A few general Hardware& software Q's

Wade · 8th February 2003, 11:57 PM

Ok well i've been having perpetual trouble with my PC, and now i'm finally sorting shit out. I'm gonna get all the updates/drivers/utilities that i need onto CD through a friend, wipe my PC, format, fresh install with all the needed thingies, and then see if it's better.

Keep in mind i don't and won't overclock anything, i just want it to run smooth vanilla style if you get me.

Just a few things confusing me:

VIA - I have a Gigabyte MoBo (GA7VRX), and it's a VIA. What exactly is VIA? How do i update it? Is it a BIOS thing? What does it do for my machine? Should i update it?
BIOS - Should i flash it? I hear alot about BIOS flashing and i have no idea what it is. How do i flash it? Will it help my PC run better? Or is it a very risky thing that may help it?
Chipsets - As in AMD athlon and all that, do they get upgrades? Or drivers?
Hard-Drives - Are there drivers or patches for these? Or anything to keep HD's optimal?
Graphics Card Drivers - is it better to get the updates or drivers from the card manufacturer (Gainward) or get the nVidia drivers? Or do i get both? Are they for two seperate things in the card?
SoundCards - Well i have a Fortissimo 2 and it may not be the best card, but i expected to be able to run games with at least moderate acceleration. I've had to turn down sound acceleration to the second last notch in dxdiag. Is that something i'll always have or just something i can update with the latest patch?
Monitor - My monitor keeps changing size. And it's near impossible to get the damn thing to be straight. It's always angled slightly, or in the shape of an hourglass slightly. And it keeps getting bigger (off screen) or smaller depending on what games i play. Is there anyway to set the monitor to one physical resolution? So all games play with the same screen size?
edit:Memory - What can i do to it? Improve it in anyway? flashes? drivers?

Well that's all i can think of now. Though since i'm such a know nothing i'll probably think of some more stuff i know nothing about.

Thanks to anyone who can help me.

DonTryThis@Home · 9th February 2003, 12:17 AM

VIA - It's a company that makes the major chips that are on your motherboard. The files you require are VIA drivers called "Hyperion drivers" these days. They are drivers for Windows, just like normal hardware drivers. It's a good idea to run the latest official VIA drivers.

BIOS - Flashing the BIOS is a reasonably risky job. You should be comfortable doing it, otherwise get someone who is to do it for you. If you read the instructions on the manufacturers website carefully, and understand them, go for it. It is most important that you are definately flashing the BIOS with the correct file, and that power is not lost while its doing it.

Chipsets - Not something you need to worry about. It's a hardware thing. Nothing you can do in software will change anything that you are talking about in this section.

HardDrives - There are no drivers specifically for hard drives. The interface to the hard drives, which is part of the motherboard, is covered by the VIA drivers, above. Update the VIA drivers, you update the drivers for the harddrive interface.

Graphics Card - Generally speaking, the Nvidia ones will always be the best. I recommend you use the latest official drivers from the Nvidia website. Beware : there are many "beta" ones floating around all the time. These are for enthusiasts to try out. Just stick to the official ones.
Manufacturer drivers are generally behind most of the improvements that are made by Nvidia. Only use manufacturer drivers if a specific feature of your card does not work properly when using the Nvidia drivers, such as TV-out.

Sound Cards - It's always best to stay up to date with the latest official drivers for all your hardware. Also, check the manufacters website for FAQ, support, or forums, discussing various issues ppl are having with the hardware.

Monitor - It would help if I knew exactly what monitor it is. "Digital" monitors remember each setting for each resolution at each refresh rate. "Analog" monitors need to be adjusted all the time. You would be unlucky to still have an analog monitor.
Also, your desktop will be displayed at a particular resolution. You should try to make this the same resolution that you play your games at. It makes life easier. Or your monitor may well be crap.
By the sounds of it, your next computer purchase should be a quality monitor.

Memory - Memory is purely a hardware device, and there is no drivers controlling it, beyond the BIOS. There can be (depending on your motherboard) various settings within the BIOS to allow tweaking of memory settings, but this should only be done once you understand all the settings found there.

Wade · 9th February 2003, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DonTryThis@Home
Monitor - It would help if I knew exactly what monitor it is. "Digital" monitors remember each setting for each resolution at each refresh rate. "Analog" monitors need to be adjusted all the time. You would be unlucky to still have an analog monitor.
Also, your desktop will be displayed at a particular resolution. You should try to make this the same resolution that you play your games at. It makes life easier. Or your monitor may well be crap.
By the sounds of it, your next computer purchase should be a quality monitor.

Well i've got a Mitsubishi Diamond View 1786FD ...it's new, not even six months old. I'd imagine it'd be digital.
It doesn't drastically change size, it just will moderately go from being the perfect screen size that i just finished setting up, adjusting it hairs-breadths to be perfect, in desktop. Then i'll go into a game, the res will change, and then when i leave the game the res will change again.

Thanks heaps for your help man!

t00| · 9th February 2003, 1:27 PM

most games dont run desktop standard resoultion, say I run a 1152x864 res on my desktop but then in games 800x600 as my graphics card is too crap to do 1152x864 as in most games as it is pretty slow

unless you have a 9700 pro, desktop resoultions are pretty hard to run the same as games anyway, so dont worry that much about it changing around all the time

but if its changing back after the games it should be fine?

Wade · 10th February 2003, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by t00|
most games dont run desktop standard resoultion, say I run a 1152x864 res on my desktop but then in games 800x600 as my graphics card is too crap to do 1152x864 as in most games as it is pretty slow

unless you have a 9700 pro, desktop resoultions are pretty hard to run the same as games anyway, so dont worry that much about it changing around all the time

but if its changing back after the games it should be fine?

Well it changes to a different screensize altogether after games. Like to a size just bigger than the actual screen.

It's probably just one of those things i've gotta go through.

Manaz · 10th February 2003, 12:27 PM

Your monitor will remember settings for each resolution/refresh combination you run - so if your desktop is at 1152x864 for instance, and you set that up perfectly, but then go into a game with a menu running at 800x600, you will need to set your screen up for that resolution as well. Then, if you play the game at 1024x768, you'll have to set the screen up for that resolution as well.

Once you've done that though, the settings for each resolution/refresh rate should be saved, and retrieved automatically each time you change to that resolution/refresh rate combination.

Wade · 10th February 2003, 6:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Manaz
Your monitor will remember settings for each resolution/refresh combination you run - so if your desktop is at 1152x864 for instance, and you set that up perfectly, but then go into a game with a menu running at 800x600, you will need to set your screen up for that resolution as well. Then, if you play the game at 1024x768, you'll have to set the screen up for that resolution as well.

Once you've done that though, the settings for each resolution/refresh rate should be saved, and retrieved automatically each time you change to that resolution/refresh rate combination.

Yeah that's what i thought. Though i hadmy desktop at the rez just above 1024x768 and went into Morrowind (runs @ 1024x768), played a bit, quite and went back to desktop. The sides of the taskbar were sticking out past the screen, when before they fitted in perfectly.

Rant - Man i'm having trouble with this bloody computer. I'm trying to delete games at the moment, so it's ready to be re-formatted and all later this week, and it'll fuck out!
Not even two minutes in Win2000 and suddenly when i move my mouse over something and click nothing happens, then i'll move my mouse around, nothing is responding, after clicking some or pressing buttons it'll beep from inside the PC and i'll have to restart.
It's happened about 6 times in ten fucking minutes! This is so agrivating!

8th February 2003, 11:57 PM	#1
Wade Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Syndey Posts: 323	A few general Hardware& software Q's Ok well i've been having perpetual trouble with my PC, and now i'm finally sorting shit out. I'm gonna get all the updates/drivers/utilities that i need onto CD through a friend, wipe my PC, format, fresh install with all the needed thingies, and then see if it's better. Keep in mind i don't and won't overclock anything, i just want it to run smooth vanilla style if you get me. Just a few things confusing me: VIA - I have a Gigabyte MoBo (GA7VRX), and it's a VIA. What exactly is VIA? How do i update it? Is it a BIOS thing? What does it do for my machine? Should i update it? BIOS - Should i flash it? I hear alot about BIOS flashing and i have no idea what it is. How do i flash it? Will it help my PC run better? Or is it a very risky thing that may help it? Chipsets - As in AMD athlon and all that, do they get upgrades? Or drivers? Hard-Drives - Are there drivers or patches for these? Or anything to keep HD's optimal? Graphics Card Drivers - is it better to get the updates or drivers from the card manufacturer (Gainward) or get the nVidia drivers? Or do i get both? Are they for two seperate things in the card? SoundCards - Well i have a Fortissimo 2 and it may not be the best card, but i expected to be able to run games with at least moderate acceleration. I've had to turn down sound acceleration to the second last notch in dxdiag. Is that something i'll always have or just something i can update with the latest patch? Monitor - My monitor keeps changing size. And it's near impossible to get the damn thing to be straight. It's always angled slightly, or in the shape of an hourglass slightly. And it keeps getting bigger (off screen) or smaller depending on what games i play. Is there anyway to set the monitor to one physical resolution? So all games play with the same screen size? edit:Memory - What can i do to it? Improve it in anyway? flashes? drivers? Well that's all i can think of now. Though since i'm such a know nothing i'll probably think of some more stuff i know nothing about. Thanks to anyone who can help me. __________________ \|Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe\|AMD Athlon 64 3500+ - S939\|GeIL 1Gb 400MHz CL2.5 DDR Memory Kit (2 x 512Mb 400MHz DDR RAM)\|XFX GeForce 6800 GT 256Mb 16xPCI-E \|160GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm (SATA, NCQ)\|60GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm (PATA)\|CoolerMaster Praetorian & Antec 480w 'NeoPower' PSU\| Last edited by Wade; 9th February 2003 at 12:08 AM.

9th February 2003, 12:17 AM	#2
DonTryThis@Home Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Central QLD Posts: 1,447	VIA - It's a company that makes the major chips that are on your motherboard. The files you require are VIA drivers called "Hyperion drivers" these days. They are drivers for Windows, just like normal hardware drivers. It's a good idea to run the latest official VIA drivers. BIOS - Flashing the BIOS is a reasonably risky job. You should be comfortable doing it, otherwise get someone who is to do it for you. If you read the instructions on the manufacturers website carefully, and understand them, go for it. It is most important that you are definately flashing the BIOS with the correct file, and that power is not lost while its doing it. Chipsets - Not something you need to worry about. It's a hardware thing. Nothing you can do in software will change anything that you are talking about in this section. HardDrives - There are no drivers specifically for hard drives. The interface to the hard drives, which is part of the motherboard, is covered by the VIA drivers, above. Update the VIA drivers, you update the drivers for the harddrive interface. Graphics Card - Generally speaking, the Nvidia ones will always be the best. I recommend you use the latest official drivers from the Nvidia website. Beware : there are many "beta" ones floating around all the time. These are for enthusiasts to try out. Just stick to the official ones. Manufacturer drivers are generally behind most of the improvements that are made by Nvidia. Only use manufacturer drivers if a specific feature of your card does not work properly when using the Nvidia drivers, such as TV-out. Sound Cards - It's always best to stay up to date with the latest official drivers for all your hardware. Also, check the manufacters website for FAQ, support, or forums, discussing various issues ppl are having with the hardware. Monitor - It would help if I knew exactly what monitor it is. "Digital" monitors remember each setting for each resolution at each refresh rate. "Analog" monitors need to be adjusted all the time. You would be unlucky to still have an analog monitor. Also, your desktop will be displayed at a particular resolution. You should try to make this the same resolution that you play your games at. It makes life easier. Or your monitor may well be crap. By the sounds of it, your next computer purchase should be a quality monitor. Memory - Memory is purely a hardware device, and there is no drivers controlling it, beyond the BIOS. There can be (depending on your motherboard) various settings within the BIOS to allow tweaking of memory settings, but this should only be done once you understand all the settings found there. Last edited by DonTryThis@Home; 9th February 2003 at 12:22 AM.

10th February 2003, 12:27 PM	#6
Manaz (Damned or Belated) Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 4,797	Your monitor will remember settings for each resolution/refresh combination you run - so if your desktop is at 1152x864 for instance, and you set that up perfectly, but then go into a game with a menu running at 800x600, you will need to set your screen up for that resolution as well. Then, if you play the game at 1024x768, you'll have to set the screen up for that resolution as well. Once you've done that though, the settings for each resolution/refresh rate should be saved, and retrieved automatically each time you change to that resolution/refresh rate combination. __________________ Stuff

9th February 2003, 1:27 PM	#4
t00\| Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Bunbury Posts: 2,788	most games dont run desktop standard resoultion, say I run a 1152x864 res on my desktop but then in games 800x600 as my graphics card is too crap to do 1152x864 as in most games as it is pretty slow unless you have a 9700 pro, desktop resoultions are pretty hard to run the same as games anyway, so dont worry that much about it changing around all the time but if its changing back after the games it should be fine?