Why, why, why... ATI?

  • Thread starter Thread starter /mel/
  • Start date Start date
M

/mel/

I swore that after the AIW8500 I'd not buy another ATI card - by the time I
got that working properly it was obsolete. But I ignored my own advice, and
now I'm suffering for it.

I briefly had an AIW9800SE, which was okay but which is being returned
(again) as it was supplied in error (but that's another story) when I
ordered an AIW9800Pro. That worked okay.

Now that I finally have the AIW9800Pro.... ooh, the average frame rate in
HL2 is doubled... and yet so is the stuttering! As for the TV, well, that
conflict in DirectX9.0b that screwed everyone with PAL tuners? Sure, it was
fixed in DirectX9.0c, but it would appear that Windows Media Encoder breaks
it again, and the later MMC releases seem to require WME. I could continue
to use MMC8.1, but the audio is flaky, and the farting while switching
channels is especially off-putting, particularly when half the time it
either continues to fart, or there's no audio at all. Oh, and I can't get
DVD MMC8.1, because it won't recognise the serial number of the new CD.

I'm just about ready to give up. It's not even as though it's an old
installation of XP - it's pretty virginal actually. Is it really too much to
expect these things to work out of the box? Okay, systems these days are
complex, and unreliability is a function of complexity - I'm well aware that
not all variations of hardware and software can be tested and verified. But
there's nothing special about my system! It should bloody well work!

Fecking grrr. I could have spent last night in the pub instead, and I should
have done.

/mel/
 
Are you saying the stuttering in HL2 increased when all you did was replace
a 9800se with a 9800pro? I have noticed different amounts of stuttering
depending on what level I was playing in the game, ie everything was ok till
I got to "Follow Freeman". Did you test on the same level/area?

DaveL
 
/mel/ said:
I swore that after the AIW8500 I'd not buy another ATI card - by the time I
got that working properly it was obsolete. But I ignored my own advice, and
now I'm suffering for it.

I briefly had an AIW9800SE, which was okay but which is being returned
(again) as it was supplied in error (but that's another story) when I
ordered an AIW9800Pro. That worked okay.

Now that I finally have the AIW9800Pro.... ooh, the average frame rate in
HL2 is doubled... and yet so is the stuttering! As for the TV, well, that
conflict in DirectX9.0b that screwed everyone with PAL tuners? Sure, it
was fixed in DirectX9.0c, but it would appear that Windows Media Encoder
breaks it again, and the later MMC releases seem to require WME. I could
continue to use MMC8.1, but the audio is flaky, and the farting while
switching channels is especially off-putting, particularly when half the
time it either continues to fart, or there's no audio at all. Oh, and I
can't get DVD MMC8.1, because it won't recognise the serial number of the
new CD.
Click to expand...

I hear so many complaints about ATI and their AIW cards I wonder why people
buy them. They cost a lot more then the standard card and for less then $35
you can buy a decent TV turner card.
I have a 9800Pro and I love my card, and I've always had a stand alone TV
card in my PC for years. I have a cheap Hauppauge WinTV that I got for $24 3
years ago and I love the thing. It works great and have never had a problem
with conflicts or bugs. Save yourself a lot of grief and stick to the
standard ATI cards. JLC
 
/mel/ said:
I swore that after the AIW8500 I'd not buy another ATI card - by the time
I got that working properly it was obsolete. But I ignored my own advice,
and now I'm suffering for it.

I briefly had an AIW9800SE, which was okay but which is being returned
(again) as it was supplied in error (but that's another story) when I
ordered an AIW9800Pro. That worked okay.

Now that I finally have the AIW9800Pro.... ooh, the average frame rate in
HL2 is doubled... and yet so is the stuttering!
Click to expand...

Have you tried the various corrective actions recommended by Valve?
As for the TV, well, that
conflict in DirectX9.0b that screwed everyone with PAL tuners? Sure, it
was fixed in DirectX9.0c, but it would appear that Windows Media Encoder
breaks it again, and the later MMC releases seem to require WME. I could
continue to use MMC8.1, but the audio is flaky, and the farting while
switching channels is especially off-putting, particularly when half the
time it either continues to fart, or there's no audio at all. Oh, and I
can't get DVD MMC8.1, because it won't recognise the serial number of the
new CD.
Click to expand...

Have you tried the hotfix
I'm just about ready to give up. It's not even as though it's an old
installation of XP - it's pretty virginal actually. Is it really too much
to expect these things to work out of the box? Okay, systems these days
are complex, and unreliability is a function of complexity - I'm well
aware that not all variations of hardware and software can be tested and
verified. But there's nothing special about my system! It should bloody
well work!

Fecking grrr. I could have spent last night in the pub instead, and I
should have done.
Click to expand...

Computers, Bah, Humbug.
 
J. Clarke said:
Have you tried the various corrective actions recommended by Valve?
Click to expand...

Yep. I'm not so concerned about this issue - to be honest I'm fairly bored
with HL2 now so though I'll finish it I'm more bothered about the TV
problems.
Have you tried the hotfix
<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;825116>?
Click to expand...

Only applicable to DX9.0b, not c, and there seem to be no fixes for WME9.
So, for the moment I'm doing without WME9, though I'll look into installing
it and then copying over the old tuner codec.
Computers, Bah, Humbug.
Click to expand...

Absolutely.
 
JLC said:
I hear so many complaints about ATI and their AIW cards I wonder why
people buy them. They cost a lot more then the standard card and for
less then $35 you can buy a decent TV turner card.
Click to expand...

Ah, well when I bought the AIW8500 I didn't stop to consider this, and now
I'm caught in the loop.
I have a 9800Pro and I love my card, and I've always had a stand
alone TV card in my PC for years. I have a cheap Hauppauge WinTV that
I got for $24 3 years ago and I love the thing. It works great and
have never had a problem with conflicts or bugs. Save yourself a lot
of grief and stick to the standard ATI cards. JLC
Click to expand...

To be fair I used to have just as many issues with my Hauppauge WinTV card,
though that was early days. Again it was a case of the hardware being great
but the software being bloody awful. I do still have my WinTV card lying
around soemwhere actually... hmmm....
 
DaveL said:
Are you saying the stuttering in HL2 increased when all you did was
replace a 9800se with a 9800pro? I have noticed different amounts of
stuttering depending on what level I was playing in the game, ie
everything was ok till I got to "Follow Freeman". Did you test on
the same level/area?
Click to expand...

Yep, same levels - those just before "Stand Around Looking Gormless And
Getting In The Way Of Freeman".

=:-/
 
/mel/ said:
Yep. I'm not so concerned about this issue - to be honest I'm fairly bored
with HL2 now so though I'll finish it I'm more bothered about the TV
problems.


Only applicable to DX9.0b, not c, and there seem to be no fixes for WME9.
So, for the moment I'm doing without WME9, though I'll look into
installing it and then copying over the old tuner codec.
Click to expand...

Did you _try_ it or just assume that it didn't help DX9c?
 
J. Clarke said:
Did you _try_ it or just assume that it didn't help DX9c?
Click to expand...

Tried it - won't install over the top of DX9c - I'll have to try it
manually, which is what I'm in the process of doing now. Thank feck for
Drive Image.
 
/mel/ said:
Yep, same levels - those just before "Stand Around Looking Gormless And
Getting In The Way Of Freeman".
Click to expand...
LOL! This is how I feel about the "squad" levels. I was having a great time
with the game until I had to start dealing with the moron AI of my squad.
It's so fun to be getting shot at and have a stupid squad member blocking my
way. You tell them to go somewhere, yet as soon as you move they come right
back to you and say "Let's follow Freeman". I know this is supposed to be
this breakthrough game that is just so fantastic, but for me Riddick PC was
a much richer gaming experience. I just finished Riddick yesterday and went
back to HL2 and the game is driving me nuts. The load times are so long
(Riddick has some of the fastest load times I've ever seen) and the game
still stutters even after all the patches and fixes I've tried (Riddick ran
smooth as butter and looked just as good IMHO) I just wish Valve had left
out the whole squad part. Really has ruined the game for me. JLC
 
Mmm... HL2 runs s(t)eamlessly on my 9700 Pro.... maybe you need to close off
a valve or 2.
 
Tsunami said:
While strolling carefully through the minefield that is Usenet, on


Let off a little steam maybe?
Click to expand...

You've got it. :) This is the electronic age and steam driven devices are
definitely not wanted.
 
While strolling carefully through the minefield that is Usenet, on
Tue said:
You've got it. :) This is the electronic age and steam driven devices are
definitely not wanted.
Click to expand...
truly.
My problem is that, after starting up HL2, it gets to the Loading
screen, and stops.
It didn't used to do this, it started after a Steam update. (yes, I am
running a perfectly legal, bought version of HL2). I have asked the
Steam support team for help (got a nice automated response reply, and
nothing since), and now I am stuck with an expensive game that has
made itself unplayable (built in time limiting, perhaps?).
Steam blows!
 
Tsunami said:
truly.
My problem is that, after starting up HL2, it gets to the Loading
screen, and stops.
It didn't used to do this, it started after a Steam update. (yes, I am
running a perfectly legal, bought version of HL2). I have asked the
Steam support team for help (got a nice automated response reply, and
nothing since), and now I am stuck with an expensive game that has
made itself unplayable (built in time limiting, perhaps?).
Steam blows!
Click to expand...

Out of sight 'behind' the HL2 loading screen there may be a firewall
pop-up saying that 'this application has changed - do you still want to
give it access to the internet' - or words to that effect. That is what
happened to me. The game had not hung it was just waiting for an action
from me that I didnt know about...
 
While strolling carefully through the minefield that is Usenet, on
Out of sight 'behind' the HL2 loading screen there may be a firewall
pop-up saying that 'this application has changed - do you still want to
give it access to the internet' - or words to that effect. That is what
happened to me. The game had not hung it was just waiting for an action
from me that I didnt know about...
Click to expand...

Nope, I had to install the newest ATI drivers, and now it works just
fine.
 
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