Low 3d score on a 9100 but high on a GeForce2

[videobruce]

If I run the "all test catagory" it reports one 3d test 1/4 slower then my old system when all other tests are 3x faster.

Graphics 3D - Simple:
shows 65FPS on a 9100 w/ a 2100b Athlon
and 300FPS on a GeForce2 MX400 w/ a 700 Athlon!

If I run just the advanced 3d graphics test with 40 objects & textures and at 1024x768x16 I get a 16FPS with the 9100
and 65FPS with the GeForce 2 MX400 on the same system.

The 9100 is at the default settings and both cards are using the most recent drivers!

I hope this makes sense. Any ideas?

[videobruce]

Update:

If I uncheck the 'Wireframe Mode' the FPS goes from 16 to 200!
If it is checked no matter what resolution I am in it will show 16!
Only with this 9100 card! The GeForce 2 card was ok.

[David (PassMark)]

Your video card drivers are proabably creating (rendering) the 3D scene in software and not hardware. You don't seem to have hardware acceleration for wire frame mode.

As an example of what a different hardware acceleration can make, we have a P4 3Ghz with Radeon 7500 with two LCD screens attached. On the left screen we get about 440 fps for the simple test. On the right screen we only get 29fps. This is the difference of having hardware support.

There is not much you can do about it, except swap drivers and see if different versions of the drivers behave differently. On the other hand there are not too many applications using wire frame mode so there is no need to worry too much about it. Games don't use it much but 3D design programs do.

If you are a 3D software expert, you can see a complete list of 3D functions and see what hardware acceleration is available on your card using the DXCapsViewer.exe program. You might have a problem finding this tool unless you download the full DirectX software development kit from Microsoft however.

Here is some more info on this tool.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...CapsViewer.asp

You need to be a bit of a 3D expert to understand the output.

David
PassMark

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply.

I went there but couldn't find it, but I believe that is a little over my head.
Is there another tool that could tell me similar to SiSoft Sandra or Dr Hardware etc. that would do it?

Does this also have to do with the message I get when I try to do a software emulation test "your computer only has a reduced functionality reference device installed"?

[David (PassMark)]

I don't think these other programs are going to tell you which 3D functions are implemented in hardware and which are implemented in software.

DXCapsViewer.exe is the only program that I know of that does this. We have made a copy available on our web site.

Here is the link.
http://www.passmark.com/ftp/DXCapsViewer.exe

This is really just a tool for expert 3D developers (and as such, displays a lot of COMPLEX and VERY OBSCURE information).

However, at best, this tool is only going to confirm what you already know. It doesn't let you change anything. At worst it is just going to make you more confused.

You are proabably better off playing around with other more easlily understood paramters. Like settings in the device driver configuration windows.

David
Passmark