Hi folks,

i recently set up a HTPC in my room. From the beginning i focused on that purpose. But now where i am getting used to my lcd tv i thought about trying LFS on that comp.

These are the facts:

AMD 5200+ 2,7ghz Dual core
2 gig of (cheep ram ) because latency times are totally unimportant for video playing
ATI Radeon 3200HD onboard shared memory, but 512 mb are manually assigned for the graphics

Windows XP 32 bit

Now to the problem: If i try LFS with this setup i just manage to get 10-15 fps in 1920*1080. The funny part is, thats the fps doesnt change to much no matter if i use 32bit or 16 bit, if i go to 16x AA or 4x texture filtering. Even when i go down to 1280*720 the frame rate just increases to 20fps.

I tried LFS Z and LFS Z17, no difference at all.

Honestly? I think it cant be down to the main system, because that should definately be capable of playing LFS full settings at atleast 60fps (i thought). The only problem i can think of is that i am using Catalyst 9.5 and i am stuck with this because the newer ones dont work properly with full HD video anymore....

Any idea guys? Any opinions?

Thanks,
Steffen

onboard is crap, and always will be...

sorry.

I have a Radeon 3200 onboard as well on another computer in my house. The thing is not supposed to be used for games, it's performance is garbage. It is only meant to be used for desktop applications because it's a super low power video card and therefore very weak (at least it's better than Intel's crap onboard graphics cards). If you want a gaming video card, get a dedicated video card, like a Radeon 4870 or something, they are getting to be very cheap these days since the 5800s are out.

I'd suggest at least a 4850. I barely get 70fps with max AA/AF with 4870 @ 1920x1080

edit: oops, weird settings applied. Getting 110-200 constant without vsync.

So you guys really think its down to the system? Then i will reconsider because the mainpurpose for the HTPC is to be a home theatre pc , so its supposed to be as quiet as possible and very low on energy consumption. I still have a Geforce 8600GT with 512 ram lying around here, maybe i will try it but i am not sure if i want to touch a running system

Thanks guys!

It's the system for sure, the Radeon 3200 is very very limited in terms of performance.

I don't think so.

I play on my laptop (Turion 2,1GHz, HD3200) and it stays near 60fps most of the time even at 1440x900. Obviously I have to turn down the details a fair bit.

Play around with the graphics settings, with a 5200+ you shouldn't be having problems. Well at least not at 1280x720.

Quote from Warper :

The only problem i can think of is that i am using Catalyst 9.5 and i am stuck with this because the newer ones dont work properly with full HD video anymore....

First thing I'd check is updating drivers, especially when yours are 5 months old. Can you describe what kind of problem you're experiencing with video playback?

Those 8600GT's don't use up too much power, especially compared to high end cards, it runs off the PCI-E slot alone. It would use more power, but not too much, but...man at such a high res I just don't see how you'll get that onboard Gpu to work for ya, you'll really need that 8600GT; which could have another bonus, it will offload the video work from your cpu to it, the Gpu, which can make for a much better overall experience, at the cost of some extra power and heat, but not much.

Quote from Crommi :

First thing I'd check is updating drivers, especially when yours are 5 months old. Can you describe what kind of problem you're experiencing with video playback?

It is known that their are problems during HD playback using an onboard HD 3200 together with catalyst 9.8 drivers, having some black blocks/artefacts. But maybe i will go forward and just try the 9.9.

I think i should also try it with my 8600GT. Lets see how it fits in my current setup.

I would also save 512 mb ram. :P

Just a stupid idea came to my mind. Would it work to use the onboard radeon HD3200 and my PCI-E 8600GT simultaneously? I dont talk about anything like SLI, just about using both grafic cards without reboot.

So as soon as i want to play LFS, i switch the display and the race can start?

Would be nice...

Any ideas?

Well they would need to be connected to two different monitors. Or you can take the cable out from one and put it in the other when you want to switch lol. You should try it and let us know if it works. Windows allows you to put as many video cards in it as you want, but they won't work together so you have to make them work somehow.

What you mean with somehow? You are sure that they would work with two different monitors as two different output devices...

Of course they would work, Windows supports multiple monitors and video cards.

Great! Because my TV of course has two HDMI inputs :P So i dont need to change any cable

I will try it now

Works like a charm! Desktop expanded to my 8600GT, 8600GT connected with another HDMI Cable, LFS set two start in the 8600GT screen and 60fps

Thanks!

I am only a little afraid of overheating... i will watch it for now


Jeah!