Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Sled on January 02, 2004, 05:03:47 PM
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I am running a new system, but my frame rates are still droping down to 20-30 FPS when in places like tank town and fur balling. 70+ when in normal play. I was wondering if there are some setting changes i should make to up my frame rates, under "stress" conditions.
system:
Win XP Pro SP1
abit KD-7 raid, Via kt400
Barton 2500+ running FSB at 185 x 11 ~2.05GHz
1G of Geil DDR400 ram (but only running at DDR333 speed)
ATI Radeon 9600 pro 128Mb (running at 8x speed all other settings are default)
CTX 19" (CRT) set at 75HZ
AH video settings are:
1280x1024 16 bit color
Frame rate: unlimited
Mip Mapping: Enabled
Palettized textures: Disabled
Thx
xSledx (Arctic Storm 11th Air force)
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Only thing I would change is 16 Bit color. It will runas fast in 32 bit with those components if not faster.
You have to watch it. In really heavy duty stuff those frames aren't too bad, but as you say I would expect better.
Are you running anything in the background? Ctrl-ALt -del and check no programmes are running other than AH. Also should be no more than 20 processes running, preferably 15. With no programmes loaded the processor load should be 0 - 2% (I expect you know all this stuff already) . Do a virus check.
That card will still choke a bit on very high Anti Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering settings, but you say they are default.
Your top frame rate will go as high as your monitor refresh, but that's not what you're worried about (quite rightly. It's keeping a high rate in heavy work that's important).
I'll check my frame rate. I have a slower machine than you but with similar settings. (XP2000, 512 DDR 2100, GF 5700 Ultra) I'll get back!;)
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Yes. That processor is HOT! You should be going better.
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Thx for the info Fogold,
Don't assume I know anything, I'm good at sounding like I know, But offten Don't. Are you saying that my max frame rate is equal to the Hz setting of my monitor (75 in my case)? I did not know that. So I won't get over 75 FPS, unless I up the Hz setting. That's good to know. I here of guys getting 200+ frame rates, does that mean they have monitors set at 200+ Hz?
Yes your right, I don't think anyone needs more than 75-100 FPS. BUT! you do need more than 20 FPS when in a fur ball and a LA-7 is diving on you from 4 o'clock 1.5K out!
I'm hoping I can give up the 100+ frame rates, when I'm the only one in the sky, for 55-75 frames when i'm in the fur!
Unless I'm wrong, 32 bit color is only going to make the system have to work harder, 16 bit color looks fine to me. But let me know if i am wrong.
By the way, I have the latest drivers from ATI (CAT 3.1) and here are my current settings for D3D.
AA - 2X
AF - App. Pref.
TP - Performance
MipMap detail - Performance
Vert. Syc - Always On
Truform - Always Off
Smartshader - No Effect
Thx for your Help!
xSLEDx
(A/S 11th A/F)
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The way to get the 100+ frames is to disable V Sync in your video card. I wouldn't recommend it for AH (Skuzzy will tell you why). What i would do though is set your monitor to a refresh of 85. It will be smoother.
Yes 16 bit colour is easier on a low end system, but modern set ups such as yours are designed to work at 32 bit, and I would try it as it may be that 16 bit is no longer "optimal". I doubt if it will make much difference though.
Anyone else here? I am not a RAM officianado. Your rAM should be running at the same speed as your FSB I think.
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Make sure your running in 8X agp mode, if not you may be missing a motherboard driver. Also check cpu and fsb temps.
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With DDR400 Ram, system would be faster @ 200x10.
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Thanks for the help guys,
Fogold, I did raise my refresh rate up to 85Hz, and it did seem to smooth out some. Also my FPS went up to 85 when I did that. (in 1 on 1 play) I also went to 32 bit color, did not notice any changes so I'll leave it there. By the way is you name Fo-Gold, Fog-Old, or Fog Gold? just wondering.
Zmeg, I am running at 8x agp speed, and do have all drivers. My CPU core temp stays at about 30-35C, and that is overclocked at 185 X 11.
ChaseR, I have seen where these Barton 2500s will run at 200 X 11, But some will not. I am running the FAMOUS :) Kryotech Renegade for cooling. So heat should not be a big problem. It is still a new CPU so I am running it up slowly. 200 X 10 might be a little more stable than 200 X 11. So I will try that soon. If I get to 200 FSB will my Bios put the ram at DDR 400 automatically?
Thanks again guys
anyone else have suggestions?
xSLEDx (A/S 11th A/F)
"Altitude is LIFE insurance!"
Chuck Yeager
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Fogold, You mentioned the Processes. I have about 29 running, with all task bar items off (except for DSL) I'm still new to XP and don't know how to tell which ones I can turn off.
However even with 29 Processes and all task bar items off I am only at 1-2% CPU load.
Thx
xSLEDx
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My 2500+ computers run @ 200 x 10.5 stable in a well ventilated Antec case with the stock AMD cpu cooler. Maximum CPU temp 45 deg. C. If you're in to overclocking, there is some room to play with in the 9600 pro. Rage3D (and others) make tweaking utilities for ATI cards. You'll have to invest in a better VPU cooler to gain a whole lot. Haven't tried overclocking a 9600 pro but the 9800 pro runs stable @ 30MHz faster core and memory than stock with the stock cooler (assuming adequate case ventilation) and much faster with the better mod coolers.Rage3D (http://www.rage3d.com/?node=r3dtweak&75329)
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SLED,
I have that same vid card on an Asus A7N8X-DLX with an XP2600 CPU, and I get 100-120fps most of the time in AH. The highest I ever saw (lots of sky) was 222fps. (Running W2000 Pro, SP4 with all updates applied) Sounds like there's a fundamental problem your end, especially as your system is similar to mine - different mobo.
Start checking through these settings -
(http://www.zen33071.zen.co.uk/9600.jpg)
- and I'll help you. We should be able to get you up to 120fps!
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Got a question on the Direct 3D settings. Does 'wait for vertical sync' set to 'always off' mean v-sync is off? It sounds like it.
I thought we were supposed to slide this toward performance and keep V-synch on.
Clara, can I get some fication?
{ Clara - fication ... get it ? }
This mean we should try a custom setting with all the same but witht he above 'always on' or an application specific profile?
Yikes, found this with a search, didn't realize how old the post was.
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Yes, that setting means its off fuze. And yes, you should have it on. Avoids tearing and some freezes and warps from your CPU trying to keep up with your GPU. The age of the thread isnt so important as the information is still relevant.
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I have a 9600 pro as well. And have about the same frame rates as you. What I noticed is that going turning on 4X AA and changing the resolution had essentially zero effect on my framerate which means I was not video card limited. Time to go to an athlon 64!
g00b
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Originally posted by beet1e
Start checking through these settings -
(http://www.zen33071.zen.co.uk/9600.jpg)
- and I'll help you. We should be able to get you up to 120fps!
Vsync is off ... thats a no no in ah ..
Sled you should crank that 2500+ up to 11x200 2.2 ghz and it should run sweet .
mines a 2500+ mobile barton and im at 12x200 2.4 ghz and running 44-45c idle 49c loaded hard i also have a crucial radeon 9600 pro 128 card
my fps 35- 85 . at 1024 x 768 32bit at 85hz
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So we want this I assume?
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/211_1116091184_9800prosettings.jpg)
I'm using 256 textures at 1280x960 32b color. Preloading to system memory {video memory is greyed out} and preload skins.
My 9800 Pro is a 128Mb model and have 512Mb system ram.
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I always keep the vsync setting in 'always on' mode. If you're displaycard limited the FSAA settings are the first place to start cutting from. 2XAA won't do much difference except slow down the performance.
You shouldn't care about the top refresh rate (except that one should always keep it at 85hz minimum to avoid eye wear). Setting it higher or lower won't affect your gameplay, with vsync on you should keep an eye on the _minimum_ framerate not maximum.
If your frames aren't dropping even at fully burning fields and multiple enemies around, you're as well equipped as possible.
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Hate to say it I'm not "as well equipped as possible." :(
I do get droopy at times and frame rate goes down.
Much better than last system though so I'm :) I will go 'always on' with 'Wait for V-sync' though.
Edit- Oh yea. I see a area where you can select 'Temporal Anti-Aliasing'. What the heck is that?
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If I recall right the temporal anti-aliasing is an ATI technology which is supposed to give good AA performance with low system load. It's kind of a 'smart' anti-aliasing.
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Your settings are fine fuze.