.com"(AIW X800XT AGP 129 USD)I`m no ati fanboy or work for them,cheers mates.

 

[Boneface]

Just an update to my original problem.I added some ram,for a total of 1GB DDR400.It seemed to help because I can now play Fear at 1280x1024 resolution with optimized settings(with occassional stuttering).I think my problem originally was a combination of outdated soundcard drivers and lack of ram.I`m happy with my system now.Great site and many thanks for your help and suggestions.For all you guys out there that`s still running an AGP system,I highly recommend ATI x800 series cards.Great performance and awesome value!ATI is currently having a sale at "shopati.com"(AIW X800XT AGP 129 USD)I`m no ati fanboy or work for them,cheers mates.

so how is fear anyway ive never played it all or i think maybe the demo but i havent tried it with my card yet.i have the xl version of it and flashed it to an xt and it runs at 520/570 and it sits nice and cool at 29c right now and doesnt go above 46c in bf2 and thats everything on high...its a great card got mine for 169.00 Candaian

 

[bigboi86]

When a game runs with playable framerates then drops and skips, then goes back to playable framerates, you can tell it's not enough memory.

Your computer is having to buffer all of that data into virtual memory(which is a lot slower than physical RAM) which is causing those hiccups.

BF2 used to be aweful with 1gb of ram for me. Went to 2gb of ram, and man I was so happy with the upgrade. No more hiccups.

 

[Corrupted]

so how is fear anyway ive never played it all or i think maybe the demo but i havent tried it with my card yet.i have the xl version of it and flashed it to an xt and it runs at 520/570 and it sits nice and cool at 29c right now and doesnt go above 46c in bf2 and thats everything on high...its a great card got mine for 169.00 Candaian

F.E.A.R is a great game!with a sh?tty ending(you won't be disappointed).Yeah I said it,hehe.You should check it out for yourself.Just don't expect to play at 1600x1200 with settings maxed out but it still looks awesome at 1280x1024.

 

[Corrupted]

When a game runs with playable framerates then drops and skips, then goes back to playable framerates, you can tell it's not enough memory.

Your computer is having to buffer all of that data into virtual memory(which is a lot slower than physical RAM) which is causing those hiccups.

BF2 used to be aweful with 1gb of ram for me. Went to 2gb of ram, and man I was so happy with the upgrade. No more hiccups.

Damn,now I have to get more ram?haha.What resolution do you play at?and is that with all the settings maxed out?Thanks for the tip bigboi86.

 

[Boneface]

your card overclocks great!My card locks up @520Mhz core when using atitool 0.24,it doesn't even detect artifacts,just locks up and stops responding.i actually have to manually power down my computer.It's been stable at 500Mhz-core,500Mhz-mem.I'm happy with Xt speeds,maybe when I upgrade my card's cooling,I'll try overclocking it again.I saw that ncix was having a sale on kingston hyper-x ram kit(2x512MB DDR400) for 100 canadian after 25$ rebate.Are those any good?talk to you later,see ya

i only use atitool to get my clocks higher then i use my games to test if i try using atitool it doesnt last more then 45mins...bf2 few a few hrs is what im looking for