Thanks to Matrox for the new drivers, although Win2k still not perfect

[fds]

I should have learned by now not to expect anything so I will only get pleasantly surprised.

I didn't really expect anything of the new Win98 drivers. The old second beta was good enough. Okay, sometimes it still crashed with HL. Now the new drivers acutally improved my q3a fps. Timedemo demo001 jumped from about ~48 to 52,5 fps. That's not bad. Trilinear is still too slow to be playable, but it is getting closer with 39 fps now.

On the other hand, I hoped for Matrox' Monitor settings to be in the release Win2k drivers. Well, they aren't. I have no idea why it is still limiting me to 75 Hz at 1152x864 when it allows me to select 85 Hz at 1280x1024. PowerStrip didn't help either.
I also cannot get OpenGL games other than Q3 to use anything higher other than 60 fps.

For the 10 or so minutes I tested Q3A, it didn't crash (that's a significant improvement from the previous beta on this system). It was slow (30 fps with bilinear, same settings as in Win98). Note that I do have to do some hardware rework (just didn't get the time and equipment to do it) on my motherboard to get it not to waste 50% of one CPU in ACPI Multiprocessor mode with Win2k, so the slowness probably isn't Matrox' fault. I wonder if it is using Busmastering in ACPI though. Busmastering requires an IRQ, and according to Gurm, the only lucky fellow with the always prefectly working Win2k-G400 setup ACPI means no real IRQs (Win2k tells me my G400 is using IRQ 20). I have Busmastering enabled in PowerDesk, but if it isn't getting used, that might account for some of the slowness.
Anyone running ACPI Multiprocessor with a G400 here?

On the other hand, r_smp 1 didn't quite work, and I suppose Matrox is the one to blame for that.
Only the models showed up correctly, all the textures were garbage. I had to do vid_restarts frequently even for the console and the menus to show up.

Note that the previous beta Win2k drivers were working pretty good on my secondary sys (using the Standard PC HAL). It's only a single fps slower than in Win98 (44 fps with bi). I'll test the new drivers on that machine later, as it is a hundred kilometres away.

------------------
primary sys: ASUS P2B-DS, Dual P3-500, 512 MB RAM, SB Live! Platinum, Pioneer DVD-303, Yamaha 6416S, Cambridge SoundWorks DeskTop Theater 5.1 DTT2500 Digital, and of course a Matrox G400 MAX
secondary sys: Abit BE6, P3-500, 384 MB, SB Live! Value, Pioneer DVD-303, and of course a Matrox G400 OEM SH 32 MB

[tds-dmns]

I'm currently running Win2K Pro with an ACPI-SMP system....

Time of this report: 2/26/2000, 15:17:41
Machine name: SIRIUS
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional (5.0, Build 2195)
Language: English (Regional Setting: Norwegian)
Processor: Intel Celeron, MMX (2 CPUs), 483MHz
Memory: 256MB RAM
Page File: 78MB used, 667MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 7.0 (4.07.00.0700)

I'm running the latest drivers form Matrox, (Driver Version: 5.00.2195.1030 (English)), and I'm suffering from random lockups in 3D games. If I disable the busmastering, the stability is increased, but at great cost in performance. I believe this has something to do with the MGA drivers not properly handling APIC IO. (3DLabs had the same problem in NT4 with their Permedia drivers, fixed it about the same time SP3 showed up).

On the other hand, ASUS (Manufacturer of my mainboard) has a rather nasty track record when it comes to handling AGP videoboards.

I'm running on a ASUS P2B-DS (Bios 1012) with a pure scsi environment.

ID0 : IBM DDRS 34560D (Ultra2/LVD)
ID2 : YAMAHA CRW4416S (Standard Narrow CDRW)
ID3 : DEC DLT2000XT (Standard Narrow DLT streamer)
ID5 : PIONEER DVD-ROM DVD-303
ID8 : HP 9.10 GB A 80-B001 (Ultra/SE)
ID12: Quantum QM318000TDS-SCA (Ultra/SE)

The soundboard is a "good old" SB Awe 64 Gold, using the internal drivers of W2K-Pro.

My NIC is a "good old" Accton Cheetah, based on DEC's 21140 chipset. Since I'm running a leased-line internet-connection, I have no need for neighter modems nor ISDN boards.....

Whatever the problem actually is, I'm quite sure it is software related, since most every person I have talked to with the G400 in an SMP machine has the same problems. It could be the ACPI-SMP hal on 2Kpro, or it could be the G400.....

-TDS

[Scout255]

actually, what it seems to be is a problem with AGP 2X on the cards.
It seems like the bracket on the G400 is stoping it from correctly being mounted into the slot for agp 2x operation.
I tried removeing it completely and proping it up with a few things to make sure it was in there good, stable, and level.
Now its COMPLETELY stable with bus mastering.
It would however, be great if you could make it agp 1X though the registry like in '98 (hint hint....)

[fds]

Scout,

Okay, but how come it is working absolutely fine in Win98SE with AGP2x? I've just finished a long LAN session with it (Q3A of course).

[Scout255]

I dunno then.
I could never run AGP 2X in win 98 myself.....
guess it may just be a driver prob for you, (of course, it could just be that win 2k is a big more sensitive to it than '98)

[APV]

do a search in regedit for agpfallback if it is 0 change it to 1

what agpfallback =0 means, it don't run agp test and set it to agp 1x

agpfallback = 1 means it run the agp test if it pass it run at agp 2x

it works for me, i am now running g400 at 2x

[Mr_SpIcEz]

APV I couldnt find AGPFALLBACK in the win2k registry
do you know which key represents the same thing in win2k ?

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bp6-(2)366@523 celerons, g400 DH 32mb, Quantum plus KA 9.1g, sb-live value, Optiquest V95 19", Toshiba DVD 6x, HP i8100 cd-r, etc ...

[Scout255]

Also, they are binary values, not a single number.
So setting it to a non binary value would end up in a screwed computer registry.

[wiggo]

fds - to increase the refresh rate in Q3 do the following:

In the console type /r_displayrefresh xx [where xx is the refresh you want - I use 85].
then /vid_restart [This will enable the new refresh rate].

Unfortunately, you have to do this every time you start Q3.

Secondly, has anyone noticed a performance drop in Q3? My fps seems to have gone through the floor. I guess another re-install is needed ...


[This message has been edited by wiggo (edited 27 February 2000).]

[fds]

Wiggo,

Thanks, but I knew that.

I also cannot get OpenGL games other than Q3 to use anything higher than 60 fps.

What I do not know is how to set it in Half-Life for example. The new PowerStrip beta is supposed to be able to set refresh rates for OpenGL. I've yet to test it...

By the way, for Q3 just put the command into your autoexec.cfg.


[This message has been edited by fds (edited 27 February 2000).]

[wiggo]

fds,

Doh. That'll teach me to read a little more carefully . Strangely enough, putting the refresh command in autoexec.cfg never works for me - although all other commands do. Hmmm...

[Scout255]

Putting it in your main config also works (atleast for me)