Radeon HD 3400 help

[kcheleb]

Hello everyone, I apologize for the long post, I tried to make it as descriptive as possible

I recently just bought CS: Source, and I am having trouble playing, with the default settings I only got about 11 fps, and after some tweaking with some commands in console the absolute max I get is like 25 fps and the game is very very choppy when I move around

these are my system specs:

Windows 7 32-bit
3GB ram
ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series (512 MB dedicated vid card)
AMD Athlon 2.20 GHz dual core processor

now before you flame me and tell me my computer is old, and the graphics card isn't good, bla bla, etc etc... I understand that BUT
my laptop has worse specs, and an integrated video card, and I don't have these problems

also my friend has a desktop with a worse video card (although his processor is better) and his Source runs better as well
and let's be realistic, this game is a bit old and it can be run without the most up to date machine

Below I have added a few screenshots of how my game looks.. No matter what settings I play the game with .. I get that tearing.
Whether it's low settings or high settings I still always get that type of tearing on characters

http://i45.tinypic.com/2w6ud8x.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/e9b035.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/w2d738.jpg




Another thing, I did a test on "Can You Run It"
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/intro.aspx

and I passed everything, in fact, I passed on both minimum and recommended settings in all categories ...

and one last thing, you know how for the video settings there is an asterisk (*) next to which setting is recommended for your graphics

(example .. Low Medium High*) the asterisk is next to "High" in every instance .. would that not mean I can run everything on High ... let alone Low

please help, it's unbearable to play this game, and I know there is a settings issue with CCC or something and not the actual hardware

[kcheleb]

EDIT: one more thing, now that I remember, when I used to play Portal 1 (not 2), I also felt like the gameplay was a bit choppy, now not as bad as Source but it was still choppy
It seems like every game that has that "Powered by Source" message at the beginning doesn't run good, and my specs should run Portal 1 EASILY


Just an update on the situation

I uninstalled CCC (Catalyst Control Center) and the game worked A LOT better, I wasn't getting tearing anymore and the image looked really good, also it was a lot less choppy, BUT I was still getting low FPS (about 15-20) but the game definitely ran much better

so I started installing older drivers and the problem was still there tho, just wondering how far back do I have to go?
I had CCC 12.4 and went back to 10.8 and still had low FPS

Also, my friend had a Radeon HD 2600 (mine is HD 3400) and he used to get max settings on it, now he has the same problem as me with the updated drivers

EDIT: I was using this site to roll back http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownloa...w_vista32.aspx

went all the way back to 9.1 and still getting low FPS .. please help this is driving me crazy

[kcheleb]

This is the most unhelpful forum I have ever seen, legit.

[Agent-A01]

then go somewhere else then.

your pc is too slow, run it on low.

and before you repeat no its not, provide FULL system specs. you gave out the series of whatever u have, which isnt helpful. if u dont know how to do that download this tool
http://www.piriform.com/speccy/download/standard

[kcheleb]

Originally Posted by Agent-A01

then go somewhere else then.

your pc is too slow, run it on low.

and before you repeat no its not, provide FULL system specs. you gave out the series of whatever u have, which isnt helpful. if u dont know how to do that download this tool
http://www.piriform.com/speccy/download/standard

How is it too slow? I told you in the post my friend has a Radeon HD 2600 and he ran Source fine with no problems

also, what more specs do you need to know??

[Agent-A01]

Originally Posted by kcheleb

How is it too slow? I told you in the post my friend has a Radeon HD 2600 and he ran Source fine with no problems

also, what more specs do you need to know??

specific processor.

and fyi the radeon 3450, which is what u have is junk. its not a gaming card

the recommended specs for source is a radeon X1950 or better. your 3450 is MUCH slower than the x1950. The x1950 is also faster than your friends radeon 2600XT, but his is also faster than yours by quite a bit.

the 1950 is the Top end gpu of that series, the 2600XT is mid range of the 2000 series and your 3450 is LOW end of the 3000 series.

[kcheleb]

Originally Posted by Agent-A01

specific processor.

and fyi the radeon 3450, which is what u have is junk. its not a gaming card

the recommended specs for source is a radeon X1950 or better. your 3450 is MUCH slower than the x1950. The x1950 is also faster than your friends radeon 2600XT, but his is also faster than yours by quite a bit.

the 1950 is the Top end gpu of that series, the 2600XT is mid range of the 2000 series and your 3450 is LOW end of the 3000 series.

My processor is AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ dual core,

then explain how come my laptop which has integrated nvidia graphics is able to run Source without the tears and choppy gameplay with much higher fps

my Radeon is 512 mb dedicated, way better than my laptop's vid card, if you want the exact vid card on my laptop I can get you it

[Pill Monster]

Originally Posted by kcheleb

This is the most unhelpful forum I have ever seen, legit.

Rather demanding aren't we....can't u wait more than 3 hrs for a reply?

Some more info would be nice, like what settings/res the game is running and also the specs of your laptop.

A 64bit DDR2 3400 is a very slow card, prob slow even for CSS.

[kcheleb]

Originally Posted by Pill Monster

Rather demanding aren't we....can't u wait more than 3 hrs for a reply?

Some more info would be nice, like what settings/res the game is running and also the specs of your laptop.

A 64bit DDR2 3400 is a very slow card, prob slow even for CSS.

Why is it that when I uninstalled CCC (Catalyst Control Center) the tearing and choppiness went away then?

I still got low fps tho, that's my problem right now I just want to get higher fps

and just tell me what info you want to know and I will tell you

[Pill Monster]

what video card does ur laptop have?

Btw your friend's 2600 is much faster than a 3450. Disabling Aero may help a bit.

[Pill Monster]

Originally Posted by Agent-A01

the recommended specs for source is a radeon X1950 or better. .

Wait, that can't be right.
CS:S came out in 2004, but the X1950 XT (which I owned) wasn't released til 2007 iirc.

[kcheleb]

I stand corrected, I thought the 3400 was better than the 2600 (for obvious reasons..) I assumed each series was better than the previous

what vid card would you guys recommend to run Source then? Or better yet Global Offensive since that's coming out soon and I plan on getting it, I don't need the best, just something decent

Also, how will I know if it will work with my motherboard, I am not sure if my motherboard is PCI 1.0 or 2.0

my motherboard is the following

ASUSTek Computer INC. NODUSM3 (Socket AM2 )

and finally do you think my CPU is capable of running Global Offensive?

thanks for the help

[Pill Monster]

Your CPU is fine, any PCI-e card will work in your board and Global Offensive should have the same requirements as Source, since it uses the same engine.

what's your budget, where are u located?

[kcheleb]

Originally Posted by Pill Monster

Your CPU is fine, any PCI-e card will work in your board and Global Offensive should have the same requirements as Source, since it uses the same engine.

what's your budget, where are u located?

Canada, and around $100 I guess, I suppose $150 max depending on how good the card is

how do you know any PCI-e will work? aren't there 1.0 2.0 and 3.0 from what I know?

[Pill Monster]

Originally Posted by kcheleb

Canada, and around $100 I guess, I suppose $150 max depending on how good the card is

What PSU do u have?

Originally Posted by kcheleb

how do you know any PCI-e will work?

An Alien landed in my backyard and told me it would.

[Agent-A01]

Originally Posted by Pill Monster

Wait, that can't be right.
CS:S came out in 2004, but the X1950 XT (which I owned) wasn't released til 2007 iirc.

hmm blame yahoo answers, turns out recommended is radeon X800, which is still faster than ops 3450

[kcheleb]

Originally Posted by Pill Monster

What PSU do u have?

How do you check that?? Sorry I am not sure off by heart, is there a way to check it without opening the desktop

[Agent-A01]

Originally Posted by kcheleb

How do you check that?? Sorry I am not sure off by heart, is there a way to check it without opening the desktop

no you have to open it up

[Pill Monster]

Originally Posted by kcheleb

How do you check that?? Sorry I am not sure off by heart, is there a way to check it without opening the desktop

If you have an HP desktop look at the service tag and post the number.

Looks like this.