ATI Issues and Settings Recommendations
By
ActionJakson,
Posted on: 2007-07-09 15:58 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Un-done. 
I knew about the ATI issues, and refused to cave in. I am loving my new Radeon, even if I have to jump through hoops for it. I think the issue is MMO's and ATI lol. I had a radeon way back when in Anarchy Online, when Catalyst drivers were first released, it would cause me to crash every hour on the hour. I switched to nVidia and never had any issues again.
With the new card purchase, my desire to have ATI instead was too much. The things it does for OTHER games cannot be discounted.
i browsed thru this but didnt see my problem so i thought id post. Im having ...i guess youd call it teleporting npc's....and people..they jump back and forth real bad on occasion. Is this my ati doin it or something else ya think?
Vid card won't cause that. That's network lag. Seein a bit of it on live right now.. but I'm not experiencing any. Just other people jittering and jumping.
Be well, people of CoH.
just figured i'd post up and see if anyone else is having issues i'm having. first off ... system spec so you know what i'm working with here:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+
MSI K9A Platinum Motherboard
2GB Supertalent DDR2 1066 Memory
(2) MSI/ATI Radeon HD2600XT 512MB (x-fire mode)
Currently running Catalyst 7.11 Drivers
i have 2 ATI radeon HD2600XT cards running in crossfire mode (yeah, overkill i know). i got them shortly after Catalyst 7.9 was released, so i installed 7.9 before i even started playing CoX again. the game ran flawlessly, with no issues or lockups for about 2 months. Then i updated to Catalyst 7.10 which is when i started having issues. i only ran the update because it said that a bug was fixed that involved CoX, and i didn't wanna run into any problems considering everything was going smoothly.
once 7.10 was installed, upon starting the game, i get an error that tells me my drivers are old and outdated, to upgrade to a new version (WTF, THIS IS THE NEW VERSION!) ok so moving on... i played, no issues for a couple days, then all of a sudden i get screen blackouts, enemies AND teammates disappearing from the map, freaky stuff. i adjusted some of the graphic settings, turning off bloom, water effects, FSAA and Aniso ... which i had run full with Catalyst 7.9 and no issues btw.
so i exit and restart game, things are fine, for about a week, then similar stuff begins to happen and i even got a couple game crashes.... oookay. well
now Catalyst 7.11 is out... so i upgrade to that. still get outdated driver message when i start the game, seems the blacked screens increase in occasion, or my menu's disappear. i say screw it, 7.9 worked flawlessly ... so i uninstall all the ati stuff, re-install Catalyst 7.9 ... STILL get the error that my drivers are outdated, and now i cant change bump map settings in graphics options higher than "low-with bumpmaps" and i can't even access bloom, depth of field, and 2 other options i forget which ones atm...
i changed back to Catalyst 7.11 to see if i got my graphics options back, and they're not.
i'm fairly certain the issue lies on the game (CoX) side of things, because i have other games that are non-issues including WoW, Lineage 2, NFS: Carbon, NWN 1 & 2
thinking back i realize that most everything began after issue 10 was released, i updated the catalyst's around the same time, shortly after, and i dont have issues with other games. i guess there is no way to be certain.
i guess i'd like to know if anything similar happened to anyone else, and if the dev's looking into these issues in the game software? or just chalking it up to bad ATI drivers?
IIRC, the issues started about 2-3 years ago. ATI and Cryptic pointed fingers at each other. I'm not even going to bother getting into it. BillZ has done quite a bit for the ATI owners. The history is there if you want to look for it. Regardless, the end result is a game that isn't what it's supposed to be.
I believe Cryptic stated they were making standard OpenGL calls to a buffer. For the longest time, ATI's hardware was simply not capable of functioning properly. That was supposed to be addressed with the X1000 series. We're on the X3000 series now and it still isn't properly addressed.
So, call it what you will. I'm sure Bill can chime in and set the record straight with this.
As side note, the richer graphical differences I saw in other games was addressed by simply modifying the Gamma settings. Nothing wonderus at all. It was sitting right in front of me. I'm actually not very happy with myself. I'm better than that and let my ATI fanboi spirit create something that wasn't there.
EDIT: Add to that, I've never had a game promoted as made for ATI that had odd graphic issues with an Nvidia card, but I've had odd graphic issues for games promoted as made for Nvidia that had odd graphic issues with ATI cards. What does that mean? Historically, ATI focused on DirectX support and waned on OpenGL support while Nvidia's strengths have been in OpenGL and (the key) Developer Support. Anyone can feel free to chime in here, but that's the gist of it. There's more I could delve into or debate, but there's really no point. 
Best to all.
hey all,
I've been running a radeon 9200 since I started this game and hav had all kinds of weird glitches and such. After having to run on minimal graphics from the start I've had enough. I'm going to get a new agp card today and I was hoping for some feedback.
I plan on buying the ATI Radeon X1950 pro, 512MB @ 580MHz, DDR3 @ 1.4GHz, Dual DVI/HDTV. Should I spend the $240.00 on this card or go with something else? I also plan on using this card to play WoW but that's besides the point. I want to make sure it'll help my CoH look better.
The company I buy my PC gear from only has 1 type of Nvidia card available currently, the GeForce FX5500, and that's $60.00 but is it a better card than my 9200 or the X1950?
They also have the ATI HD2600pro and the ATI X1650pro.
Thanks for the help,
Speedy
Of all the cards you listed, the best one is the x1950pro. It's a great card. You will be astounded at the difference.
Be well, people of CoH.
cool. thanks Bill
The x1950 Pro is a good choice. If you can purchase from other vendors, you may be able to get a better card at a better price.
A side note for all, 7.12 drivers were released.
Release notes: http://www2.ati.com/relnotes/catalys...ase_notes.html
I keep coming here in the hopes that ATI CoX issues are resolved one day. Best to all.
I had an X1950 Pro (AGP) and that would crash every 20 mins. Upgraded the power and everything after that and still had the same problems. I guess the issue is either the card or the game because outside of City of Heroes it seems to be just fine.
Post your own thread so we can diagnose better. Include a hijack this and dxdiag log ('Read This' below.) Thanks!
August 31, 2012. A Day that will Live in Infamy. Or Information. Possibly Influence. Well, Inf, anyway. Thank you, Paragon Studios, for what you did, and the enjoyment and camaraderie you brought.
This is houtex, aka Mike, signing off the forums. G'night all. - 10/26/2012
Well... perhaps I was premature about that whole 'signing off' thing... - 11-9-2012
Hi all, I seem to have solved my problem. I was locking up in RV, problem seems to have stoped after updating the AGEIA PhysX drivers.
RAD 9800 Pro 256- CAT 7.10 drivers
I am PL in RL.
Freedom- Magnet Man, Hott Sauce, Stand-Up Comic
Sinistar6000, do you have an Ageia PhysX card installed?
Be well, people of CoH.
I'm runnign an ATI 9600 with 256 megs of ram (not sure of anything on the hardware outside of that).
PC has 1 gig of ram, Windows 2000 and an ATI 1500+ processor. ASUS motherboard, but I'm nto sure which one.
Now I know I'm not running the best rig but this was the system I started playing the game on and it seems like every few months the game tends to run worse and worse, starting witht he big graphics upgrade they did a long time ago.
I've recently went as far as turning the advance direct3d and opengl settigns in my display adaprter advanced tab to high performance (meaning the game looks like utter crap now) and the game still doesn't run what I woudl call, good. It's decent but I'd really like to get back to teh game looking good and runnign good.
Now outside of upgrading my PC (which I'm trying to avoid as I have other RL expenses that are more important) are there any other thigns I can do to make the game look/run better?
I followed Bills guide and I have everything in the opeions meny cranked all teh way down (except for player textures as I have that on high because I like peopel to look good at the very least).
Are there some slash commands that help? Or is there any kind of settings I can change in my device driver setup?
[ QUOTE ]
The x1950 Pro is a good choice. If you can purchase from other vendors, you may be able to get a better card at a better price.
A side note for all, 7.12 drivers were released.
Release notes: http://www2.ati.com/relnotes/catalys...ase_notes.html
I keep coming here in the hopes that ATI CoX issues are resolved one day. Best to all.
[/ QUOTE ]
I just tried 7.12, they have the same problems with Direct3D as 7.11 did. Can't even run the tests in DxDiag with my X850 card. But of course, this is no place on the known issues list at the ATI website. They seem to have problems with the concept of fixing problems.
Justice Blues, Tech/Tank, Inv/SS
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Fighting The Future Trilogy
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[ QUOTE ]
They seem to have problems with the concept of fixing problems.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yup. And this is precisely why my title was changed and why I say to anyone on the market for a new video card, "Do NOT buy ATI."
The were floundering and then the AMD buyout buried them. ATI is dead and worthless... at least at this time.
Be well, people of CoH.
Alright video gurus, I'm hoping you can help me out.
I just bought a new system with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT. Went in and installed the latest drivers (7.12) and started getting all sort of color issues stretching from the splash screen at system start up into CoH. I found a few other places documenting similar issues related to the new driver release.
Rolled back to 7.11s. Now, my out of game problems are gone, but in-game there's a lot of odd graphic bugs.
Odd colorations. The base portal and the paper debris floating around Galaxy City are very noticable examples, but I'm also seen Sprint trails colored red and blue for no apparent reason. These vary within a single game session.
Vertical screen tearing when the character is turning.
Just reading through the thread it looks like the first problem may be relatively recent and going back to older drivers may help, but I don't know which version to try.
Does anyone have any advice on this, or what to tweak to deal with the vertical tearing? I'm not worried about absolutely fantastic graphics, just getting rid of the graphical bugs.
Thanks in advance
I am running ati radeon xpress 200 series it runs and works but every once in awhile i get massive horizontal mixups and crash..... amd athlon 64 bit chips are still buggy so i deal with it .... i wish there was a way to update it but im not sure how to. ive gone to ati.com and AMD.com and its a touch confusing for me heh if anyone has advice other than ( GET A NEW CARD) it would be helpful
[ QUOTE ]
I'm also seen Sprint trails colored red and blue for no apparent reason.
[/ QUOTE ]
Oh, good, I thought I might have been going crazy. As of yesterday, when I first installed CoX on my new machine (ATI 3870 card and 7.11 drivers) sprint trails are sometimes randomly BRIGHT red. It's really disconcerting, honestly, but the more so because I can't figure out what's causing it AND it doesn't always happen, though once it starts happening it won't go away until I log out. Settings-wise, I've played with all the in-game ones to no avail, but I'm using BillZ's guide so some of my stuff is handled via Catalyst instead.
I haven't played the game sufficiently to notice other odd colourings, but that one was immediately obvious.
[Incidentally, the oddity with where the hand is on the enhancements screen is still present with the 3870. Irritating, though easier to deal with with my new, much higher resolution.]
One drawback of the internet is how it has trained so many people to think that one day is a long time.
Paradox1,
The 7.11s were flaky for me. Try going back to the 7.10s. Vertical screen tearing? Do you have Vertical Sync and Triple Buffering enabled in the CCC?
wolvesbane,
At the end of your CoH shortcut's target line, add -usetexenvcombine outside of the ""s if you see any. This forces the game into a simpler render path and might help.
Writer_Tina,
Same thing, go back to the 7.10s.
When rolling back, be sure to follow the reinstall steps outlined earlier. I've downloaded and used the Driver Sweeper program and it seems ok.
Be well, people of CoH.
Well, it's a good idea in THEORY, but in practice it's not working. I just tried to install the 7.10 drivers after uninstalling everything, rebooting, etc. but it's giving me an error saying that it cannot find a driver compatible with my current hardware or OS.
Our cards apparently came with a disk with recent drivers on it, however, so we're going to try those. October date on them, so I presume it's at least a similar set.
Ironically, I tried the 7.11 set because I'd seen the post from someone saying they were having troubles with 7.12 and figured that I'd just go with the next most recent. Apparently I should've just stuck with what came with the card, though, since the card itself is so new. (And have I mentioned that I heart my future father-in-law? I do. He bought us new computers for Christmas. The card itself would've been out of my price range, let alone the multicore processor and the widescreen monitor. )
One drawback of the internet is how it has trained so many people to think that one day is a long time.
Okay, here's weirdness for you: since nothing else worked, my SO tried hitting the FSAA option. It cleared up the problem (which was extending to other glows, like the base portal, CoT ritual circles, and Ancestor Spirits -- I shoulda taken a screenie of the Pink Ancestor Spirit), so I tried it, and lo, cleared mine as well.
I'm gonna try turning AA and anisotropic back over to 'let application manage' for now, and turn them on in game, and see how that works for us.
(ETA: This is after switching drivers, and yes, they appear to be manufacturer-provided 7.10s.)
One drawback of the internet is how it has trained so many people to think that one day is a long time.
[ QUOTE ]
Okay, here's weirdness for you: since nothing else worked, my SO tried hitting the FSAA option. It cleared up the problem (which was extending to other glows, like the base portal, CoT ritual circles, and Ancestor Spirits -- I shoulda taken a screenie of the Pink Ancestor Spirit), so I tried it, and lo, cleared mine as well.
I'm gonna try turning AA and anisotropic back over to 'let application manage' for now, and turn them on in game, and see how that works for us.
(ETA: This is after switching drivers, and yes, they appear to be manufacturer-provided 7.10s.)
[/ QUOTE ]
So, the bloody-edge ATI testing duo continues (this is the other part here) and these are the results so far:
<ul type="square">[*] FSAA option in game is completely broken. Nothing I do in the options menu or on the console line (/fsaa*) has ANY effect on the quality of the picture (I'm staring at me jaggies) EXCEPT THAT:
[*] Toggling the FSAA option turns on or off the broken particle/halo/alpha-channel problems. Tweak it, sprint particles turn red, tweak it again, they turn white. Sometimes they turn black.[/list]
At this point we're considering turning FSAA/ANISO on in CCC and then seeing if the switch in the game just works as a broken-alpha lever or what, since it sure isn't doing AA.
* (Also. /usedof ignored, /usehdr ignored, /bloomwhatever ignored, all these are permanently N/A in the options menu -- does it just see the card model and disallow these or what?)
~Weaver
"I think you're confused. This is /b, not /b/."
You stole it! That was for Shego!
August 31, 2012. A Day that will Live in Infamy. Or Information. Possibly Influence. Well, Inf, anyway. Thank you, Paragon Studios, for what you did, and the enjoyment and camaraderie you brought.
This is houtex, aka Mike, signing off the forums. G'night all. - 10/26/2012
Well... perhaps I was premature about that whole 'signing off' thing... - 11-9-2012