New Sapphire X300 not up to par. Help. Noob.

[husker]

I just recently bought the Sapphire X300 SE (PCI-Ex16) card along with an Athlon 64 3000+ and a chaintech Nforce4 Mobo (supports PCI-Ex16). with 1 gig corsair value select RAM, case, etc...

In my last system (Dell Dimension 8100) I had an ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (AGP 4x).

I have only one PC game and that game is Call of Duty and it used to run fine on my old machine. Now, with my new card, as soon as I get online, my card just freezes up on me (about 8 times now).

What can I do to fix this. I was under the impression that the PCI Express cards were better than AGP. I do know that the X300 is the low end of these cards, but shouldn't it at least be able to run a game like Call of Duty on low settings?

I have the latest drivers, etc...and the card runs just fine with normal use, but as soon as I load the game, it freezes. I've reinstalled the game, reinstalled windows, etc..but still nothing. Am I stuck with a bottom of the line card that won't run anything other than the desktop?

[saphalline]

Sounds like a heat issue to me. If the system runs fine normally, but freezes up when you start playing a game, something is getting too hot. How is your overall system cooling? Fans? Size, position, direction?

[husker]

I appologize. I noticed that I neglected to mention that the game seems to run fine in Single player and that the issues are happening in multiplayer. I know I have the updated patch for the game, etc...

My cooling is fine. I have 2 intake fans in front, 2 blowing out in back and 1 side fan blowing out....and of course the CPU fan. They are all 80mm fans.

My brother said that he thinks that it's the fact that when you go to multiplayer, the card is bombarded with much more information than just single player and that is what is causing it, but I just can't accept that theory (yet).

[saphalline]

Ok, cooling is good, probably not a heat issue. But it only crashes in multiplayer? Then I would suspect a network problem. Do you have a firewall on your system? Make sure Call of Duty is one of the exceptions. How about the latest chipset drivers from NVidia? The most current version is 6.39 of the NForce4 Standalone kit (http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp_6.39). How about the latest DirectX 9.0c (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx?url=/windows/directx/downloads/default.htm)? And if this was a new build, did you get all your updates for Windows?

I don't think your X300 SE is being bogged down. It's not as speedy as your old Radeon 9000 Pro, but it certainly meets the system requirements for the game. This is most likely a system problem that lies elsewhere, not your vid card.

[husker]

OK, seems to be working fine now. I'm not sure which one it was that fixed it, but I did download and install both programs and now it seems to be working fine.

I also messed with the connection to the back of my computer on my NIC, so that may have been it also, but I'll never know, lol.

Thank you very much for your help as always. I'm sure I'll be back before too long with something else.

[saphalline]

but I'll never know, lol.Hey, as long as it's working, right? :p As always, glad to help out.

[hockey man]

while on the subjuect of Sapphire X300 [not the se version] would this be suitable to play games such as halo and knights of the old republic?

[UkGamer]

well minnimum specs for halo are
933 MHz processor
Windows 98se/ME/2000/XP with 128 MB RAM
1.2 GB HD Space
Video card, 32 MB / 3D T&L capable

these are pretty low so i expect it would run fine at medium setting

[hockey man]

I have a dell 4700 with p4 2.8 [ht] 512 ram and 169 gig hard drive so I have all the specs except graphics, I have the intergrated stuff:(.
So. .. you experts out there, would a x300 be a good fit for my system? One of my main issues is my folk, I don't think they would let me dish-out $100+ But if I could would you recommemd a X700? Or would that be out of balance for my system?

[UkGamer]

would that be out of balance for my system?

no i think that an x700 be a fine choice and is not out of balance because your 2.8ghz is fast enough for any game and the ram is enough to meet even the most demanding game reccommended specs

even if you did only get a x300, ANTHING is better than integrated graphics belive me.

i take it you have pci-express slots?

[hockey man]

yep. Thanks for the help.

[saphalline]

An X300 would be OK for Halo. I totally disagree with Halo's "minimum specs", that game is a guzzler! What do you expect from a console port, though? Tight programming? Yeah right!

For something more in your price range yet still more powerful than an X300, check out this MSI X600 XT (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-127-167&depa=1). Oddly enough, it's the same price as an X600 Pro, but has higher clock speeds. Go fig. Not quite as powerful as an X700 Pro, but it's cheaper, and it's significantly more powerful than an X300 (better for Halo!).

[hockey man]

Saphalline, could you tell me what the differences between the x600 and x700 are. Plus in your opinion what would be the best value.

[saphalline]

The X600 is based on ATI's RV380 VPU, which boasts a 4 x 1 pipeline design with 2 shader units capable of VS 2.0 and PS 2.0 (standard DX9), and a RAM bus width of the regular 128-bits that we're all familiar with. The X600 Pro has core/RAM speeds of 400MHz/300MHz DDR (which is 600MHz effective for the RAM). The X600 XT has core/RAM speeds of 500/370 (740 effective).

The X700 is based on ATI's RV410 VPU, which boasts an 8 x 1 pipeline design with 6 shader units capable of VS 2.0 and PS 2.0b (higher than standard DX9 but not quite DX9c), and a RAM bus width of 128-bits. The X700 Pro (the only version I've seen for sale) has core/RAM speeds of 420/432 (864 effective).

As you can see :p the X700 is a much more capable VPU, but then it's also much more expensive. The problem I have with the X700 Pro's is that they're only $15 cheaper than NVidia's 6600 GT (which start at $185), which is even more powerful than the X700 Pro and more cost-effective. I don't consider the X700 Pro worth the money when the 6600 GT provides a better option. Likewise, now that the X600 XT is available (and for the same price as an X600 Pro = $100), NVidia's regular 6600 has fallen off my map. Why pay the same price for a 6600 when the X600 XT provides a better option? At the extreme low-end, the X300 and 6200 trade blows, and at that level you're better off getting whichever you can find for the cheapest price possible (as long as you avoid the X300 SE).

So for your budget needs, I would recommend you aim a little lower and get the X600 XT. It's still pretty powerful, but the price is really good. If price is truly no object, and you can reach the $185-200 range, then the 6600 GT is your vid card! I just have trouble telling you to go with an X700 Pro when another $15 can get you a 6600 GT and about 25% more performance. I mean, really, what's $15 when you're already spending $170?

[hockey man]

good point. A couple of things though

1. I have a dell 4700 and the power supply isn't the best. I believe its 305w. On dell.com the two upgradeable options are a 128 x300se and a 256 nvidia 6800. So would I be o.k. power wise with anything from a 6600gt through a x300?

2. Newegg has a refurbished vid card section. The card come with a 15 money back refund, but come barebones. I have seen x700 and 6600gt for $20-30 less than new. Do you think this would be a good option for me?

[hockey man]

like the following:
660gt
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-139-170R&type=Refurbished
700pro
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-123-146R&type=Refurbished

[saphalline]

They look like good deals, but I don't think I'd recommend a refurbished product to you. The problem with the refurbished ones is if it dies on the 16th day, you're screwed. There's no warranty on those things other than the 15-day Newegg policy. So you could get a "good deal" on a 6600 GT for only $150, but it could very easily turn sour, and then you'd have no new vid card and you'd be $150 poorer with nothing to show for it. Newegg is among the best for RMA's, but 15 days is a very short time for a warranty!

If you buy a new retail one, you not only get the accessories that come with it (TV-out cables, dongles, games) but you also get the full manufacturer's warranty (usually 3 years on vid cards). I always recommend this route if only for the warranty. If you think solid-state parts like RAM and vid cards never die, think again! I have old beat-up Pentium CPU's that are still alive and kicking, but I've also seen my share of lemon components that go bad. And sometimes, it doesn't happen right away. I once had a stick of RAM die on me 5 months after I bought it. But it was under warranty, so I got a new one no problem! Little things like that can make all the difference in the world when you rely on your computer so much.

But that's just my opinion. ;)

[hockey man]

thanks I'll stay away from the refurbished ones!