Author Topic: Frame rates went downhill after changing OS, from ME to XP (Read 999 times)

eskimo2 · « **on:** October 13, 2004, 11:58:05 PM »

When my system was running on ME, I was getting frame rates of 40 to 60+. (1024 resolution)
I just installed a new HD and Windows XP Home. Frame rates have dropped to 15 to 35; most often when things get busy I can see the individual frames (1024 resolution).
Other that the new HD, my hardware is identical. My drivers and settings, however, are of course different in some areas. I pretty much left all settings and drivers at the default that Windows chose and downloaded NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 drivers. I have no idea if I had different drivers while running ME. I don’t recall if I ever tweaked my cards settings, and don’t have a clue what might help my frame rates and where exactly to make the changes.

I’ve used Spybot advanced > tools > system start up > to shut down al unnecessary BS programs. I manually shut down Avast antivirus before starting AH. I don’t have a clue about what processes in the Windows task manager I should mess with.

In AH Video setup I run at 1024 resolution, have dropped the max texture size down to 256 (that should make things faster, right?), Max frame rate = unlimited, and have no checked boxes in Textures.

Here are my system specs according to the Belarc Advisor:
Operating System Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600)
System Model ECS K7AMA 1.0 Asset Tag: 0123ABC
Processor 1.40 gigahertz AMD Athlon
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Board: ECS K7AMA 1.0
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 062710 07/15/97
Drives Memory Modules c,d
80.00 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
58.83 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
ST380013A [Hard drive] (80.03 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 5JVDNTBH, rev 8.01, SMART Status: Healthy 1024 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot '0' has 512 MB
Slot '1' has 512 MB
Slot '2' is Empty
Slot '3' is Empty
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 (Microsoft Corporation) [Display adapter]
ViewSonic A90f+ [Monitor] (17.7"vis, s/n 351031950334, May 2003)
ALi Audio Accelerator WDM driver
CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device
Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
CH Control Manager Aux1 Device
CH Control Manager Aux2 Device
CH Control Manager Root Device
CH Fighterstick USB
CH Fighterstick USB Hardware
CH Pro Pedals USB
CH Pro Pedals USB Hardware
CH Pro Throttle USB
CH Pro Throttle USB Hardware
HID Keyboard Device
PC/AT Enhanced PS/2 Keyboard (101/102-Key)
HID-compliant mouse
Microsoft PS/2 Mouse
NT Apm/Legacy Interface Node
Generic USB Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
Virus Protection
No details available
Installed Microsoft Hotfixes
Internet Explorer
SP2 (SP2)
Windows XP
SP3
KB834707 on 10/13/2004 (details...)
KB885884 on 10/13/2004 (details...)

So, how can I get my frame rates back up?

Thanks,

eskimo

Kev367th · « **Reply #1 on:** October 14, 2004, 01:05:26 AM »

There are a lot more services running in the background under XP.
1st thing you should try is disabling as many as possible.
There are numerous tips on the BB on which services you can safely disable.
Or check out http://www.blackviper.com for a complete list of services.
Get the latest nVidia drivers from either http://www.nvidia.com or if you prefer use omega drivers. Windows GFX card drivers generally suck big time.

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #2 on:** October 14, 2004, 01:12:33 AM »

Was this a full clean install or upgrade? Did you install the latest XP motherboard drivers? Did you set IDE properties to DMA? Did you install latest XP video /sound card drivers? And what Kev said.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #3 on:** October 14, 2004, 06:31:19 AM »

Do not activate Windows Media player 9 or 10. It has a background process that continually runs. They will have an adverse effect on your computers performance.

eskimo2 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 14, 2004, 06:32:36 PM »

“There are a lot more services running in the background under XP.
1st thing you should try is disabling as many as possible.
There are numerous tips on the BB on which services you can safely disable.” – Can anyone point to a good thread on the topic? I don’t hang out here much and wouldn’t recognize an appropriate thread.

”Or check out http://www.blackviper.com for a complete list of services.” - I’m checking it out now.

”Get the latest nVidia drivers from either http://www.nvidia.com or if you prefer use omega drivers. Windows GFX card drivers generally suck big time” – Got the NVIDIA, are the Omegas better?

_____________________________ ____________

“Was this a full clean install or upgrade?” – I bought the upgrade and installed minimal ME then XP Home.

“Did you install the latest XP motherboard drivers?” - I don’t think I downloaded any drivers specifically for my MOBO. Should I?

“Did you set IDE properties to DMA?” - Probably not because I don’t even know what that means, where to change it, or if I should.

“Did you install latest XP video /sound card drivers?” - I went to NVIDIA and got the drivers for my card. I also installed my sound card drivers (Maddog or something) and had to disable the built in MOBO sound card/drivers.

“And what Kev said.”

_____________________________ _

“Do not activate Windows Media player 9 or 10. It has a background process that continually runs. They will have an adverse effect on your computers performance” – I installed the latest version. Should I uninstall it? Kill the process? If so, what’s it called?

Thanks,
eskimo

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #5 on:** October 14, 2004, 09:27:57 PM »

I would Definitely install the mobo drivers.

Here is a safe way to temporarily shut down services.
http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=123142

Omegas are just tweaked ATI Catalyst drivers. One of the things I like about them is the built-in version of driver cleaner that cleans registry entries from previous drivers.

Set transfer mmode to "DMA if Available" under IDE CONTROLLER properties in Device Manager. It usually sets DMA by default but doesn't hurt to check.

38ruk · « **Reply #6 on:** October 14, 2004, 09:39:05 PM »

is that a 1.4 amd thunderbird proccesser?.... i see the bus clock is at 100 mhz, i had 1 awhile ago , mine ran a 133mhz fsb ...its along shot cause it is showing it at a 1.4 , but did you have to reset the bios on the board by any chance? 38

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #7 on:** October 14, 2004, 10:34:31 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by 38ruk
is that a 1.4 amd thunderbird proccesser?.... i see the bus clock is at 100 mhz, i had 1 awhile ago , mine ran a 133mhz fsb ...its along shot cause it is showing it at a 1.4 , but did you have to reset the bios on the board by any chance? 38

Good catch 38. I used to have a 1.4 Tbird, also and it did run at 133. Did they make an earlier 1.4 @ 100 mhz? Certainly worth checking since they can also reset to 100 on certain startup errors, etc. I don't know bout that Belaric app, but the General Tab under System Properties of My Computer and the POST screen should show the actual cpu speed.

JTs · « **Reply #8 on:** October 15, 2004, 02:12:06 AM »

eskimo2
if you ever have to install XP again their is no need to do a minamal ME install first. just put Xp disk in and when it cant find ME just put the disk in the drive. save you a lotta time.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #9 on:** October 15, 2004, 07:03:36 AM »

Unfortunately eskimo, once you have installed Windows Media player 9 or 10, you cannot uninstall it. They have a hidden (you can find it in the registry if you look really hard) startup for the "watchdog" process. I cannot recall the name of the process as it has been a while.

This process just sits there and watches what you do. I have seen as much as a 25% reduction in frame rates (in many games) when Media Player 10 is installed and activated.

If you manage to kill the process, Windows Media player will no longer run.

TequilaChaser · « **Reply #10 on:** October 15, 2004, 08:32:06 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Unfortunately eskimo, once you have installed Windows Media player 9 or 10, you cannot uninstall it. They have a hidden (you can find it in the registry if you look really hard) startup for the "watchdog" process. I cannot recall the name of the process as it has been a while.

This process just sits there and watches what you do. I have seen as much as a 25% reduction in frame rates (in many games) when Media Player 10 is installed and activated.

If you manage to kill the process, Windows Media player will no longer run.

Skuzzy,
when I upgraded from WMP7 to WMP9, then to WMP10, each time zone alarm popped up asking if I wanted to allow WMP access to the internet, in return I clicked no always....does this stop the hidden watchdoggy file?

in the past on occassion I would run into a problem where WMP would stop playing and could not access it, each time I had to fully reinstall it again and then denie it access to the internet to get it to play again.........happens every couple of months........
is the watchdog still loading ( although I can not see it in the programs manager) but it isn't affecting me because of zonealarm blocking it?

eskimo2 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 15, 2004, 05:33:18 PM »

Thanks guys!

I went to http://www.blackviper.com and shut down a lot of junk services.
It took a couple of hours to go through and read about each one and shut down those that I don’t need. But then I flew and Holy Cow frame rates shot up to 35~50! I did see some under 20 FR while landing on a burning CV. In dogfights however, I was not hampered by a slideshow, it was very flyable.
Responses about the responses since my last response:
I would Definitely install the mobo drivers.
I did, I am just too stupid to remember that I did.

Here is a safe way to temporarily shut down services.
http://www.hitechcreations.com/foru...threadid=123142

I checked that out, it looks fantastic. I’ll probably use it eventually.

Omegas are just tweaked ATI Catalyst drivers. One of the things I like about them is the built-in version of driver cleaner that cleans registry entries from previous drivers.
So you recommend them over NVIDA?

Set transfer mmode to "DMA if Available" under IDE CONTROLLER properties in Device Manager. It usually sets DMA by default but doesn't hurt to check.
Just checked that, it is, Thanks!
-------------
is that a 1.4 amd thunderbird proccesser?.... i see the bus clock is at 100 mhz, i had 1 awhile ago , mine ran a 133mhz fsb ...its along shot cause it is showing it at a 1.4 , but did you have to reset the bios on the board by any chance? 38
Not sure exactly what it is.
I didn’t reset the bios.
---------------

Good catch 38. I used to have a 1.4 Tbird, also and it did run at 133. Did they make an earlier 1.4 @ 100 mhz? Certainly worth checking since they can also reset to 100 on certain startup errors, etc. I don't know bout that Belaric app, but the General Tab under System Properties of My Computer and the POST screen should show the actual cpu speed.

I looked where you said and couldn’t figure out what you’re talking about. What and where is the POST screen?

--------------

eskimo2
if you ever have to install XP again their is no need to do a minamal ME install first. just put Xp disk in and when it cant find ME just put the disk in the drive. save you a lotta time.
Sounds like good advice. Hopefully I’m good for awhile.
--------------
Unfortunately eskimo, once you have installed Windows Media player 9 or 10, you cannot uninstall it. They have a hidden (you can find it in the registry if you look really hard) startup for the "watchdog" process. I cannot recall the name of the process as it has been a while.

This process just sits there and watches what you do. I have seen as much as a 25% reduction in frame rates (in many games) when Media Player 10 is installed and activated.

If you manage to kill the process, Windows Media player will no longer run.
Yea, I “uninstalled” it last night after reading your post and it still works.
I’d love to know what to do about it. Please post a thread on how to disable it if you ever recall or discover how Skuzzy. I’m sure a lot of us would like to know and could benefit from it.
I think I’ll look at what blackviper has to say about it.
Once again, thank you all very much for the great advice; my puter and I appreciate it!

eskimo

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #12 on:** October 15, 2004, 06:41:48 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by eskimo2
B]Omegas are just tweaked ATI Catalyst drivers. One of the things I like about them is the built-in version of driver cleaner that cleans registry entries from previous drivers.
So you recommend them over NVIDA?
Good catch 38. I used to have a 1.4 Tbird, also and it did run at 133. Did they make an earlier 1.4 @ 100 mhz? Certainly worth checking since they can also reset to 100 on certain startup errors, etc. I don't know bout that Belaric app, but the General Tab under System Properties of My Computer and the POST screen should show the actual cpu speed.

I looked where you said and couldn’t figure out what you’re talking about. What and where is the POST screen? [/B]

I have used most of the Omegas and the Cats since I got my ATI card. I really don't see much difference in performance. The guy who writes the Omegas is on the ATI Catalyst Test Team. The easy updates with Built in driver cleaner is reason enough to use the Omegas and the latest have AI support without the huge new Catalyst Control Panel. I am sticking with Omegas from now on.

Power On Sytem Test = first screen when puter starts

Easy place to check CPU speed = Right click MY COMPUTR, click on PROPERTIES and GENERAL tab. If it says something like AMD 1.4 then everything is OK. Mine says AMD 3200+ @ 2.21 GHZ even though my processor is a 2500+ so it is showing my actual overclocked cpu speed.

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 19, 2004, 03:22:29 PM »

Just in case I've missed something somewhere......

Why would you recommend that anyone download ATI drivers for an NVIDIA GeForce card? Omegas ARE for the ATI right?

SNO · « **Reply #14 on:** October 19, 2004, 03:51:19 PM »

There are Omega drivers for both the Nvidia cards and the ATI cards from the Omega site. Choose which brand at the top of the site and then choose your OS.