DX Snafu

[OldGuyNeedsHELP]

Hello I'm a firstimer, hope this is the right place

Got good hardware but I can't get 3dmark2001se330 or any game to run on my P4 system.
The ATI multi media configureation utility says "DX not installed properly reinstal DX 8.1 or later".
OS XP Home SP1 updated as of yesterday, DX 9.0b, ATI 9700pro driver was released in July.

How can I fix my DX?

Beyond Bent

[Th0r]

Download the DX 9.0B From Microsoft and install the lastest ATi drivers.....

[OldGuyNeedsHELP]

Thanks I already had the DX 9.0B installed. The ATI driver Iwas having problems with was from 9/30 I downloaded the most recent from 11/5 but can't get it to install. I go throught the motions but when I reboot It's still says the old driver is in use. Also the ATI multimedia configurator says my processor does not support MMX and that it cannot detect a DVD drive which is complete crap.

Is ther some sort of manual edit or maybe a hardware problem. I am very frustrated. I Know there are very few unique problems someone out there must have gone through this before me.

System is very stable (Prime 95 for ever) runing at 3.14 with out even really trying yet, awesome PCmark scores. If this sounds like a desperate cry for help - it is.


ASUS P4P800, 2.4c , 1gig 2-Twin 2x256 PC3200 Corsair CL2, RAID 0 Raptors, ATI 9700 PRO 128 , Xaser III, Pure Power 480w, Vantec Areo Flow

[trulyred]

Say ol guy, go to your run box and type in dxdiag. it's a diagnostic for trobleshooting the dx soft ware. about your ati .it's best to clean out the old drivers before installing the new ones. some peeps have been having trouble with the cat 3.8/cat3.9 drives and have reverted back to 3.7 you can find all the drivers at the ati .us site .if you really want to you can go over to omega drives little corner and down load the latest and greatest. heres a link for the driver cleaner (http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/) and heres one for omega (http://www.omegacorner.com/) good luck and let us know how things turned out.....

[OldGuyNeedsHELP]

Thanks but I'm afraid it maybe a bad video card. I swaped in a 9500pro and everything works great.

Question what do you do with a 9700pro thats been slightly oc'd that had an aftermarket OC system cooler? what are the chances it is truly bad and is it worth it to fix it and who should do it if it can be fixed?

[trulyred]

I doubt your card is messed up. I thought my 9700 pro was messed up too artifacting like a bugger. I switch cards and my other radeon works fine. The pro was put into my old pc and it works fine as well. Whats going on here? I would have to say it's the drivers and quite possibly the os. My older pc is running win98 se my main rig is xp pro . when I up dated drivers for each os with the cards switched like they are , Everything is working great, go figure. So the possibilites are drivers,os,voltage settings, or it may very well be a bad card.................tr

[CamH]

Can you reformat the system? If so, that would be the best route. It would allow you to be sure that there are no software problems.

[OldGuyNeedsHELP]

Thanks I'll let you know how it turns out

[trulyred]

reformat should be used only as a last resort. Other means for a fix should be investigated first . Just my opinion though,

[OldGuyNeedsHELP]

This one is strickly a gamer so formating is not a problem other than the time factor which is huge to an old guy like me.
Thanks for the help I'll let you know how it turns out

[OldGuyNeedsHELP]

It looks like my card is bad. what should i do now.

[PreservedSwine]

Have you downloaded the 3dmark patch?

[OldGuyNeedsHELP]

The patch is installed.

Question. some local people think my aftermarket thermaltake cooler not the heat pipe but the blue one that OC System sells, wasn't seated properly on the GPU. therefore causing the system to crash when the 3D started stressing it. Has anyone heard of this before and more importantly what maybe the likelyhood of permanent damage.

I'm in the process of replacing the stock heatsink on the GPU in an effort to test.
Does anyone know where to get the springloaded push pins to hold on the heatsink. I would also like to know where to get a thermal pad similar to the stock one. As I recall the stock pad was quite thick, maybe making better contact than a thin layer of artic silver against that thermaljoke cooler.

[Damian]

Yeah, try installing windows again. The problem is almost certainly (actually, pretty much certainly come to think of it) not in the hardware.

[OldGuyNeedsHELP]

My card isn't bad after all I put a Zalman heat pipe with a fan on it and i works great. no DX errors at all.

But I am still confused. I put it in my AMD system a 2500 barton running at 2.21 GHZ and got 16555 3Dmarks with no GPU OCing going on. Then I put it in my Intel system P4 2.4c running at 2.88 GHZ and the same card scored only 15055, 1500 marks less? I think I would expect some differnce but 1500 marks seams extreme.
I think I need helpl understanding how to manipulate settings before I start to OC my card. What are the basics I should know to grt going properly?