computer can't run quake 3 at a good frame rate

[mehguy]

So, I have a 1.8Ghz pentium 4 and a Nvidia Gefore 4mx 440. It has 512MB of ram.

Honestly, I try to run quake 3 but only runs it at like 2 FPS.

[Ed Oscuro]

That sounds wrong. The 4 MX was the "don't buy this for DOOM III" card, but should be fine for Quake III. Did you get the latest drivers for everything, if they still can be found?

[chronicdog]

Try http://www.quakelive.com/#!home

[Xan]

What resolution are you running it at? It should be alright at 1024x768 or so. I'd also try different drivers, or generally older/contemporary drivers, as the latest drivers aren't always the best choice for old games from my own experience.

[mehguy]

I updated the drivers and it was working correctly.

Thanks.

[Ed Oscuro]

Aw yeah. Sounds like it was defaulting to a software implementation of DirectX/OGL.

[mehguy]

Aw yeah. Sounds like it was defaulting to a software implementation of DirectX/OGL.

Just to be curious, will doom 3 run ok on low settings on that GPU?

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, John Carmack famously told people not to buy one for DOOM III. I think it wouldn't have a chance of working well.

Incidentally, here's some tests from back in the day showing Quake III performance at different resolutions: link

Edit: Holy cow, the eVGA MX440 looks like it came from the late '60s. They should have had No One Lives Forever as a pack-in game! They also quote John Carmack on the card's name, so you can see what he actually said on the matter of DOOM III performance.

[bobrocks95]

I would assume with John Carmack at the helm that Doom 3 is really well-optimized, but I only ever played it way after release with much newer computers.

[Ed Oscuro]

From what I'm reading, the 440MX doesn't even have the standard DirectX8.1 features of hardware transform & lighting. Ouch. So yeah, there's only so much you can expect ole John to do with that kind of stuff. It is supported but it won't look nice. It also sounds like multitexturing is a sore point.

[Xan]

HW T&L was introduced with DX7 and this is a DX7 card. The games talked about in this thread are all OpenGL-based though.

[Ed Oscuro]

Thanks for the correction. This point was actually an open question for many given that it was largely dismissed (by committed gamers / tech followers) as just a GeForce 2, and nVidia's willingness to pass off a mostly old design lost them quite a bit of credibility on features. I see it does have some good upgrades over previous GeForce 2 cards, though quite late to the game with them. nVidia is definitely in a much better place now, with a new architecture anchoring the budget line with the Maxwell-based 750 ti, instead of architecture two or three generations out of date.

[Xan]

You could say it was some pretty confusing marketing putting it in one group with those DX8.1 capable GF4 Ti cards, but their prevalence also forced game developers to support them. Half-Life 2 had a DX7 rendering path because of it. UT2004 even was a fundamentally DX7 game with some DX8 usage for minor speedup as far as I know, and by that time DX9 cards were already around for a while.

[HydrogLox]

From what I'm reading, the 440MX doesn't even have the standard DirectX8.1 features of hardware transform & lighting.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pc- ... 23-18.html

Still, none of the GeForce4 MX cards has full DirectX 8.x support, because of its lack of vertex and pixel shaders.

Hence:
http://www.osnews.com/story/649

GF4-MX will still run Doom properly, but it will be using the NV10 codepath with only two texture units and no vertex shaders.

• Geforce256 (NV10)
• Geforce2 MX (NV11)
• Geforce3 (NV20)
• Geforce4 MX (NV17)
• Geforce4 Ti (NV25)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nv ... sing_units

Essentially the Geforce4 MX was an overhauled Geforce2 MX, outclassed by the Geforce3, and having little in common with the Geforce4 Ti.

[mehguy]

Also, I need a sound driver. Where can I find one?

[Thomago]

Well... which sound card do you have?

[mehguy]

Well... which sound card do you have?

It's on board.

[Ed Oscuro]

AC'97, but have you looked up the Asus website for the board? I assume it should still have one.

There's also the possibility Windows Update will do it for you, though those drivers are often crappy you at least would get the right idea.

[mehguy]

AC'97, but have you looked up the Asus website for the board? I assume it should still have one.

There's also the possibility Windows Update will do it for you, though those drivers are often crappy you at least would get the right idea.

I installed the one on the asus website but alas... no sound. I mean, there is the sound control at the bottom right hand screen but when I plug in a speaker, no sound.

[Ed Oscuro]

Plugging in from the back panel, right? Well, maybe this motherboard is a dud too...but I'd have a look in Device Manager to make sure the device is identified (i.e., expand the category with sound devices in it, make sure nothing has a yellow ! next to it).

[mehguy]

Plugging in from the back panel, right? Well, maybe this motherboard is a dud too...but I'd have a look in Device Manager to make sure the device is identified (i.e., expand the category with sound devices in it, make sure nothing has a yellow ! next to it).

I looked in the manager, there's no yellow ! beside the driver. There's no way it's a motherboard dud, the front audio jacks don't work either.

[Ed Oscuro]

But the front audio jacks are connected to a pin header on the motherboard - driven most likely by an AC'97 chip - or does this rig have a separate sound card?

[gray117]

Presuming you've got the right drivers for the right motherboard etc etc (sounds like it if no yellow triangle ! signs) ... has the sound control got options for default output? Make sure is set to regular speakers/rear jack and not digital output (optical cable) or something similar ... often also options to decouple/mute either rear or front. As the ac97 sound center appears seperate to your windows sound icon (?) presume windows is not muted or looking to playback via anything else other than your speakers (most likely subtitled High Definition Audio Device or similar)?

... As ed says perhaps a dud, but often some annoying combination of settings... presume we're win xp btw?

haha ... should see if you can get 2.8ghz ht p4 and at least a gig of ram in that machine it will make such a difference... besides I think following service packs 1gb of ram was the minimum recommended for xp... think something like that was my base comp circa 2002, pretty sure had a ti gf4 something... but stretching the memory now

Good luck!