1GB PCI Graphics card slower than 256MB Card

[deanj20]

He CF,

As most regulars know, I can be long-winded - so bear with me

So my stepdad has an old Sony Vaio PCV-RS410(UC). It's got a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 (single core), and I've added 1GB RAM. I also slapped a 256MB GeForce FX 5500 PCI card I had in it.

He plays a lot of Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX), and the card does alright for the game, but he can't play it on the highest detailed settings - so, like, he can't land a helicopter on the Empire State Building, stuff like that...

I thought I'd get him a better card for an early Christmas after I found that NewEgg still sells PCI video cards - I bought him a VGA JATON|VIDEO-498PCI-TWIN 9400GT 1GB PCI video card.

I got it installed, and the thing runs worse than the 256MB card! I tried different drivers (from the CD, from nVidia and from the Jaton website), updating DirectX, playing with the nVidia panel settings - but nothing - graphics are just slooow!!! And sometimes leaves little short horizontal lines on the screen

But the PSU I had was only 180W (I thought it was a 430W - I work on lots of computers and get mixed-up sometimes ) - So I went out and dropped $60 on a CoolerMax 500W PSU, thinking maybe it just wasn't getting enough power... but meh - no difference...

So what do you guys think? Should I RMA the card, and just wait until I have $200 to upgrade to a better mobo and CPU and get a PCIe card? Or do you think the card is just defective, and I should try another one? I'm $140 into this thing, and the game runs worse than it did when I set out to "do something nice"...

That's what happens I guess...

Anyway, thanks for anyone who actually read through all this mess. I really appreciate any feedback I could get on the matter. (or maybe just a "tl;dr" )

Thanks guys!

 

[FuryRosewood]

you may want to invest in a total system upgrade...the cpu might be limiting as a factor too...

 

[spynoodle]

That is very strange. You might want to just RMA the card, and either get a replacement or get an AGP card. Does the computer you're working on have an AGP slot?

 

[johnb35]

That is very strange. You might want to just RMA the card, and either get a replacement or get an AGP card. Does the computer you're working on have an AGP slot?

Nope, only has 3 pci slots.

 

[FuryRosewood]

there could be a very likelyhood that the PCI bus is limiting the 9400 but that would be a stretch?

 

[lion149]

The x1550 and x1300 were the best PCI graphics cards ever made, look for one of those around otherwise get at much money back as you can and rebuild the core parts of the system.

 

[spynoodle]

The x1550 and x1300 were the best PCI graphics cards ever made, look for one of those around otherwise get at much money back as you can and rebuild the core parts of the system.

^+1. The FX5500 isn't a very good card, but you'll probably still see a larger jump in performance upgrading the Mobo and CPU (which you can do for ~$75 on ebay if you look really hard )

 

[deanj20]

Thanks everybody. I've posted this in another forum, and I got similar replies. Rather than typing a whole new reply to say the same thing, I'm going to copy and paste my reply from that forum.

HYBR|D - No, I didn't reinstall the game - but the performance lag is noticeable in other areas of the system too - sometimes there are small horizontal lines on the desktop after boot up or changing resolution. The graphics stress-test (FurMark) proggie I use also runs slower than the 256 card... I tried all the different settings in the game - low to high - it's even choppy on the lowest settings...

nihil - There's a place on the board for an AGP port to be soldered on, but it was not included in this particular setup. I agree - it's time to move on.

IKnowNot - I tried everything that you suggested with the exception of looking for "hidden devices" - but I stayed up until 1am pissing with it to no avail - I've been working on computers for fifteen years, so I know the procedure for properly installing a video card and the usual complications. It is installed fine, and functioning without conflicts or freezing or hanging up - it's just slooow at rendering 3D effects - on any setting. After exhausting every option I could think of or read about, I'm 98% sure it is a hardware issue. I could put it in another computer with better specs just to be sure, but personally, I'm tired of ****ing with it.

I've decided that either (a) the card is defective or (b) the card sucks. Either way, it is going back to NewEgg for credit and the PSU is going back to Altex for cash. I'll just have to build him a new 'puter somewhere down the line, but not before Xmas.

Thank you everyone for your feedback! :good:

 

[Okedokey]

Ok, in summary.

FlightSim is CPU limited, not GPU. As you have 'upgraded' your GPU from complete rubbish to slightly less rubbish, you are putting more strain on the CPU and chipset throughput thus the diminished performance. You could try one last thing and install a better CPU such as the 3.0GHz version (check compatibility). That you could pick up from ebay for $10. Ensure you have the latest drivers from here: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=PCVRS410

Also, you have very little RAM. This will also affect the performance.

You need a new system to play Flightsim as even the latest dual core and quads struggle. Don't waste anymore money on that system, keep the PSU, hard drives, case etc as you will need that later. Sell the remaining components on ebay and build a new system. Just remember you will need a new OS if you upgrade the CPU or mobo.

If you want to go down this path, post your budget and current components you want to keep.

 

[deanj20]

You need a new system to play Flightsim as even the latest dual core and quads struggle.

Yeah, like I said:

I'll just have to build him a new 'puter somewhere down the line, but not before Xmas.

I just thought that maybe a 1GB PCI card might pick up the performance a bit. I didn't realize FSX was "CPU intensive" rather than "GPU intensive"... the bit about putting more strain on the chipset makes sense though.

I figured since I'd maxed out the RAM, and I had no PCIe or AGP slot available, I'd try a PCI card - I didn't even know they made them anymore!

Not sure about the FSX struggling on newer systems - it runs fine on my 2.4GHz Celeron dual core w 4GB RAM and a 1GB GPU on the highest settings... but I never played it for very long either.

Bottom line - I'm buying a new mobo, CPU and GPU for this system when I have the cash. It's ten years old - time for an upgrade.

 

[CardboardSword]

Maybe it has something to do with the extra power of the card causing a drain on the rest of the system? This is a pretty big shot in the dark, but since hardware uses ram to function, maybe that's where the limiting factor is? Most new cards require at least a gig of ram, an maybe using lower spec ram on an old system is bogging the whole works down under load?

 

[Okedokey]

The onboard GPU memory relates to the resolution. The higher the resolution, the more memory you need. Even quads with high end graphics get less than 30fps on max, so i doubt your celeron will do well.

 

[Okedokey]

The bottom line is, you will need a very good system to play flight sim on max.

 

[Candlepally]

another thing happening is a 9400GT is a DX10 card, FSX runs in DX10, is by chance the computer running Vista or 7 if so tahts your problem FSX will use DX10 if it can, if its XP then thats not the issue