frame rates madness

[rickod]

ok heres my system

cyrix 366 running at 500mhz
100mhz front bus
96 meg of ram
8 meg stealth 2000 vid card
12meg monster2 3d card
directx 7.0a and the latest driver for the monster card unfortunatley they arent putting out any more updates for this card .

nothing in startup and connection icon disabled ,
I get low low low fps around cv sometimes 3 or 4 fps looks a lil choppy in filght over land im ok usually between 16 and 20 fps looks smooth but i want better

any ideas or experts with the monster cards who can help me tweak the settings ?
for better fps

[SKurj]

errrrrrrrmmmm

To be blunt...  the slowest celeron ever made would likely outperform that cpu you are using...
You can probably find a used celeron 366 and mobo that would double, or more, your frame rates.

Try http://www.tweak3d.net   they may have advice and help for the V2

AKskurj

[rickod]

a new mobo and processor cost cashola I dont have right now ,
I did notice there are some settings like zbuffer and disabling trple buffering what will these do if checked ?

[TheWobble]

The basic gist of it is that you would be better off using one of those pink urinal pucks than a cyrix chip. If cash is a prob its time to save, your doing good for what you have IMO.

[rickod]

readin it over now skurj  


cut and pasted from sysinfo.exe

===============
Executable name           : C:\WINDOWS\PROFILES\RICK\DESKTOP\SYSINFO.EXE
Current time, date        : 12:28:48 Wedensday 1/3/2001
Executable time, date     : 11:26:52 Tuesday 5/4/1999
User name                 : rick
Machine name              : Rick & Missy
Processor                 : CyrixInstead Pentium II MMX - 500Mhz
Operating system          : Windows 98
Version                   : 4.10.1998
Time since booted         : 0h 0m 26s
Physical memory           : 100,098,048 bytes  (95 Meg)
Available physical memory : 61,251,584 bytes  (58 Meg)
Swapfile size             : 1,279,393,792 bytes  (1220 Meg)
Swapfile available        : 1,261,215,744 bytes  (1202 Meg)
Virtual memory            : 2,143,289,344 bytes  (2044 Meg)
Available virtual memory  : 2,133,786,624 bytes  (2034 Meg)
Memory load               : 26%

CD-ROM Drive              : Drive D: -- No CD in drive or No File to test

Desktop video mode        : 1024,768  16bpp
Networked Machine         : Yes

  Processes   Pri Threads  Memory  Path
=========================================
 SPOOL32.EXE :  8 :   2 :     3k : C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SPOOL32.EXE
FEELITDM.EXE :  8 :   1 :     7k : C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\FEELITDM.EXE
 SYSINFO.EXE :  8 :   1 :    11k : C:\WINDOWS\PROFILES\RICK\DESKTOP\SYSINFO.EXE

PCI bus
=======
U.S. Robotics 56K Win INT #2 (Version 000) by U.S. Robotics, Inc., Dated 3-12-1999
Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 (Turbo) (Version 002) by Diamond Multimedia Systems, Dated 0- 0-1980
Diamond Monster 3D II Accelerator (Version 002) by Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc., Dated12-16-1998
ESS SOLO-1 PCI AudioDrive (Version 001) by ESS Technology, Inc., Dated 3-29-1999

ISA bus
=======

DLL Version numbers
===================
amstream.dll  - Version 6.00.02.0902
quartz.dll    - Version 6.00.02.0902
devenum.dll   - Version 6.00.02.0902
dsound.dll    - Version 4.07.00.0700
dinput.dll    - Version 4.07.00.0716
Could not find 'd3dhalf.dll'
d3dim.dll     - Version 4.07.00.0700
ddraw.dll     - Version 4.07.00.0700
dplayx.dll    - Version 4.07.00.0700
dplay.dll     - Version 4.03.00.1096
ntdll.dll     - Version 4.10.1998
rpcrt4.dll    - Version 4.71.1718
Ir50_32.dll   - Version R.5.06.15.2.44


look back to my first post the benchmark softwware i used is called sysinfo.exe comes on the mechwarrior3 disk and I have tested it on my old p75 my cyrix box and a few boxes here at work it correctly identified the speeds on the p75 and the p3 600 here at work so I think its safe to assume it identified my cyrix chip just fine ,

what im looking for is tweaks to the monster2 3d card itself ,

atleast until my tax return hits then I think ill be getting a geforce card and give my kid the monster card,


[This message has been edited by rickod (edited 01-03-2001).]

[SKurj]

Ok

There are a few things u can do, I recommend http://www.tweak3d.net  as a good place to find system tweaks.

I would start by manually setting your swap file to something like 256mb.  How to is on tweak3d.  I would also set your machine to run as a network server vs a desktop system.  Again instructions on tweak3d.

Have u tried directx8?  I currently run it with no problems.
Visit all the manufacturers of your hardware and ensure you have the latest drivers.

Before you start Aces High I also recommend you hit Ctrl-alt-delete and turn off all unneccessary processes.

Check out tweak3d, u may be able to gain a couple of frames, don't expect alot.
Upgrading to a v3 may help you, it might not. Same applies to a geforce2 MX, both within your $150 window.  The processor may not be able to power the better vid cards to a degree where you will see an increase, i'm not sure.

AKskurj

[Skuzzy]

rickod,..noticed you do not have the updates for Win98.  Current version number should be 4.10.2222A.

Just FYI:

You can get the updates from windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Also noticed you are running the Windows print spooler.  This is a huge pig.  Try setting your printer for direct printing, rather than using the spooler.  Will free up lost of memory.

------------------
Roy "Skuzzy" Neese
President, AppLink Corp. http://www.applink.net
skuzzy@applink.net


[This message has been edited by Skuzzy (edited 01-03-2001).]