G400 and what looks like foggy refresh rate.

[Bitchmaster2]

Has anyone noticed a moving fog in the background of their games?

I have seen it in all games I play, Q3,UT,EQ

If I had to guess I would say it was probably something to do with refresh rate but I can't seem to make it go away.

Im running a vanilla G400DH 32mb (has max connectors) o/c to max speed.
PIII 450 o/c to 600
PC133
Abit BX6-r2
Daytek 17" (1731D)

The o/c'ing has been rock solid for 3-4 months and my games hum along at a very sweet pace, but I haven't seen any mention of this background "fog" in the forums. Im wondering if my monitor be no good or if theres a way I can alter my monitor settings.

One other thing I'm wondering. The TV out Dualhead function...when I have , say, Q3 running on the TV at the same time as my main monitor it has highly visible scan lines and whitish fog overlay. I'm guessing again its refresh rates. What are the optimal setting for TV out display in your peoples experience. Oh and in the above issue with background fog DH is disabled.

[Bitchmaster2]

So this being the second time I have posted a question to this board and gotten not even one responce I can only conclude that you are a closed group and can't see past my chosen "handle". So to you all a hearty Thak you.

[noackjr]

I think the reason no one responded is that we have no clue what you are talking about. Can you describe the problem a little more? Let's pick a specific level with no fog of it's own: Play some on "The Longest Yard" map of Quake 3 Arena Demo Test (q3dm17). You should see no fog effects. Do you see any fog? If so, what does the fog look like? If you see it all the time in every 3D game, you might be witnessing artifacts caused by the overclocking. I infer from your post that the fog was not present when you were not overclocking. Try reducing the amount you are overclocking to see if it fixes the problem. The other thing it may be is as you said: refresh rates. Try forcing your computer to display at a lower refresh rate (make sure the one you choose is well within the manufacturers specs for your monitor).

Hope that helps and sorry for the lack of responses,
Jon

[Bitchmaster2]

Sorry if the description was "foggy" in of itself. What I'm tryin to describe has nothing to do with in-game fog effects, rather a fog-like shimmering "behind" the displayed screens of the game. I can't notice it when in 2-d apps or desktop, but it is apparent in D3D i.e Unreal Tournament as well as OpenGL i.e Q3A. The look of it makes me think refresh rate problems.

[noackjr]

> fog-like shimmering "behind" the displayed screens of the game
What exactly do you mean by the "displayed screens"? Do you mean the HUDs?

[This message has been edited by noackjr (edited 01 December 1999).]

[Snake-Eyes]

Hello, Bitchmaster2. It might help if you could post a screenshot of this "foggy effect" you're trying to describe. If you have a web site, place it there, then place a link here. Maybe that way we'll all be able to tell what you mean (I understand how hard it can be to describe some of these problems so that others know what you mean, I have the same type of problem from time-to-time).

------------------
Ace

[mgarr1219]

I think I would get a new card, or try going back to older drivers first and if that doesnt work, then new card. Assuming your 2d screens have no symptoms at all would rule out your crt...

[Bitchmaster2]

Hmm lost big a** post I made in reply this morning....hrm

Ok so to summarize, A screenshot wouldn't show the effect Im talking about as it is only noticable because it is moving or flickering. Instead of a solid, crisp image I am getting a slight shimmering, best way I can think of to describe it is to say it looks like a layer beneath the screen shimmering, not the hud or any part of the screen, the whole screen. Think of how clear and sharp matrox image quality is known for, this is like anti-that. Regardless, it obviously isn't a commom problem that I can get a quick answer for. I will explore more refresh rate options as I don't want to just send the card back as in every other way it is great. I was fortunate to get a downgraded max that clocks real nice. I actually didn't think to clock it back down and see how it looks, may be just a result of having it clocked past max speeds with MGA tool.

[bf]

Sounds like something I got=
Its like the last frame overlaps with the current one, kind of a free but crap motion blur?
Especially noticible in games with one stationary image against a moving background- i.e. GTA2

[RBryant]

Are you sure it is not because you have overclocked your nonMax up to Max speed? If it really is a downgraded Max, then it was downgraded for a reason. Check the part number on the memory chips and you'll be able to tell if it actually was a Max at one time or not. What you're getting sounds like an effect that I used to get back when I would overclock the hell out of my Max... Little tiny sparkles all over the place that start to really shimmer bad when things start moving on the screen. If you have clocked it past the memory's ability to keep up then "blank" pixels will be rendered to the screen, even if only for one frame. The next frame will have blank pixels at other places as memory fails to keep up. Enough blank pixels moving around the screen could create a fog-like shimmer.

Also, are you sure that it is not your monitor?