3D mark 05?

[ajopz]

hi ppl,
ive just downloaded 3dmark05 from the files page.
when i installed and ran it, it said i'm missing pixel shader 2.0.
ive never heard of pixel shader before, can anyone tell me wot it is or does anyone know where it can be downloaded?

thanx for reading

[Pt1t]

It s normal , GF4 Mx 440 doesnt support directX 9 pixel shader 2.0 , only dx8.1 ps 1.4 ! Then you cant run DX9 test.
To run this test , you can buy , an Geforce fx 5200 or more , or ATI card 9600 or more !

[robbie]

To be honest the 5200 isn't that great of a card. It's ok for windows and light gaming, but I've noticed that it's left things out of some games. (ie when I was playing Need for Speed Underground with the 5200 it would NEVER show the "crowd" that was around the begining of a race, the TI 4400 shows this everytime.)
Rob

[ajopz]

ah,thats ok then, i'll install dx8.1.
in that case i cant use 3dmark05 on my pc, would 3dmark03 run ok??

[ajopz]

this may sound like a stupid question but, where can i see which version of dx is installed on my pc, ive had a look around but cant find it anywhere

[dsio]

best way is go start -> run -> and type "dxdiag" in the run window, then hit enter.

dxdiag is short for direct X diagnostic applet, and tells you absolutely everything you need to know direct X wise about your system. The DX version will be at the bottom of the first page.

for your system and 3d card, i recommend you install direct X 9.0C (latest DX) and then install the Omega modified 44.03 nvidia detonator drivers from www.aoafiles.com

This link is to the nvidia drivers section: http://files.aoaforums.com/index.php?dir=138

the Omega modified 44.03 drivers are the best drivers for the Geforce 4 MX that were ever made, and should give you a noticeable boost in games such as counter strike, UT2003, UT2004 etc, and anything else that uses direct X 8 / 8.1 or 9 for that matter.

Newer drivers dont seam to cut it for cards such as that older MX.

Also, 3dMark03 will almost work on your system. The first 3 demos will work (first one will be relatively fast, the second two will be impossibly slow... as in 2fps slow.) and the 4th will not work at all.

I would recommend getting 3dMark 2001SE, and 3dMark 2000 (a forgotten goodie) from www.aoafiles.com.

both of these older 3dmarks will run perfectly on your machines (though the final 2001 demo may not work correctly if at all, but its good to have in any case)

[ajopz]

ok, i downloaded and installed the 44.03 omega drivers, but it has had the reverse affect.
now when playing games-doom3 for example, there are lots of small squares on the celling,walls and floor.
the read-me file that was with the driver said not to adjust any setting or it would defeat the object of the omega driver.
anyone know wot might be causing the small squares? or if adjusting any setting would solve the problem.

[GrahamGarside]

You ply doom3 on an mx440!? how? does it actually run at playable frame rates?
The MX range don't offer any shaders as far as I remember, though I think DirectX can do vertex shading in software, pixel shaders just won't happen, and so any 3dmark tests using them won't run

Small squares sounds like a lack of transparency on lights and flare effects, unfortunately it just sounds like those older nvidia drivers don't have a new enough opengl support, using the latest drivers would be the nly way to solve this at the cost of performance

[ajopz]

yeah, doom3 doesnt run that bad on my old mx, it auto detects it at medium level.
the only thing it has trouble with is the shadows, when u walk through a shadow everything goes black. so i turned off shadows in the game menu and it works ok, it is prone to the occational lock up with is mighty frustrating.
but hay-hoe until i can save up enough £ for a new graphics card this will do.

does anybody know of a good review site where i can find out exactly wot my card can and cant do, wot software is compatible and so on.

thanx.

[GrahamGarside]

just type geforce 4 mx440 review into google and you'll find a ton

They are basically Geforce2's with some geforce 3/4 features like LMA and Quincunx FSAA, they have a Hardware TnL but no shaders, though they do support Cube Environment Mapping and I think Environment bump mapping