Graphic card problems

[lllary]

Ok, here I am.

broccoli5378: the 90 pro should be very fast. I have to admit that my 9600 is slow too in wireframe mode, but i never use that mode. and in Smooth+highlihts i have no problems at all. for good performance you have to set 3dsmax to use open GL drivers.

The DNA drivers I use are modified ati drivers, and thay make your card do the best it can. it's like a natural overclock. I'm really happy with them.

and of course when you model you always have to keep "meshsmooth off in viewports" to avoid slow performance. But probably you already know that.

anyway if something is not clear feel free to ask me.

[broccoli5378]

hrug:
In OpenGL my card is slow even in Smooth + hilights.
In Direct3D my card atleast manages to be fast in Smooth + hilights but nothing else. I've seen a couple of other people who were in a similar situtation (where DirectX provided more performance than OpenGL). In all situtations DirectX seems to be more glitchy due to 3dsmax's implementation of it. This is the same for me as well but I still want that extra speed.
I really wish the card would be fast in edge-faces mode.
Too bad, I hear NVidia cards generally don't have these problems with 3dsmax, but I really wasn't thinking about 3d graphics apps at the time I purchased the card.

Also for you were the DNA drivers just a minor difference in speed (something like overclocking the CPU an extra 100 mhz) or was it drastic (something like making a slow smooth + hilights mode suddenly "click" and be fast again as it should be)

[lllary]

well.. about the DNA drivers, like every other driver - it's just a driver.. it can't do a 100mhz boost. let say that different drivers, (DNA, ATI, or factory) are different in small things, but those small things can solve the problems like yours. It's not a problem of speed, becouse your card is really fast. it's about intructions, how 3dsmax manage the drivers of your card. after I had an Nvidia, I have to say that Ati is really better. Of course neither of Ati nor Nvidia standart cards are ment for 3dsmax, but in your case it's wierd. I think you have to try different drivers and see if it helps.

aah, and defently a good Open GL driver works better than a diretX for 3dsmax.

btw what ver of 3dsmax do you use?

[broccoli5378]

I'm using 3dsmax version 6

I'm not expecting a mere driver to do a LITERAL 100 mhz boost. That 100 mhz was just an analogy. If I planned on overclocking my card I would do it the proper way (actually adjusting the core and memory clocks) but as it is I really don't wanna risk introducing additional instability and the card runs really really hot as it is (heatsink fan is almost too hot to touch)

The 100 mhz thing was just an analogy and nothing more. What I meant to say was kind of like:
Going into BIOS and tweaking the FSB and multiplier (if it's unlocked) settings yada yada only yields minor PERCEPTIBLE performance gains, and it really can't fix any software problems. Whereas sometimes a driver update can make what was "broken" software wise "fixed" again and result in a noticeably better and perceptible gain. I'm just asking if this was the case for you and the DNA drivers.
I'm kinda wary of relying on unofficial third party type drivers if they only result in minor potential speed gains over the up to date catalyst drivers. But for example if they could speed up edged faces and wireframes then I am willing to try.

[lllary]

well, it's hard to say what driver is best for your card. The DNA drivers works good for me, i choose them for their game performance, as i sayd before, in 3dsmax wireframe mode, i still have your problem, but it is not a problem for me, so i don't care. you should try different drivers until you find the one that solves the problem..
anyway, I think there is no sanse to overclock your card, becouse it doesn't need it. I think it is all about drivers.

[broccoli5378]

Hmm yeah I'll have to see what I can do about the drivers. :?