Ahh... you DO NOT have the ATI CCC installed then. CCC requires the installation of the .NET Framework, and is far more compicated than is required of a simple registry tweaker. Though, from what I understand CCC is kinda cool to look at and play with... if you're into that sort of thing. Me, I play games. Just give me a simple tweaking tool like Radlinker (in your pic above).Greg

"I think you may have missed that one or maybe your typing finger slipped."Nope, Mike, is was purely a mistake on my part. :-) But could see a difference in PhotoShop at 250%... not much though. Certainly not enough to make me think I'm missing something important by not running 6X AA. My choice is to use those resources to enhance AF.Cheers,Greg

"My choice is to use those resources to enhance AF."...fair enough.BTW I edited my last post with a further suggestion you might like to consider.Mike

Thanks Greg for those shots. It is a very small difference but I can see it. At least I can now debate with myself whether it is worth to sacrifice some performance for this or not.Do you have any opinion about this post made by Jaap above (note from Microsoft about AGP drivers)?. If you are not using the VIA chipset then this may not concern you.Michael J.WinXP-Home,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8, Radeon X800 Pro,WD 36GB Raptor,1 GB PC3200 http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

"Do you have any opinion about this post made by Jaap above (note from Microsoft about AGP drivers)?."Uhmmm... I was hoping to avoid this, but since you asked you must now promise to not be offended by what you're about to read.I steadfastly refuse to own another VIA chipset board. If someone gave me one I would stomp the life out of it before it did the same to me. I had hoped to upgrade to a 939 based system by now but will hold off until I find a nForce board I like. I won't allow myself to be drawn into the VIA experience again.There, I feel better now. :-) Having gotten that off my chest, let's look objectively at the problems you (and others) have been having. For me this all comes down to being a bus problem, most importantly the AGP side of things. Those who have posted here of your problems seem to share that commonality.And that points to either the chipset or drivers or both. Having had my experiences with VIA, my vote would be both.Your video card is certainly up to the task, but if it can't reliably and smoothly be fed data then all of it becomes an excercise in frustration. And your CPU is a great choice (especially for gaming). Your memory looks to be fine. So that brings us back to the motherboard. And one of the most important aspects of a motherboard (pertaining to gaming) is the chipset.I think Jaap's idea has alot of merit and is certainly worth a try. Just be certain to thoroughly clean away any left over VIA stuff you won't need.But I would first try the 4.53 Hyperion's dated 16 August 2004 http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=2 . I would allow the package to install the AGP driver, then if you see no difference from what you're now experiencing remove it and let Windows step in with it's driver (it can't be any worse than VIA's).For the record, my last system used an AMD chipset, but with a VIA Southbridge. I never installed the VIA drivers... simply went with the drivers MS includes in XP. And it ran OK for gaming. That system is now my wife's and is rock solid (primarily because of the AMD Northbridge, but I believe part of her stability stems from not having ANY VIA drivers on board).Good luck,GregP.S. Here's my vision of VIA's driver writers... picture a bunch of gorilla's sitting around computers banging on the keyboards. Viola! a new driver package from VIA. (I bet I won't be receiving any Christmas cards from VIA after this post. :-) ).Edited for typos

>the package to install the AGP driver, then if you see no>difference from what you're now experiencing Greg, I think I was misunderstood. I am actually not experiencing any problem. I was simply trying to comply with Microsoft's bulletin about using AGP drivers that come with SP2. The problem is I am unable to make the procedure for uninstallation/installation work (as per their write-up) so my only recourse is to return to what I had before - which is fine. Michael J.WinXP-Home,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8, Radeon X800 Pro,WD 36GB Raptor,1 GB PC3200 http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

"Greg, I think I was misunderstood."Jeez, I need to get some sleep!!I thought I had read somewhere here that you were having problems with stutters. Too tired to go through all the threads right now.I see no reason why you can't run off the Windows drivers. You might have to force the install in Add Hardware, but that's easy enough.Instead of rolling back the VIA CPU to AGP2.0/AGP3.0 Controller did you try simply uninstalling it (from Device Manager)?Also, you should uninstall the Omegas (and do the DriverCleaner thing as well) before trying to do anything with the CPU to AGP driver.1) Remove the Omegas using the Window's Add/remove function.2) Uninstall the CPU to AGP driver in Device Manager.3) Reboot into Safe Mode and use DriverCleaner per it's Readme to clean away the Omegas.4) Reboot back into Windows. If it doesn't want to install the Windows CPU to AGP driver force the install using Add Hardware.5) Reboot and then install the Omegas.Of course there is another option you might consider... leave the VIA AGP driver onboard. If it ain't broke don't fix it!I'm off to get some sleep,Greg

>4) If it doesn't want to install>the Windows CPU to AGP driver force the install using Add>Hardware.This point is interesting. I did remove the VIA driver using the device manager. But after that I did not install anything - except the Omega drivers which I previously uninstalled. Is there anything else I need to install and how? Is there some default Windows AGP driver that somehow I should find and install?>Of course there is another option you might consider... leave>the VIA AGP driver onboard. If it ain't broke don't fix it!I can always do that ...Michael J.WinXP-Home,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8, Radeon X800 Pro,WD 36GB Raptor,1 GB PC3200 http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

"Is there anything else I need to install and how?"When you rebooted after uninstalling the VIA AGP driver did Windows not pop up that "Found New Hardware" window? If not then force the install in Add Hardware.Click on "Add Hardware" in Control Panel. When it asks you if you have installed the new hardware click on "Yes". Windows will search your system. If it finds nothing it will ask you if you've already installed the hardware. Click on "yes" and then a list of all your hardware will come up. If you don't see the controller on that list then close out the window and go to plan B.In Device Manager, near the bottom of the list, is a section called "System Devices". Open that up and you should see the CPU to AGP controller there... and it should have a yellow "?" beside it. Try to update the driver there.If there is no yellow "?" in the system devices section then I'm left scratching my head.Greg

>When you rebooted after uninstalling the VIA AGP driver did>Windows not pop up that "Found New Hardware" window? Yes, I saw something like that but I thought I was being prompted for Windows to search for the driver on the internet. I always clicked "cancel".Do I absolutely have to uninstall Omega drivers to go through this procedure?Michael J.WinXP-Home,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8, Radeon X800 Pro,WD 36GB Raptor,1 GB PC3200 http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg