slow x1700?

Hi. I'm new

I'm not sure if this is actually a problem, but I think that, for some reason, my laptop(see sig for specs) is performing a little bad in games. I get about 3200 points in 3dmark05(default), which is a little low for this card. I saw sites that claimed it can reach 3700. The strange thing is that the 3dmark06 score is normal(1712 pts at 1024x768). Also the performance is very bad in the Supreme Commander demo(15 fps at 1024x768 with medium settings(shadows to low, vsync off and AA off) at the beginning of a skirmish with only the commander on the screen). Is this normal(or is the 128mb dedicated memory to blame)?

Also, I'm using the 7.6 version off the x1650 desktop drivers(moded with DriverHeaven modtool). The original Packard Bell drivers were awfull: only 2666 pts in 3dmark05 and 1500 in 06. Also i got mouse lag in Halo(which dissappeared after upgrading the drivers).

What do you suggest that I do? Is it really a problem(or is it just my wild imagination)?

 

Yeah my X1600 256mb hits 3900 in 3DMark05 @ stock speeds.

Make sure you are plugged in while running the test.

Try updating to Catalyst Mobility 7.8.

 

Or use omega drivers.

 

Well, one of my older runs with the Omega 7.1 drivers got 3928 in 3DMark05 and 1878 in 3DMark06 at 1280x800 with the 128MB X1600 in my MBP at stock. So your X1700 definitely seems weak.

 

Hmm. There's something wrong with your X1700. 64-bit memory bus perhaps? My GF Go 6600 can reach 3200 on 3DMark05. My friend's 256 MB X1600 on his ASUS S96J hits 4300 on 3DMark05.

 

I ran all the tests while plugged in. And the memory bus is 128 bit.

And how do I update the mobility drivers? On the ATI driver page there is no x1700!

And I tried the Omega drivers some about 2 months ago and they installed, but they didn't work. I couldn't set the resolution above1024x768 and no game worked

 

After a search on this forum I found a link for the catalyst mobility drivers and downloaded them. They installed whitout any problems, but I get exactly the same results!!!!

Also, omega drivers still don't work. They install, but after reboot, it's like no driver is installed. What should I do? I tought that the x1700 is a decent card, but looks like it almost gets beaten up by a 6600!

Pls help

 

What are the other specs for your system? What programs do you have running in the background usually?

 

Strange. The specs were in my signature

Anyway: Packard Bell MV86-003
Core 2 Duo T5500 @ 1.66 Ghz
1GB RAM(Dual-Channel)
Radeon X1700 Graphics Card
100 GB 5400 RPM HDD
Realtek HD Audio Sound Card

And while I did these tests the only thing running in the background were the ati and realtek hd audio icons. The antivirus and firewall were off

 

DAMN i can get more benchmarks point with my ati x1600 (64 bit bus) if i lil bit OC. You should definitely do something about it omega drivers really boosted my performance but i do not know why they dont work with your GPU. You should be hitting around 4000-4500 in 2005 and 1600-1900 in 06.
i blamed my gpu when i got less points than x1600 precessedors but it changed with OMega drivers.

 

Anyone else have other ideas?

 

Add another gig of ram?

My x1600 also gets approx 4300 at stock on 3Dmark 05. It is however the "512mb" version I don't know how much of a difference that would make.

 

There is no way that's a normal score for that card at that resolution.

Could you run Everest and report what it says about your GPU?

 

Here's the everest GPU report:

And I think I know the problem: the memory bus is 64-bit!!!!!!!!

I really can't believe this. Before buying this thing i looked on different websites, including the PB site and the site of the store from which I bought it, and everywhere it says clearly: memory interface:128-bit.

I WAS RIPPED OFF

 

No wonder. I should have known it was 64-bit.

You should have gotten a Dell Vostro instead. Oh, wait, Dells explode.

 

Yup, that card is extremely memory bandwith limited, with only 128mb of DDR2 VRAM on a 64-bit bus. Still though, with some OC'ing it will probably perform decently, as the 64-bit x1600 is not that bad OC'd.

 

Just out of curiosity, in the state that it is , is this card at least comparable to the x700 or x1400?

ANd OCing? on a laptop? I really don't want to fry it.that would be bad

 

i suppose its little better than mine so i give you my estimates

im getting a little better results in both gaming and benchmarks if i use omega
against the x1400 if i use catalyst its same scores.
x700 although old that card has 128 bit bus eventhough it gets less points in 3dmark 06 benchmarks it will still outperform mine by quite bit. So conclusion yes you got yourself an x700
i can easily overclock both ram and core by 80 mhz without getting artifacts. although 3dmark scores will near a real x1600 it is still very weak in terms of game performance after OC +1 to +4 FPS so not worth for me.

 

Well, i won't accept this. I went tot the store from where i bought it and told them. they said they'll mail PB support and phone me in a few days. Maybe this is just a manufacturing defect, or maybe they flashed the wrong video BIOS.

And i'm not gonna let them get away with it. NOONE ripps me off!

 

wow, 64-bit really limits the card....anyways, talk with the store and see what they say

 

i would return it if i was you im very sure that it is not manufacturing defect(acer, toshiba, gateway all cheap laptop producents are using these tricks.) thought same i saw that first, but it seems that laptop manufacturers save money if they do 64 bit edition + they fool us by tricking that we bought something powerfull. Eventhough ati does not mention that either x1600 or x1700 come with 64-bit bus, than they say at the bottom with miniature text that " differences may occure depending on laptop model or company"

I would say that pretty much all of the x1700 x1600 go 7600 that come with 128mb ram do never have gddr3 or 128-bus after what i found. I might be wrong though.

 

It's a bit late to return it: i bought it 4 months ago.

 

bad luck. well next time you will now hopefully exactly what we bought.
i bought mine for just 550£ so im not dissapointed although if i knew this forum before i bought my lappy than i would make a better buy. im going to OC mine till something crashes when there is one year of warranty left

 

Anyway, who knows? maybe they'll fix it. after all, i specifically asked them for this, and they said 128 bit. so did absolutely all the sites about this model, including the manufacturer's. so how could have i known about it?

And one more thing: where i live, you can't return a product after purchase

 

Than you are lucky and i hope that they do that for you.
policy of returning back is really usefull especially to check if u was not tricked.

 

What do you mean by ''if i'm lucky''?

Do you mean that companies can put wathever specs they want on their websites? That they can say that a 2000$ laptop has a C2D and 7900 GTX when it's actually a pentium 2 with vood 2? And that they get away with it?

 

NO... but they can say 8600 GT without adding anymore information.
but it does not mean that you are going to get 8600 GT DDR3 512 mb ram
instead you may stuck with one that has 8600 ddr2 128 mb dedicated memory.
7600 with 64 bit was advertised like that and mine x1600 was also. So they advertise in a way to make money not to help us unfortunately.

 

First of all, it's highly doubtful that they could "fix" your laptop. It's not like they can swap out the graphics card or change the bus width on the VRAM. So if it's past the return point, there's probably nothing you can do. I'm sorry, but that's pretty much how it is.

 

I know, but the thing is they specifically say that it's 128-bit.Here's the link:

http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=spec_video_mobradeonx1700&psn=772000550235

And the thing about returning it is irrelevaln, simply because i live in romania. and here returning a product is sci-fi.

 

than go and complain it helps in most situations.
False advertising is nothing that should be ignored. And when it happens here in Denmark or UK than company will get really bad reputation unless they call them back or refund.

 

good. i'm currently waiting for the phone call from the store. and they'd better fix it. I heard that past PB products were awfull, but they're new line is pretty good, so PB needs any rep they can get

 

I got news: the guy at the shop said that he spoke to the PB service. They told him that everest(which reports 64-bit) is incompatible with the x1700 and it gives false results. I tried other analysis programs: sisoft sandra - doesn't say anything about memory bus
pc wizard 2007 - sais that the bus is 128-bit(it also sais that the memory type is SDRAM )
ati tray tools - sais that the memory bus is 64-bit

So, which one is right?

 

Based on your benchmarks and performance results, it sounds like ATI Tray Tools and Everest are correct.

 

I hope so. But can you tell me other video card diagnosis programs? And is it possible that there's some other cause for this low performance?

 

the best way to check it is to run FEAR and DOOM 3 test if you can run it on high settings and (1024x768) without laggs over 25FPS all the time than you got 128 bit if it goes under than you know that everest is right.

 

Well, i don't know about Doom3, but i did play quake 4(which is based on the doom3 engine). Here's how it played(i used fraps): -800x600 with quality to high(NOT highest!!!!!, since that made it run like crap), whitout AA nor AF, and the framerate varied greatly: in closed spaces it was about 40-60(60 fps apparently was the max possible because of the refresh rate), but in open areas or areas with many light sources it dipped to about 15.

As for FEAR, it was choppy at 800x600 and medium settings(some wereon high). Oh, and volumetric lights and soft shadows were off, since i know that these are fps killers.

 

Sorry bro you are running it like me at least Fear, Those bastards for putting in 64 bit.
look here for comparsion
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=1548451&postcount=1
yeah it is sad to see a weaker card outperform you by 50%.

 

i know, embarasing

But how can i really prove to them this fact?

 

UPDATE

After a long wait they finally told me that they won't do anything because it's not a defect, and the diagnostics programs are wrong. DAMN

So now i'm worried about how i will run future games. UT3, GTA4, HL2 EP2 and SC2 especially. I hope they'll run. I don't need crazy resolutions. 800x600 and medium details are enough. I tried the WIC demo and it ran pretty good at 1024x768 medium settings(shaders were on high and bloom was enabled). Hmm. Looks like this card doesn't like textures, but shading effects don't impact as much.

Actually, I'm even considering(very light) OCing. The problem is i have no idea what temp the gpu is at. Neither everest nor ATT nor rivatuner say anything. And i heard that vram OC is safe and it offers more bandwidth(the weak spot of my card). That might ''fix'' the problem. But I'm very worried that OCing might decrease the lifetime of the components.Is it true? I will only do some very light OC(about 50 mhz increase, maybe 70). Is that safe?

And if i fry it, will the guys at warranty figure out i OCed it?

PS: anyone tried the new 7.9 driver? is it worth upgrading

 

i have OC with 150 mhz at once < dumb idea the laptop begun to BEEEP and than i have shut it down next time i only overclocked 20Mhz at time and played games, didnt get any problems with overclocking it 90Mhz more than factory settings after that artifacts came out. So i tried to benchmark with artifacts but again after 10 minutes BEEEP. Scared the hell out of me first time.

No they are possibly not going to figure it out unless you say that to them.
Than again i have tortured my x1600-64bit and it didnt get damaged, i got some graphical glitches though for some 2 hours in games and than the card went back to normal after setting everything to default...

I have tried to install mobility 7,9 but windows started without the GPU so i reinstalled the 7.8
But for game play and overclocking i would highly reccomend you to use OMEGA drivers
they are very overclocking friendly and dont make a mess out of it.

OUT

 

Probably it got overheated. And that is the problem. I have absolutely no idea what the temp of my card is.

And as i said in a previous post, omegas don't work for me: they install, but windows starts with it's default gfx driver

 

hi, im looking to buy this
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_F3Jp_Laptop_F3JP-AS113C/version.asp

will i have the same problems as you? its got the same card.thanks

 

No, that card has the 128-bit bus.

 

My Sony Vaio has a Geforce 7600 is 128mb ded and a 128 bit memory =P