Big problems with G400

[Silakka]

Hi,
I have a big problem with my matrox g400.
In games and 3dmark2000 the game runs slow and tacky even if the fps is over 60!

The both game-tests in 3dmark 2000 runs bad, and the framerates are good. The fillrate test runs wery bad even if it is at 256MTexels/s.

I've tried everything, drivers from 5.41 to 5.50 Beta. Even agressive overclocking, the Bios settings should be ok too.

Is there anything I could still do?

P.S. It has worked before.. before I started tweaking my system and installed the 5.50 Beta drivers, now it doesen't help by installing older drivers.. (yes, I have used the uninstall prog..)

Thanks in advance.
Mikael.

[ALBPM]

Hi Mikael,

What kind of system do you have??? Could you please give us some specs and if possible your IRQ assignments.

Paul

[Silakka]

Oh, yes I forgot that =)

Abit BE6
Pentium III 550MHz@616Mhz
128Mb PC-133MHz DIMM
Matrox G400 32mb DH (using 2 monitors)
IBM GXP22 UDMA66 7200rpm hdd
Toshiba DVD
Mitsumi 2801TE CDR
SB PCI128
Pinnacle PCTV Pro (TVtuner)
DrayTek ISDNVigor USB
28.8kbps external modem
Wacom Graphire USB
Adaptec ISA SCSI Card

Agfa snapscan scanner (scsi)
Epson Stylus Photo 750
HP JetStore 2000 DAT-drive (external scsi)

uh, well that's all I think... ofcourse keyboard and fdd..

IRQ's:
0. System timer
1. Keyboard
2. Programmable interrupt controller
3. COM2
4. COM1
5. Matrox G400
5. IRQ Holder for PCI steering
6. fdd
7. LPT1
8. System CMOS/real time clock
9. free
10. Adaptec AVA-1502 SCSI Host adapter
11. Stdio PCTV
11. IRQ Holder for PCI steering
12. SB PCI128
12. PCI to USB Universal Host controller
12. IRQ Holder for PCI steering
13. Numeric data processor
14. Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
(secondary is disabled...)
15. HPT366 Ulta DMA 66 Controller
15. HPT366 Ulta DMA 66 Controller
15. IRQ Holder for PCI steering

Yup, that's it.

And, I still wish to thank everyone for your help..

- Mikael

[Genom]

Just a couple things to try. Right off the bat, kill the overclocking on your CPU and see if anything happens. Some G400's dont like big FSB speeds. Also, try popping out that ISA adaptec. I ahd a lot of speed problems with an ISA card until I popped it out, I thought I was going insane.

[Silakka]

Oh, yes I forgot that =)

Abit BE6
Pentium III 550MHz@616Mhz
128Mb PC-133MHz DIMM
Matrox G400 32mb DH (using 2 monitors)
IBM GXP22 UDMA66 7200rpm hdd
Toshiba DVD
Mitsumi 2801TE CDR
SB PCI128
Pinnacle PCTV Pro (TVtuner)
DrayTek ISDNVigor USB
28.8kbps external modem
Wacom Graphire USB
Adaptec ISA SCSI Card

Agfa snapscan scanner (scsi)
Epson Stylus Photo 750
HP JetStore 2000 DAT-drive (external scsi)

uh, well that's all I think... ofcourse keyboard and fdd..

IRQ's:
0. System timer
1. Keyboard
2. Programmable interrupt controller
3. COM2
4. COM1
5. Matrox G400
5. IRQ Holder for PCI steering
6. fdd
7. LPT1
8. System CMOS/real time clock
9. free
10. Adaptec AVA-1502 SCSI Host adapter
11. Stdio PCTV
11. IRQ Holder for PCI steering
12. SB PCI128
12. PCI to USB Universal Host controller
12. IRQ Holder for PCI steering
13. Numeric data processor
14. Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
(secondary is disabled...)
15. HPT366 Ulta DMA 66 Controller
15. HPT366 Ulta DMA 66 Controller
15. IRQ Holder for PCI steering

Yup, that's it.

And, I still wish to thank everyone for your help..

- Mikael

[rylan]

I think I see the problem. Your MAX is at IRQ5, which isn't high enough priority to give the MAX the cpu cycles and bus access is needs to operate properly. A friend of mine was having stuttering problems and random crashes until I saw this and moved it to IRQ9.

A couple tips on how to get the MAX to IRQ9 or higher without IRQ sharing.
First, disable COM2 (seriel port 2) in the BIOS unless you absolutely need to use it for some odd reason. That will free up irq3. Reboot after that and see what the IRQ list looks like if anything moved around.
Make sure your AGP aperture size in the BIOS is set to at 128mb or 256mb. If the MAX was still on IRQ5 after the last boot, go back into the bios under the PCI/Peripherals menu. Change PNP OS to NO if that option is there, and set resource configuration to MANUAL. If there is a listing for configuring the IRQs for PC slots, then change PCI-0 or PCI-A (whichever it is) to use IRQ9 instead of the default setting. Since the first pci slot and the agp slot use the same irq, you can force the agp to use the irq you set the PCI-0 slot to. Just make sure you aren't using this slot for any cards. Reboot and see what happens then. Re-list your IRQ settings if you have any more problems, or when you think it looks good

[Silakka]

Uh, I seem to have some problems, I can only see my first post and the next reply.. (2 first messages).

Why?.. Please, could one of you copy & paste all posts and email them straight to my e-mail address: mikko.silvennoinen@nettilinja.fi

Thank you!

[Silakka]

Well, I still cannot see the posts but someone was so kind and sent them to me by e-mail, Thank you!

I have tried it without overclockings and it didn't help.

And, I actually tested the card at IRQ9, (used the BIOS PIRQ systems.) and that didn't help either.

I forgot to tell that it has worked before like a dream, I just don't remember when it started to work badly.

The strange is that it is a little bit different "slowness" (don't know the exact word, but you got the point?) than normally when the fps drop too low. The fps can be high, 40-60 or something and still the picture moves tacky, or slow, no matter of the detail level. Wery strange.

P.S. My card is NOT a MAX one, it's a normal Matrox G400 32mb Dualhead.

Thanks again for all your patience!

Regards,
Mikael

[ALBPM]

Try re-seating your G400.

I posted these awhile ago in a Thread concerning ABIT boards.



Here's what I think is happening with some cases/mother boards.


Paul

[Compton]

Another thing you might want to try is the 5.30 drivers if you havent already. Someone did something screwy to the pdesk.exe file in the 5.41 drivers that make it stutter. I dont know how many people had this problem but I certainly did and I know there's more of us here. If 5.30 works, then you can try the 5.41 drivers again but this time replace the pdesk.exe file in your \windows\system file with the older one from 5.30

Good luck!

[Masayver]

Hey, I didn't know others re-seated their G400s to fix problems. I do that every once in a while...usually when I'm messing with something in my case, I usually bump my G400 and then when I boot up, I have lock up problems and stuff. I always end up doing a bunch of crap and then taking the card out and putting it back in and the problem goes away...until I start messin' with the innards again. I've never tried bending anything, though, and will try that next time. Good info to know.

[Silakka]

Yup, I will try that driver & powerdesk thing and check if the card is properly seated on the mb.
I will report here immediatelly as soon as I have done this.

I'm really amazed how many helping people you can find on the net.
I once again have to thank all of you.

I hope this will solve my problem

- Mikael

[Silakka]

Damn, I just tried the 5.30 drivers and checked and reseated the card..
.. No change.

And when I had my case open I tried it without the SCSI card, even that didn't help.

Even if it feels unlikely, is it possible that my card could be broken?

- Mikael

[ALBPM]

What is your AGP aperature set to in your system Bios??? It should be set to 128 or 256...

Paul

------------------
P3-700 @ 868MHz, ABIT BE6, 256MB PC100, MILL G400 MAX-32MB on BNC, Quantum3D Obsidian2 X-24 on D-sub, IBM Deskstars 18GB ATA/66 and 13.5GB ATA/66, 21"Trinitron, SCSI CDR/RW,
SCSI ZIP,SB Live!Value,USR Voice Faxmodem Pro(USB Ext),Epson 1520 printer,Umax1200S scanner,WN98
all in a Addtronics 7896A case and a (Not so Messy Desk) ;-P

[Silakka]

Agp aperture size is 128