Upgrading = Downgrading

TriPhaseTriPhase Join Date: 2002-11-03 Member: 6110Members, Constellation
in Tech Support
<div class="IPBDescription">Since when?</div>So, after many years of loyal service, my Radeon 9800 Pro finally kicked the bucket. I decided to go out and get a cheap upgrade so I can still play my old games, and possibly some newer ones. Yay! I went to the store and bought myself a Radeon HD2600 512MB AGP, which I thought was a nice upgrade over my old 9800Pro 128MB.

Anywho, now my current specs are:<ul><li>2.6 Ghz P4 w/ Hyper-Thread</li><li>2 Gigs of PC2700 DDR Ram</li><li>Radeon HD2600 512MB</li><li>X-Fi Sound card, blah blah</li></ul>
So upon playing newer games, such as Crysis, COD4, Tabula Rasa, etc. I noticed better FPS, smoother gameplay, and a more enjoyable experience... Although not nearly as smooth as I want, but good enough considering my computers dated hardware. Score!

Returning back to my older (but still great!) games, such as HL and its mods... I didn't get the same result. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" />
Flash lights, smokes, dynamic lighting, the fkin map itself... all ruin my FPS.
If someone welds the light in Maint Corridor on ns_hera, I instantly drop to <30FPS and skip around the entire time, no matter what part of the map I'm in.

I've tried D3D and it's still as bad. I have also tried Omega drivers and did fresh installs. I even reformatted my computer when I bought the card to ensure no old drivers would interfere.

I upgraded my computer to only downgrade the performance in games I play the most... bummer <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />

If anyone can give me any feedback or possible solutions to this, I would greatly appreciate it.
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Comments

  • sherpasherpa stopcommandermode Join Date: 2006-11-04 Member: 58338Members
    edited August 2008
    Yea, there was a generation of ATI and Nvidia cards that couldn't handle particle effects in NS.

    IIRC, NS used a non-HL standard particle system (they either made it theirselves or used a 3rd party one. The latter, i think- either way there's no suport for it)

    Basically there's nothing you can do. I'm not aware of any commands that can diasble the particles.
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  • douchebagatrondouchebagatron Custom member title Join Date: 2003-12-20 Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    i have an hd 2600 512mb pci x16 and have not noticed this problem at all. could it be a vista related issue? in which case you might try cl_gammaramp 0
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  • TriPhaseTriPhase Join Date: 2002-11-03 Member: 6110Members, Constellation
    I have the AGP version of the card, and I'm using WinXP Home. Gammaramp only changes my brightness and does nothing to my FPS.

    As for the particle effects, it doesn't do it only on NS, but just about every other HL mod.
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  • PrefixPrefix Éirinn go Brách Join Date: 2006-12-31 Member: 59353Members, Constellation
    Newer drivers tend to be worse for older games, at least in my experience.
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  • AdmirableAdmirable Ireland Join Date: 2003-08-31 Member: 20410Members, Constellation
    Rolling back to older drivers can help a little...
    I currently use the Catalyst 7.3 with my Radeon X1900XTX, and whilst I still don't get a constant 100fps when there are particles on the go, but the drops are slightly less noticeable than the newest drivers.

    Although this is probably no good for your HD series card <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
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  • TriPhaseTriPhase Join Date: 2002-11-03 Member: 6110Members, Constellation
    Shoot, now I don't know what to do..

    I guess that's the last time I buy an ATi card.
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  • Dalin SeivewrightDalin Seivewright 0x0000221E Join Date: 2007-10-20 Member: 62685Members, Constellation
    <!--quoteo(post=1686449:date=Aug 22 2008, 12:57 PM:name=TriPhase)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TriPhase @ Aug 22 2008, 12:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1686449"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Shoot, now I don't know what to do..

    I guess that's the last time I buy an ATi card.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    ATI cards are fine. There just comes a point where a video card manufacturer needs to sacrifice legacy support for old features/games to move on to bigger and better things. You'll see this kind of problem with any type of video card eventually. There really isn't something anyone can do. Except for waiting for NS2 of course.

    You may also want to check out the settings of your video card. Perhaps you could fiddle with the settings so the card will use the old generation Pixel Shading and what not. Eventually you may find settings that'll work wonders. You can also try contacting ATI about the issue.
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  • TriPhaseTriPhase Join Date: 2002-11-03 Member: 6110Members, Constellation
    <!--quoteo(post=1686483:date=Aug 23 2008, 01:44 AM:name=Dalin Seivewright)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dalin Seivewright @ Aug 23 2008, 01:44 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1686483"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->ATI cards are fine. There just comes a point where a video card manufacturer needs to sacrifice legacy support for old features/games to move on to bigger and better things. You'll see this kind of problem with any type of video card eventually. There really isn't something anyone can do. Except for waiting for NS2 of course.

    You may also want to check out the settings of your video card. Perhaps you could fiddle with the settings so the card will use the old generation Pixel Shading and what not. Eventually you may find settings that'll work wonders. You can also try contacting ATI about the issue.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I'll try that and see if anything works.

    Thanks
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