Resolution oddness now become annoying after upgrade

[Damian Wilson]

This is an odd one and I'm tearing my hair out here. I have the
following machine:

AMD 2800XP (upgraded from 1900XP)
Asus A7V-333 with 1Gb DDR
LG 1710B LCD monitor (1280x1024) on DVI
new Gigabyte 9800 Pro 256Mb (upgraded from 8500 64Mb)

Ok, previously running my 8500 games claimed a maximum resolution of
1280x960 (e.g. Hidden & Dangerous 2, Command & Conquer: Generals, IL2
Sturmovik all have 1280x960 as an option but nothing above it). Ok,
probably the limits of that card. I have now upgraded the card and
installed latest ATi driver, and I'm damn sure this 9800 Pro is
capable of better things, well namely that it ought to play games at
my LCDs native resolution. But games are still all claiming a maximum
of 1280x960. Surely this can't mean I have to reinstall all my games,
presumably they interrogate the resolutions from somewhere
dynamically? I have tried uninstalling all Ati stuff, using the Ati
UninstallAll utility, and reinstalling. Still claims 1280x960.

Any ideas?

 

[Damian Wilson]

This is an odd one and I'm tearing my hair out here. I have the
following machine:

AMD 2800XP (upgraded from 1900XP)
Asus A7V-333 with 1Gb DDR
LG 1710B LCD monitor (1280x1024) on DVI
new Gigabyte 9800 Pro 256Mb (upgraded from 8500 64Mb)

Ok, previously running my 8500 games claimed a maximum resolution of
1280x960 (e.g. Hidden & Dangerous 2, Command & Conquer: Generals, IL2
Sturmovik all have 1280x960 as an option but nothing above it). Ok,
probably the limits of that card. I have now upgraded the card and
installed latest ATi driver, and I'm damn sure this 9800 Pro is
capable of better things, well namely that it ought to play games at
my LCDs native resolution. But games are still all claiming a maximum
of 1280x960. Surely this can't mean I have to reinstall all my games,
presumably they interrogate the resolutions from somewhere
dynamically? I have tried uninstalling all Ati stuff, using the Ati
UninstallAll utility, and reinstalling. Still claims 1280x960.

Any ideas?

Anyone?

 

[Sham B]

Hi Damian

Lots of thoughts in no particular order....

Could it be the LCD resolution that is coming up as the limiting factor
rather than the card, because that is the one thing that has remained
constant? The OS will hide modes it doesnt think are available for your
monitor.

If the resolution limit of the LCD is higher than 1280x960, perhaps you
should switch on your computer, then disconnect-reconnect the monitor to get
the OS to refresh its properties, or try on another monitor and see if that
clears it.

1280x960 does sound like a strange resolution though - I would have expected
1280x1024, which I suspect is your LCDs native resolution.... do you have it
configured properly, and does 1280x1024 appear as a valid resolution in
right-click on screen > Properties >Settings tab?

BTW, you can see all the moded that the OS thinks your Hardware can support
by looking at

right-click on screen > Properties >Settings tab >advanced > Adapter tab >
List all modes

that might give you more clues, because your desired resolution has to be
listed there to be available to applications... if you can mess about with
your monitor/card until 1280x1024 shows up here, then you should have
cracked it.

Additionally, you might want to try hacking it through using Powerstrip to
force your desired screen resolution.

display profiles > advanced timing options > custom resolutions might be a
good starting point.

..... but first of all I would try this;
Get powerstrip to not hide screen resolutions that your monitor cannot
display (checkbox on Powerstrip display profiles)... this will give you a
good indication of the source of the problem - if 1280x1024 shows up, its
your monitor causing the problem. If it doesnt, its your card.

I would suggest;
1. disconnect/reconnect your monitor with the computer running so the OS
goes into plug-and-play reconfigure, see if that clears it
2. If poss, attach a different monitor and see what happens to available
resolutions.
3. Install powerstrip and get it to display all resolutions, including the
ones your monitor cannot display... from that you will be able to
conclusivly say whether the problem lies in the card or monitor.
4. Get back to the list with what happened if it isnt cleared by 3, or if
you are feeling brave, set up a custom resolution with powerstrip - but
please make sure you know how to disable powerstrip on reboot if you go down
this route, just in case!

HTH, good luck

S

 

[Damian Wilson]

Thanks for that.

Thing is, my Windows desktop is displaying 1280x1024 just fine, and all the
display/properties stuff checks out too.

I think the problem is that some part of DirectX still thinks its dealing
with me old 8500, which presumably may well be limited to 1280x960.

Don't think the monitor has anything to do with it basically, though I may
try plugging my CRT in and see if there's a difference.

Powerstrip sounds interesting.

Worst case scenario is next week I'll just scratch the drive and reinstall
everything. I'm close to doing that anyway.

Damian

 

[Damian Wilson]

Hmm, if I've previously used Reforce on this machine ... could that cause
this kind of thing?

 

[Sham B]

Another thought...

I've also just noticed that some games dont open at 1280x1024 on *my*
machine, even though both my card and monitor support 1280x1024...KOTOR does
this for one. might be a particular and isolated game you are testing with
that is causing the problem, not your system.

S

 

[Wblane]

1280x1024 is considered an oddball resolution. A lot of games never supported
it, why I'll never know.

Ok, previously running my 8500 games claimed a maximum resolution of
1280x960 (e.g. Hidden & Dangerous 2, Command & Conquer: Generals, IL2
Sturmovik all have 1280x960 as an option but nothing above it). Ok,
probably the limits of that card. I have now upgraded the card and
installed latest ATi driver, and I'm damn sure this 9800 Pro is
capable of better things, well namely that it ought to play games at
my LCDs native resolution. But games are still all claiming a maximum
of 1280x960. Surely this can't mean I have to reinstall all my games,
presumably they interrogate the resolutions from somewhere
dynamically? I have tried uninstalling all Ati stuff, using the Ati
UninstallAll utility, and reinstalling. Still claims 1280x960.

Any ideas?

-Bill (remove "botizer" to reply via email)

 

[Y-Grl]

Missed the original post, but usually you wont be offered a resolution that
your monitor is not capable of (or deemed to be by software).
I have a similar problem with my Magview monitor, in that is capable of
1600*1200 (has done with other cards), and I am offered that resolution in
the display settings, but when I try to use it, the screen overflows and the
desktop pans when I move my mouse to the edge of the screen. Not sure if it
is monitor or VGA card. Both seem to work fine except for this issue.

 

[Blainer]

FYI, 1280x960 is the correct 4:3 ratio resolution (just like 800x600,
1024x768, and 1600x1200). I've seen quite a few games that only offer that
instead of 1280x1024 now.

I have no idea why they even made 1280x1024 a valid resolution so long ago.
Probably because 1024 was a nice power of 2.

 

[Wblane]

Half life and Quake 2 do NOT support 1280x1024 period and don't care what kind
of monitor or video card you have. There are other games w/the same limitation.
This limitation It has nothing to do w/your particular hardware configuration.

Missed the original post, but usually you wont be offered a resolution that
your monitor is not capable of (or deemed to be by software).
I have a similar problem with my Magview monitor, in that is capable of
1600*1200 (has done with other cards), and I am offered that resolution in
the display settings, but when I try to use it, the screen overflows and the
desktop pans when I move my mouse to the edge of the screen. Not sure if it
is monitor or VGA card. Both seem to work fine except for this issue.

-Bill (remove "botizer" to reply via email)