GeForce 8800GT does not support 640x480 but only 656x496...

[ST Dragon]

Hi
I have installed an Albatron GeForce 8800GT 512MB with the latest nvidia drivers (186.18_desktop_winxp_32bit_english_whql.exe), using WinXP Pro SP-3 English and an EIZO S1931 19” TFT/LCD 4:3 (Aspect Ratio).

My problem is that when I try to lower the resolution from the Display Properties, Advanced, Adapter, List All Modes and choose 640x480 32, 16, or 8-bit, it’s displayed in a weird 656x496 resolution that is not stretched to fit the whole screen. There is a black border all around.

Same thing happens in all my older pc Shooters that only support 640x480 resolution like Reflex, Airrade - Summer, Samidare, The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Kamui, etc... they are displayed in 656x496 and not full screen.

All the other resolutions, 800x600, 1024x768 & 1280x1024 work just fine.

So, is there a way to force the 8800GT to properly display 640x480 @ full screen and not in 656x496?
Maybe reverting to an older nvidia driver?

Thanks in advance.

[dmauro]

Bad news. Most newer cards, the 8000 series included, can't go below 800x600 resolution properly. SailorSat, the guy who made Soft15KHz has made a dongle to make this work, but I haven't checked in on it in a while. Generally if you want 640x480 and lower resolutions, you need to get a compatible 7000 series or older (or the rough equivalent ATI card) and install Soft15Khz. You can read more about it here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=66402.0

and for card compatibility, here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=79852.0

I can tell you that I'm running an evga 7800GT card that works really well at most arcade resolutions, but does have some problems with 800x600 that I haven't worked out yet.

[Fudoh]

Obviously a driver problem. 178.13 to 182.50 seem to work fine. On the positive side (same problem over here): the games are not stretched to 656, there's just a black border of 8 pixels added to all sides. Probably some stupid internal overscan compensation setting.

[ST Dragon]

Adding 640x480 in the "manage custom resolutions" seemed to fix the problem, but it only allows you to add one value in the bit per pixel, so I can't add all three 8, 16, & 32bit for the 640x480 resolution which are needed for some games.

This is what I did:

Display Properties, Settings, Advanced, GeForceGT8800, Start the Nvidia Control Panel, Display, Manage Custom Resolutions.
I press “Create...”
And set a custom resolution 640x480 @ 32bit, GDI refresh Rate: 60, Timing standard: DMT, I press “Test”, then “OK” and it’s set.
But when I press “Create” to set another custom resolution of 640x480 @ 16bit, GDI refresh Rate: 60, Timing standard: DMT and press “Test”, the following message comes up:

“The custom resolution all ready exists! Are you sure you want to replace the existing custom mode?”

So how do you add 2 more custom resolution of 640x480 @ 16bit & 8 bit?



I tried the nvidia drivers 178.13 to 182.50 and the problem was fixed all together, so when I chose 640x480 in the windows display settings, it is actually displayed as 640x480 on the monitor.

Strangely the same problem occurs from driver 185.85 and above until the current 186.18.

[it290]

You could give Powerstrip a try. It's quite handy for creating custom resolutions.

[jonny5]

quickres would work too

[gray117]

Was just looking into this myself with the soft 15 software

Quickres is indeed recommended .... failing that the folllowing I found on the soft15 thread may help to give you more options ? -

The NVidia GeForce 8-, 9- and GTX series require an EDID-Dongle for resolutions below 512x384