I think my graphics card is underperforming
I've got an X800XT in my dual 2GHz PowerMac G5, and ever since I got it, I've been disappointed with its performance--it's always just seemed not that much better than the stock 9600 that came with my system.
Running Xbench (yeah yeah yeah, I know), I get results of around 90-100 on the OpenGL, Quartz graphics and UI tests. I've read reports online of people with the exact same configuration getting scores of 150-300, so it definitely seems like there's something wrong with my card or the drivers.
Is there anything that can be done about this?
Running Xbench (yeah yeah yeah, I know), I get results of around 90-100 on the OpenGL, Quartz graphics and UI tests. I've read reports online of people with the exact same configuration getting scores of 150-300, so it definitely seems like there's something wrong with my card or the drivers.
Is there anything that can be done about this?
Comments
that is about all you can do, unless you look at overclocking. i do not know of a Mac overclocking program for ATI cards or Nivdia cards for that matter
that is about all you can do, unless you look at overclocking. i do not know of a Mac overclocking program for ATI cards or Nivdia cards for that matter
http://thomas.perrier.name/
Serious: you should make sure the quoted reference systems are of the identical configuration to your own: system RAM, card interface, monitor resolution, etc. Worst case scenario is that some RAM on the graphics board is faulty. I don't know how to verify that.
Originally posted by Splinemodel
Worst case scenario is that some RAM on the graphics board is faulty. I don't know how to verify that.
(S)he can always run this utility. If VRAM is faulty, the utility could crash or report something. I don't know if it gives really something, but it is perhaps the only way to do quickly some testing.
Originally posted by Sladuuch
I've got an X800XT in my dual 2GHz PowerMac G5, and ever since I got it, I've been disappointed with its performance--it's always just seemed not that much better than the stock 9600 that came with my system.
Running Xbench (yeah yeah yeah, I know), I get results of around 90-100 on the OpenGL, Quartz graphics and UI tests. I've read reports online of people with the exact same configuration getting scores of 150-300, so it definitely seems like there's something wrong with my card or the drivers.
Is there anything that can be done about this?
For one XBench does not use the graphics card for opengl tests, it is solely a CPU test. Run a game instead, and I don't know, compare those to the benchmarks at barefeats. Then tell us if there is any difference.
For what it's worth, Apple's Graphics Cards are underclocked compared to their PC counterparts (even though physically they're exactly the same), so you should be able to pump it up to its proper speed without any problems.
Originally posted by mattyj
For one XBench does not use the graphics card for opengl tests, it is solely a CPU test. Run a game instead, and I don't know, compare those to the benchmarks at barefeats. Then tell us if there is any difference.
Oops! Wow, I had no idea. Yeah, actually looking at Barefeats, my card gets close to the results that theirs get. It's a bit slower, but not enough to ring alarm bells too loudly.
Originally posted by mattyj
For what it's worth, Apple's Graphics Cards are underclocked compared to their PC counterparts (even though physically they're exactly the same), so you should be able to pump it up to its proper speed without any problems.
Do you know if this is still true now that Apple's using mostly commodity hardware now? Is the X1600 in the iMacs a custom Apple redesign, or is it close to off-the-shelf? It'd be wonderful to see that lag in GPU performance finally disappear.
I'll see about software overclocking, and ATIcellerator doesn't look too flaky. I'll give it a go. Thanks a lot, everyone!
Edit: fuxxed up the quote tag. Fixed now.
Originally posted by Sladuuch
Do you know if this is still true now that Apple's using mostly commodity hardware now? Is the X1600 in the iMacs a custom Apple redesign, or is it close to off-the-shelf? It'd be wonderful to see that lag in GPU performance finally disappear.
I'll see about software overclocking, and ATIcellerator doesn't look too flaky. I'll give it a go. Thanks a lot, everyone!
Edit: fuxxed up the quote tag. Fixed now.
Apple does use a standard ATI X1600 mobility in the iMac, except that most iMacs (it does vary a little) have both the memory and GPU downclocked to 400Mhz each.
However, seeing as this is a mobility chipset designed to run at 470Mhz GPU and RAM (DDR rate so its running effectively at around 940Mhz or so) most who have overclocked it (when using windows, there is no Mac Intel overclocking solution as of yet) have seen no problems. Some have said to be able to go to 550Mhz each, and this means the iMac can handle Half Life 2 with HDR effects on pretty easily, as the X1600 shares its architecture with the X1800/X1900 cards, which makes it a pretty powerful mid range card.
The MacBook Pro mobility chipsets (the same as the iMacs) are clocked down even further, to around 300Mhz each, attempts to overclock them under windows has varied, the earlier revision models tend to get stuck at around 400Mhz, obviously due to the heat issues, whilst later revisions seems to be able to approach the chipsets certified speed. Apparently the 17" MBPs have higher clocked and variable clocked X1600s, but I doubt that means they run at the certified speed.
I have used ATIcellerator and it is a good stable app. Just be sure to overclock by no more than 5Mhz increments on the RAM and/or GPU. Run a game every increment for an extended period of time (an hour or so) so that the Graphics card heats up to its highest operating temperature, and make sure you see no artifacts, if you do, downclock the card until you see none.
It's incredibly liberating to discover a solution so easy and noticeably superior! Thanks so much guys, you've really made my year. The only problem, of course, is that it makes an MBP's GPU look worse in comparison, and I've been trying to convince myself to want one...