New video card = poo fps....HELP!

Ive just replaced my tnt2 pro with a geforce mx 420 and my fps went from good to poo. I mean...on cs i used to be able to play any map with about 50-60 fps with no lag what so ever on the maps, but now i get better fps (i touch 99.9 in some places ffs) but in alot of areas they poo down to 20-30 i REALLY REALLY hope i didnt spend £100 on something that wont work :/

128mb ram (updating to 512 ram in a matter of 2 months)
pentium 3 666mhz
geforce 4 mx 420
windows xp
:S :S :S :S :S :S

Any kind of help with be much much much appreciated

thanks for your time.

damn you have bad luck that my brother isnt here, we had the same problem.

and another thing, low fps like 60 is bad for your eye's so as soon as my brother comes back or someone tells you what to do ill wright back!!!

ok, thanks alot mate, i would really appreciate it

Go to NVidia website and download the latest drivers, make sure you are running in Open GL.

Also make sure your using game software to control the video card settings rather than going into the display properties and enabling anti-aliasing. Face it ,your system is no dream system, 666mhz? with 128 Mb's of ram? Your video card isn't whats killing you - its your system.

Anyways, just go to NVidia website and download the latest drivers, make sure you get the right ones, the Windows XP Certified ones.

The detonator drivers are the beta ones, I don't suggest using them. but they won't do you any harm.

minuteman is right
anything below 1ghz for a geforce 4 is not recommended because officialy a vid card that fast has to wait for the system to catch up, while comps above around 1ghz are in sync

k thanks, will it help if i update the ram to 512? (cause im gettin that before i get faster mhz)

His system should be more than enough to run halflife. Lets not forget that halflife runs on 233mhz and doesn't use more than 32mbs of ram. But yeah download the latest drivers, and also make sure you aren't using software mode in your halflife video settings.

edit *Oh and the Geforce 4 MX 420 isn't much different than a geforce 2. But its still more than enough to run halflife*

yeah, with all that said, i can still run games like command and conquer renegade and it doesnt happen on that game ;/ and ns wasnt havin any probs until i tried counterstrike, so i might have messed up a setting, but ive put back all the things i changed that i can remember :S il have a look about, and if i cant get it done il have to wait a few months until i get the ram updated

Guys, i need some real serious help. Im almost certain its not the v card, cause i played ns nearly all weekend and was getting at the lowest 35fps, just played and i couldnt get higher than 30fps in dead empty places. Ive obviously fecked up one of the settings somewhere and im not entirely sure what. If you have any idea, or know any way to reset all settings on everything to default plz tell me

Let me explain the process of Trouble Shooting.

First, you need to tell us what things you have done to try and solve the problem.

Second, you need to tell us what version drivers you have.

Third, you need to only make one post about it.


Now - Did you update your drivers like I told you to do?

Second - in your video card settings, make sure you are running with VSync DISABLED.

Third - Make sure (If the setting exists) that you let the GAME define the hardware usage. This means don't turn on anti-aliasing or anything, let the game define what quality graphics one can have.

Finally - make sure you are running in OpenGL mode, with default setting. If its still choppy then the video card might not be the problem.

I can't help you much more if you don't do those things.

Originally posted by Minuteman
Let me explain the process of Trouble Shooting.

First, you need to tell us what things you have done to try and solve the problem.

Second, you need to tell us what version drivers you have.

Third, you need to only make one post about it.


Now - Did you update your drivers like I told you to do?

Second - in your video card settings, make sure you are running with VSync DISABLED.

Third - Make sure (If the setting exists) that you let the GAME define the hardware usage. This means don't turn on anti-aliasing or anything, let the game define what quality graphics one can have.

Finally - make sure you are running in OpenGL mode, with default setting. If its still choppy then the video card might not be the problem.

I can't help you much more if you don't do those things.

Click to expand...

ok ok...bascially had a look around dxdiag, the "my computer" properties in the peformace settings area and...quite frankly thats all i can think of. I have the detonator 40 driver from nvidia.com
i downloaded the detonator 40
vsync is disabled (ive always had it disabled)
i havent ot anti-aliasing on etc...
and i do have it running in openGL.
Im pretty damn sure something is fecked somewhere, think defragmenting the pc might make some difference?

did you deinstalled the prev card drivers ?
old cards have to be de installed to keep optimal performance ;-)

try running it in open gl mode, if your using older detonators it wont like to be run in d3d and you will get a poor fps if that doesnt work, try heading over to www.guru3d.com and downloading the 43 dets. Oh yes, for 100 quid, you could have bought a 4200 ^_^ But its ur money

failing all that try overclocking it

and make sure aniso and aa is right down, but it definetly sounds like a driver issue, but dont forget the mx420 is based on gf2 mx technology so dont expect amazing performance in places of high activity ^_^

( remember to uninstall the previous drivers and detonators before you put the new ones on, or it kinda screws up )

yeah i know...but its better than a 32mb tnt2 pro, which could run all this without the prob. Ok, il try what you said, just one thing...how do i overclock it?

Do not overclock anything if you do not know how to. You need to know a lot about how computers work to overclock anything. Also you will need programs to monotor the extra heat your card will now be making. Unless you know a lot about computers and all the factores that go into overclocking do not do it. You will end up destroying your new video card if you are not careful.

OK I have a problem, I had windows ME and I just installed XP Pro and for some reason ESF won't work in opengl mode any more...I have a Geforce 2 and 1.5g Pentium 4...It worked before but now it doesn't, do I need new drivers or something?

Brim- You need to post your own thread in the Help Forum on this, don't use other threads please.

Unless you're good with computers, or have a Gainward Power Pack, you shouldn't overclock anything. Did you upgrade to XP recently? 128 MB is the bare Minimum XP should be run on.

i love helping people with this stuff =D...

First make sure u have all the latest drivers for your video card and then make sure, all of your video quality settings are at maximum quality. THen when u play ESF/ CS or w/e it may be you play, make sure you go to config, and run it in OPEN GL mode on the highest resolution you have. I ran into this problem as well, when i upgraded from my Ge Force 2, to ATI Radeon 9700 pro, and i can only play ESF at 1600x1200 Res at 100 FPS so try what i just said.

Originally posted by [SSJ]MyStIc
i love helping people with this stuff =D...

First make sure u have all the latest drivers for your video card and then make sure, all of your video quality settings are at maximum quality. THen when u play ESF/ CS or w/e it may be you play, make sure you go to config, and run it in OPEN GL mode on the highest resolution you have. I ran into this problem as well, when i upgraded from my Ge Force 2, to ATI Radeon 9700 pro, and i can only play ESF at 1600x1200 Res at 100 FPS so try what i just said.

Click to expand...

yeah! that seems to happen in my case too..i was trying to play in 800x600, tried putting 1024 on and it ran much better, il just try 1600x1200 now thanks

np