Video Card problem

[x_BiggomZ^]

I just bought a eVGA Nvidia GeForce 6600GT and the card isnt running at the speed it suppose to be running the card is better then the one my cuzin has and my cuzin has more Frames Per Second in counter-strik source then i do and my graphics card is better and my system specs are past the requirements also when i load up into Prince of Persia Warrior Within during the cinematics it runs really slow and when i started to play the game during fights it runs smooth but in cinematics awful. Also in Counter-Strike Source it gives recommended settings according to system specifications but on mine is gives me the same recommendation as when i had my Chaintech Nvidia GeForce FX 5200. My cousin said its something in my computer that i should format it so i decided to come here and find out if there is another way to fix it. Please help i really need to get this straightened out. Thank you.

 

[Kage]

hmm, i dont' think you'd have to reformat and that is a strange problem.

At first when i started reeading the post, i thought it might be because Vertical Sync was on, which would keep the rate at 60fps (depending on hertz set on monitor) so that it didn't draw more frames than the monitor could handle. Though I realised this wasn't the case as I kept reading.

Cinematics are 2d and ran from that video card, there shouldn't be any problems. Is it running from the cd rom drive? In this case, it might just be a slow speed one and can't keep up. Installing the game, there might be options to install the cinematics on the drive or something? (A fuller install option so it isn't running it from cd)

In Counter-strike source, it might be what I said above stopping the fps from going higher than your monitor allows so just disable this setting in Options (or in video card settings if it has it), and I'd just push the settings up anyway, and ignore the recommended settings and test how that goes after checking Vertical Sync

Have you tried updating the video drivers to new ones from the Nvidia website?

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/drivers.html

I hope these ideas help

 

[x_BiggomZ^]

I have the latest drivers for my card. also on the video card settings i have Vertical Sync on apllication controlled and my refresh rate on the monitor is 100hz

 

[Kage]

Ah...

I'd definetly switch off the vertical sync anyway within the program to test it, as it is being application controlled. Running at that hertz, I would keep it off at all times anyway as they'd be no use for it, and can slow the game down anyhow

Are the cinematics running from CD/DVD?

 

[x_BiggomZ^]

ok ill do that when i get home right now im in my computer class in the mean time can you explain to me how exactly vertical sync works so i can learn some bit this is how i learn about computers.

[EDIT:] another thing i forgot to reply about the drive thing the game does run on CD but i downloaded a crack so i wont have to run on CD so i dont know if it makes a difference or not.

 

[Kage]

Okay, basically in a monitor when it refreshes to display a new picture, it is cycling through all the pixels from top to bottom, changing the image.
Your monitor, 100HZ means that it is doing this 100 times a second.
This is also why if you were to take a picture of your monitor, you'll see the image but they'll be black lines down it.

So vsync just works with the video card to make sure that the card sends out an image exactly as the monitor refreshes. Instead of it rendering as fast as it can loads of images, and them displaying on the monitor when it is refreshing (which can lead to a thing called banding (or something) where the screen flickers slightly as it is sending images because the monitor might be half way through its refresh as it sends out a new one to the monitor.

This on yours should be no problem, and you can disable it no probs, and it might just fix it.

As for the cinematics, I' am pretty sure it'll be becaause it is running them from the cd/dvd instead of the hard drive. It can't be anything else

EDIT: oh... hmm, so it used to use the cd just to see if it was there to start playing? But the crack disabled it doing this?
I still wouldn't think it'd be your card though, and maybe the step above will help (You might find in some games, menus will work faster too, as some games are pre-programmed with time limits. e.g. need for speed underground)

+ When you say they are slow, do you mean it takes a longer for the image to change? Or that it actually runs slow? (slo-mo)

I hope this clears up some questions

 

[x_BiggomZ^]

Thank you right now its 2:27 PM Eastern Time so im going to be on my way home hopefully you will be still replying while on my way home. Ill do wat u say im hoping it fixes the problem to my framerates im praying it does if it doesnt then ill keep trying different things and try to find out from this forum. Thank you.

 

[Kage]

No probs.

I will be here I think. Don't worry

It's 7:30 PM where I am

 

[x_BiggomZ^]

ok i got home did what you said it did increase the performance on the cinematics but didnt help out on Counter-Strike Source. If you want me to post up my system specs and the information on System Info tell me

 

[Kage]

hehe... I would have expected the complete opposite effect... increased speed of game, not done much to cinematics

What FPS are you getting on Counterstrike source?

Yeah, post them to see if it can help.
Could you also possibly get a screenshot of the video card settings box?

EDIT: I had a thought with what could have happened with the optimum settings it selects. It might be stored somewhere and still thinks your using the old graphics card, and hasn't checked again to see if its changed. The only way of doing this would be to re-install, though it's not worth all that bother, and shouldn't affect the speed of the game