Please help me! I am at the mercy of my G400! need advice in 1 day.. PLEASE!

[The PIT]

Why do poeple say the Z Buffer gives you a performance hit. It doesn't on my system in various guises and motherboards and never has.

[Ashley]

Actually since I live out in Asia I know exactly what you mean.

I still find ordering many things from the US mail order companies can be significantly less expensive than buying locally, even with shipping added on (local customs is a different issue).

Just go to Pricewatch.com and see who's got what at what price, and willing to accept an intl order... So long as the shipping and billing addresses are the same, you should have no problem finding someone who'll oblige.

An aside: keep in mind, if DH is important to you, that the G450 has significantly enhanced DH features and should be out "any day now" at a price that's less than the current G400s.

[DataOrb]

Ashley, if you can, then PLEASE send me a link to ANY, ANY online eStore that can ship world wide, I look in price watch, and even the few that say they ship world wide, they actually don't! (a bizzare way to attract users to thier web site).
if I can find an online store that will carry a 32mb G400 DH OEM for 150$ Total Price (including shipping), I will jump on it today.
really.
so can you help me?
thanks!


------------------
"Excuse me for butting in, but I'm interrupt-driven..."
__________________________________________________ ____
Worstation Specs:
Asus P3B-F w/Celeron@680mhz
Matrox G400
IBM 'Pluto' 34Gb UDMA66 7200
Seagate U8 4.1gb Hdd,
SBlaster Live! Digital.
17" Mag InnoVision PrefectVision 770Ti TrinitronFR Monitor (Amazing VQ, the sharpest screen on the market).
Logitech MouseMan Wheel USB (on Everglide Giganta)
and Focus 127keys MM Keyboard.
HP SCSI Cd-Rw 7200Si
Aopen X48 Optical Disc Drive.
3Com NIc @ Tevel/3Com Cable Modem
Modded case, the "banshee". 6 fans.
3Com Palm IIIx + GoType + AxxPAC

[DuRaNgO[MU]]

Just so you know, that's a 4x agp model you have there
jim

------------------
Abit BE6-2 with P3 700(cb0) @ 7*143=1002 using an MC-1000!
15.3 gb Maxtor ata66 and Twinmos 128mb pc-133 ram
G400 vanilla 32mb @ 168/210 @ 2x
Sblive with Altec Lansing speaker combo
384k DSL and Realtek nic
Windows 98se with DX7a
Worn out reset button :O)

[Ashley]

I've never used them personally, but I've heard good things about Sunway: http://www.sg3d.com - 510-770-9798 (that's their intl order number).

Also http://www.compuplus.com - 914-352-0266.

[IceStorm]

Did you try upping VIO to 3.65 on the P3B-F?

My G400 MAX is at 83mhz (124FSB). No problems. It's also an AGP 2x part (shouldn't matter, as the P3B-F doesn't support 4x). I'm operating with a 256MB AGP apeture. My VIO is jumpered for 3.65v operation as well. CPU's a retail PIII-650 pre-cb0 stepping, w/ Alpha HSF, at 1.8v

Just my $0.02

P.S. Got my card from Sunway - www.sg3d.com - back in September 1999. Got the last MAX they had in stock at that time. :-)

[DataOrb]

"Comp-U-Plus will not ship to international addresses"

So, no comp-u-plus...

and SG3D can only ship with UPS, so no luck there...

oh well...
back to the upgrade module
(BTW, have you noticed that the Matrox International store is down??? )

------------------
"Excuse me for butting in, but I'm interrupt-driven..."
__________________________________________________ ____
Worstation Specs:
Asus P3B-F w/Celeron@680mhz
Matrox G400
IBM 'Pluto' 34Gb UDMA66 7200
Seagate U8 4.1gb Hdd,
SBlaster Live! Digital.
17" Mag InnoVision PrefectVision 770Ti TrinitronFR Monitor (Amazing VQ, the sharpest screen on the market).
Logitech MouseMan Wheel USB (on Everglide Giganta)
and Focus 127keys MM Keyboard.
HP SCSI Cd-Rw 7200Si
Aopen X48 Optical Disc Drive.
3Com NIc @ Tevel/3Com Cable Modem
Modded case, the "banshee". 6 fans.
3Com Palm IIIx + GoType + AxxPAC

[DataOrb]

From Matrox Tech Support:
"Hello,

The SDRAM is slightly slower than the SGRAM. However, the difference is
slight that it's not very noticeable.

Regards,

Maria
Customer Service"

-Phew...

------------------
"Excuse me for butting in, but I'm interrupt-driven..."
__________________________________________________ ____
Worstation Specs:
Asus P3B-F w/Celeron@680mhz
Matrox G400
IBM 'Pluto' 34Gb UDMA66 7200
Seagate U8 4.1gb Hdd,
SBlaster Live! Digital.
17" Mag InnoVision PrefectVision 770Ti TrinitronFR Monitor (Amazing VQ, the sharpest screen on the market).
Logitech MouseMan Wheel USB (on Everglide Giganta)
and Focus 127keys MM Keyboard.
HP SCSI Cd-Rw 7200Si
Aopen X48 Optical Disc Drive.
3Com NIc @ Tevel/3Com Cable Modem
Modded case, the "banshee". 6 fans.
3Com Palm IIIx + GoType + AxxPAC

[DataOrb]

IceStorm, I tried that.
still, Quake3 crashes befor entering a level.
but it's only THIS Game. (23mb install, not the full install).
anyway, my AGP aper. size is 64mb since I have 160mb of RAM.

------------------
"Excuse me for butting in, but I'm interrupt-driven..."
__________________________________________________ ____
Worstation Specs:
Asus P3B-F w/Celeron@680mhz
Matrox G400
IBM 'Pluto' 34Gb UDMA66 7200
Seagate U8 4.1gb Hdd,
SBlaster Live! Digital.
17" Mag InnoVision PrefectVision 770Ti TrinitronFR Monitor (Amazing VQ, the sharpest screen on the market).
Logitech MouseMan Wheel USB (on Everglide Giganta)
and Focus 127keys MM Keyboard.
HP SCSI Cd-Rw 7200Si
Aopen X48 Optical Disc Drive.
3Com NIc @ Tevel/3Com Cable Modem
Modded case, the "banshee". 6 fans.
3Com Palm IIIx + GoType + AxxPAC

[Ashley]

Sorry, that suxs... Can't imagine where you'd be that UPS doesn't ship to - and yet your Matrox local distributer carries the DH daughterboard...?

[DataOrb]

Ashley, I Live in Tel Aviv Israel.
now, as far as I know it, UPS does not ship to anywhere outside the USA, but I could be wrong. as I know it, the US Postal service DOES ship worlwide and so is FedEX.
if I am wrong, then I am sorry, but as far as I know, UPS only ships to US or Canda based locations. I have orderd MANY time from the net and it got shiped with the 'in 7 days delivery' using the US Postal Service. (my last order was my Everglide Giganta and some kick ass Dilbert stuff... )
anyway, since the SDRAM preformance isn't behind that of SGRAM, and since most local computer stores carry the add on for 29.99$ (there is NO tax on importing computer goods to and from israel, and since 50$ is only Matrox MSRP, it should and IS lower...) I think I will stick with my card.
Barmaleus, I will try the 256mb and turning off Z-Buffer and see if it works.
Anyway, any 'Tips' for a new and SO PROUD matrox user?
(oh and is there a Matrox Specific Gamma/Color Calibration Utl? the one in the drivers is lacking more advanced calibration options.).
thanks!

------------------
"Excuse me for butting in, but I'm interrupt-driven..."
__________________________________________________ ____
Worstation Specs:
Asus P3B-F w/Celeron@680mhz
Matrox G400
IBM 'Pluto' 34Gb UDMA66 7200
Seagate U8 4.1gb Hdd,
SBlaster Live! Digital.
17" Mag InnoVision PrefectVision 770Ti TrinitronFR Monitor (Amazing VQ, the sharpest screen on the market).
Logitech MouseMan Wheel USB (on Everglide Giganta)
and Focus 127keys MM Keyboard.
HP SCSI Cd-Rw 7200Si
Aopen X48 Optical Disc Drive.
3Com NIc @ Tevel/3Com Cable Modem
Modded case, the "banshee". 6 fans.
3Com Palm IIIx + GoType + AxxPAC

[DataOrb]

Dammit.
Setting AGP Apr. to 256mb did not solve the problem.
Quake3 crashes for no reason.
and it's the ONLY games that does this...

------------------
"Excuse me for butting in, but I'm interrupt-driven..."
__________________________________________________ ____
Worstation Specs:
Asus P3B-F w/Celeron@680mhz
Matrox G400
IBM 'Pluto' 34Gb UDMA66 7200
Seagate U8 4.1gb Hdd,
SBlaster Live! Digital.
17" Mag InnoVision PrefectVision 770Ti TrinitronFR Monitor (Amazing VQ, the sharpest screen on the market).
Logitech MouseMan Wheel USB (on Everglide Giganta)
and Focus 127keys MM Keyboard.
HP SCSI Cd-Rw 7200Si
Aopen X48 Optical Disc Drive.
3Com NIc @ Tevel/3Com Cable Modem
Modded case, the "banshee". 6 fans.
3Com Palm IIIx + GoType + AxxPAC

[Barmaleus]

DataOrb

Set your AGP aperture size to 256...it doesn't matter how much RAM you have...i have 128 Megs, and i've set mine to 256...at 64 Quake crashes for me too...no problems (at all) when is set to 256...try it

The Pit

Maybe people say that Z buffer depth affects performance because...it does? It's obvious that using 32bit Z buffer uses more memory and also the chip has to do more operations...it's like 16 bit Vs 32 bit color depth...don't tell me that you've encountered no performance hit there either...
And remember...figures don't lie:
Quake3, 800x600, HQ, bilinear filtering,16 bit Z buffer, no stencil buffer 54,4 FPS
Quake3, same settings but with 32 bit Z buffer (24 bit Z, 8 bit stencil) 43,9 FPS
Well...



------------------
My system: PIII450@495,Abit BE6, 128Mb RAM,IBM 10 Gigger,OEM G400SH 16MB @ 135/180 (+7%), Hyundai 17" ,lots o' fans etc.

Oh yeah, PD5.52.015+TGL1.30+DX7.0A, all this on WIN98SE...