video card vs. FBS

[beeg1]

When does the video card outrun the FBA ? Is there some simple formula ? Is there a way to figure out , at what point the FBS becomes the bottle neck the system as appose to the video card ? Steve

 

[ski]

Things are not that simple because the video card and the FSB are not the only components that have an impact on graphics.
The CPU, memory, MB chipset, sound card settings, DMA settings, background programs, game settings, resolution, color depth, the program itself(some are more CPU dependent for performance while others depend more on the video card), etc., also have a hand in graphic performance.

 

[attrofy]

What exactly are you trying to figure out? Can you give an example of what leads you to believe that this is happening?

 

[beeg1]

I just want to understand how the overall system works and where the weak links might be ! DO you know where I can get more info on this ? Steve

 

[attrofy]

Unfortunately, I do not. It usually stems from one of those "other" factors that ski mentioned, that usually resolves the issue if the Video card apears to be the weak link.

I may be wrong, but it is sticking in my mind that the video AGP bus does not operate through the FSB - but rather has its own controller channel. But as I said, I could be wrong.

 

[cdogg]

attrofy is exactly right. The video card is uses the AGP bus, which is not the "weak link" if you're running at AGP 4X or faster.

The CPU uses the FSB (frontside bus), which is the path between the CPU and motherboard chipset. How much bandwidth and speed you are getting from the FSB depends on the CPU you're using and how fast the FSB is clocked.

As far as bottlenecks are concerned, the most serious ones are often the hard drive and video card when it comes to games. In order for us to help you spot the bottleneck, why don't you post back with a complete list of specs for your system? Include:

- CPU speed and type
- RAM amount and type
- Video Card make/model
- Hard Drive make/model
- Motherboard make/model
- Version of Windows

If you're not sure of some of the info above, you can find a lot out by going to Start->Run and typing dxdiag. There's also a free tool called Belarc which you can download from

http://www.downloads.com

which will give you even more information including the motherboard chipset.

~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle

 

[beeg1]

Sorry about the Caped "do". I didn't mean to yell ! I was just wondering if bumping the FBS would be worth it ? I am at 100 meghzs and out of bordem,need to tweek something , Things have been running smoothly for far too long and I need to fix [crash] something! Thanks Steve

 

[beeg1]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





Operating System System Model
Windows 98 (build 4.10.1998) ECS K7SOM+ 1.0
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
1033 megahertz AMD Duron
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
64 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: ECS K7SOM+ 1.0
Bus Clock: 110 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T 04/02/01
Drives Memory Modules c,d
61.48 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
57.05 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1612 [CD-ROM drive]
Generic floppy disk drive (3.5&quot

Generic IDE hard disk drive (61.48 GB) -- drive 0 480 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot '0' has 256 MB
Slot '1' has 256 MB
Slot '2' is Empty
Slot '3' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes

c: (on drive 0) 61.48 GB 57.05 GB free


Controllers Display
Standard Floppy Disk Controller
Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
SiS 5513 Dual PCI IDE Controller SiS 650_651_M650_740 [Display adapter]
DELL D1226H [Monitor] (16.6"vis, s/n 59119D3EG6C8, November 1998)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller
SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller
SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller C-Media AC97 Audio Device
Gameport Joystick (no joystick connected)
MPU-401 Compatible

 

[cdogg]

OK, you've answered:

- CPU speed and type (AMD Duron 1GHz)
- RAM amount (512MB)
- Motherboard make/model (ECS K7SOM+)
- Version of Windows (Win98 First Edition)

but it would still help to have:

- RAM type (is it DDR, PC100, PC133, etc?)
- Video Card make/model (this is a must)
- Hard Drive make/model

You can get the RAM type from doing dxdiag as mentioned in my last post. You may have to rip open the case to get the Video Card and Hard Drive information (quick and efficient).

~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle

 

[beeg1]

Thanks ; Sorry about double posting , but I wasn't getting anything from my first post [ I guess I was in the wrong forum] . It won't happen again ! I will read all and get back to you . Thanks again Steve

 

[ski]

In my experience, the CPU, video card, FSB, and memory are the major players when displaying 3D graphics.

If the graphics are accompanied by sounds, then the sound card or onboard sound adapter also has an effect if it does not have its own chipset, and depends on the CPU.

WRT the HD, a fast one(7200 RPM and higher) will load the game and the different game modes/segments faster.
But once the action starts, it should not get that involved, unless the system has insufficient memory for storing the game's files, and the HD's swapfile activates.

Finally, if one is interested in getting 40 fps and higher frame rates when playing the latest state of the art games with monster graphics engines at higher resolutions and 32 bit color depth, then a 2 GHz or slower CPU, a value video card or onboard video adapter, a 100 or lower MHz FSB, or SDRAM memory will result in disappointment.