Aces High Bulletin Board
Help and Support Forums => Technical Support => Topic started by: Torvald on July 15, 2005, 09:19:26 PM
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Need a little help here. I am getting single digit frame rates when fighting. I have set all my setting to minimums, terrian, water,, etc. But I have little success improving my FR. The best I have had are the low teens. Naturally this is when fighting the enemy. My system specs are as follows.
Alienware 3.2Ghz with 1 Gig of memory. I have a GeForce FX 5900 with the 6.6.9.3 Driver and 256 MB of video memory. I have a creative labs audigy 2 sound card with 5.12.1.324 driver. I am using the CH products Pro pedals, pro throttle and combatstick, all USB, not sure about the drivers, but they are not more than 6 months old. I have DSL, dont think I have ever updated the drivers for this.
So, gang, what can I do?
Regards
Torv
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There are so many variables to this.....
First, on your computer you "should" be running good numbers, its better than mine and I run 50 most of the time. Make sure you have all your drivers up dated, except the video. The Nvida cards are picky as to which drivers to use. Check the boards as to which are best for your card.
Next, what else do you have running in the background while you have the game running? Lots of people have turned off alot of the services to get there machines running as clean as possible. Also under this heading would be virus and adware junk clogging up your computer. Be sure you are virus clean. This game uses the CPU alot, and if your computer has to spare cycles to run other things...viruses, programs, adware, and so on it will cause the games FR to suffer.
Next, run "pingplotter" a free program you can find by googling the net. It will run a pingplot to HTC servers. If, like a lot of others you are pinging through a bad Savvis nexus you will have trouble, but HTC is working to fix this, but you'll at least know were your trouble is.
One other thing you can try, is to run the game off-line and see if you are still having the same trouble. Granted you won't have the furballs and such, but get a few things smoking will have the same effect.
If this little bit of info helps, great! If it doesn't, then I'd say post a copy of your Dxdiag on the message boards here and let some of these guru's have at it :)
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First and foremost, optimize your system. CPU, video card, you can have the best there is and you'll still have crappy frame rates if your system has 30 processes running at startup. I know people with far better systems than mine that cant get half my frame rates.
http://www.tweakguides.com/
Go here and start reading. Optimize your OS. Get your computer running smooth.
Also, ditch that driver and download the 61.77 version from Nvidia's website. Or go to http://www.omegadrivers.net and download his latest (which I think is his version of the driver you have now). The "official" version of your driver is unstable with your video card (at least in the systems I've tested), and I have heard lots of other horror stories. Stable driver will help.
Once all that is done, use the tweakguides Geforce guide to set your card up properly. Settings in the card software can make a HUGE difference in frame rates, irregardless of your ingame settings.
Good luck.
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What refresh rate are you running your monitor at, at the desktop? Are you at the default of 60Hz, or have you set it faster? I'm running my desktop in XP at 1024x768 @ 120Hz refresh. Low on the deck in furballs I'm 45-60 FPS. Up in the air I'm 65-120 FPS.
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i got the same issue...i think its a map issue really
last week i got a new system..... in sig... including a 7800gtx. Now for most people you will know the 7800gtx is the fastest gfx card out there by a VERY LARGE MARGIN
it can play most games at 2048 res, with AA and AF on max
last week, on my first go of AH with my new setup i was pegged at 75hz/75fps all night. which was great.
however today im at 10-20fps? Its them trees again though. As soon as the trees are out of view its fine.
nothing has changed since last week other than this new map.
FS2004 still is running at the same fps as last week which is over 100fps.
HL2 is running at 70-160fps like last week
my 3dmark 2005 score has gone from 7775 last week to 8800 this week due to tweaking
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Originally posted by Overlag
i got the same issue...i think its a map issue really
last week i got a new system..... in sig... including a 7800gtx. Now for most people you will know the 7800gtx is the fastest gfx card out there by a VERY LARGE MARGIN
it can play most games at 2048 res, with AA and AF on max
last week, on my first go of AH with my new setup i was pegged at 75hz/75fps all night. which was great.
however today im at 10-20fps? Its them trees again though. As soon as the trees are out of view its fine.
nothing has changed since last week other than this new map.
FS2004 still is running at the same fps as last week which is over 100fps.
HL2 is running at 70-160fps like last week
my 3dmark 2005 score has gone from 7775 last week to 8800 this week due to tweaking
Your entire post (unedited) is proof that HTC needs to re-think their tree plan. The trees destroy otherwise perfect systems. They are not only a horrible tax on even the fastest systems, but they are way overscaled (at 200 to 250 feet tall, in-game) they are not that appealing, to boot!
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Originally posted by Krusty
Your entire post (unedited) is proof that HTC needs to re-think their tree plan. The trees destroy otherwise perfect systems. They are not only a horrible tax on even the fastest systems, but they are way overscaled (at 200 to 250 feet tall, in-game) they are not that appealing, to boot!
yup, AH trees look ugly and really need tweaking.
there size causes 2 massive problems
1: they are TOO big so more planes hit them (200 foot trees?!?!)
2: bigger objects = more taxing on systems.
Overall AHII needs some optimization, if it cant run on a A64 2400mhz (x2 cores 1mb 4800 speed) pc with a 7800gtx there is something fundamentaly wrong.:(
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Just a silly question for you guys. Why is it the trees cause such a big frame rate hit on a powerhouse system like Overlag has, yet they dont bother my little Athlon XP/Geforce 5900XT?
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Originally posted by StarOfAfrica2
Just a silly question for you guys. Why is it the trees cause such a big frame rate hit on a powerhouse system like Overlag has, yet they dont bother my little Athlon XP/Geforce 5900XT?
i dunno my my 9700pro also had the issue. id tweak it all to be perfect 70hz solid, however trees pushed it below 20fps almost all the time
driving in tanks at 10fps is VERY VERY annoying:mad:
edit what sort of gfx settings are you using?
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If I may say, I've noticed quite a few folks with the newer 64 bit processors that have this problem. They have nice new systems that should be head and shoulders above what's sitting on my desk, gets scores on benchmarks that make mine look like a big paperweight, and yet once I log into AH I perform BETTER. And I cant tell you why, but this has come up before.
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Originally posted by StarOfAfrica2
If I may say, I've noticed quite a few folks with the newer 64 bit processors that have this problem. They have nice new systems that should be head and shoulders above what's sitting on my desk, gets scores on benchmarks that make mine look like a big paperweight, and yet once I log into AH I perform BETTER. And I cant tell you why, but this has come up before.
nope, because my XP1700 based system cant even run AH @ my native TFT's resolution so that is NOT it ;)
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Torvald, what resolution and texture settings are you using?
Also i think that some background tasks bog the system down, be it antivirus, firewall, malware, spyware, internet explorer, skype, instant messanger or whatever.
I have no framerate problem with trees and my system is way slower.
I have no idea which program it is but i could imagine some messaging, fw, antivirus or maybe some kind of winxp help, indexing, sceduling, update whatever program runs in background and seriously breaks the system.
For example some networking program might have to examine every udp package needing cpu power when ah is transfering information?
As i see it most of you say it ran great when trying with the new system and a few days later it doesnt run any good, something changed in the system meanwhile and that is the problem.
For example using outlook express opens up the instant messanger and that one stays in background all the time.
Windos trys indexing filesystems for fast search, maybe it tries to index the ah2 files because they get touched all the time it indexes them constantly while playing?
Antivirus with constant file check checks every file opend and bogs down the comp?
Omega drivers wont help in this case, as fast as they might be they only buy some frames if at all, as i understand is you have a quarter of the performance that you expect.
Maybe skuzzy has an idea how to debug the problem... maybe dump a thread list into a txt file with a hotkey? As soon as you jump out of ah2 the effect that is the problem will cease... so maybe you can put in a debug switch into ah and pull the info somewhere?
Can ah2 check how much cpu time it gets and how much cpu time is for system and other tasks? Those 3 values alone could give a hint if its real a ah2 problem or another task running, as i suspect it is?
Sorry if i sound to critical but i find it verry strange that it runs perfect on new installed system and 5 days later its bogged down.
You installed winxp sp2 between first ah2 test and the slow problems? Switched off all the stuff coming with sp2, like firewall, online update, office quick launch and others?
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Originally posted by StarOfAfrica2
If I may say, I've noticed quite a few folks with the newer 64 bit processors that have this problem. They have nice new systems that should be head and shoulders above what's sitting on my desk, gets scores on benchmarks that make mine look like a big paperweight, and yet once I log into AH I perform BETTER. And I cant tell you why, but this has come up before.
My system is an A64 3500 with 1 MB Ram and a 6800GT. My FPS never go below 40 even when I'm flying right down in the trees or in a smokey, low alt furball from hell. Sliders are 3/4 of the way to the left, textures 1024 and preloaded. Only running 1024x768 though as I need a new monitor.
Woof
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if i closedown bonic/seti at home my 2x cpus sit at 0% forever i only have 20 proccesses open, and all other games have shown a improvement after tweaking the proccesses down, however AH is still the same.......awful
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i set max performance on all sliders and i still dip below 40fps sometimes!?! :rofl
silly silly......
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Originally posted by Overlag
however trees pushed it below 20fps almost all the time
We observed this same issue during the Coral Sea scenario. Over the water and fleets, everyone would be buzzing around at 50-80fps. The minute we had to attack Port Moresby (an area totally surrounded by jungle terrain) and people were augering right and left due to single digit rates.
I made it a habit to adjust my sliders just as land was coming into view just to survive. Even then frame rates were in the teens over a small base and town surrounded by jungle.
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Originally posted by Overlag
if i closedown bonic/seti at home my 2x cpus sit at 0% forever i only have 20 proccesses open, and all other games have shown a improvement after tweaking the proccesses down, however AH is still the same.......awful
I have 12 processes at startup. Taking off on the current map, or driving in a GV, I start at around 40 fps. With the clipboard up, sitting on the runway, it can drop to 37 fps. Depends on how much is in my POV. In the air it varies from 50-85, depending on alt and how much I can see in the current POV.
Torvald, I use the same video card you have. If you want I'll be glad to email you my vid. card settings and see if it helps you.
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thats sums up what i get StarOfAfrica2
20-30fps near trees 60 in the air, however as soon as i look at the ground its down to 20-30fps.
offline testing shows no issues at all... maybe its just this map?
Skuzzy. what would you expect a 7800gtx to get in AH?
1280x1024x32 60hz refresh vsync on
1024 textures
AFx4 (system wide setting, best setting for all games except AH but i can live with it. My does AF blur txt so much on Nvidia hardware? but not ATI?)
AAx4 (aa doesnt hurt performance at all, 8x+S is fine in AH but i play at AAx4 with all games)
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Turn the maximum texture size down to 256 Overlag. With the resolution and AA settings, you are going to be resource swamping the card.
And please, just try it before coming back and telling me how great,.blah, blah, blah, blah. I have explained this problem 100 times and most people simply do not listen. No offense.
Then bump it the texture size to 512. You will start to see performance issues at this stage.
There are other things that will impede your performance, but you cannot do anything about them, and I am not up to arguing with people about it. The more I deal with AMD systems, the less I like them.
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Originally posted by Skuzzy
Turn the maximum texture size down to 256 Overlag. With the resolution and AA settings, you are going to be resource swamping the card.
And please, just try it before coming back and telling me how great,.blah, blah, blah, blah. I have explained this problem 100 times and most people simply do not listen. No offense.
Then bump it the texture size to 512. You will start to see performance issues at this stage.
There are other things that will impede your performance, but you cannot do anything about them, and I am not up to arguing with people about it. The more I deal with AMD systems, the less I like them.
problem is skuzzy it only shows 58mb textures used in gfx ram?
will try tho... just seems strange downgrading the game after upgrading:eek:
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512k textures and new patch.....
trees in view 7fps :eek: :rolleyes:
trees out of view 60fps (60hz)
vsync off, trees out of view = 120-300
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new trees are very bad skuzzy
sure, they are the right size now, however the FR hit is double what it used to be
before it was 60fps without 20-30 with
however its now 7-18 fps with trees on. I think HTC really need to look into trees costing less poly's or something. the first trees in AHII was fine
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I just flew around for a bit and did not notice a FPS impact from the trees. Seemed less than before to me.
850Mhz PIII w/ATI8500 card. Hangs around 30 to 50 FPS, drops to 15 or so in heavy action. I did a low high speed pass over the trees looking to the right and keeping them in view. I was getting 24-28 FPS.
I'll let you know how my system at home handles it. It is a bit faster.
By the way, you are not downgrading the game. It is called resource management. You were over-extended with the settings you were running. However, it is not the first time I have seen an AMD system, which looks good on paper performing badly in the game. I just have no idea why.
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overextending the best out there....well i guess so... I dunno how myself though but never mind
512 has made no difference, other than making everything blury
AA off and AF off no difference
new trees are sucking away fps like hell. a few people was mentioning the same.
One thing i have to say about them is....... Why are there so many 1 pixel wide transparent bits in them? This could be what the issue is. Quiet a few people was also saying they are now flashing like the animated water does too.
Now im guessing the Texture size for trees is the same, you've just reduced the size they are displayed by 50% or something? How about removing some of the transparent parts in the center of the tree? only the outer most branches should have those transparent bits.
ALSO... those bits of grass that have transparent bits...how about turning them off for guys in planes? Coming in from above you dont really see these however the fps impact is quiet large.
And yes, its all AMD's fault :confused:
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I dunno Overlag. You tell me why an 850Mhz PIII with an ATI8500 is outperforming your system. Although it is at 256 texture size and at 1024x768 resolution.
Kind of hard to do anything with the trees as they seem to be hurting this low end system less than before.
Where do you have the sliders in the game set to? The detail and distance sliders in particularly.
Now, if the changes I suggested make no difference, then your are definately resource starved somewhere.
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Originally posted by Skuzzy
I dunno Overlag. You tell me why an 850Mhz PIII with an ATI8500 is outperforming your system. Although it is at 256 texture size and at 1024x768 resolution.
how about you tell me your the programmer. :( Trees have always been a issue since the new ones. even with my 3200+ and a 9700pro. Ive never got them working... hence my sharp downward spiral in playing time.
Originally posted by Skuzzy
Kind of hard to do anything with the trees as they seem to be hurting this low end system less than before.
Where do you have the sliders in the game set to? The detail and distance sliders in particularly.
Now, if the changes I suggested make no difference, then your are definately resource starved somewhere.
bran new install, just tested with 15 procceses running
the two sliders was set full, they are now about 1cm from max.
range is about 3cm from min. I set my view at short vis range when taking off to remove the trees.
trees still cause dips below 30 now but at least its not as low as 7.
9700pro to 7800gtx = 400% (give or take) increase in gfx power yet in AH i feel none? well thats not true. at 30'000feet ive tripled my FPS (80-90fps before, 180-270fps now)and doubled my texture res (when i was set at 1024before).
the main question is this though...... do you really need to simulate single trees? cant they be clumps like before?
IE loads of trunks and a SINGLE canopy?
edit: what sort of instructions do you use in AH? like MMX etc? Have you seen that artical how Intel have made there compiliers detect non-Intel CPU's and run slower/unoptimized code?
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ok thats odd
i just enabled supersampling FSAA via a tweak.....which halfs my fps in most benchmarks and games like HL2/DOOM3/Farcry.....
not only does everything look miles better but i seem....so far to be getting a solid 60fps everywhere.
errrrm :confused:
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skuzzy, you have permission to point and laugh........;)
in my tweaking i disabled a few startup tasks for Nvidia drivers...the site said these can be shut down and not loose any functions. however if you have issues turn them back on.
It turns out one of the tasks i disabled *MAY* have been the one that controls the advanced clock rate on the 7800gtx
IE my 460/1300mhz Geforce 7800gtx was infact running at 275/1200mhz..... Ie SLOWER fill rate than my 9700pro.
:rofl :rofl :rolleyes: :rofl
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aa x4
af x4
supersampling
x1024 textures
1280x1024x32
60fps solid
however skins are disabled right now arnt they? so that means the preload is smaller......? I only have like 50mb ram left......hehe will probably keep 512kb after more testing
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Well heck, at least you find the culprit.
Skins are not disabled. There just aren't any 51 or 47 skins as they models are new and the previous skins will not work with the new models.
The activity I see in the skin forum looks like that will be short-lived as they are all over these new models.
What process was it? I would like to know for future reference.
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nvsvc32
If you OC the card or make changes from the stock settings, this process loads them. You can kill it without hurting your comp, it will run fine. But your custom settings wont be loaded and you'll have to reset the card settings ever time you log on. Small price to pay to leave it on, I've never seen that it uses any resources to speak of.
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NVIDIA Display Driver Service
under services.msc
i also installed 77.76 beta last night and saw a nice improvement all round
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I agree with all of you on the eye-candy issue, especially trees. I wish actually, that we could eliminate some of the eye-candy. I mean the landscape is pretty and all that, but it does reduce frame rates, regardless of vid card, ram, processor, drivers, etc. Unless you have a system built by NASA, you will always overtax your system with all of the pixels. I've noticed that most of my FR loss IS map related, however I do loose a lot in furballs, by bldgs, pop-up trees. I miss my AH1 FR's! I usually run 20 (low) to 60 (hi).
Oz
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turn down the eye candy high detail ground/water settings.
set distance views to 1/3 and texture to 512
had them settings with a 9600ati and still got at least 30fps furballing 46fps or so in high alt fights and 25-30 near tree top/ water/ground ,agp4. f1024x798
course i o/c everything i can on my systems.
I cant believe guys are getting single digit fps with 2.4+ systems and decent cards no matter what, those #s are the #s from the old days of warbirds and 400mhz systems.