Pre Game Needs, HELP!

[jdogJr]

ok i'm new to the game and flying sims in general, my pops got me hooked on the game(hes an ADDICT)well, i was hoping to see if i good get some good help, on optimizing my performance and detail...my computer is a 2002 gateway 700se.
---intel p4 2.0ghz, w/ 512 L2 advanced transfer cache...What does that all mean, i know what the intel pentium is but whats the rest
---40gb uata100 7200rpm hard drive
---windows xp professional
---18.1 lcd flat panel display(digital/analog), still using a analog cable,.....would it be worth bying the digital cable for the new video card to the monitor?
---Geforce fx 5700le(overclocked)-memory256mb ddr, it says core clock 275mhz(vs 250mhz standard?)ramdac dual 400mhz, again what does this mean
---SoundBlaster Audigy audio soundcard, it came on the computer, i dont know if i have the lastest drivers for it or if its at its best?
---Charter cable internet with motorla surfboard modem,HIGH SPEED, its connected via ethernet
---memory 256mb RDRAM PC800 expandable to 2GB
so my question b/c i just wiped my computer clean, everything and reinstalled only needed programs, and nope i didnt do it i had a professional do it...my questions are
How do i check the system bois?
How do i know if i have onboard video or sound running
W/ having oem soundblaster where do i get the newest drivers?
What should i do to make this video card run at its best for my system?
Should i get a dvi cable?
Should i take off the stupid phone modem installed on my board or just disable it?
is my comp good enough to run this game good, i know i need more ram, im ording to sticks of 256 b/c it has to be done in pairs
....i'm asking all this stuff b/c i starting playing last week and kept losing my host connection to the game, well since the reformat my havent had that problem but in fps i dont think are as well, i think its soundcard issues but now sure, cause i just got this new video card last week.
as far as game settings what should i set it at. i want great performance b/c we all know you cant play a sim game w/o it but i dont wan to look at the screen and think i'm playin my old school orignal nintendo, i want it too look great? if all possible, thanks to all that can help, im at work right now so hopefully i will have answers for tonight

[jdogJr]

should i be preloading in memory, video or system.? skins?
or none?

[StarOfAfrica2]

Originally posted by jdogJr
ok i'm new to the game and flying sims in general, my pops got me hooked on the game(hes an ADDICT)well, i was hoping to see if i good get some good help, on optimizing my performance and detail...

How do i check the system bois?
How do i know if i have onboard video or sound running
W/ having oem soundblaster where do i get the newest drivers?
What should i do to make this video card run at its best for my system?
Should i get a dvi cable?
Should i take off the stupid phone modem installed on my board or just disable it?
is my comp good enough to run this game good, i know i need more ram, im ording to sticks of 256 b/c it has to be done in pairs
....i'm asking all this stuff b/c i starting playing last week and kept losing my host connection to the game, well since the reformat my havent had that problem but in fps i dont think are as well, i think its soundcard issues but now sure, cause i just got this new video card last week.
as far as game settings what should i set it at. i want great performance b/c we all know you cant play a sim game w/o it but i dont wan to look at the screen and think i'm playin my old school orignal nintendo, i want it too look great? if all possible, thanks to all that can help, im at work right now so hopefully i will have answers for tonight

I'll do my best to answer what I can.  Skuzzy is by far better able to answer this stuff, but you have alot of questions here lol.  Here goes.

System BIOS - When your computer starts up, it displays a message that should give you options.  Some systems use the Delete key, some use F1, you will have to see what it says.  It usually refers to BIOS as "system setup".

Onboard video and sound - When you get into the BIOS, you will have to look through all the different areas.  Some label the Onboard items separately, some dont.  When you find the settings, you can see if they are set to "on" or "off".  Also, you can look in your device manager.  Right click on the "my computer" icon on your desktop and go down to Properties.  Go to Hardware, and then Device Manger.  Look under the settings for Sound and Display Adapters.  They will show you what you are using.  

Drivers for SoundBlaster (OEM or not) can be downloaded from http://www.creative.com.  

I think its best to address the video card separately.

DVI cable is up to you.  I've never used a digital monitor before, so I cant say what the benefits are.  I'm sure someone can chime in on this one.

Phone modem - I would remove it just to free up the IRQ settings.  But thats me.  If you want to leave it in as a backup for times when your cable might go out, thats something you need to decide.  

Comp should be sufficient with more RAM.  Thing is you cant add two sticks of 256MB to that motherboard.  Yes you have to add them in pairs, but they have to be LIKE pairs, and all 4 have to be alike if I am not mistaken (my brother had one of these, it was a PITA).  Dont get me wrong, you CAN install the 2 x 256 sticks like you said, but you will have to remove the 2 x 128 sticks you have now.  Make sure you buy PC800 RDRAM ECC.  Its expensive compared to regular DDR non-ECC RAM.  But its what your motherboard requires.

As for ingame settings, I'll do that with the videocard setup.

should i be preloading in memory, video or system.? skins?
or none?

Try it both ways.  If you dont have enough memory it wont even give you the option.  I would probably preload the textures anyway.  But you'll have to see what works for you.  Or perhaps Skuzzy can help you more with that part.  Without knowing more about the specs. on your video card I cant make a recommendation as to preloading to video.  You have enough RAM on the card to do it, but I'm betting they used slower RAM on that card and its only 128bit memory bus.  Overloading the card could be worse than any gain you'd see from preloading.

Good luck!

[StarOfAfrica2]

For the video card I'm just going to give you the basic settings that work for me with my 5900 with 128MB of RAM.  You have twice the RAM I do, but my card is faster and has a wider memory bus.  These settings SHOULD be safe for you to run, and should work.  

AntiAliasing set to 2x.

Anisotropic Filtering set to Application Control or Off.

Vsync set to ON.  

Make sure the temperature warning is turned on.  

All else I would leave at default until you get everything setup and working and then you can play with it.

Biggest thing with this card is DRIVERS.  Get the 61.77 version of the drivers from Nvidia's website in the Archives section.  Or you can go to http://www.omegadrivers.net and download their version of the drivers.  You can also try the zer0point drivers at http://www.driverheaven.net.  Lots of people here use the Omegas and they work great.

As for ingame settings, I'd go with 512 as your max texture size, preload to system memory (not video) and see if it works ok.  After that if you want to try preloading skins as well, go for it.  If it messes anything up, you will know what to uncheck.

Good luck and welcome to AH!

[jdogJr]

i've been reading all these threads and tips the last week or so while i'm at work and have notice that between you and skuzzy you guys are the best help. its great to have this kind of support, and knowledge from you guys thanks alot, its appreciated.  Now i know i have the nvidia 61.77 drivers for the video card. as far as sound goes i found the lastest drive i need but when i went to update to it , it said it couldn't find soundblaster hardware on my comp. so it wouldnt let me update. i saved it to my desktop so its accessible when needed.  when we did the reformat when i goe to look it up (soundblaster card) it comes up as (emu10kxaudio) what is this.  i know its a soundblaster card.  phone modem on my board is a goner as soon as i get home...now as far as the video card. is it a good card, i was told that was a great card and to get it, is it slow? what is 128bit? whats mine? whats good?can and should i disable fast writes? whats agp bus mean?.....sorry for all the questions but i like to learn as much as possible about stuff i dont have a clue on!!!!!!! as soon as i get home i'm gone post just the 1st 3rd of my directx report so you can kinda check it out thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the computer guys a comp usa said i could put mine (2) 128 ram sticks and then add (2) 256 ram sticks, as long as they match, its funny it has to dummy sticks in the open slots now, why didnt gateway just fill those darn slots with ram instead of taking the time to make fake ram sticks? makes nosense, hell i paid almost 3g's for the comp, back in 02

[StarOfAfrica2]

There's nothing WRONG with a 5700, per se.  There are just several different versions of it from various manufacturers, made worse by the fact that it was used as an OEM card by several computer companies and alot of these used inferior parts.  Some hardware sites refuse to even test 5700s because of the huge variety of quality and manufacturers.  

The problem you are describing with the sound card is common enough, you are missing a file it needs to do the auto updater task.  You can go with whats installed for now, it should work.  

2 years ago your FX 5700 video card with 256 MB of RAM probably was a screamer.  Thats alot of video RAM for 2 years ago.  Now its alot more common.  The problem is, most of those 256MB cards back then (and still some today) are made with memory chips that operate at a slower speed than the 128MB versions of the same card.  It's how they saved money manufacturing a card with twice the memory of the standard.  Also, the memory bus is 128 bit on these cards.  Nvidia didnt start using a 256 bit bus until they built the FX 5900.  The "bus" you can think of as a street.  The bigger the number, the "wider" the street is, so the more traffic it can handle at once.  So a wider bus moves more data at a time.  This is also called your "memory bandwidth".  There are 2 ways to increase this bandwidth, one is to increase the size of the bus, the other is to increase the speed of the memory.  Theoretically, if you can increase the speed of the memory enough, you can move as much data as the wider bus version, but that takes alot of "tweaking" and the cheaper memory on the 256MB cards cant handle it.  A more modern version of the same card is less likely to have that problem, but some still do.

I would leave fast writes on unless you have problems.  Try turning it off and see if the problems go away.  Easiest way to say that.  

AGP bus is a variation of the PC standard PCI bus.  Again, this bus is just like the "memory bus" I described earlier, except this bus is for the entire motherboard (or really, the bus between the "slots" in your motherboard for your modem, soundcard, etc. and the Processor, and between the Processor and the system memory).  Note that that is somewhat of a simplification.  There have been many changes to the standard PC architecture since it was introduced, PCI having won out (PCI express is the newest version of this, but I'm not going into it since you dont have it).  A standard PCI bus motherboard has all of the "slots" running in parallel to the Processor (CPU).  That means each time a card in a slot wants to "talk" to the CPU, it has to ask for permission to interrupt the others and send its data.  Video cards were starting to have more and more of their own onboard memory, and sending more and more data, causing tieups within the system that slowed the computer down.  So they introduced AGP bus.  AGP = Accelerated Graphics Port.  You have one dedicated slot that is only used for the video, and it has its own "bus" to the CPU.  It is designed differently from a standard PCI slot, so that only an AGP card will fit in the slot.  AGP is currently at version 3.0, speed 8x.  

As for the RAM, dont quote me because the last time I worked on a computer like yours was about 2 years ago.  The "dummy sticks" were designed to fool the motherboard into thinking 4 equal sticks of RAM were in use when there were only 2.  Maybe yours is different, as the one I worked on only had a max of 1GB of RAM, yours can go up to 2GB.  Also, yours is a 2.0Ghz processor and his was a 1.8Ghz.  But with his computer (also a 700se), all 4 memory modules had to be the same size.  You are certainly welcome to try the 2 you have in there with the others.  It cant do any harm.  If it works, great for you!

[jdogJr]

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 4/22/2005, 17:47:43
       Machine name: OWNER-BAJ8VDB86
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Gateway                        
       System Model: E-6000                        
               BIOS: Default System BIOS
          Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.00GHz
             Memory: 256MB RAM
          Page File: 133MB used, 484MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
  DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
      Display Tab 1: The file nv4_disp.dll is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL).  You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
          Music Tab: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.
        Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE
     Manufacturer: NVIDIA
        Chip type: GeForce FX 5700LE
         DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0343&SUBSYS_196E270F&REV_A1
   Display Memory: 256.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (85Hz)
          Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
  Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
      Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6177 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 7/15/2004 11:42:00, 3740032 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: No
  WHQL Date Stamp: None
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 7/15/2004 11:42:00, 2459712 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4003-11CF-9E5C-643900C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x10DE
        Device ID: 0x0343
        SubSys ID: 0x196E270F
      Revision ID: 0x00A1
      Revision ID: 0x00A1
      Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_B ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D
 Deinterlace Caps: {212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
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                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFilteri ng
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFilteri ng
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFilteri ng
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
         Registry: OK
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
 D3D7 Test Result: Not run
 D3D8 Test Result: Not run
 D3D9 Test Result: Not run

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
            Description: Emu10Kx Audio [DF80]
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_00581102&REV_03
        Manufacturer ID: 1
             Product ID: 100
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
         Driver Version: 5.12.0001.0241 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: Yes
          Date and Size: 2/28/2002 10:16:44, 834100 bytes
            Other Files:
        Driver Provider: Creative
         HW Accel Level: Full
              Cap Flags: 0xF5F
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 4000, 191999
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
               Registry: OK
      Sound Test Result: Not run

            Description: Modem #0 Line Playback (emulated)
 Default Sound Playback: No
 Default Voice Playback: No
            Hardware ID:
        Manufacturer ID: 1
             Product ID: 81
                   Type: Emulated
            Driver Name:
         Driver Version:
      Driver Attributes:
            WHQL Logo'd:
          Date and Size:
            Other Files:
        Driver Provider:
         HW Accel Level: Full
              Cap Flags: 0x0
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
               Registry: OK
      Sound Test Result: Not run

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
            Description: Emu10Kx Audio [DF80]
  Default Sound Capture: Yes
  Default Voice Capture: Yes
            Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
         Driver Version: 5.12.0001.0241 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
          Date and Size: 2/28/2002 10:16:44, 834100 bytes
              Cap Flags: 0x41
           Format Flags: 0xFFF

            Description: Modem #0 Line Record (emulated)
  Default Sound Capture: No
  Default Voice Capture: No
            Driver Name:
         Driver Version:
      Driver Attributes:
          Date and Size:
              Cap Flags: 0x20
           Format Flags: 0x0

-----------
DirectMusic
-----------
        DLS Path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\drivers\GM.DLS
     DLS Version: 1.00.0016.0002
    Acceleration: n/a
           Ports: Microsoft Synthesizer, Software (Not Kernel Mode), Output, DLS, Internal, Default Port
                  Emu10Kx Audio [DF80], Software (Kernel Mode), Output, DLS, Internal
                  Microsoft MIDI Mapper [Emulated], Hardware (Not Kernel Mode), Output, No DLS, Internal
                  Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth [Emulated], Hardware (Not Kernel Mode), Output, No DLS, Internal
                  Emu10Kx Sw Synth [DF80] [Emulated], Hardware (Not Kernel Mode), Output, No DLS, Internal
                  Emu10Kx MIDI Port [DF80] [Emulated], Hardware (Not Kernel Mode), Output, No DLS, External
                  Emu10Kx MIDI Port [DF80] [Emulated], Hardware (Not Kernel Mode), Input, No DLS, External
        Registry: OK
     Test Result: Not run

-------------------
DirectInput Devices
-------------------
      Device Name: Mouse
         Attached: 1
    Controller ID: n/a
Vendor/Product ID: n/a
        FF Driver: n/a

      Device Name: Keyboard
         Attached: 1
    Controller ID: n/a
Vendor/Product ID: n/a
        FF Driver: n/a

      Device Name: Logitech Extreme 3D Pro
         Attached: 1
    Controller ID: 0x0
Vendor/Product ID: 0x046D, 0xC215
        FF Driver: n/a

Poll w/ Interrupt: No
         Registry: OK
hopefully this is enough.............