9600XT Problems with refresh rate and Unreal 2004

[Frank Morise]

Just picked up a 9600xt by Vsiontek, which almost certainly is going back to CompUsa
because even after the rebate its a ripoff (about $140 after $50 rebate).

Wanted to see what the 2d was like , since I'm used to a Matrox card, which is known for
its 2d quality. I heard the nvidea was not so hot in 2d, but I'd like to verify that for
myself.

Now the 2d isn't bad, not quicte as good as the matrox but acceptable.

After installing the supplied drivers, and also the latest drivers from ATI, I still have
problems getting higher refresh rates to stick. 75 is available in 1200x1600, but it only
occasionaly switches. Most of the time, it just flashes the screen and stays at the 60
refresh rate. Whats the deal? Never a problem with Matrox.

Also, when testing Unreal 2004, the brightness and gamma controls within the game are
fubar. They have NO EFFECT at all. Wazzup with that?

Someone posted the 9600xt was problematic, is that true?



Tested on a old KT7 AMD 2400.

 

[Andrew]

Just picked up a 9600xt by Vsiontek, which almost certainly is going back to CompUsa
because even after the rebate its a ripoff (about $140 after $50 rebate).

Why did you buy it in the first place then?

After installing the supplied drivers, and also the latest drivers from ATI, I still have
problems getting higher refresh rates to stick. 75 is available in 1200x1600, but it only
occasionaly switches. Most of the time, it just flashes the screen and stays at the 60
refresh rate. Whats the deal? Never a problem with Matrox.

Use RefreshForce.

Also, when testing Unreal 2004, the brightness and gamma controls within the game are
fubar. They have NO EFFECT at all. Wazzup with that?

Someone posted the 9600xt was problematic, is that true?

Someone? Yes, of course it is true, ATI love producing cards that they
know will come flooding back to them. *sigh*.

 

[Nerdillius Maximus]

Just picked up a 9600xt by Vsiontek, which almost certainly is going back to CompUsa
because even after the rebate its a ripoff (about $140 after $50 rebate).

Wanted to see what the 2d was like , since I'm used to a Matrox card, which is known for
its 2d quality. I heard the nvidea was not so hot in 2d, but I'd like to verify that for
myself.

Now the 2d isn't bad, not quicte as good as the matrox but acceptable.

After installing the supplied drivers, and also the latest drivers from ATI, I still have
problems getting higher refresh rates to stick. 75 is available in 1200x1600, but it only
occasionaly switches. Most of the time, it just flashes the screen and stays at the 60
refresh rate. Whats the deal? Never a problem with Matrox.

Easy fix. Go into your display properties, find checkbox under
Advanced--->Displays--->Monitor reading "Refresh Rate Override" or something
like that. Set it to "Same As Desktop". You will also need to previously
manually specify desktop refresh rates in your desired resolutions. Now if
the monitor's EDID is reporting conservative parameters (or not at all), you
may want to find the monitor manufacturer's specific .inf file for your
monitor so you can apply all supported modes and their resolutions before
doing any of this...

Also, when testing Unreal 2004, the brightness and gamma controls within the game are
fubar. They have NO EFFECT at all. Wazzup with that?

That's Win2k/XP for ya. Broken gamma hooks. I use this proggy here:

http://www.stars.benchmark.pl/files/gapa.zip

when necessary.

Someone posted the 9600xt was problematic, is that true?

No, it's the frickin' machine config, XP in general, and more to the point,
the end-user's inability to either set things up or resolve issues properly.
Or the card itself is made on a Monday morning or Friday afternoon in an
Asian sweatshop. It happens occasionally. Haven't had any real issues with
any one I've installed...yet (lifts hat, knocks...).

Tested on a old KT7 AMD 2400.

Well, you've already got two strikes not leaning in your favor:

1) Buggy chipset (good mobo though, with buggy chipset...)

2) Slapped in a CPU that wasn't even a stain on the bedsheet when that mobo
was made (sure, it works! Didn't I say this was a good motherboard?)

Since the symptoms you're describing have nothing to do with the interaction
between the parts of this happily cobbled together affair (which will more
likely work fine than not, and I do things like this all the time, too, just
because it's there...), and I've just fed you some solutions, now it's time
to put assumptions aside, stop chasing ghosts, and get on with some happy
gaming!

BTW, you might want to give Omega's driver set a try:
http://www.omegadrivers.net/ . It may save you from the .NET bloated
nightmare of CCC that ATI is foisting off on its constituents instead of
devoting doubletime to OpenGL and Linux improvement...