VERY low frame rates on good machine

[Anchor]

I need some help.

I have a 9700 ALL-IN-WONDER card in a P4 2.2 with 1 gig of ram. Now I know its not a powerhouse, but I should be getting more than 10-12 frames per second in this game.

Anybody want to guess some settings to try.

I have the news drivers (no difference than the old ones), and the bios is fairly up to date.

I will tell you I have had this problem in other games, but I can't figure out why.

Currently, the settings are set at default.

Thanks in advance.

[FOGOLD]

Check for processes or programmes running in the system tray or elsewhere (Ctrl-alt-del).

Yes, that machine should be running three times that speed at least in AH.

[Octavius]

In addition to funky additional programs running, you might want to do a fresh install of the drivers.

-Uninstall previous drivers in device manager
-reboot
-Use ATi's driver cleaner
-reboot to safe mode
-Use the driver cleaner again.
-Unplug modem, reboot regular
-Install the official 4.11s
-Reboot, wait a few seconds for ati to finish it's nifty test black screen flicker
-Kick ass

Sometimes kicking the old drivers in the nads followed by a very clean uninstallation can do the trick

[WhiteHawk]

run ad aware spyware remover also.  I took a friends computer home to see what was wrong with it and it had over 600 spyware programs running, crippling his machine.

[Gixer]

Originally posted by FOGOLD
Check for processes or programmes running in the system tray or elsewhere (Ctrl-alt-del).

Yes, that machine should be running three times that speed at least in AH.

In addition to that use an application like FSAutostart to boot the game from, configure it to cut your system down to the bare bones of an OS before starting AH.

Rig sounds plenty enough to run AH given it's current level (or lack of) of eye candy.

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about the video card as AH has always been CPU hungry rather then GPU.

I can run FS9 at close to max detail on my rig yet turn on the water graphics in AH2 and it turns into a slideshow. Go figure.


...-Gixer

[Crispy]

Maybe an IRQ or hardware conflict?  That can cause serious grief also.

[buzkill]

i'm using a sapphire 9600xt and get between 45 and 120 fps all day so....driver problem?

[Kaz]

http://www.omegadrivers.net

You didn't mention what OS you were using. Hope you have antivirus and a firewall. If you don't have them already, get ad-aware SE personal and Spybot - Search & Destroy, both free.

If you're running XP or Windows 2000 check this site out

http://www.blackviper.com

[MOSQ]

Originally posted by WhiteHawk
run ad aware spyware remover also.  I took a friends computer home to see what was wrong with it and it had over 600 spyware programs running, crippling his machine.

Also run Spybot Search and Destroy. It finds different goo from Adaware. I run them both weekly.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

[buzkill]

i agree....another nice tool is mozilla. blocks the stuff from even getting in(for the most part)

[Silat]

Instructions for proper install of video drivers.

Pick 1 driver:


Nvidea - http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp - go here and download the drivers to your desktop.

ATI - http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/....x=5&submit.y=4 - go here and download the drivers to your desktop.

Omega tweaked drivers. Recommended by Nvidea and ATI - http://www.omegadrivers.net/main.php - go here and download the drivers to your desktop.


Now get this:
http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/ - Put it on your desktop


Now install DRIVER CLEANER


Go to add and remove programs and remove all references to ATI or Nvidea.

Restart in safe mode. Usually by clicking the f8 button during reboot.

DO NOT INSTALL ANYTHING if windows asks.

.

Run DRIVER CLEANER  AND CLICK THE CLEAN button.



Then restart. DO NOT INSTALL ANYTHING once again. It's ok, all will be well

When you reach your desktop click on the driver you downloaded and follow prompts.

Restart..

 

If you have any problems read the helpfile that comes with DRIVE CLEANER.

 

                                       Lew/+Silat

[bustr]

There is an AGP arpiture setting in the bios of your system board. 9700 is AGP-4. Check and see if the AGP setting is enabled. Also is your AGP slot AGP-2 or AGP-4. Run DXdiag and see what AGP you are running at.

Also what is the maximum refresh rate your monitor can run at say 1024x768? See if you have the ATI refresh bug. It defaults you to 60Hz at the desktop. If so go into your advanced settings for the video device and change your refresh rate to the highest your monitor will support.

[Anchor]

Wow!

I am floored by the response I got on this question. Thank you very, very much.

I have Spybot and Adware, and run them regularly. I am running Norton AV.

I decided to try to omega drivers and that improved things, but it is still slow. I really notice it when defending in an Ostie. There is just enough jerk in the refresh to make your eyes cross.

I think I will do the driver cleaning thing (thanks for the step-by-step), and setup and gaming boot sytem, that just sounds cool.

Also, I thought I had an 8x AGP card, somebody said they thought it was 4x. I definitely have 8x set in my bios. I'll check the card specs and make sure it jives.

The best thing I heard tho is that it should get 45 and much better. That means its just a matter of trial and error.

Thanks again...I'll report back on your advice.

Skeeter0

[MOSQ]

Originally posted by Silat

Go to add and remove programs and remove all references to ATI or Nvidea.

 Lew/+Silat

Be careful here. If you have an Nvidia chipset on your mobo, it is possible to remove your chipset drivers, onboard Ethernet drivers ect. You ONLY want to remove the graphics drivers!

[bustr]

What ever you have your desktop refresh rate set to should be your max FPS in the game. Depending on many other factors your FPS in the game will fluctuate. My system I have a ATI 9700 Pro 128. My desktop is 1024x768@120Hz. My game FPS is 120max-59min.

This is why you need to set your video refresh rate at the desktop to the maximum your system can support. Then have Vsync set to always on.

The ATI 9700 is a AGP 4 card. If your bios allows you to set your AGP slot to 2, 4, or 8. Try setting it to 4 and see if that increases your FPS. An AGP 4 card in an AGP 8 slot will cause the AGP bus to run at AGP 4. You don't get anything setting the slot to AGP 8.

This is all conjecture because I don't have your mobo in front of me or its manual. Speaking of the manual, have you RTFM'd for your motherboard concerning AGP bios settings and what they do?