NVIDIA GeForce FAQ logo
Version 19.4
Last updated 14:50 GMT 2/1/2002
Maintained by Christopher Hill (aka Minkus) - minkus@ntlworld.com
Email contact information and about me

GeForce FAQ 19.4 in PDF format - thanks to Andrej Cepko
Polish translation of Hardware section : Polish translation of Software section
Russian translation
Italian translation #1
Italian translation #2
Japanese translation
I want to translate the FAQ!

UPDATE - 8/4/2004: THIS VERSION OF THE FAQ IS NO LONGER UPDATED. I am no longer responsible for updating the GeForce FAQ. I have handed over maintenance of the FAQ to another website. To see the latest version, go to the following URL:
http://go.to/geforcefaq
The copy on this server is maintained for historical purposes and to redirect people to the new site.

This FAQ contains information pertaining to all NVIDIA GeForce, GeForce2 and GeForce3 based cards, and especially Creative cards.

If you find this FAQ useful, please consider using your spare processor cycles to help the Intel-United Devices Cancer Research Project.

LEGAL BIT: This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this article, the author assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.


What's new in this version?

Version History

Renamed and added lots of information to 'Where can I download drivers that support 3D glasses and how can I fix problems with them?' question.
Updated and removed dead link from 'How can I make the TV-OUT display stretch to the full size of my TV, and generally tweak TV-OUT?' question.
Renamed and updated link in 'What is and where can I get AGP Wizard?' question.
Updated download link and general information in 'Is there an update available for the WinDVD software supplied with the Annihilator?' question.
Updated download link in 'Are there any newer Video BIOS upgrades for the Annihilator?' question.
Removed dead link from 'Does the Annihilator or the Annihilator Pro have extra outputs like TV-OUT or DVI?' question.
Changed link display in 'Why have I only got one overclocking slider with the Creative drivers?' question.
Changed link display in 'Where can I get and how do I use NVFlash?' question.
Removed dead GeForce3 Video BIOS link in 'Where can I get the latest NVIDIA Flash BIOS and which should I use?' question.
Simplified links in 'What is a good replacement fan for a GeForce?' question.
Updated link in 'Games stutter with my GeForce. How can I fix it?' question.
Removed dead link in 'My 2D image quality is poor (fuzzy, ghosting, smeared bold text). How can I fix it?' question.
Removed dead link in 'I get rolling lines with my GeForce2 Ultra. How can I fix it?' question.
Fixed dead link in 'How can I get my Abit LX6, ASUS P2L97 or Gigabyte 6BXC, 6BXE or BX2000 working with the GeForce?' question.
Fixed dead link in 'How can I get my ASUS P5A working with my GeForce?' question.
Removed dead link from 'Why can't I overclock higher than (insert speed here) when others are clocking much higher?' question.
Fixed links in 'Where can I download demos to show off my GeForce?' question.
Changed link display in 'How can I manually set refresh rates and force the refresh rate above 60hz?' question.
Removed dead link from 'When I resume from monitor power saving modes in Windows 9x/ME, I get display corruption and / or instability problems, or my card seems slower than usual. How can I fix it?' question.
Changed link in 'I installed DirectX 8 and it caused more problems than it fixed. How can I uninstall it?' question.
Changed link display in 'Microsoft Baseball 2000 quits or crashes when I run it. How can I fix it?' question.
Removed dead link from 'What Glide wrapper works best with UltraHLE and the GeForce?' question.
Updated links and removed dead links from 'I get horizontal lines in Final Fantasy 8. How can I fix them?' question.
Fixed link in 'I get problems with Star Trek: Armada. How can I fix them?' question.
Removed dead link from 'How can I get SMP working with Quake 3 Arena under Windows 2000?' question.
Updated link in 'How can I speed up Unreal Tournament on my GeForce?' question.
Updated link in 'DVD playback seems slow with my ALI chipset based motherboard. How can I fix it?' question.
Changed link display in 'When I start Microsoft Expedia Streets and Trips 2000 or Microsoft Autoroute Express 2000 (Europe and Great Britain), my computer hangs. How can I fix it?' question.
Changed link display in 'Where can I get the latest NVIDIA Flash BIOS and which should I use?' question.


Index


Q. Does the Annihilator or the Annihilator Pro have extra outputs like TV-OUT or DVI?

No, despite what you may have read in reviews. There is only the standard monitor output.

However, Gateway do have an OEM version that does have TV-OUT and DVI.

Back to Index

Q. Can I connect my hardware DVD decoder to my Annihilator?

If you have a standard 26 pin VMI connector on the DVD decoder you can plug the cable into the left half (near the bracket) of the VIP connector on the Annihilator. However, pins 14/27 will be in the way - you will have to bend them out of the way. Note that doing this isn't officially supported!

If you don't want to bend the pins, instead use an internal SCSI connector. The connector is the correct width - connect only the correct half of the SCSI connector to the MPEG card.

Back to Index

Q. Are there any newer Video BIOS upgrades for the Annihilator?

Back to Index

Q. How do Creative's BIOS versions differ from NVIDIA's BIOS versions?

This response was given by William Ball of Creative:

We have a different versioning convention from NVIDIA. Basically ours is CC.cc.oo.mm.ee and NVIDIA's is CC.cc.mm.ee.oo, where .oo is the OEM revision. So on NVIDIA's control panel or NVFLASH program, the .oo part is displayed last whilst our bootup signon message and the later BlasterControl application would display our convention. So, for our SDR BIOS, the version is displayed as 2.10.1.01.04 (our convention) instead of 2.10.01.04.1 (NVIDIA's convention). This might have led people to believe that we are using a 2.10.01.01 BIOS.

Back to Index

Q. Why can't I set my Virtual Desktop to higher than my monitor's maximum resolution with the Creative drivers?

This is a known limitation of the current Creative drivers. Creative may release a driver set in the future that fixes this problem.

Back to Index

Q. The fan on my Annihilator is making a grinding noise. How can I fix it?

Unscrew the fan from the card, and lift it away. Blow away any dust that is around the fan. Then peel back the sticker from the back of the fan (the side you don't usually see) and put a drop of oil in the small metal area that you should be able to see. Replace the fan and put the screws back in (not too tightly). This should stop the grinding and will not invalidate your warranty so long as you don't damage the card.

People often ask what kind of oil to use. While I've heard of people using cooking / vegetable / olive oil, and this doesn't mess up the card, I'd recommend some more 'conventional' oil. Liquid silicon is ideal, and you can not only buy it as oil for RC cars, but also in the form of shoe water proofer! You can also use sewing machine oil from any craft shop. Personally I used 3 in 1 when I got this problem.

Back to Index

Q. Why have I only got one overclocking slider with the Creative drivers?

This is a known limitation of the current Creative drivers - the core clock speed can not be adjusted. You can download a utility that will allow you to set both core and memory clock at the following page:
http://www.geocities.com/johnkok/Johnnie.html.

Back to Index

Q. What is the difference between an Annihilator and an Annihilator Pro?
Q. What is the difference between an SDR and a DDR board?
Q. How can I tell if my board is SDR or DDR?

The Annihilator board has SDR memory: the Pro board has DDR memory. DDR is twice as fast as SDR, and so at high resolutions (1024x768x32 and above) the DDR board is a lot faster than the SDR board.

Note that some DDR cards will have memory listed as running at twice the speed mentioned in the 'What different types of GeForce card are available and what are the differences between them?' question - this is because DDR memory is able to transfer data twice in each clock signal.

The memory on SDR cards will probably have pins on only two sides, as most SDR cards use SDRAM memory. On DDR cards the memory will probably have pins on all four sides, as most DDR cards use SGRAM memory (although ASUS in particular have made cards that do not comply with this rule of thumb!).

Back to Index

Q. What different types of GeForce card are available and what are the differences between them?

The following list is with the cheapest and slowest cards first, and the most expensive and fastest cards last.

See the 'What is the difference between an SDR and a DDR board?' question for information on SDR and DDR.

The GeForce2 series uses a 0.18 micron manufacturing process instead of the 0.22 micron used in the previous process, meaning less power consumption and heat production. All cards in the series have a second generation T&L engine, can render two textures per pixel instead of just one, have the NSR (NVIDIA Shading Rasterizer) and an HDVP (High Definition Video Processor) for better DVD and HDTV support.

The GeForce2 MX supports 2 monitor outputs for TwinView (two video outputs to two monitors, or one monitor and a flat screen display or TV) on the same card) and Digital Vibrance Control. It has only 2 texture pipelines instead of 4 on the GeForce or GeForce2 GTS, is restricted to a 64 bit memory bus for DDR, and has a less advanced HDVP without support for some high-end modes. In general it does not require a fan on the heatsink.

The GeForce3 uses 0.15 micron manufacturing process. It is a new generation of chip, much faster than the GeForce2, fully DirectX 8 compliant, has the nfiniteFX Engine engine, providing support for vertex and pixel shaders, Lightspeed Memory Architecture for improved memory bandwidth, and High-Resolution Antialiasing (HRAA) support for faster antialiasing support in the form of Quincunx antialiasing. It also supports Digital Vibrance Control.

The GeForce2 Go chips are for integration in laptops - once again, the cheapest and slowest chips first, and the most expensive and fastest cards last.

The GeForce2 Go is based around the same architecture as the standard GeForce2, with less power consumption produced by a lower core voltage and speed.

Back to Index

Q. What is and where can I get AGP Wizard?

If you have a Creative card, there is a utility called AGP Wizard that will allow you to enable sidebanding as well as Fast Writes and switch between AGP1X/2X/4X. It will not work on any other card because it checks the Video BIOS to see if you have a Creative card. You do not have to have Creative drivers installed. It is available here:
http://www.americas.creative.com/support/files/download.asp?Centric=61&descID=706
In addition, the Creative official drivers and FastTrax drivers have the functionality of AGP Wizard built in.

Back to Index

Q. What is Unified?
Q. Where can I get Unified?
Q. Why doesn't my serial number work on the Unified page?

Unified is a Glide wrapper created by Creative, so that you can run 3dfx only games on your non-3dfx card. Unfortunately all currently known download links appear to be dead, so it is currently unavailable. You can download it from:
http://order.soundblaster.com/escripts/download-unified.asp
However, it may not accept your serial number (you should try using the one on the actual card that begins with T). If you still can't get it to work, email William Ball (bball@creativelabs.com) with your serial number and he will email the files to you.

Back to Index

Q. How powerful should my power supply be in order to use the GeForce?

Back to Index

Q. How can I remove and replace the fan on my GeForce?
Q. What is a good replacement fan for a GeForce?

Back to Index

Q. My GeForce gets very, very hot when it is in use. Is this normal?

In most situations, yes. GeForce chips are very complex, some more complex than the main processor inside your computer, and run very fast, and as such they give off a lot of heat. If the fan on your GeForce is turning at a good speed, not making much of a noise, and 3D games don't crash, the temperature is probably normal.

Back to Index

Q. What AGP slot voltage do GeForce cards use and is this compatible with i845 and i850 boards?

The Intel i845 and i850 specifications contain the following statement:

AGP 1.5 V Connector support only. No support for 3.3 V or Universal AGP connectors.

However, this should not be an issue for GeForce cards, as apparently they are AGP 1.5V devices.

Back to Index

Q. Does the GeForce support Texture Compression (DXTC/S3TC)?
Q. Can I use the compressed textures on the second Unreal Tournament CD with my GeForce?

Back to Index

Q. What should my AGP Aperture size be set to?
Q. How can I change my AGP Aperture size?

It should be set to half your system RAM if possible, and if not it should be set at some point below or equal to the amount of RAM that you have. However, it is possible to experience speed advantages of 2-3 fps from setting the AGP Aperture size to 256 regardless of the amount of RAM that you have, and there are some games that may have visual problems fixed by setting the AGP Aperture size to 256.

Beware that setting the AGP Aperture size too low (below 32) will actually disable AGP which will cause a speed decrease, although stability problems may be solved - see the 'My GeForce keeps on locking up or drops me back to the desktop during 3D applications. How can I fix it?' question for more information.

There are also some programs that have problems (stuttering, flashing or corrupted textures, blank screens) when the aperture size is set too high. Experiment and see which setting is best for your system and programs.

It's possible that if you set your AGP Aperture size to 256 you will be able to load the 64MB texture test in 3DMark2000 even if you haven't got enough video memory. In addition, if you set the aperture too large you may get 'Out of Memory' errors - see the 'I get 'Out Of Memory' errors although I have plenty of RAM installed. How can I fix it?' question for more information.

You can only change this in your BIOS setup - it may be called something slightly different, so look for a setting that is measured in MB and can be set to values such as 16, 32, 64, 128 and 256. Different motherboards allow different settings - for example, i815 motherboards will not allow you to set the aperture size above 64MB.

Back to Index

Q. What are the recommended BIOS settings for a GeForce?

Note that the settings in italics may have to be changed in order to maintain stability on some systems. The changes that may have to be made to them are detailed in the instability section, and in particular the 'My GeForce keeps on locking up or drops me back to the desktop during 3D applications. How can I fix it?' question.

The settings described here should provide maximum performance and stability:

You can also try these settings if you are having problems:

For other BIOS settings, see the excellent BIOS Optimization Guide at Adrian's Rojak Pot here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20011018120214/http://www.rojakpot.com/Speed_Demonz/BIOS_Guide/BIOS_Guide_Index.htm

Back to Index

Q. I have a Video Memory option in my BIOS that I can set to UC or USWC. What should it be set to?

Back to Index

Q. How can I use the latest Video BIOS without flashing my Video BIOS?

WARNING: This section is really only for people who understand how DOS works. Don't email me asking what conventional memory or TSRs are, how to use EMM386 or LOADHIGH, or for instructions as to how to edit your autoexec.bat file - if you don't know, then this section is too advanced for you.

There is a program called VGABIOS that was written by NVIDIA. It is a TSR program that will load a Video BIOS after you have booted your machine, and use that BIOS instead of the BIOS on your card.

This means that if something goes wrong, all you have to do is remove VGABIOS from your startup files and your old BIOS will be used instead (it is unaffected by the process.

The disadvantage of this is firstly that the program takes up 64KB of memory (oh no!) and secondly that I imagine it is very, very slightly slower.

The program cannot be run under Windows - you must run it either before Windows starts or in MS-DOS mode.

You can download the latest version of this program from the following website:
http://www.x-bios.3dgames.ru/
or here:
http://www.gforcex.com/bios_johan/index.htm

The syntax for the program is 'vgabios -fFILENAMEFILENAME is the name of your video BIOS file. You can put this in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and load it at bootup.

If you want to save on 64KB of conventional, you can use LOADHIGH (after loading EMM386) to load VGABIOS into the HMA.

See the 'Where can I get the latest NVIDIA Flash BIOS and which should I use?' question for information on NVIDIA reference Flash BIOS files.

Back to Index

Q. Where can I get the latest NVIDIA Flash BIOS and which should I use?

You can download the latest (leaked) NVIDIA GeForce flash BIOS files from the following site:
http://www.x-bios.3dgames.ru/
or here:
http://www.gforcex.com/bios_johan/index.htm

Once you get to the site, you will have a number of options as to which Flash BIOS you should download. Here is a short guide (thanks RobRich):

If you have a:Use
SDR card with no TV-OUT (Creative Labs Annihilator)SM
SDR card with a Brooktree TV-OUTBT
SDR card with a Chrontel TV-OUTCH
DDR card with no TV-OUT (Creative Labs Annihilator Pro)DDRSM
DDR card with a Brooktree TV-OUTDDRBT
DDR card with a Chrontel TV-OUTDDRCH (not available)

If you don't know what TV-OUT chip you have, go into the NVIDIA Control Panel and take a look at the main 'GeForce' tab. There should be a line that says 'TV Encoder Type' - thanks Matthew Manor!

WARNING: Before you flash your card with the standard NVIDIA BIOS, please note that once you have done so you will NOT be able to:

You may find that when you use NVFlash, it complains that the ROMFile PCI Subsystem Vendor ID does not match the Chip PCI Subsystem Vendor ID. This is because you are flashing a non-reference card with an NVIDIA reference BIOS, and can be safewly ignored.

In addition you will void your warranty. Please do NOT email your manufacturer if this goes wrong!

For that reason, I would advise everyone to make a backup of their original BIOS file before they flash their BIOS. You can use a DOS program called SaveBIOS to do this - just run the program and it will create a VIDBIOS.BIN file. Put this file somewhere safe, and if you ever need to revert back to the old version just use NVFlash with your backup file.

You can download SaveBIOS here:
http://www.geforcefaq.com/files/savebios.zip

If you were silly and didn't take a backup, try the following page:
http://www.x-bios.3dgames.ru/

See the 'Where can I get and how do I use NVFlash?' question for information on using the NVFlash program that actually flashes the Video BIOS.

You might also want to read the 'How can I use the latest Video BIOS without flashing my Video BIOS?' question.

Back to Index

Q. Where can I get and how do I use NVFlash?

NVFlash does not work under Windows 2000. If you want to flash your Video BIOS under Windows 2000, you will need to make a bootdisc on a computer running Windows 9x and boot from that disc to run NVFlash. If you are using NTFS you will have to put all the relevant files that you need to access onto the boot disc before you start as you will be unable to access your hard drive while you are using the boot disc.

If you want to use NVFlash under Windows ME, make sure you install the Real DOS-Mode Patch for Windows Millennium first - available here:
http://www.geocities.com/mfd4life_2000/

You might want to read the 'How can I use the latest Video BIOS without flashing my Video BIOS?' question. Be warned that flashing your Video BIOS could quite possibly permanently damage your card, and it is unlikely that any company would be willing to replace the card for free. Having said that, so long as you follow these instructions you should not have any problems. This is NOT for beginners.

You can download the NVIDIA Flash program at the following website:
http://www.x-bios.3dgames.ru/
or here:
http://www.gforcex.com/bios_johan/index.htm

You will also need a copy of DOS4GW - download it here:
http://www.geforcefaq.com/files/dos4gw.zip

  1. Extract both files to an empty directory, along with the Flash BIOS file that you are going to use (see 'Where can I get the latest NVIDIA Flash BIOS and which should I use?' question).

  2. Reboot your PC and when it says 'Starting Windows 9x/ME...' press F8. Select 'Safe Mode Command Prompt'.

  3. Switch to the directory where you extracted the files and type: NVFLASH -fFILENAME where FILENAME is the name of the Flash BIOS file you downloaded.

  4. Now wait. The screen may go black, but watch the keyboard lights - they will make a pretty pattern to assure you that the system is still working ;)

  5. When the process is finished, reboot.

Back to Index

Q. NVFlash does not support my EEPROM. What can I do?

Currently the following EEPROMs are not supported by any publicly available copy of NVFlash:

The only option if your card has one of these chips is to use VGABIOS - see the 'How can I use the latest Video BIOS without flashing my Video BIOS?' question. If you are using Windows 2000 or XP and therefore cannot use VGABIOS, unfortunately there is currently no solution except to hope that a copy of NVFlash that does support your EEPROM is released soon.

Back to Index

Q. My card's Video BIOS is corrupted and I can't use my manufacturer's flash program to restore it. How can I restore it?

You can find out more about NVFlash in the 'Where can I get and how do I use NVFlash?' question.

Back to Index

Q. Does the GeForce / GeForce2 / GeForce 3 support flat panel (DVI) correctly?

Back to Index

Q. What is a Quadro and how can I convert my GeForce into a Quadro?

The Quadro is a high end version of the GeForce for 3D graphic designers. It costs a lot more and generally comes with more Video RAM. There are some extra features that it supports as well:

Note that you can gain the first extra feature (Anti-aliased lines) using a registry file - see the 'How can I enable OpenGL hardware accelerated anti-aliased lines on a non-Quadro card?' question.

In addition, having the extra features has little to no effect on 3D games - if you only play games, don't bother with this stuff :)

Back to Index

Q. Will my motherboard work with the GeForce?

There is a list being compiled here:
http://www.g256.com/guides/geforcecomp.shtml

If you have a GeForce2 you might want to also read this page:
http://www.insanehardware.com/articles.php?i=00003

Back to Index

Q. When I install my GeForce I can only set the card to use 640x480 with 16 colours. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. Games stutter with my GeForce. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. All 3D applications are slow on my GeForce. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. When I run a 3D application, the screen suddenly goes black (I lose the monitor signal), but the computer doesn't lock up. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with flickering, tearing or polygons in the wrong place in 3D applications. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with flashing textures. How can I fix it?

Note that this problem is closely related to the locking up problem - you may also want to try reading the 'My GeForce keeps on locking up or drops me back to the desktop during 3D applications. How can I fix it?' question for more hints. Let me know if any of the hints in the lockup question help with flashing textures and are not already mentioned here, so that I can copy them over.

Back to Index

Q. I get texture bleeding, small flashing triangles or corrupted textures. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I get dots all over the screen in some programs. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. My sound card crackles or stutters with the GeForce. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. My TV card has problems with the GeForce. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I get errors involving a DirectDraw "failure at step 11". How can I fix them?

Try forcing AGP1X - see the 'How can I force AGP1X to be used instead of AGP2X or AGP4X?' question for more information.

Back to Index

Q. In the DXDiag Display tab, I get AGP Not Available. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I can't run any Direct3D programs, but OpenGL programs run fine. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I can't run any OpenGL programs, but Direct3D programs run fine. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. OpenGL programs run very slowly or crash in Windows 2000. How can I fix it?

Try downloading and installing the iopagelock.reg registry file - available here:
http://www.geforcefaq.com/files/iopagelock.reg

Back to Index

Q. I have Windows 2000 and all of my devices share the same IRQ, causing problems with my GeForce. How can I fix it?

This is a 'feature' of Windows 2000 - it uses ACPI in such a way that all devices share the same IRQ, usually 9 or 11.If you don't have problems, then leave it alone, but if you do get problems, use one of the procedures below (note that for Windows 2000 Microsoft recommends that you disable the PNP OS option in your BIOS before installation):

Note that Windows XP does not force all devices to share the same IRQ.

Note that some people find that disabling ACPI means they lose all power management functions.

Back to Index

Q. I have an ASUS AGP-V6800 Deluxe card and I have updated my BIOS, but now I have severe problems. What's going on?

This is because older ASUS AGP-V6800 Deluxe cards use 8 Infineon RAM chips, and newer cards of the same model only use 4 Samsung RAM chips, with a different BIOS to go with them (version 2.10.02.10.04). ASUS offer a 'newer' BIOS on their website that enables sidebanding (version 2.10.02.10.02 sba), but this BIOS only works with the 8 chip cards, not the newer 4 chip cards. If you use the sba BIOS on a newer card, you will get display corruption and instability problems.

Jurgen Ludolph has provided me with a copy of the 2.10.02.10.04 BIOS that you can download if you have this problem. It is available here:
http://www.geforcefaq.com/files/v6800d-2.10.02.10.04.zip
You will need to use NVFlash to use this BIOS - you can read more about NVFlash in the 'Where can I get and how do I use NVFlash?' question.

Back to Index

Q. My PC won't POST (doesn't display anything when I switch it on) after I put my GeForce card in. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I have an Abit KA7 or ASUS P3V4X and sometimes when I switch my computer on the video card is not detected. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I (occasionally or always) get less than 32MB of video RAM reported when I first switch on my PC. What's up?

Back to Index

Q. When I put my GeForce card in my Adaptec AHA-39160 SCSI card doesn't detect any devices. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. Windows locks up before it finishes loading, and a thin green line may appear across the top of the screen. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Both of these problems may be caused by your monitor. Try another monitor and see if it fixes the problem.

The first problem in particular seems to be caused by non-DDC compliancy. You may also experience a pause when you enter the Output Devices tab in the NVIDIA Control Panel.

Back to Index

Q. If I set the GeForce as the primary card in the BIOS, my secondary PCI video card is not detected. How can I fix it?

Check in your C:\CONFIG.SYS file to see if you are loading EMM386.EXE. If you are, remove the line.

Back to Index

Q. I have 1GB of RAM, and Windows 9x/ME will not boot. What's up?

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with my Super Socket 7 motherboard. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I have an Intel 440LX based motherboard with a Celeron II upgrade, and 3D applications won't work on my GeForce. What's wrong?

It appears that this configuration is just incompatible because the 440LX chipset was never designed to support Celeron II CPUs. You could try enabling the 'Disable support for enhanced CPU instruction sets' option in the NVIDIA OpenGL control panel, but other than that there is no known solution.

You can read more about this problem at the bottom of the following page:
http://home.earthlink.net/billselk/al440lx/slockets2.html

Back to Index

Q. I have an Intel i815 based motherboard and 3D performance is very poor. How can I fix it?

Try installing the Intel chipset drivers from:
http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/driver.htm.

Back to Index

Q. I have an Intel i820 based motherboard and I have various problems. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I have an Intel i840 based motherboard and I get blue screens. How can I fix it?

Contact your manufacturer for an updated Video BIOS. Creative will certainly be able to supply you with a Video BIOS to fix this problem.

Back to Index

Q. I have a VIA chipset based motherboard and I can't get AGP working or I get lockups in Windows 2000. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I have a VIA chipset based motherboard and I can't get AGP2X or AGP4X wosking. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I have a VIA chipset based motherboard and I can't get AGP4X to work without causing instability. How can I fix it?

To enable AGP4X on VIA chipset based motherboards, see the 'How can I enable AGP4X in the Detonator 5.16+ driver sets on my VIA 133mhz chipset motherboard?' question. However, note that AGP4X is disabled on these motherboards because of issues with AGP4X, VIA chipsets and the GeForce2, so these steps may not work for everyone.

Back to Index

Q. I have a VIA 133A based motherboard and the amount of video and texture memory is reported incorrectly. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. My 2D image quality is poor (fuzzy, ghosting, smeared bold text). How can I fix it?
Q. I have 2D image quality problems with jittery text. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. My 2D display is corrupted. How can I fix it?

You may also want to read the 'When I resume from monitor power saving modes in Windows 9x/ME, I get display corruption and / or instability problems, or my card seems slower than usual. How can I fix it?' question.

Back to Index

Q. My display flickers. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I get rolling lines with my GeForce2 Ultra. How can I fix it?

This problem appears only in GeForce2 Ultra cards, and looks like electromagnetic interferences with the VGA-output signal. Depending on the resolution and refresh rate, the lines will have different size and look, and may not appear in all resolutions and refresh rates.

Unfortunately there is currently no solid fix, although NVIDIA and several card manufacturers have reproduced the problem and are looking for a solution.

Above all, if you have this problem, please report it to your card manufacturer, so that they know this is a real problem that is affecting a lot of people.

In the meantime, you can try the following workarounds:

Back to Index

Q. I can't get programs that use video overlay (DVD players, TV card viewers, video media players) to work. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I have a TwinView setup but when my computer reboots the second display is blank. How can I fix it?

Read the following article on eVGA.com:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010611030508/http://www.evga.com/support/support.ihtml?page=tvfix1.htm

Back to Index

Q. I have a TwinView setup and I experience mouse lag with Half-Life running in extended desktop mode. How can I fix it?

This is a known problem and currently there is no known solution. It appears that this only occurs with the latest updates for Half-Life.

Back to Index

Q. I cannot use OpenGL when I have two monitors installed. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I get two monitors detected when I only use one. How can I disable TwinView?

Create a binary registry key called 'TwinViewDisabled' to the value 1 in the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\System
and TwinView should be disabled, preventing a second monitor from being detected.

Back to Index

Q. My GeForce keeps on locking up or drops me back to the desktop during 3D applications. How can I fix it?

If you are getting lockups at startup, make sure you read the 'Windows locks up before it finishes loading, and a thin green line may appear across the top of the screen. How can I fix it?' question first.

There are a number of causes of this:

Other things to try:

Back to Index

Q. What's all this with the GeForce and the Athlon?

The GeForce has stability problems when using Athlon motherboards based on AMD's chipset and AGP2X, due to 'poor filtering on the AGP strobe line'. AMD have released a new version of their motherboard chipset which fixes this problem and this is now being implemented into motherboards. NVIDIA have released drivers (3.62 onwards) that will disable AGP2X if an Athlon motherboard with an AMD chipset is detected.

However, some system configurations do not display this instability, and on these motherboards you can use the athlon2xon.reg registry file to force AGP2X - available here:
http://www.geforcefaq.com/files/athlon2xon.reg
In Windows 2000 you can use the athlon2xonw2k.reg registry file to force AGP2X - available here:
http://www.geforcefaq.com/files/athlon2xonw2k.reg
This will enable the AGP2X support no matter what motherboard and chip you have. Creative have also released a utility called AGP Wizard which enables you to force AGP2X support on any motherboard - see the 'What is and where can I get AGP Wizard?' question in this FAQ for more details.

If you have problems after enabling this, you will have to manually remove the registry key:

  1. Run Regedit.

  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\System for Windows 9x/ME or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\nv4\Device0 for Windows 2000.

  3. Delete the value named 'EnableIrongate2x'.

WARNING: The registry file may not work if you have a 64MB Prophet II card. It seems that AGP2X is disabled in the video BIOS for Athlons with that card. In addition you may not be able to use AGP2X if you have the Athlon AGP sidebanding hack enabled as well in the 5.xx+ drivers.

I received the following information from from Louis-Philippe Dubrule:

For the Irongate based motherboards (AMD's 750 chipset), in order to be able to use AGP2X reliably you need one that has the 751 IronGate Stepping 5 chipset (or later). One sign of this is if the board supports the "SuperBypass" function or not.

You should always be able to use AGP2X if your motherboard is based on another non-AMD IronGate chipset, such as the VIA 133mhz chipsets.

However, it is still possible that you will not be able to enable AGP2X on a Stepping 5+ motherboard without problems.

The 5.22+ drivers may help AGP2X instability problems for Athlon users.

Don't worry yourself too much about being able to enable AGP2X as the performance increase from AGP1X to AGP2X is only minimal, and even then the increase is only significant in games that have to use AGP memory in order to run - most games can simply load all their textures into the on board video RAM, in which case you will only see a speedup when the textures are loaded initially at the start of the game.

All users with AMD chipset based motherboards should also install AMD's latest AGP Miniport Driver. You can get download it at the following webpage:
http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/bin/

Back to Index

Q. What's all this with the original GeForce and motherboards not supplying enough power?

Back to Index

Q. I have an Intel D815EEA motherboard and I have various problems with the GeForce. What's up?

Unfortunately it seems that this motherboard has various issues with the GeForce, including display corruption and instability. The only advice I can give at the moment is to bug Intel to try and find out what's wrong - these problems don't occur on other i815 motherboards - and don't buy one of these motherboards if you have the choice.

Back to Index

Q. Will my Gigabyte 6BA, 6BXC, 6BXE or BX2000(+) work with the GeForce?

Yes, so long as you have the revision which have 'Voodoo3' jumpers. If you close these jumpers (put a jumper block over them) the card should work. If it does not have these jumpers, the motherboard does not meet the AGP specification - see the 'What's all this with the GeForce and early LX / BX / Via 133 motherboards?' question for more information.

The GeForce2 series does not have this problem because it uses a 0.18 micron architecture that requires less power.

This is a table of the revisions that do or do not have the 'Voodoo3' jumpers, kindly provided by Clay Pot:

ModelVersionJumper?Jumper location
6BA2.9 and belowNo
3.0 and aboveYesJP11, JP12
6BXC1.9 and belowNo
2.0 and aboveYesJP12, JP13
6BXE1.9 and belowNo
2.0 and aboveYesJP18, JP19
BX2000(+)1.0No
1.1 and aboveYesJP20, JP21

If you have a 6BXA, you will have to replace the board for a later revision, as there are no revisions with the 'Voodoo3' jumper.

If you have any of the other boards, you can perform some rewiring - see the 'How can I get my Abit LX6, ASUS P2L97 or Gigabyte 6BXC, 6BXE or BX2000 working with the GeForce?' question.

Back to Index

Q. How can I get my Abit LX6, ASUS P2L97 or Gigabyte 6BXC, 6BXE or BX2000 working with the GeForce?

You may get lockups with these motherboards due to the fact that they may not operate according to the AGP specification - see the 'What's all this with the GeForce and early LX / BX / Via 133 motherboards?' question for more information. You may not get this problem with your motherboard however - if your card is operating properly there is no need to perform the following step!

The GeForce2 series does not have this problem because it uses a 0.18 micron architecture that requires less power.

There are some websites that have details as to how to get the motherboards working, with some rewiring... of course, this will invalidate your motherboard's warranty - use it as a last resort only!

The rewiring will mean that the linear voltage regulator that causes the problems is bypassed. The instructions may be for getting a Voodoo3 or TNT to work - however, the same solution will also work for the GeForce.

If this solution messes up your system, it's your problem.

The ASUS P2L97 only has this problem in revision 1.05 and any earlier sevisions.

For the Gigabyte motherboards, you may only need to set some jumpers - see the 'Will my Gigabyte 6BA, 6BXC, 6BXE or BX2000 work with the GeForce?' question in this FAQ. Otherwise, each of the pages on this German website has one picture of the motherboard, and one picture of the underside of the motherboard and the pins you must connect.

All three of these solutions have been confirmed to work.

You may also be able to fix this problem on the Gigabyte boards by increasing the FSB speed from 100 to 133. This will overclock your processor but may fix the problem. You may also be able to take down the CPU multipler by one or two steps in order to reduce the effects of the overclocking.

Back to Index

Q. I have an ASUS K7M, A7V or Abit BE6-II motherboard and I have instability or tearing problems with the GeForce. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I have an ASUS P3C-2000 motherboard, and I experience problems in 3D applications when the system is heavily loaded. How can I fix it?

This information was mailed to me by a Creative representative, and the information is straight from ASUS:

This problem was not found with systems built with 133MHz FSB CPUs. Neither was it observed with other AGP 4X capable graphics controllers such as the Matrox G400 and S3 Savage4. But for a 100MHz/100MHz CPU FSB/SDRAM configuration, the problem would only occur in AGP 4X mode and some P3C-2000 motherboards. To fix it, enable the reserved test mode by moving the JP5 jumper to the 2-3 pins on the motherboard whenever applicable. The test mode is designed to increase the noise margin and most systems were proved in our lab to workaround this problem in the test mode. If the test mode can not solve this problem, please contact us directly.

It is also possible to fix this with an extra capacitor on the motherboard, and as such in the later production versions of the board there is no longer a problem. You can tell if your board has been altered if it's version number is '1.12.' - the dot at the end of the version number indicates that it has been fixed (and of course any versions after '1.12.' will have been fixed too).

Back to Index

Q. I have an ASUS P3V4X motherboard and I have instability problems with the GeForce. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. How can I get my ASUS P5A working with my GeForce?

Back to Index

Q. How can I enable the overclocking utility in NVIDIA's drivers?
Q. How can I enable the VSYNC changing area of the NVIDIA control panel?

Back to Index

Q. How can I overclock in Linux?

Use NVClock - you can download a copy here:
http://www.evil3d.net/products/nvclock/

Back to Index

Q. How far can I overclock my card?

Different cards can be overclocked by different amounts, depending on how good the card's fan is, how good the case ventilation is, whether there are RAM heatsinks attached and so on. In addition some cards simply can't overclock as far as other cards because they're all slightly different due to the manufacturing process. I can't tell you how far your card will overclock - just follow these guidelines:

  1. Add an extra 5mhz or so to the current clock speed.
  2. Use a program like 3DMark to 'stress test' the card by running the tests 3 or 4 times.
  3. If you see visual corruption or the system crashes during the test, you've overclocked too far. Take yourself back down 5mhz - this is how far you can overclock.
  4. If the test ran correctly with no problems, go back to step 1.

If you overclock bit by bit, as described above, it is very unlikely that you will damage your card. If after this process you find that your card is crashing more often, take it down another 5mhz or so until it stops crashing.

Don't forget that you may be able to increase the core speed more than the memory, or the memory speed more than the core. In general increasing the memory speed will have a greater effect on speed than increasing the core speed.

Back to Index

Q. Coolbits doesn't work or I can only adjust my memory speed. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. Why can't I overclock higher than (insert speed here) when others are clocking much higher?

Back to Index

Q. How can I increase speed and stability for my GeForce in general?

Back to Index

Q. Where can I download demos to show off my GeForce?

Back to Index

Q. What Windows 9x/ME drivers should I use?

There are a number of driver sets that you can use:

Back to Index

Q. What Windows 2000/XP drivers should I use?

There are a number of driver sets that you can use:

Back to Index

Q. What Windows NT 4 drivers should I use?

There are a number of driver sets that you can use:

Back to Index

Q. What Linux drivers should I use and how do I install them?

Back to Index

Q. What BeOS drivers should I use?

You can download the 2000.09.30 Unified NVIDIA driver from the following website:
http://www.bebits.com/app/1622

Back to Index

Q. How can I find out what version of the drivers I am currently using?

The most reliable method is the information provided by the NVIDIA control panel - see the 'How do I get to the NVIDIA control panel and what should I set the settings to?' question.

At the bottom of the main control panel screen there will be a box labelled 'Driver Version Information'. All of the files should have the same version number. The last three characters of the version number are the driver version number - just divide the number by 100. (e.g. 650 = 6.50).

Back to Index

Q. What is the difference between the 3.xx, 5.xx, 6.xx, 7.xx, 8.xx, 10.xx, 11.xx, 12.xx, 21.xx, WHQL and non-WHQL versions of the drivers?

Back to Index

Q. How can I completely uninstall old NVIDIA GeForce or Creative Labs Annihilator drivers?

Back to Index

Q. How do I get to the NVIDIA control panel and what should I set the settings to?

The control panel consists of a number of tabs which have the NVIDIA logo on them.

You can find out what each setting does by right clicking on it and clicking 'What's This?'.

For most systems, the default settings are the best, but if you want to try tweaking them then give the following tweak guide a try - the settings in the control panel are covered in the guide as well as other settings:
http://www.tweak3d.net/tweak/geforce/

Back to Index

Q. How can I force AGP1X to be used instead of AGP2X or AGP4X?

There are a number of methods:

Note that forcing AGP1X from AGP2X or AGP4X may help with some problems such as instability, but will reduce performance slightly in certain 3D applications.

Back to Index

Q. How can I enable or disable AGP Fast Writes?

Note that in order to enable fast writes both your motherboard and your graphics card must support it. All GeFosce cards support Fast Writes, but not all motherboard chipsets do. In particular the various versions of the Intel i815 chipset do not support Fast Writes.

There are a number of methods:

Disabling Fast Writes may help with instability problems but may also cause 3D applications to run slower.

Back to Index

Q. How can I enable AGP Sidebanding?

Back to Index

Q. How can I enable OpenGL hardware accelerated anti-aliased lines on a non-Quadro card?

OpenGL hardware accelerated anti-aliased lines is a features that is only likely to be useful to people that use professional 3D modelling applications. It is unlikely that gamers will find this feature very useful, as it only speeds up the rendering of wireframe models.

The following registry key was found by Stefano G:

Back to Index

Q. What is the status of 2D stretched sprite smoothing in the latest drivers?
Q. What is the status of auto mip-mapping in the latest drivers?
Q. Can I force a 16-bit z-buffer in the latest drivers?

Back to Index

Q. How can I easily enable and change the quality of antialiasing?

Back to Index

Q. What do the different antialiasing options mean?

Back to Index

Q. How can I enable and change the quality of anisotropic filtering?

Anisotropic filtering makes textures that are far off appear less blurry and helps to eliminate 'texture aliasing' where textures appear to shimmer in the middle distance.

The 11.xx+ drivers enable anisotropic filtering, and provide a control panel option in OpenGL, but the code in the 11.01 control panel is buggy and doesn't work.

In the final 12.xx driver release enabling anisotropic filtering should be provided for in the NVIDIA control panel: in the mean time you can use registry files to force anisotropic filtering in all 3D applications:

Back to Index

Q. How can I enable AGP4X in the Detonator 5.16+ driver sets on my VIA 133mhz chipset motherboard?

Back to Index

Q. What are these Simpsons related registry keys that I just found (Bart, Homer, Krusty & Marge)?

They're all to do with the overclocking tab that is enabled in the NVIDIA control panel with Coolbits (see the 'How can I enable the overclocking utility in NVIDIA's drivers?' question for information on Coolbits). They are stored in the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Display\0000\NVIDIA\NVTweak\Hardware
registry key and are set when you first tick the 'Allow clock frequency adjustments' box in the NVIDIA control panel and are asked to restart.

Marge sets whether the panel is enabled or not, and the rest are all to do with the actual values and ranges of the overclocking sliders.

Back to Index

Q. How can I manually set refresh rates and force the refresh rate above 60hz?

You should be able to adjust refresh rates for the current display resolution and colour depth using the Display control panel under the 'Adaptor' settings. On most drivers 'Optimal' is the best setting, but some drivers do not pick the optimal refresh rates correctly and set the refresh rate to 60hz. You can tell this because your display will flicker. You can use the following tips to change all of the refresh rates easily:

(Note that under Windows 2000 there is a separate problem that means you cannot set your refresh rates above 75hz. See the 'I cannot set my refresh rate above 75hz under Windows 2000. How can I fix it?' question for more information and fixes for the problem.)

Back to Index

Q. How can I enable TV-OUT in Windows 2000 (and without a reboot)?

Back to Index

Q. How can I make the TV-OUT display stretch to the full size of my TV, and generally tweak TV-OUT?

Back to Index

Q. Where can I download drivers that support 3D glasses and how can I fix problems with them?

NVIDIA now supply a 3D stereo driver for 3D glasses on their homepage along with the driver links. The driver works under Windows 9x/ME and Windows 2000/XP. There is also an extensive manual which includes a Tips and Troubleshooting section available on their site:
http://www.nvidia.com/

Some of the following information was taken from the now-defunct Stereovision.net:

Back to Index

Q. Hardware accelerated OpenGL doesn't seem to be working at all in Windows XP. How can I fix it?

The default drivers that are supplied with Windows XP do not support hardware accelerated OpenGL. If you download and install any set of drivers mentioned in the 'What Windows 2000/XP drivers should I use?' question the problem should be solved.

Back to Index

Q. I cannot set my refresh rate above 75hz under Windows 2000. How can I fix it?

In Windows 2000 for some drivers some people cannot set the refresh rate above 75hz even if they use the NVIDIA Refresh Rate Fix program. It appears that some monitors do not send DDC information correctly, and these drivers use the DDC information to set refresh rates - Philips monitors are fine but other makes like iiyama are not. The following fixes help for some people but not others:

Back to Index

Q. When I resume from monitor power saving modes in Windows 9x/ME, I get display corruption and / or instability problems, or my card seems slower than usual. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. The Overlay Color Control tab of the NVIDIA control panel is greyed out. How can I enable it?

This is by design in the latest driver sets. The Overlay Color Control tab is only enabled when you actually have an overlay in use. To enable the controls, run a video (AVI or Quicktime) or a DVD in the background while the control panel is open.

Back to Index

Q. I installed DirectX 8 and it caused more problems than it fixed. How can I uninstall it?

There are various DirectX uninstallers available - you should be able to find one at Reactor Critical:
http://www.reactorcritical.com/

Note that some of the problems relating to DirectX 8 may be fixed when you use the drivers optimised for DirectX 8 - 10.xx onwards.

Back to Index

Q. Why I can't enable hardware acceleration in PowerDVD 3.0 under Windows 2000?

This information is taken from the PowerDVD 3.0 readme file:

For most display chips and integrated chipsets, Hardware Motion Compensation and Subpicture Alpha blending is only available for most display cards under Windows 98 and Windows ME due to Windows 2000 driver limitations. Under Windows 2000, only SiS630 (integrated chipset) and SiS300 (display chip) are supported.

Back to Index

Q. When I install the 5.xx series of drives Windows 9x/ME locks up at the bootup screen. How can I fix it?

Make sure that your GeForce card is not sharing any IRQs with another card (with the exception of the 'IRQ Holder for PCI Steering' device which will always use the same IRQ as the GeForce). If you find that the GeForce is sharing an IRQ with a PCI or ISA card, in the case of a PCI card try moving the PCI card to another slot (avoid the slot directly next to the AGP slot as this usually shares an IRQ with the AGP slot) or, in the case of an ISA card, reconfigure the card to use another IRQ.

Back to Index

Q. When I install the 2x.xx series of drivers Windows 2000/XP I get instability problems, insufficient virtual memory errors or an error (possibly about an infinite loop) in nv4_disp.dll. How can I fix it?

Unfortunately there is no 'catch-all' fix at the moment. In the mean time try the tips on the following page:
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=64

Back to Index

Q. I get 'Out Of Memory' errors although I have plenty of RAM installed. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. How can I stop the 'Render no more than x frame(s) ahead' option from resetting to zero when 'Vertical Sync' is set to 'Always Off'?

This is a known bug with the current NVIDIA control panel. Every time that you enter the 'More Direct3D' dialog the value is reset to zero, even though your original value is still displayed.

To fix this, you have to set the value every time you enter the 'More Direct3D' dialog, even if it seems that the value displayed is correct. Hopefully NVIDIA will fix this bug soon.

Back to Index

Q. I have downloaded some drivers and they have an nvalm.inf file instead of an nvagp.inf file. I can't get them to install properly. What's up?

Drivers with this file generally support languages other than English in the NVIDIA control panel.

Back to Index

Q. I installed the VIA AGP drivers under Windows 2000 but they don't seem to have had any effect (the names of the devices have not changed). How can I fix this?

If you find that even after installing the VIA 4in1 drivers your devices are still called AMD devices, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Control Panel, System, and select your AMD AGP-to-CPU Device.
  2. Choose Update Drivers, select 'Have Disc'.
  3. Select the place where you unzipped the AGP 4in1 drivers, and then select the Win2K subdirectory. You can ignore any warnings.
  4. Reboot the computer. You should see that the device is now called VIA AGP-to-CPU.

Back to Index

Q. I get a blue screen of death when I close Windows ME. How can I fix it?

Note that these solutions may not fix the problem for everyone.

Back to Index

Q. TV-OUT is greyed out on my TV-OUT capable GeForce. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. Does my VIVO module allow me to use Video for Windows applications or only DirectShow?

Most manufacturer's drivers only allow for DirectShow access to the VIVO module, which means that only newer applications can use the video in functions. However, ASUS provide a VfW 'wrapper' with their drivers, which means that you can use both sorts of applications.

Back to Index

Q. I get errors involving desk.cpl. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I get crashes involving DDHELP.EXE. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I get horizontal lines when I watch certain DivX ;-) movies under Windows 2000. How can I fix it?

This is a known problem with the Detonator 2 (5.xx) drivers. Try using the Detonator 3 (6.xx) or later drivers.

Back to Index

Q. I cannot view videos in overlay mode if they are wider than 704 pixels horizontally, or if the width is not a multiple of 32. What's going on?

There is a freeware utility developed to fix a problem with the Matrox G400 series and Divx ;-) playback when the width of the movie isn't a multiple of 32. This utility also works with the GeForce series. In addition to the playback issue, it adds support for subtitles in Windows Media Player, even in fullscreen mode. You can find it here:
http://www.tac.ee/~prr/videoutils/DivXG400.1_91.zip

Back to Index

Q. What games work and don't work with the GeForce?

There is a list being compiled here:
http://www.daytonsmisc.com/geforce.htm

If you have any games not currently included on the list that do / do not work, email the author:
sal@ispchannel.com

Back to Index

Q. I get flashing menus in various games. How can I fix it?

This may occur in games like Battlezone 2, Urban Chaos, Trespasser and Deer Hunter 4.

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with Shogun: Total War. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with The Sims. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with Giants: Citizen Kabuto. How can I fix them?

NVIDIA drivers above 6.xx may cause problems with environmental mapping and shadows. Currently the only way to solve it is to launch a level twice (although the problem does not manifest itself in multiplayer mode).

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with Shogo: Mobile Armor Division. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I get various visual problems with Dagoth Moor Zoological Gardens with Windows 2000. Can I fix them?

Unfortunately in the current drivers there are some issues with Dagoth Moor Zoological Gardens. There is no current known fix.

Back to Index

Q. I get an orange screen with Dagoth Moor Zoological Gardens. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I get flickering in Rogue Spear. How can I fix it?

Check that you have all the settings in the 'What are the recommended BIOS settings for a GeForce?' question are set correctly.

Back to Index

Q. Wizards & Warriors is too dark in the dungeons. How can I fix it?

Read the following page, download the patch and change the command line in the way mentioned:
http://www.heuristicpark.com/techhelp.htm

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with Diablo 2. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with Midtown Madness 1 or 2. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I get what looks like missing polygons on the wheels and seat of the bike in Motocross Madness. How can I fix it?

This is a known bug and NVIDIA are looking into it.

Back to Index

Q. Microsoft Baseball 2000 quits or crashes when I run it. How can I fix it?

There is a Microsoft Knowledge Base article about this problem:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q252/4/04.ASP.

Back to Index

Q. I have problems with Need for Speed 5: Porsche. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. How can I enable mipmapping in Rollcage Stage 2 on my GeForce3?

Unfortunately, at the moment you will have to install the card as a GeForce2 inside Windows if you want mipmapping to work.

Back to Index

Q. What Glide wrapper works best with UltraHLE and the GeForce?

GlČide works best with the GeForce. You can find a copy by searching the Web.

Back to Index

Q. I get texture corruption in Populous 3. How can I fix it?

Setting the texture alignment in the NVIDIA control panel to 0 may help the problem.

Back to Index

Q. I get horizontal lines in Final Fantasy 8. How can I fix them?

Install the latest NVIDIA patch for Final Fantasy 8.

The US English version is available here:
ftp://ftp.ea.com/pub/ea/patches/ff8/FF8SqeaNVPatch.zip

The UK English version is available here:
ftp://ftp.eidos.co.uk/pub/uk/final_fantasy_8/patches/FF8EidosEngNVPatch.zip

The French version is available here:
ftp://ftp.eidos.co.uk/pub/fr/final_fantasy_8/patches/FF8EidosFreNVPatch.zip

The German version is available here:
ftp://ftp.eidos.co.uk/pub/de/final_fantasy_8/Patches/FF8EidosGerNVPatchV12.zip

Back to Index

Q. I get problems with Star Trek: Armada. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I get problems with X-Wing Alliance. How can I fix them?

If you get problems with white textures, use the 10.50+ drivers.

Back to Index

Q. I get problems with Serious Sam. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I get very poor performance with Deus Ex. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. I get screen corruption with Deus Ex. How can I fix it?

The 6.xx series of drivers and the 7.xx before 7.52 all cause problems with Deus Ex in Direct3D mode. Try switching to a later set and see if this fixes the problem.

Back to Index

Q. I get problems in Messiah, especially when enabling T&L. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I get problems with No One Lives Forever. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. I get problems with Half-Life. How can I fix them?

Back to Index

Q. Half-Life is too dark. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. When I join a game or start a LAN game in Half-Life I never enter the game. How can I fix it?

This problem only occurs when you enable the console using the -console command line switch.

You can fix it by changing the Buffer Flipping Mode in the OpenGL tab of the NVIDIA control panel to 'Block Transfer'.

Back to Index

Q. I have Counter-Strike and a GeForce 2 Ultra 64MB DDR and my framerate drops dramatically whenever there is more than one person (myself) connected to a server. What's up?

This is a very unusual problem but one that has been experienced by a number of people. Getting a different model GeForce card (the GeForce 3, or the GeForce 2 MX) appears to fix the problem, but apart from that currently there is no known fix.

Strangely enough, it seems that most of the conflicts appear with people using AMD Athlon 750mhz processors.

Back to Index

Q. Quake is very dark. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. Players 'phase' while I play Quake 1. How can I fix it?

If you find that players are visible one frame and then not visible the next at certain points in the game, there are a few possible solutions:

Back to Index

Q. When I ALT-TAB while playing Quake 1, I get problems. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. Quake 2 is very dark. How can I fix it?

Type these three commands at the console:

If you don't like these settings, try:

Back to Index

Q. When I use my GeForce in Quake 2 my ping rises dramatically. How can I fix it?

You need to limit your framerate - the GeForce is too fast and is causing your system to be swamped. Use the following console command:

where x is a value around which your framerate will be limited to. Try values from 30 to 60.

Back to Index

Q. How can I get the best possible image quality from Quake 3 Arena?

Firstly, adjust all settings to High Quality in the menu options of Quake 3 Arena, and then set Geometry Detail to High and Texture Detail to the extreme right hand side.

These settings were suggested by John Carmack in order to make the best use of the GeForce - type them in the console:

If you want to undo these settings, just select a geometry detail level inside the game.

If you want to undo these settings, set cg_shadows back to 1.

However, the shadows options may slow you down quite significantly - they're not recommended if you're into huge 20 player frag fests!

Back to Index

Q. How can I get SMP working with Quake 3 Arena under Windows 2000?

Back to Index

Q. On some levels in Quake 3 Arena I get severe slowdowns with all of the settings maxed out. How can I fix this?

Back to Index

Q. The sky looks blocky and textures have strange colours in Quake 3 Arena with the latest drivers installed. How can I fix this?

This is a by-product of the S3TC support in the latest drivers. Basically the S3TC format used by default in Quake 3 Arena (DXTC1) forces textures to be in 16-bit colour instead of 32-bit.

Back to Index

Q. Quake 3 Arena looks very dark in Windows 2000. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. Some of the textures in Diamond's special S3TC level 'dmmq3dm3' for Quake 3 Arena are white. How can I fix this?

Install the latest drivers from NVIDIA. Driver versions 5.13+ fix this problem.

Back to Index

Q. I get flickering textures in Quake 3 Arena and Windows 9x/ME. How can I fix it?

Type the following at the console:

Back to Index

Q. I get tearing on Quake 3 Arena, whether I set VSYNC on or off. How can I fix this?

Back to Index

Q. How can I speed up Unreal Tournament on my GeForce?

Back to Index

Q. I get mouse lag in Unreal Tournament. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. The menu text in Unreal Tournament is distorted. How can I fix it?

In the GeForce Direct3D options, reset the Texture Alignment back to 3.

Back to Index

Q. If I turn on precaching in Unreal Tournament it crashes. How can I fix this?

Back to Index

Q. What DVD software can I use with my GeForce?

You can use any DVD software with the GeForce, but some software supports the GeForce's DVD acceleration features (Motion Compensation - MC) so that CPU utilisation is reduced while the DVD is playing.

Back to Index

Q. When I enable Hardware Acceleration in PowerDVD the image quality falls. How can I fix it?

Select the 'Force Weave' option instead of 'Auto Select' in Configuration/Video/Video Mode.

Back to Index

Q. When I enable Hardware Acceleration in PowerDVD it either crashes or gives me an error message. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. DVD playback seems slow with my ALI chipset based motherboard. How can I fix it?

Download the AGP Utility from the following page:
http://www.ali.com.tw/eng/support/drivers/aladdin_5_driver.htm
and set the following settings:

Back to Index

Q. Is there an update available for the WinDVD software supplied with the Annihilator?

Yes, there is an update to take the WinDVD supplied with the Annihilator and Annihilator Pro (version 1.3.1) to version 1.3.5 (equivalent to WinDVD 2000). This patch will allow installation under Windows NT 4 but disables S/PDIF support.

The patch is available here - it is multilingual and should work for all language versions:
http://www.americas.creative.com/support/files/download.asp?Centric=56&descID=938

Back to Index

Q. When I try to play MPEG files with Windows Media Player I get out-of-sync sound/green bars/too large playback. I have WinDVD installed. How can I fix it?

This solution was provided by X-Default User-X:

What you have to do is rename, delete, or unregister (your choice) the two *.ax files in the Program Files\InterVideo directory. The files should be named:

You can unregister the files easily by using DVD Genie, available to download here:
http://www.inmatrix.com

These are DirectShow filters that allow Windows Media player to play DVDs (provided you know how to enable it via a registry hack) and MPEG2 VOB files. They were primarily designed for the few DVD games out there that use MPEG2 videos for their cut scenes. For some reason, they also take the task of playing regular MPEG1 files when the original filters that come with Windows Media Player 6.4 are more than adequate.

Registering/unregistering DirectShow filters will not affect WinDVD's ability to play DVD movies.

Back to Index

Q. When I start Microsoft Expedia Streets and Trips 2000 or Microsoft Autoroute Express 2000 (Europe and Great Britain), my computer hangs. How can I fix it?

There is a Microsoft Knowledge Base article about the Expedia problem, which appears to also cover Autoroute:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q248/3/26.ASP

Back to Index

Q. I have problems running SoftIce on my GeForce. How can I fix it?

Back to Index

Q. Why does my 3DMark2000 score drop by about 200 when I install drivers based on 3.62 and above?

Dynamic lighting is enabled in the 3.62 and above drivers, which looks much nicer but is slower. Look at the rockets in the helicopter demo - they light up the ground as they pass in 3.62+.

Back to Index

Q. Why can't I run the 64MB texture test in 3DMark2000, even when I've got enough memory?

Back to Index


All trademarks used are properties of their respective owners.
All rights reserved. All pages Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Christopher Hill.
Any and all emails sent regarding this site to Christopher Hill will become property of Christopher Hill.