#@&%^*!!!!!

[VoXie]

Hi:

After weeks of waiting, I finally got my NF7-S back from Abit (originally got it DOA from Newegg). Swapped out my A7N8X Dlx mobo for the new one and ran some benchmarks. Noticed a 2000+ point drop in 3DMark 2001SE scores and a 200+ drop in 3DMark 2003 scores. Tried adjusting the settings in the BIOS, flashing the BIOS, reinstalling the ATI 9500np video drivers, reinstalling XP SP1 and reinstalling the NForce unified drivers (which would NOT load properly). Nothing helped. Looked at the diagnostic report from PowerStrip and noticed that while the graphics card is listed as having sideband addressing enabled and supporting AGP transfer rates of up to 8x, the system board lists the current AGP transfer rate as 4x and lists sideband addressing, fast write protocol, and AGP texturing as hardware supported, but currently disabled. I believe that if I could reinstall the unified drivers, everything would be OK. But instead of reformatting my hard drive and reinstalling windows, SP1, and the unfied drivers (as well as all my programs), is there another way of working around this problem??? Thanks in advance for any/all help!!

[water_cooler 20]

u can goto the ati control panel click on the smartgart tab and move the slider over to 8x

[VoXie]

will that also solve my problems with sideband addressing, fast write protocol, and AGP texturing being disabled??

[water_cooler 20]

yes there is also a button on that tab that can turn fastwrite on and that should able sideband addressing.Also make sure u have fastwrite and agp 8x on in the bios before u turn it on in windows

[VoXie]

Thanks, I'll try it tonight and let you know if it works.

[VoXie]

BTW, any ideas why installation of the unified drivers keeps failing??

[mrzee]

Probably should reformat

[VoXie]

I probably will, but I was so excited that after months of building my system just the way I wanted it, I finally was able to reach 200*12=2400. I know this means little to a man whose system does 3828MHz (BTW, what kind of benchmark scores DO you get with that monster??), but it meant alot to me. I was really expecting scores over 17000 on 3DMark2001SE, but the best I could get was in the low 14000 range. Luckily, I have two 80GB Western Digital SE hardrives, so I'll just reformat the one I'm not using and see if everything installs as it should.

[antipop]

A reformat is needed, i sometimes lost 2000 points in 3dmark with no reason, i just reinstall the vid driver and everything goes back to normal, weird!

[mrzee]

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6713962 [/URL]
Haven't done 2k3 yet. I've only had one
benching session since I set up my Intel,
just not able to find the time.

[VoXie]

Nice...

[mrzee]

Thanks, I'll try again this weekend, shooting for 24k

[VoXie]

"u can goto the ati control panel click on the smartgart tab and move the slider over to 8x"

No, I can't. I don't have a Smartgart tab in control panel. I tried reinstalling the ATI control panel program, but still don't see the tab. Could this be because the Rage3D utility I'm using is blocking the tab??