Refresh rate and BIOS question

pete159 · Jul 6, 2003, 05:58 PM

I just insstalled the drivers for win 98.
so far nothing has sqrewed up

When i installed the drivers i had an option of 3 refresh rates... i had no idea which to pick so i just picked the first and lowest one.
I have an ATI al in wonder radeon 32 meg card.
Should i have chosen a different one?
I was also looking at the bios tweaks. Im dumb with computers so i dont understand any of it. Should i bother touching my bios settings, will it make much of a difference?

toddsmack2k · Jul 7, 2003, 08:39 AM

1. As far as your refresh rate that somewhat depends on your monitor and what its highest refresh rates are. As a rule of thumb at least 85hz and up.
2. For your graphics card choice well there are always better options out there. What was your budget? What did you upgrade from and what do you use your computer for mostly(gaming, running graphics applications, or just surfing the web)?
3. What bios tweaks are you talking about?

We could really use all of your system specs to better help you out.

Welcome to Driverheaven pete159!

Senior Citizen · Jul 7, 2003, 06:38 PM

Those refresh rate options are only for unusual resolutions. I forgot what they were. I believe they are resolution that the ATI boards are not programed for but his drivers are.

~~Optimummind~~ · Jul 7, 2003, 07:16 PM

1. Refresh Rates: 85HZ is good but it may be overkill. The human eye can detect flickers and tears in the monitor when the refresh rate is set to 60HZ and below. Experts recommend 75HZ, which is also the number most monitors support. If you're monitor is less 8 years old, 75HZ should be supported at a screen resolution of 1024x768. If you aren't sure about your monitor specifications, try to find a manual that came with your computer. If you don't have a manual, look behind your monitor for a sticker that lists your monitor's manufacturer, serial number (S/N), product number (P/N), or model name. Then, find that manufacturer's web site through Google.com and look up your product.

If you still can't find the information about yoru monitor, you can use a software program like "Aida 32" or "SisSoft Sandra 2002/2003" to get information about your monitor.

2. BIOS: You generally don't need to change any settings in BIOS if you're a casual computer user. If you overclock your components (CPU, RAM, videocard), you'll have to change some BIOS settings like AGP aperture size, FSB multiplier, AGP/PCI ratio, FSB/RAM ratio, etc.

Seeing how you're unfamiliar with the BIOS, though, I would recommend that you check out this site first before you do anything. If your computer is a Hewitt Packard or Dell, or some other large OEM manufacturer's, you may not be able to access all of the BIOS settings. Some large companies lock out the BIOS menu cuz their customers may mess up their system by mistake.

Also, if you're gonna decide to overclock your computer through the BIOS, get good cooling tools first--CPU cooler, RAM cooler, videocard memory cooler,etc.

funbill · Jul 9, 2003, 08:16 PM

What is the difference between khz and hz? Some options on my monitor include 63.8Khz 100hz, 62.5khz 100hz, 53.7Khz, 85hz, etc.

~~Optimummind~~ · Jul 10, 2003, 01:49 AM

equals 1 Khz.

As for those number values pertaining to your monitor, the number in front of the "HZ" symbol denotes your current refresh rate. You don't generally have to worry about the value for the "KHZ" setting.

If you have a number of 75 in front of the "HZ" sign, you're in good shape.

Senior Citizen · Jul 10, 2003, 04:52 PM

hz (Hertz)=cycles per second . khz=thousand cycles per second.
Example 53.7 khz=53,700 cycles. As per the post above don't concern yourself with khz. A refresh rate of 60hz on my monitor hurts my eyes, I can see it flickering. I have mine set for 85hz for desktop and games.