Author Topic: Vista Warp (Read 816 times)

unklerob · « **on:** January 19, 2008, 09:42:14 PM »

Well, I've spent the whole day loading, and reloading my Dell M90 laptop to determine:

Vista Ultimate (and probably all Vista versions) creates a severe "warp" problem on some hardware setups.

With the exception of having to run in 98 compatibility mode in XP, the laptop runs AHII flawless online with XP Pro loaded.

The same hardware, with all of Skuzzy's tweaks enabled - warps all over the place with Vista Ult.

My desktop, which is older, runs Vista Business, and AHII plays just fine on it (until my harddrive froze - hence the temporary switch to the laptop).

So......

I suspect it is something with the Vista drivers for the NIC, or the way Vista handles IP traffic with my hardware set - but I was all over the place with Vista, and now running perfect with XP Pro.

This laptop is odd I guess - as it runs an Nvidia Quadro FX2500 video card (512MB).

I'd love to troubleshoot this - I bet others are having the same issue - I see warpers often in the MA's.

BTW: I run in 98 mode (in XP), because when trying to start normally - the clipboard flips around in circles. Someone once suggested running in 98 mode for the that - and it works.

No combination of changes affected the warping in Vista. My ping times were solid 30's when in the lobby.

Irwink! · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2008, 05:13:41 AM »

If you haven't already, change your laptop's power options to performance. If the configuration is the standard laptop power saving configuration it will give you problems.

acfireguy26 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2008, 08:25:55 PM »

My brother has the same issues with his laptop. It is a "high end" gaming rig that has vista also. He has solid 70ish framerates and warps all over the place. We ruled out any internet issues when he came to my house and tried it. I very rarely have any issues with my home connection. I am very interested in hearing any ideas on this subject. Oh btw he performed all the skuzzy tweaks he could find on the forums to no avail.

unklerob · « **Reply #3 on:** January 21, 2008, 01:18:16 PM »

Shameless bump - looking for support..

Summary:

System One (Desktop):

Running XP Pro: AHI runs fine
Running Vista Business: AHII runs fine

System Two (Laptop):

Running XP Pro: AHII runs fine in 98 compatibility mode - Win98
Running Vista Ultimate: AHII warp problem
(I suppose loading Vista Business on the M90 is next)

System One is down due to a failed harddrive. Quick specs:

P4 3.2 Extreme
INtel WASP Mobo
2 GB PC3200 RAM
Nvidia 9700GS VIdeo Card (256)

System Two: Dell M90 Laptop - (Loaded)

Skuzzy · « **Reply #4 on:** January 21, 2008, 03:46:12 PM »

Vista will never be able to play the game as smoothly as Windows XP does.

It can be improved, but it takes a bit of effort. First off. If you have a dual-core AMD CPU and running Vista, you have to run the game in "Windows 98/ME" compatibility mode as there is a bug in the AMD CPU we hit and there is no patch for Vista to fix it. Under XP there is a patch.

A cleaned up Vista system has about 35 background processes running on it. Check you task manager in Vista and see how many you have running on it. Do not run the Areo interface! It is a significant resource hog.

Laptops must have all power management disabled. Vista is really nasty and agressive about power management. XP was not. XP on a laptopn is much better for gaming than Vista will ever be.

unklerob · « **Reply #5 on:** January 21, 2008, 05:34:16 PM »

Skuzzy -

I see a reply in my other thread - referring to warps.

Please understand that this "Warp" issue is Non-hardware related. I'm running flawlessly on XP, on the same hardware that warps using Vista as the OS. I'm no-where near the limits of the machine.

The game runs flawlessly on "offline mode" in Vista.

The laptop this is running on, is a fully loaded Dell M90.

There is a Vista/Network issue at hand (I think).

Rob

unklerob · « **Reply #6 on:** January 21, 2008, 06:03:12 PM »

A little more info:

Power settings ARE set to Max Performance on the Vista Laptop

The same problem exists on both the LAN and the Wireless connections.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #7 on:** January 22, 2008, 06:36:03 AM »

It is a Vista issue. Vista fires off some nasty background processes which will drag any CPU to its knees.

Microsoft claims they will be fixing these performance issues and about 400 other things wrong with Vista in Service Pack 1. It is supposed to be released this quarter, but they have pushed the date twice already.

In the meantime, the best you can do is get Vista to run about 25% worse than XP does on the same hardware.

Offline, the game consumes far fewer resources than it does online.

Did you do through the exercise of cleaning up the services and shut down Aero on Vista? Until you do, the game cannot play smoothly.

Tigger29 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 22, 2008, 12:35:22 PM »

I have very limited experience with Vista, but from what I understand the GUI on Ultimate is a lot more involved than the GUI on Business (Business might not be running Aero)...

This might explain why it worked fine in Businees and not on Ultimate.

Irwink! · « **Reply #9 on:** January 22, 2008, 05:25:58 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Tigger29
I have very limited experience with Vista, but from what I understand the GUI on Ultimate is a lot more involved than the GUI on Business (Business might not be running Aero)...

This might explain why it worked fine in Businees and not on Ultimate.

Business runs Aero just like Ultimate.

bj229r · « **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2008, 07:24:56 PM »

Can modern laptops be set up for dual-boot,,,,Vista/XP? We are finding a growing problem at my office---Vista laptops cant run ADT's, vpn software.

Tigger29 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 22, 2008, 10:38:56 PM »

OK I wasn't aware... I was just kind of assuming the business version wouldn't have all the eye-candy... but I'll happily admit to being naive

Irwink! · « **Reply #12 on:** January 23, 2008, 05:11:32 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by bj229r
Can modern laptops be set up for dual-boot,,,,Vista/XP? We are finding a growing problem at my office---Vista laptops cant run ADT's, vpn software.

Yes, although you may have to do a little searching for all the device drivers for the XP side.

Tsingis · « **Reply #13 on:** February 17, 2008, 03:20:26 PM »

I experience extreme warping with following setup:
FS Amilo Xi1554 Core2Duo 2GHz, 2GB RAM, Mobility Radeon X1900 256MB with
Vista Home Premium and 4M/1M cable connection.
Game runs smooth offline. Connection works fine. FPS is over 50 most of the time.
I tried running the game in different locations with different connections to rule
out network issues.
No other gpu&cpu intensive game I play have similar issue or lack of performance.
Hence I must concur with previous posters suspecting a Vista specific bug being the cause of this problem.

Please let us know as soon as any possible fix is found.

Tsingis · « **Reply #14 on:** February 18, 2008, 06:21:46 AM »

I studied the issue further and observed steady <200 ping in the lobby and fps ranging from 20 to 120 in MA using 98/Me, 2000 and XP compatibility modes.
None of the modes fixed the warping for my core2duo system as it may do for amd users.
I also tested different resolutions, native being 1900x1200 for my 17" laptop screen.
Offline game runs fine with maximum resolution so I tend to rule out the possibility of insufficient or damaged hardware.