Hi,
I am playing Doom3 with my Nvidia Geforce4 MX which has 128MB memory and 1GB system RAM. These specs are well beyond the recommended requirements of the game. I read about people writing here playing Doom3 in ultra high quality resolutions and still getting great frame rates. But strangely my game suffers with pathetic frame rates even at medium quality resolutions and after turning off all the features. With a 128MB graphics card the game should be able to generate amazing frame rates with highest quality resolutions, right?. All the other games are absolutely fine. I am not understanding why the game is suffering from poor framerates even at average resolutions. Or does the game require 256MB video card to play it at full strength????. I am sure not many people can afford for that.
Any assisstance would be greatly appreciated.

Gopal Krishna

"I am playing Doom3 with my Nvidia Geforce4 MX"

There's your answer.

The MX line sucks...it's only for word processing and stuff.

You need to get one of the newer cards (6600 or above). They have features that your card won't have (pixelshader 3.0, etc)

I got a 6600GT, and I can run my game at 1600x1200 ultra mode with all visuals set on high.

Before I upgraded my video card, I couldn't play the game well (I have the same as you, p4 3.0 with 1 gig ram). I had to go to medium with 1024x768 only.

this is for plyduster,

you said ur playing doom3 with the same video card as mine, at what resolution and quality do you play it to get decent framerates. I am not able to play at more than 640*480 with low quality features. If I try to go for high quality, it gives a message like "this setting needs more than 500MB of texture memory" or something like that. Please give your suggestions and all your settings in your game so that I can try with those.

Gopal Krishna

Let me clarify what dots is tring to say.

There are approximantly eight elements that determine the fps a gpu produces.

1. Generaton of Dirxct X (i.e 7,8,9)
2. Memory interface, not to be confused with capacity (i.e 64bit, 128bit, 256bit)
3. Technology of the vertex and pixel shaders (if the card has it at all)
4. Core Clock Speed (more is obviously better)
5. On board Ram clock speed and data rate (i.e ddr, ddr3)
6. number of pipe lines ( the more pipe lines a card has the more data is can process)
7. Ram capacity (256mb is only really needed at high resolutions, but as games get more complex and real more ram is needed)
8. interface (i.e AGP x2, x4, x8, PCIe =x16 or my favorite SLI, two pcie slots on one board running at x8 each.

Prescott 2.8ghz @ 4004Mhz 286x14
FSB @ 1144Mhz
512x2 @ 430mhz
9800 se clocked @ 444mhz/800mhz

kris, ply was answering you by quoting you...the reason why you can't play is because you're using a MX card.

And Galileo explains why your card can't handle it (yep, I was lazy...but mostly dizzy...lack of breakfast, lunch, and dinner last night is getting to me)

but ..., ply "implies" that he is able to play doom3 well with his geforce4 mx. the same card I am using. check ply's message once again.

Gopal Krishna

lol, ply is referring to the first sentance in your post, and answering your question with your own.

("kris, ply was answering you by quoting you...the reason why you can't play is because you're using a MX card.")

Kris, you have a nice proc, why dont you complement it with an upgrade?

Prescott 2.8ghz @ 4004Mhz 286x14
FSB @ 1144Mhz
512x2 @ 430mhz
9800 se clocked @ 444mhz/800mhz

Kris: I am playing Doom3 with my Nvidia Geforce4 MX which has 128MB memory and 1GB system RAM.

Plyduster: "I am playing Doom3 with my Nvidia Geforce4 MX (which has 128MB memory and 1GB system RAM.)" There's your answer.

He just quoted the line in your statement that answers your question (You use the MX card, hence the poor performance.)

The 128MB just signifies the amount of ram it has for holding textures. It's like saying my car has 2 doors (ferrari's have 2 doors, honda coupe's have 2 doors. They might have the same number of doors, but one goes faster than the other.)

I tried looking for a benchmark to prove it to you, but none of the review sites even bother trying it with a MX card.

It's like trying to force a honda/toyota car to race in a grand prix, or racing a donkey/mule at a horse track...or having a wheelchair-bound person run in the olympics.

You've got a word processor card, not a gaming/graphic card ;-) It may show you the pictures, but it will never draw as fast. Doom3 is based on a new engine that demands alot

lol, tag

why dont you get some dinner dots, lol

Prescott 2.8ghz @ 4004Mhz 286x14
FSB @ 1144Mhz
512x2 @ 430mhz
9800 se clocked @ 444mhz/800mhz

OK thanks ..., for ur information. What is this benchmark or 3dmark that lot of people talk relating to graphics cards. can you give information about what it is and how to check it on my card?

Gopal Krishna

lol, I just ate dinner...still slightly dizzy, but not as much as before.

gkraju747 - Benchmark programs stress your components to see what they're capable of. It does a series of a tests, calculating your fps (frames per second), etc. You get points assigned according to the results. Common benchmarking programs are 3dmark05/3dmark03/pcmark04 at http://www.futuremark.com, as well as Sisoft Sandra and aquamark3d.

You can then upload your test results, and then filter other people's test results (to closely match your cpu speed, etc)...and see how well you place. Benchmarking scores are most useful for when you're adjusting your graphic card settings, to see what settings improve your setup.

Sites that review graphics card benchmarks use the same setup (cpu, ram, etc)...they just swap the video card so they can do valid comparisons.

Kris,

I didn't mean to confuse you...or did I?

This "might" help:

http://www.tweakguides.com/Doom3_1.html

You can't expect to play on one of the most graphically intense games availiable for the PC on high settings (with a decent frame rate) when you have a 3-4 year old graphics card.

That tweaking guide will help though. But don't epxect anything super.

Radeon 9800 Pro 128Mb
AMD Barton 2800 @ 2.4ghz
Asus A7N8X E-Deluxe
1gig DDRAM PC3200

The geforce 4 MX cards are too slow, but more importantly lack the features to run DOOM3. The "500mb needed" msg is just for Ultra Quality, which uses uncompressed textures and needs 512Mb+ VRAM to use properly (not entirely true, but what id say). I used to run DOOM3 on a geforce3, 512MB DDR266 & Athlon XP 1800+. I got playable-ish FPS (15-25 FPS average) @ 800x600, High Quality. And this does not mean theres anything faulty with your card, just that it is a sucky card. It is basically a suped-up Geforce2 rather than a down-graded Geforce4. So, basically, buy a new video card.

AMD Athlon 64 S939 3000+
ASUS A8V Deluxe WE MoBo
20Gb + 80Gb ATA133 HDD
Leadtek geforce 6800 128Mb
ThermalTake 360W PurePower PSU

OK thanks everyone for all your suggestions. Now I have a good idea about what is the problem. A video card that sucks! - Geforce4MX. I will buy the better one RadeonATI9800Pro.

Gopal Krishna

I'd buy a 6600GT instead. Bigger, better, faster, about the same money, and certainly has a marked advantage in Doom3.

"...but in my defense, it was dark, I was drunk, and it was delicious!"

I have an older ATI 9200/256MB ram, Doom3 won't start on it, gives an error incompatible card and/or drivers. I am puzzled, as the ATI 9200 GPU is listed on Doom3 site as okay. Is it because it says it is DirectX 8.1 compatible rather than DirecX 9?