Back to the 3.84's for me

[Chainsaw]

Tried the 5.16's and the 5.14's and the 3.77's w/ 5.16 OGL and the 3.77's w/ 5.14 OGL but,
I'm back to the good ol' 3.84's w/ 5.16 OGL & cpl again.
Simply the best,smoothest, most stable driver combo to date, IMO. ~edit~ On this machine. ~edit~
c:::CHNsaw


[This message has been edited by Chainsaw (edited 05-07-2000).]

[Kolgar]

Yeah, I've been experimenting too. Last night I removed the 3.84s because my UT frame rates were down. Went to the 3.77/5.14 ogl combo, and now everything's back up.

Interestingly, I couldn't run 3DMark2000 with the 3.84s. But it works with this new install--even the 64MB texture test ran!

I have a TNT2 Ultra.

Kolgar

[RobRich]

I'm still running the 5.16 release with no major probs. I also just obtained some info indicating that the 5.18 driver release is extremely close to release.

Also, expect the beta drivers to be less frequent in release. It appears that nVidia is starting a probe into who is actually releasing the beta drivers from their testing program. Since it could be at nVidia, any of the video card vendors, or even hacking, they are having a difficult time tracking them down. nVidia is now even digitaly signing their pre-release driver sets inorder to track where the leak is at.

Robert Richmond

[alpha]

I'd give it a shot with 2.08 w/5.16 ogl - They perform brilliantly with some chipsets.

[Chainsaw]

Haven't tried the 2.08 w/5.16 ogl yet, I'll make up another Hybred directory and give 'em a shot. I do like the antialliasing present in the 3.84's though.
As far as 3DMark2000, "even the 64MB texture test ran"; on mine the 64MB texture ran using the 3.84 combo, go figure.
I hope the driver sets keep finding us, until now, I was thinking that the leak could have been intentional, in order to unofficially pre-test the pre-releases you might say. Then again, that's probably not the way Nvidia does business do to the possibility of copyright infringement etc.
Thanks for the feedback.
Later,
c:::CHNsaw

[This message has been edited by Chainsaw (edited 05-07-2000).]

[alpha]

I'v heard that for pure FPS, the 2.08 can rip along on the BX.

[Chainsaw]

I'll keep ya posted alpha, mine is the 440 BX/ZX chipset, I'll probably try the nvcpl.dll & the nvOpenGL.dll with the 2.08, but need to get some good comparisons from my current set first.
Later,
c:::CHNsaw

[alpha]

Cool http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/biggrin.gif

[disciple]

to chainsaw hello well i finally popped the fan and sink off my viper770tntulra2. that cheesy fan is pinned on to the top of the heat sink. went to bodyshop where i work and simply took some thick end needle nose pliers and took fan off first then was able to work the sink off by carefully getting a good bite on the heatsink between the grooves. sticking something between the chip and the sink simply scares the **** out of me. this way you don't touch the chip a few seconds of movement and the sink popped right off with all the glue on leaving none behind except a little around the sides. which i shaved down becuase it was going to hold the new sink away from the chip. i had no way to attach another but had some various pent sinks around, i remember a pic of that claer tape they use not double back that is colored which is commonly used on side mouldings in automotive but we also have a clear tape that is very thin and two sided and we use it on headliners and such so i grabbed some put two layers on stuck sink and fan on everythings peachy running 175x220 with reference bios ultrabt.rom couldnt get there before white spots and two mucch heat in games before at 200 i would lock in q2 after 45min or so now no more. the attachement tape i used was branded by tesa i still think i will by a tennmax becuase it will not rob me of 2 pci slots ones ok but 2 is a bit limiting. hey you live on east or west side im on the east side. not far from nuclear reservation


[This message has been edited by disciple (edited 05-07-2000).]

[Chainsaw]

Well, I tried the 2.08 hybred and the results of one benchmark on 3DMark2000 faired very close to my scores using the 3.84 hybred.
(so far I've only had time for the one test, sorry)
I got 2925 (an average score for the 3.84)
and 2914 (the one benchmark with the 2.08)
Not a lot of difference.
The true advantages of the 3.84's are the CoolBits which I could not get with the 2.08 and the slight gain in 3D Marks.
I checked the FPS scores and some were actually higher with the 2.08's, but the 3.84's seem to make slightly better use of the CPU. None of my testing is very scientific, but I wanted to give my observations anyway.

Disciple,
Glad to hear of your heat sink removal success! Sounds like you can get a bit more out of 'er now. I bet you're glad to have the removal part of that overwith, I know even the thouht of it makes me nervous.
I live to the West of ya. I'm to the West of Mt. Adams near the Wind River, didn't know you were from WA, hello neighbor.
I think if I remove my sink, I'll lap the sink only and use some heat transfer paste and hold the new one on via wire tie or maybe heat transfer epoxy.
Have a good one all.
Later,
c:::CHNsaw

[Kolgar]

Chainsaw, what are your specs?

The best I've managed on 3DMark2000 is 2642 with a P3-550 and TNT2 Ultra (3.77 drivers), 192MB RAM, nothing overclocked.

I've got a VIA motherboard that was really holding me back until I downloaded the 4-in-1 patch (417 release).

Kolgar

[Chainsaw]

Hi Kolgar,
Don't know if I ever got to welcome you to Sysopt, so "WELCOME TO SYSOPT!" (yea, I like this place too)
The above scores were (default res)with a:
PIII450@558 (4.5x124 FSB)
DFI P2XBL R.D Mobo w/ latest flash bios
128MB PC100 SDRAM
V770 TNT2 Non w/ Nvidia Riva TNT2 Ultra flash bios Ver 2.05.19.03.00 (1-486 fan/1-32cfm fan)150MHz core/183MHz mem
Nvidia Reference drivers ver 3.84 w/ 5.16 nvOpenGL.dll & nvcpl.dll
I got 3314 Marks when I set the FSB to 133, but don't like to push the V770 that hard most of the time.
Come to think of it, I haven't tried the 3DMark2000 w/ 133 FSB and the flashed vid bios and these drivers yet, gosh, I'd better check it out...I'll keep ya posted...
See ya,
c:::CHNsaw

[Chainsaw]

Well,
She wouldn't make it thru the 3DMark2000 benchmark at 133FSB. Must be the SDRAM CAS 2 settings, have to try it with CAS 3 next time. I'm not sure if it's the video card or the system memory, but it just kicked me out of the benchmark back to my desktop, I'm just not sure what that means, if you've got a clue, let me know.
Have a good one,
c:::CHNsaw

p.s. Have you tried using VGABIOS with the latest Nvidia Riva TNT2 Ultra bios yet, it's a great way to try a bios update out without having to flash it until you're sure of it's performance?

[This message has been edited by Chainsaw (edited 05-07-2000).]

[Kolgar]

I forgot to tell you that I'm running 3DMark at the default (1024x768x16) res too.

Sorry, I haven't followed that BIOS-flash discussion very closely. Are you saying that flashing my BIOS might improve my performance? I thought its main purpose was to provide better stability for overclocking.

Sounds like you're getting some real good scores there. I sure wish I knew more about this stuff so that I could get all my equipment working at peak performance.

But then, that's why I visit these forums!

Kolgar

P.S. I'm not too much into overclocking. I've got a Compaq Presario 5700T, and if you're familiar with Compaqs, you know I'm probably just lucky to have the thing running--much less asking for stellar performance!

[alpha]

I'm not sure if the 2.08's were tested against the 3.77s or the 3.84s. Thanks for tryin' them. What's the image quality like on the different drivers?

[disciple]

thats a nice area wind river chainsaw have friends in hoquiem. on your benchmark you might try going to 1x agp instead of 2x. just a thought.

[Chainsaw]

Kolgar, http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/biggrin.gif
I'm not sure of the exact gains by using the Nvidia bios if you already have an ultra, but mine is a non-ultra, so the flash gives it the characteristics of an ultra (less any hardware difference if any). I now have default clock settings of 150/183 and can use the tnt2 ultra driver. For me, this equates to a more stable platform and hopefully a slight increase in overclockability (if that's even a word) due to that stability.
As far as Compaq's go, I used one at work for a while and never had a single problem, it worked very well doing solids modeling of large drawing files in AutoCAD (a quite demanding task for any computer). I probably wouldn't buy one myself, only because of their proprietary nature and because I like to overclock. Not to worry, you will pick up a lot of quality info. here at Sysopt.

Hey Alpha,
I didn't notice any notable difference in the image quality but then again, I had all the setting to default in the 3.84 except I turned off V-sync, I suppose the quality might be a little better using some of the filters and the antialliasing features.
I sent you an e-mail with two jpg files which gives the FPS comparisons for reference.
Take care,
c:::CHNsaw

[Chainsaw]

Good idea Disciple, I might try disabling sidebanding too (I'm not sure if it would help, but it's worth a try), but I'm not sure I remember how to change sidebanding, I've got a registry hack for the 1x / 2x, kinda handy, there's probably one for the sidebanding too, don't know that one though.
I get the impression that you think being kicked out of 3DMark2000 is vid card related not system memory, I tend to think so also.
Dang, I need more cooling on that core, maybe I'll get the guts to remove that heatsink one of these days. I'm kinda giving it second thoughts though, because of the loss of PCI slots.

Yea, We're right near the confluence of the Wind River and the Columbia River, can't beat the Gorge for scenery, especially this time of year.
Later,
c:::CHNsaw

[This message has been edited by Chainsaw (edited 05-08-2000).]

[RobRich]

You have to use a software utility to change SBA properties. Currently, the only one in public exisitence is Creative Lab's AGP Wizard. It will allow you to enable severl AGP options. The standard Reference BIOS does not support it, but I have a remedy. I have "edited" the TNT-2 Reference BIOS's to support it. I haven't tried it with a Diamond card, but it should work. You will have to reflash your card to try it, though.

Creative Lab's AGP Wizard: http://support.soundblaster.com/files/newfiles.asp#agpwizard.exe

My Edited TNT-2 Ultra (Brooktree TV) BIOS: http://www.angelfire.com/tn/PlanetMinako/ultrabtc.rom

Load the file first using VGABIOS, to make sure it will work with your card. If it works, then proceed with the flash. You can't use AGP Wizard with VGABIOS, as it requires a direct hardware BIOS interface, meaning you will have to flash the card.

Kolgar, as for flashing your BIOS, it can help in several areas. The Reference BIOS uses an improved memory chip drive state pattern. This means that it might allow you to o/c you memory higer, and with more stablity. Also, if the memory stablity is increased, you can take the core a few more mhz. I've got my CL TNT-2 non-Ultra running at 150/249, which is a far cry from 125/150 defualt.

Good Luck,
Robert Richmond

[This message has been edited by RobRich (edited 05-08-2000).]

[Chainsaw]

Thanks Rob,
I'll give it a try and let you know if it works for my Diamond. I'll need to use the dflash /force_flash for my card, but I'll certainly try it with VGABIOS first, to be sure.
I'll keep ya posted.
Thanks,
c:::CHNsaw

[Chainsaw]

Success!!!! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
The flash when flawlessly (although that may well be the longest 10 seconds in history, when flashing a bios).

AGP Wizard comes up fine, and works brilliantly! I checked the Sidebanding, Sandra confirms that it is now disabled. I also changed the AGP from 2X to 1X, also confirmed by Sandra.

I can definately say that your "edited" TNT-2 Reference BIOS works great on the Diamond V770 TNT2 Non-Ultra. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/biggrin.gif
Many thanks Rob!
c:::CHNsaw

[RobRich]

Glad to hear that it works. I was wondering about the Diamond card, since it doesn't use the traditional reference deisgn. If anyone else is interested, I upload all of my edited TNT-2 BIOS's to a web account for download.

BTW, Chainsaw your card now will be ID'd as a Creative Lab's card. This means that you can use CL drivers (why bother?) and utilities.

I have also completed the SBA hack for the GF-256 BIOS's. I have just sent the SBA enabled DDR BIOS out for testing, and hopefully will hear something soon. If all goes well, I will post them shortly.

Robert Richmond

[This message has been edited by RobRich (edited 05-08-2000).]

[Chainsaw]

Think I'll stick with the Nvidia's Rob http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif, hey, I was wondering if the "Fast Write" button is grayed out on your AGP Wizard? Is on mine, maybe that feature just isn't avaliable for my card. I do appreciate having more control over the AGP, I'll have to do some serious testing sometime, got to learn a bit more about some of the Coolbits features first though. Well..., long day tomorrow, catch ya later. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz
c:::CHNsaw

[This message has been edited by Chainsaw (edited 05-08-2000).]

[RobRich]

Fast writes is basically a function that allows the cpu to pass certain video function calls directly, instead of through a system memory segment. It is only available with certain AGP 4x cards.

Thanks for testing the BIOS,

Robert Richmond

[This message has been edited by RobRich (edited 05-08-2000).]

[disciple]

also tried your bios rob rich on my v770tnt2 ultra. used vgabios no problem went ahead and flashed card is outstanding was using reference bios ultrabt. your bios increased my framerates in q2 increased by 6 fps at1024x768 16bit demo1 or demo2. colorin half-life very dark but used nvapplet to do color preset and the game looks better than ever before. man thanks for the cool stuff gives us non rocket scientists a way to tweak thats where the fun is. also seem to have best results with same driver set as chainsaw 3.84 hybred.

[This message has been edited by disciple (edited 05-09-2000).]

[RobRich]

Glad to hear it helped. I am considering building a custom BIOS for the TNT-2 platform. If I undertake this project, I'll make sure to keep everyone here posted.

Robert Richmond

[Chainsaw]

Well Rob,if ya need a Guinea Pig, let me know, I'll sure try it out on the V770 non and I'm sure Disciple's got the V770 ultra covered. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Take care,
c:::CHNsaw