Intel vs. AMD in frame rates

[YMK]

I have an AMD athlon 750. My dad has a PIII 500. I have a GF2MX. He has a NV Vanta LT. I notice that in almost all games that frame rates are much more stable on his computer. The PIII can crank out more frames to the video card it seems than my PC. As the resolutions get higher my PC wins because of the GF2 but regardless of the resolution, my PC gets 48FPS average in unreal tournament while my dads gets around 90 at 640x480.

[samwichse]

It sounds like you're using software rendering and not hardware. Now if you both switched to software rendering then you would see how much difference your processor could make. Try changing the video device in UT to D3D or OpenGL and if not that, well something else is screwy and someone more knowledgable than myself will be along shortly to help I'm sure.

[Dputiger]

Let me assure you of something:

The day that a Pentium III 500 (Katmai core) beats an Athlon 750 (ANY core) is a cold day in hell.

Furthermore, those video cards are equally lopsided. The TNT Vanta could NEVER hold a candle to the GF2 MX.

Something else is causing problems--my guess is drivers or another configuration problem.

[YMK]

I'm just wondering does chipset make a difference in game performance? I know my motherboard (Biostar M7MKE) uses the kx133 chipset which is pretty new. But the 200Mhz bus of the athlon should beat the 100 of the intel.

[samwichse]

Even the crappiest chipset with an Athlon 750 should whip up on a pee-three 500.

[Dputiger]

Sam,

It's a P3--not a pee-three--please, avoid tacky language.

[AuraEdge]

I think your using software rendering also..
With a Duron 750 (Worse than Athlon) and a Geforce2 MX, My friend is able to get a good stable 60FPS at 1024x768 in just about any game except quake 3, which he can get the 60FPS back if he goes 800x600.
KX133 beats out the BX
Athlon beats out the P3
750 beats out 500
Geforce2 MX beats out Vanta LT.

Theres no reason you should be getting lower frames. Make sure your using Direct3D or OpenGL rendering and NOT software.

[CMonster]

YMK - perhaps you need to flash the BIOS on that rig - something is definately wrong.

[YMK]

Yes I am using Direct3d! I am not stupid. Why would I spend $120 on a GF2 and then use software rendering? I know software rendering has that nasty grainy look and blocky textures. Also what I notice is that in closed areas in the game like hallways and rooms, the fps skyrockets but in wide open areas like the Frigate Assault they drop down to 30.

[Dputiger]

YMK,

Try the following:

Download and install the VIA 4-in-1 drivers from www.viahardware.com. (http://www.viahardware.com.) Specifically, get version 4.32. THis may fix your problem all on its own.

While you're at it, make sure you are running DirectX 8.

Finally:

Be advised--this IS a software problem.

Unreal Tournament is a very CPU-intensive game--primarily, it pounds the FPU unit. The FPU unit in the Athlon is the best of any desktop processor currently shipping. While certain chips, like the P4, DO beat the Athlon when optimized code is used, there is very little of this type of code available today--and UT does NOT use it in any event.

Finally--be VERY careful about benchmarking in Unreal Tournament. I recommend you read several of the available guides online before you use it as a benching tool. It is an excellent one, but your two systems MUST be configured the same and running identical tests. (when I say configured I mean the program configuration).