I just got a new ViewSonic P225fB monitor and have a Radeon 9800 Pro 256 video card. ViewSonic advertises that this monitor will go to a 99Hz refresh rate with the resolution set to 1600 x 1200. ATI advertises that their Radeon 9800 Pro 256 will allow for 120Hz at 1600 x 1200 resolution. However, when I open up the ATI Control Panel and check for the available refresh rates ("Hide modes that this monitor cannot display" is checked), the only values I have are for 60 thru 85 Hz, and with the "Hide modes..." unchecked, I see up to 200 Hz available max. I'm using the Catalyst 4.7 drivers. I called ViewSonic Tech Support and the fellow there said that the video card is the limiting factor in this issue. Since I've had problems with this card in the past (and maybe still - will find out within the week or two), I am inclined to believe him. However, I'm a bit ignorant in this area, so I want to try and understand exactly which direction I need to turn in to resolve this (if indeed, there is even anything wrong). Can anyone here please explain why I might not be able to up the refresh rates more than I am given the current setup (without damaging my hardware, that is)? If I have a problem with a brand new monitor, I want to start going after a warranty fix immediately.MANY thanks for the help!Glenn

Glenn,Are you using that new fangled ATI control panel or the older one? The reason I ask is that I too was unable to set my AOC 19" monitor to only a few settings with the newer control panel. Once I removed it and installed the older version with the current Cat 4.10 drivers, I could set both the monitor and display refresh settings. See attached pictures.Hope this helps.Terry

AHHH! No, I'm using the Control Panel that came with the 4.7 drivers, so I'm not sure if that's the older style or the newer one, to be honest. My panel looks identical to yours though, so we're probably using the same one.HOWEVER! I've been trying to set my refresh rates in the screen that you show in your second image (at the basic monitor tab). There I see what you are seeing, 85 Hz. In the "Displays" Tab, under "Monitor", I see your first image on my machine, except I have "Use DDC" checked (I've not always had it checked though). My problem is, I don't understand exactly what the DDC is (I still only see 85Hz whether it is checked or not, but always have it unchecked when in FS as I can't set the resolutions I want otherwise). Here's what I'm seeing in those same screens on my machine:http://home.cogeco.ca/~gdfs01/Monitor01.jpghttp://home.cogeco.ca/~gdfs01/Monitor02.jpgNow, if I deselect the DDC button, I can adjust the Max Resolution and Refresh rates manually. However, I've never actually done this and have always set the refresh rate at the main "Monitor" tab (Image #2). So I'm now rather confused as to what is being set where, and with reference to image #1, what exactly is that telling me (i.e. what does "Max Reported Resolution" and "Max Reported Refresh Rate" mean). Am I really at 85 Hz, or is the monitor being adjusted automatically here? (can you tell I'm royally confused :-hmmm)Thanks Terry - any clarification here would be very much appreciated!Glenn

Have you installed the .inf file for your monitor? I think that this is where control panel or whatever gets the info on your monitor's capabilities. You can download it from Viewsonic's web site.David

Glenn, I believe the DDC is used only when you have a "Digital" input to your monitor which most likely is a LCD. I do not have one yet so I "De-select" it when I do my monthly ATI Cat driver updates. My ATI panel settings might look a little different from yours to in that my AOC 9Glr monitor is "So" old (1998) that the company (AOC) does not even support it with drivers or inf files that David was refering to. I just loaded up the new ATI Cat 4.11 (November's) drivers. http://www.ati.com/ They are located on the left side of this link. I use the smaller one (26Mb)which has a control panel like in my and your pictures. The larger one is the "Newer" style and I have not had good luck with them. Also you have to run some sort of extra Microsoft communication program so that is another reason I prefer the older sytle. I feel that the less items running in the background, the better performance I will see in FS2004.One thing you need to do when upgrading your video card drivers each month is to insure you "Un-install" the old ones prior to loading the new ones. That way there is less chance of getting a bad load. ATI has written instructions for removing and replacing these drivers. Hope this helps with the confusion. Once you have figured out what is going on, they seem to change the programs and usually not for the better. : )Terry

Hi Guys,OK, I went to the ViewSonic website, but couldn't find inf files per se, although I did see drivers for this monitor (see further down though). Insofar as the ATI drivers go, I tried to update to the 4.10 last month and got a failed install, which caused no end of grief (I followed ATI's instruction of using Control Panel > Add/Remove Software, then removed the Control Panel first followed by the drivers). When I went to install the new drivers, it gave me a "failed" message and their suggestion then was to edit the registry in a number of places to get rid of all the old drivers first! No way, guys (one reason I'm thinking of switching to NVidia again). However, after uninstalling the drivers, on the reboot required before installing the new drivers, Windows XP detected the card and installed its own drivers, which is possibly what caused the failure. Alternatively, I was trying to install the larger package (I do have Net Framework installed), and maybe that was the issue, I really don't know. To me, there are 2 odd things here - first is that apparently ATI has an "Uninstall" program that can be used to uninstall old drivers and whatnot, but then tell you in the release notes/install directions, to use Windows Control Panel... . Why would this be, and secondly just where is this uninstall program? The only place I've seen it is in the Control Panel > Add/Remove Hardware. Anyway, be that as it may, rather than edit the registry I went back and did a restore then reinstalled the 4.7 drivers again. I'm a bit afraid to do any further ATI updates now, to be honest, and if I do, I think I'll reboot first into SAFE/VGA mode and do the uninstall from there, then the reinstall.OK, sorry, I got off track. I managed to contact ViewSonic and waded through their system until I actually got to talk to a real Tech. He said that to access the higher refresh rates, you need to UNcheck that "Hide Monitor.... " box in the Monitor Properties. I did, and sure enough, all the higher refresh rates are there. I asked if there was a danger in wrecking one's monitor by selecting the higher rates, and he said no. It is preferable to stay within the book values on setting the rates, but if you select a rate that is outside the monitor's or video card's capabilities, you'll lose your video. With Windows XP, all you have to do if this happens is wait 15 seconds and it will revert back again, and you can try for something lower. The "Hide Monitor... " check box is more a Windows and/or safety thing so people don't accidently exceed their specs then be panicking and calling tech support left, right and centre. Eighty-five Hz is a pretty safe number and almost any monitor and card now-a-days can run there without stressing it. OK, all that said (sorry, this is getting kind of long), all I really wanted to confirm with ViewSonic was that my monitor was not broken. I plan to leave the refresh rate at 85 as it is absolutely smooth there, I get good performance in my projects (FS, photo-editing with PS), etc. So, I see no reason to actually change it, but this stuff is good to know in case one does want to up the values for some reason.Whew :-). Terry, if you wouldn't mind, could you tell me if you do anything different than I did to update your ATI drivers (i.e. doing it in SAFE mode), and if not, how do you prevent Windows from installing it's own version of the drivers when you do the reboot following the uninstall? This bugs me, as I've updated ATI drivers in the past with no problems. Why now should be different, I really don't know. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks very much folks, and especially Terry, for the help.Glenn

So the guy from ViewSonic said "don't worry, be happy" about those higher speeds? Remember, ViewSonic is in the business to sell products!I would review any ViewSonic documentation that may have come with the monitor or on their website indicating the available speeds. I wouldn't push the monitor to the ultimate ends of the spectrum. As with most things, everything in moderation is best.Higher speeds means higher voltages, higher heat, etc. If you start to hear the monitor singing it may be time to lower the speeds.W. Sieffert

Oh, I agree completely! The manual says that you mustn't exceed the MAX values allowed or you'll wipe out most of the free world (my insert :-) ), but up to that, you are fine. However, I'm keeping mine set at 85 Hz for that extra "comfort margin". That's well below what I can run it at, but as you say, why push it. They also list a set of "recommended settings" in their manual, and it lists 85 Hz for most resolutions. So, that's fine by me. I just wanted to make sure I didn't have a faulty monitor or driver set, but everything seems in order. I was also hoping to learn a bit more about the interaction between the monitor and video card, and I've done that as well, so all is good :-).Thanks for the input :-). Appreciate it.Glenn

Glenn, Here is the info you ask about. I took two pictures of what I have on my computer. The one with the yellow circle shows the ATI un-install program in the add/remove section of the control panel. The red circle shows the ATI folder that "Remains" after the unistall program is suppose to remove all of the old program/driver. (For some reason the folder name "ATI" did not show on the picture. Must be hidden behind the info box.)As you might have seen before, for some reason, when you un-install programs in windows, not all of the folders and files go away. I do not know why Micrsoft leaves all of this trash but they do. TerryPS: Someone said that we should be able to delete program via their owner un-install programs icons/lines but using the control panel method is the prefered way.

Thanks Terry. Yes, I see that Uninstall Program in my Control Panel as well, but the question is, how does one access it to uninstall the CP and drivers? I assume this window allows you to uninstall the uninstaller, not uninstall the drivers per se? In the end, I'll probably use the "Add/Remove Programs" function in Windows if and when I decide to give this another go. This shouldn't be this hard (as the saying goes :-) ).Thanks again Terry.Glenn

Glenn, When you highlight the un-installer for the ATI drivers in the control panel it "Does" remove everything. (almost) Remember to delete that folder (pic #2)which has the old drivers still in it but are not activated. You will also know the drivers are un-installed when your screen resolution goes back to the default settings. Then all you have to do is to in-stall your newest drivers.Terry