ATI Issues and Settings Recommendations
By
ActionJakson,
Posted on: 2007-07-09 15:58 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
How odd.... I noticed the other day that CoH has let 'depth of field' be a toggle-able option again. It's normally just greyed out for me along with 'bloom effects' (which is also toggle-able now) and a few others. Not sure if it was because I was messing with settings or what... but I turned it on and will run with it for a while to see how it goes.
After several days of invisibility, I got CoX up and running again, complete with toons. It was no thanks to the tech team or the ATI folks, I kinda had to figure it out through process of elimination. Here's what I did: Download and install Catalyst 8-6 and then eliminate all signs of 8-12. Restart your machine and CoX and it should work. At least it did for me.
-----------
What do I have to do to get a waffle around here?
Liberty Red 50s
Queen of the Drow Ghost of Pain (dual sword/ninja stalker)
Ghost of Desire (bots/ff mastermind)
Ghost of Nightmares (ice control/fiery assault dominator)
Ghost of Mayhem (em/willpower brute)
Virtue Blue 50s
Ghost of Light (elec/elec blaster)
Hiya peeps. I have a Nvidia g-force 9800 that burns my box up! Even with the side panel pulled off and a big fan blowing inside of it, it still runs way too hot. So, I am thinking about switching to ATI, but after reading a few posts here, I am not sure about that either. Any suggestions? 
~*~VexXxa~*~
The City Scoop Art Correspondent/Writer "ART IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER"//"Don't hate because VexXxa is HOT and you're NOT." - JOHNNYKAT
I've had zero issues* with running CoX on my Radeon HD 4850.
Don't even need the fan tweak, anymore.(Some recent CCC update added fan control..erm...controls in the overclocking options.)
It's a pretty smooth experience, for me.
*Not counting times when *I* screwed something up. 
I'm good at screwing up my computer from trying to tweak it to be better. And then after I screw it up, I can't remember all the things I did to get it to that point, so I can't undo it. *sigh* I should become an IT so I can do this tech stuff without dorking my system up . Do most peeps use ATI Radeon or Nvidia G-force? I'm planning on getting an another computer and want to make sure that it is the best possible. Any suggestions? 
~*~VexXxa~*~
The City Scoop Art Correspondent/Writer "ART IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER"//"Don't hate because VexXxa is HOT and you're NOT." - JOHNNYKAT
ATI makes great video cards, that just happen not to play well with CoX.
Nvidia makes video cards almost as well, that just happen to play well with CoX.
A high-end card from either manufacturer will be sufficient for almost anyone.
However, specific needs/uses of the individual will influence which card is better for your system. 
For your system, it sound like you need a better cooling system, not so much a better card. Or, it might be over-clocked a bit too much. 
But, I don't really know anything.
Sad to say, I believe my card already melted! And it is a brand new computer too! So, before I have them replace the melted parts, I wanted to be sure if having them replace the g-Force 9800 with the same type was a good idea. How do I change the clocking on it any ways?
~*~VexXxa~*~
The City Scoop Art Correspondent/Writer "ART IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER"//"Don't hate because VexXxa is HOT and you're NOT." - JOHNNYKAT
[ QUOTE ]
ATI makes great video cards, that just happen not to play well with CoX.
Nvidia makes video cards almost as well, that just happen to play well with CoX.
A high-end card from either manufacturer will be sufficient for almost anyone.
However, specific needs/uses of the individual will influence which card is better for your system.
For your system, it sound like you need a better cooling system, not so much a better card. Or, it might be over-clocked a bit too much.
But, I don't really know anything.
[/ QUOTE ]
ATI cards are great. But, they either work great or don't work at all. There is NO middle ground with ATI I'm afraid. (I have an ATI card btw). Emotional pictogram description of owning an ATI card. ------> :| 
X( Xo :/ :3
I can't feel my legs..!
[ QUOTE ]
Emotional pictogram description of owning an ATI card. ------> :| X( Xo :/ :3
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, I certainly don't want to be making all them faces with an ATI card. So I guess my choice is to stick with Nvidia. But I just need to know how to keep it from over heating, otherwise I will be melting yet another card. How do I fix the overclocking part on the Nvidia 9800 card?
~*~VexXxa~*~
The City Scoop Art Correspondent/Writer "ART IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER"//"Don't hate because VexXxa is HOT and you're NOT." - JOHNNYKAT
hello,
[ QUOTE ]
The Contact and Character Information Windows
As of Issue 8, opening the contact screen causes a drastic reduction in FPS and a jittering effect as the contacts are being loaded. Once completed, however, FPS returns to normal. This issue is universal for ATI and Nvidia users.
For ATI users with AGP cards, you will probably experience an application lockup when opening the Contacts screen if you do not have Fast Writes enabled.
[/ QUOTE ]
i have this issue of locking up when speaking to a contact. when i attempt to enable fast writes under the smartgart tab of catalyst control center and hit "apply" i am then prompted to reboot. when i reboot fast write is still disabled.
is there something else i need to do in order to be able to enable fast writing? my os is windows xp pro and my card is:
Field Value
Graphics Processor Properties
Video Adapter ATI Radeon 9600 XT
GPU Code Name -----
PCI Device ---- / ----
Transistors 76 million
Process Technology 0.13u
Bus Type AGP 8x @ 8x
Memory Size 128 MB
GPU Clock 500 MHz (original: 500 MHz)
RAMDAC Clock 400 MHz
Pixel Pipelines 4
TMU Per Pipeline 1
Vertex Shaders 2 (v2.0)
Pixel Shaders 1 (v2.0)
DirectX Hardware Support DirectX v9.0
Pixel Fillrate 2000 MPixel/s
Texel Fillrate 2000 MTexel/s
Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type DDR
Bus Width 128-bit
Real Clock 297 MHz (DDR) (original: 300 MHz)
Effective Clock 594 MHz
Bandwidth 9504 MB/s
Memory Timings
CAS Latency (CL) 4T
RAS To CAS Delay (tRCD) 4T
RAS Precharge (tRP) 4T
RAS Active Time (tRAS) 9T
Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 15T
RAS To RAS Delay (tRRD) 3T
Write Recovery Time (tWR) 3T
The same exact issue I'm having. I can't get it to stay set to the on position. I did read on another site where you can download a tool to uninstall the SmartGart portion of CCC and then go in and set fast write in the on position manually. I haven't tried it yet, don't want to screw anything up more than it already is. The weird thing for me is that I've played the game for close to 4 years with this card and rig but never had this issue until issue 12 was released.
Have either of you checked your system's BIOS to see if there's a Fast Write option there for you to enable?
If there is, enable it there and then try again in the CCC.
Of course, it's also possible that something in the newer drivers has fragged up.
Be well, people of CoH.
[ QUOTE ]
Have either of you checked your system's BIOS to see if there's a Fast Write option there for you to enable?
If there is, enable it there and then try again in the CCC.
Of course, it's also possible that something in the newer drivers has fragged up.
[/ QUOTE ]
Just went in and changed it in the bios, now it will stay set in the on position. Thanks again for all the help.
[ QUOTE ]
Have either of you checked your system's BIOS to see if there's a Fast Write option there for you to enable?
[/ QUOTE ]
i cannot find an option that appears to enable fast write. i tried a few different options in bios that i thought would be related to it under northbridge settings, but nothing affected a change.
[ QUOTE ]
Of course, it's also possible that something in the newer drivers has fragged up.
[/ QUOTE ]
i think it is more likely i am doing something wrong.
i don't know if it'll help but here is my motherboard's info.
i'll follow it with my bios info in bold.
Field Value
Motherboard Properties
Motherboard Name Asus P4S800D-X
Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 200 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 800 MHz
Bandwidth 6400 MB/s
Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 133 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 267 MHz
Bandwidth 2133 MB/s
Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type SiS MuTIOL
Bus Width 16-bit
Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 478
Expansion Slots 5 PCI, 1 AGP
RAM Slots 4 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, LAN
Form Factor ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 300 mm
Motherboard Chipset SiS655FX
Extra Features JumperFree, Stepless Freq Selection
Field Value
BIOS Properties
BIOS Type AMI
System BIOS Date 09/07/05
Video BIOS Date 03/10/17
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Have either of you checked your system's BIOS to see if there's a Fast Write option there for you to enable?
[/ QUOTE ]
i cannot find an option that appears to enable fast write. i tried a few different options in bios that i thought would be related to it under northbridge settings, but nothing affected a change.
[ QUOTE ]
Of course, it's also possible that something in the newer drivers has fragged up.
[/ QUOTE ]
i think it is more likely i am doing something wrong.
i don't know if it'll help but here is my motherboard's info.
i'll follow it with my bios info in bold.
Field Value
Motherboard Properties
Motherboard Name Asus P4S800D-X
Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 200 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 800 MHz
Bandwidth 6400 MB/s
Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 133 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 267 MHz
Bandwidth 2133 MB/s
Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type SiS MuTIOL
Bus Width 16-bit
Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 478
Expansion Slots 5 PCI, 1 AGP
RAM Slots 4 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, LAN
Form Factor ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 300 mm
Motherboard Chipset SiS655FX
Extra Features JumperFree, Stepless Freq Selection
Field Value
BIOS Properties
BIOS Type AMI
System BIOS Date 09/07/05
Video BIOS Date 03/10/17
[/ QUOTE ]
Probably won't help you, I know the BIOS options can be so different depending on how it's set up, but here is where I found the option on my PC. Mine was listed under the option "Advanced Chip Set Features" and then on that screen under the option "AGP & P2P Bridge Control".
Goodluck and I hope it helps. After I got my fast write to stay on ten I haven't locked up anymore.
Alright, so i have an ATI Catalyst HD 4800 Graphic card, and every time I try to start up City of Heroes I get this stupid error:
You card or driver doesn't support GL_ARB_texture_compression
I've tried updating my drivers to the newest update, which is 8.12.
I've tried using driver cleaner to erase the update and go back to 8.7, which also didn't work.
And I tried not using Catalyst at all, still no luck.
So PLEASE, can someone help me. I have a pretty new computer, so it's not a requirement issue.
Please don't flay me for multi-posting - Billz already gave me some support love in my original post, but I now realize that this is a better place for this to be at least mentioned, in case others find themselves in the same position in the future.
Here's a thread I started that explains the problems I'm having with error messages re: "GL_ARB_multitexture" at Launch, after installing a Sapphire Radeon HD3850.
Any help would be much appreciated - I miss my CoH.
Edit to add: Okay Here's a guy having the same problem, but with an Nvidia card - still, he says SpyBot was keeping some of his old drivers from being scrubbed, he tracked them down, removed them manually and it fixed his problems.
Hey again guys... this time I have a totally different issue.
So my friend gave me his laptop that he doesn't use anymore. It's an Acer, which I know isn't fantastic (and it's Vista >_<
, but the specs are good... 1.6ghz dual core. Upon getting it, I went straight to canyourunit.com and checked to see if it could run City of Heroes. I was extremely happy when I saw it said that I could run it well above recommended. I tried to play the game, though, and it's far lower than the site said it should be.
My character's sitting in Talos right now aiming at the floor, 1024x768 resolution, using the "usetexenvcombine" and "compatiblecursors" settings... and I'm hovering at 5-6 FPS. Everything is as low as it can be, and it's horrible. It's worse than minimum, and canyourunit says I can play well above recommended. What's going on?
Here's what I've done.
- Vista tweaks to lower CPU usage (including disabling Aero/Themes Service)
- Defrag
- Complete reformat of harddrive
- Fresh install
- Lowering resolution (didn't change a thing)
- Removed ANYTHING that didn't have to be there in terms of services/programs running
- Correctly deleted old drivers (uninstall utility/restart in safe mode/driver sweeper/restart again), got new drivers from Acer website (I know that you can't get the right drivers from ATI... you have to go to Acer)
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks...
I really don't know what to do with this one.
EDIT: Oh, btw, the laptop is called an Acer Aspire 5100... and here's a link to what canyourunit gives me:
http://i39.tinypic.com/2vn2dfs.png
[ QUOTE ]
Hey again guys... this time I have a totally different issue.
So my friend gave me his laptop that he doesn't use anymore. It's an Acer, which I know isn't fantastic (and it's Vista >_<, but the specs are good... 1.6ghz dual core. Upon getting it, I went straight to canyourunit.com and checked to see if it could run City of Heroes. I was extremely happy when I saw it said that I could run it well above recommended. I tried to play the game, though, and it's far lower than the site said it should be.
My character's sitting in Talos right now aiming at the floor, 1024x768 resolution, using the "usetexenvcombine" and "compatiblecursors" settings... and I'm hovering at 5-6 FPS. Everything is as low as it can be, and it's horrible. It's worse than minimum, and canyourunit says I can play well above recommended. What's going on?
Here's what I've done.
- Vista tweaks to lower CPU usage (including disabling Aero/Themes Service)
- Defrag
- Complete reformat of harddrive
- Fresh install
- Lowering resolution (didn't change a thing)
- Removed ANYTHING that didn't have to be there in terms of services/programs running
- Correctly deleted old drivers (uninstall utility/restart in safe mode/driver sweeper/restart again), got new drivers from Acer website (I know that you can't get the right drivers from ATI... you have to go to Acer)
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks...
I really don't know what to do with this one.
EDIT: Oh, btw, the laptop is called an Acer Aspire 5100... and here's a link to what canyourunit gives me:
http://i39.tinypic.com/2vn2dfs.png
[/ QUOTE ]
Ignore the canyourunit thing. That video card is not going to cut it.
Your best bet, is to go to here and get teh Mobility Modder program. Then go to ATI's site and download the latest drivers. When picking, just select Vista 32 bit, then Radeon, then like the x1600 or something. Doesn't matter as long as it is a radeon. Follow the instructions on the Mobility Modder page for how to fix the official drivers so that you can install them on your laptop.
That will at least give you the latest actual drivers, which should help, but not much. The rest of your computer is fine, but the video card is just a huge huge bottleneck, and it is unlikely you are going to get even 20FPS other than within a mission.
You are already doing the things you need to, as far as the usetexenvcombine. Make sure that you are using the advanced graphics settings in CoX itself. Set the particle physics as low as possible, and the number of particles as low as possible.
-= TANSTAAFL =-
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Flying-Tiger - Lvl 32 Sonic/Energy Blaster on Guardian
Okay... I tried what you said. Removed ATI, restarted comp in safe mode, used Driver Sweeper to remove drivers, restarted in normal mode, extracted x1600 drivers then canceled installation, ran Mobility Modder, then installed.
And now when I run City of Heroes, I get this...
http://i41.tinypic.com/30su6o8.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/iwkck8.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/20shlwn.jpg
Any help?
I ended up temporarily "fixing" this issue by rolling back to REALLY old drivers. I tried the Catalyst drivers from 8.1-8.12 (I think that's the most recent one)... no go. Same issue.
So, perhaps you can help me with this, I just a Toshiba Sateilite laptop with a ATI Radeon X1200. And guess what? It's having issues. Mainly the ground textures are very inconsistant, the road may in the right place one moment, but in the next it's overlapping the sidewalk. Also the my character often "sinks" about 1/4-1/2 under the ground just standing still or walking. Any advice?
[ QUOTE ]
Is the issue with the enhancement screen and the mouse cursor (those of you have have to deal with this problem know exactly what I'm talking about) an issue that might be able to be fixed by the NCSoft team, or is it in ATI's ballpark? Kind of annoying, particularly when I am trying to respec a high-level character and have all those IO's to shuttle around.
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm having this problem with my new HD3850. It happens with both the Catalyst 8.12 Drivers and Omega 4.8.442.
Using the supposedly obsolete -compatiblecursors 1 in my shortcut stops the problem, but gives me ugly black-and-white low-rez cursors (except for the default one).
(This post is for informational purposes)
Hey, Ruby!
... Or anyone else, for that matter.
I just installed new ATI Hardware! (go team?)
After installing it, however, I no longer get sound. I've updated my Audio Drivers (ATI Function Driver for High Definition Audio - ATI AA01), and still no luck.
It is as follows: Radeon HD 3650 Over-Clocked Edition
I did a search for 3650 and found nothing. If there is a common "No sound" solution, please let me know, so I can apologize for wasting this thread's time.
Thanks!
Um... have a good day!
So far, not Yet. I'm in the same boat as fistsnatch...
The game does NOT play well with Catalyst, well at least the updates. The original drivers that came with my computer were FINE until I tried to do something silly like oh watch a DVD on the drive...
"Oh, I'm sorry, was my immersive collaborative fictional improv stepping on your gold-farming? Did my six paragraphs of evocative prose lag your dual-box setup? In the words of one of my favorite teen-years cultural icons.... WELL, EXCUUUUUUUSEEE MEEEE!!!" -- Cuppa_Soul