Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: ScorpCH on April 26, 2007, 02:33:53 PM

Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on April 26, 2007, 02:33:53 PM
i played aces high alot last year but my laptop broke and the company wants $384 to fix it and i just cant afford that.  i was wondering if anyoen could help me get AH2 running on my desktop with the specs i have

my specs are:
athelon 64 x2 dual core processor 4200+
991 mhz ( yes mhz )
1024 mb of ram
sprint dsl net connection

im begging for help to get back in the cockpit, i miss flying with my buddies online.

thank you in advance,
scorpCH
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Krusty on April 26, 2007, 02:44:07 PM
In all honesty you can't even BEGIN to PRETEND you'll be able to play it well with less than 2 GHz.

In my opinion.
Title: Re: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: straffo on April 26, 2007, 02:50:23 PM
Quote
Originally posted by ScorpCH
i played aces high alot last year but my laptop broke and the company wants $384 to fix it and i just cant afford that.  i was wondering if anyoen could help me get AH2 running on my desktop with the specs i have

my specs are:
athelon 64 x2 dual core processor 4200+
991 mhz ( yes mhz )
1024 mb of ram
sprint dsl net connection

im begging for help to get back in the cockpit, i miss flying with my buddies online.

thank you in advance,
scorpCH


There is something wrong in your configuration it's not a 991mhz but 2.2 ghz !

Try to upgrade your motherboard bios.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Krusty on April 26, 2007, 03:11:39 PM
If you can bring that puppy up to proper speed you should have no difficulty running AH at all.

EDIT: Depending on your video card, I mean
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on April 26, 2007, 07:16:48 PM
i have a navidea geforce 6150.

how do i upgrade the motherboard bio's?

is there anyway to increase the speed from 991mhz to 2ghz?

thanks for replying so quick
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Meatwad on April 26, 2007, 07:51:46 PM
Check your CPU clock settings/multipliers  and post them there
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on April 26, 2007, 07:55:36 PM
where do i do that, just the time settign at the bottom right hand corner?
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Krusty on April 26, 2007, 09:09:57 PM
Do you have any friends that are really good with computers?
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on April 26, 2007, 09:10:56 PM
ummm..... you guys? >.<
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Krusty on April 26, 2007, 09:13:13 PM
I mean somebody that can actually sit at your PC? Any friends from work or school that seem fairly computer savvy?

EDIT: I ask because you need to get into the BIOS, and... well... you've got the capacity to really screw things up in there, if you have absolutely no idea what you're doing.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on April 26, 2007, 09:15:27 PM
well i am in the navy so ill just try and ask around, i tried to play warbirds, but i just didnt like it that much, game play is totaly different.

guess time will tell
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Brooke on April 27, 2007, 07:55:02 PM
Can you double check your processor speed by opening your Control Panel and double clicking on "System"?  Does it say there that your processor is running at 991 MHz?
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on April 30, 2007, 09:13:17 PM
yes thats what it says when i click on system, in fact, thats the same place i went to to get the number for the processor speed.
Title: ... second option
Post by: ScorpCH on May 02, 2007, 04:03:58 PM
my fiance was showing me some of the options and computers dell has to offer.  after about 15-20 mins of looking for a computer with 2ghz processor speed we found this one and i was wondering if some of you computer wizzes would be able to give me a yay or nay on this laptop as to whether or not it would be able to support AH2.

This is the URL:
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspn_e1705?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19

I would appreciate your imput and knowledge. That way I don't buy a compter that will not support the game.

- ScorpCH
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Krusty on May 02, 2007, 04:50:37 PM
Avoid laptops for gaming. The majority of them have REALLY poor video cards, and even the more expensive ones only have a decent video card. None of them have good vid cards.

Much better, hardware-wise, to game on a desktop computer. I'm not saying it can't be done, but you run into many more problems on a laptop.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on May 02, 2007, 06:31:00 PM
thanks for the reply guys, guess i have some decisions to make, question tho, is there anyway to upgrade from 991mhz to 2ghz? without having to completely replace the motherboard i mean
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Monty405 on May 02, 2007, 07:54:29 PM
if you do indeed have a athelon 64 x2 dual core processor 4200+ i am not sure why its set so low. thats where the bios comes in. that proc should run at about 2.2ghz stock speed.

as far as replacing a cpu it would depend on your motherboards socket
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: TequilaChaser on May 03, 2007, 06:23:45 AM
Quote
Originally posted by ScorpCH
thanks for the reply guys, guess i have some decisions to make, question tho, is there anyway to upgrade from 991mhz to 2ghz? without having to completely replace the motherboard i mean


Scorp,
check your  PM's
Title: thanks
Post by: ScorpCH on May 03, 2007, 06:39:08 PM
yeah once i get back in jax ill give you a ring, i am currently on leave for 10 days, my fiance and my 2 year anniversary >.<
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Tigger29 on May 03, 2007, 09:07:38 PM
I used to play AH on an old XP2200 system... 1.8GHZ I think.. had an older GeForce5200 video card.. and still managed 25-30FPS at 512 texts.  Might drop to 15 or so during high activity, but still was very playable.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Kev367th on May 04, 2007, 01:39:17 AM
Get CPU-Z from here -

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Run it and post a screenshot, this will help us work things out and see if your multiplers bus speeds are correct

You should end up with a screenshot like this -

(http://www.cyberonic.com/~kreed/cpuz.jpg)


You might want to also post a screenshot of the information under the "Mainboard" and "Memory" tabs.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on May 07, 2007, 07:53:28 PM
ok i down loaded the program, how do i take a screenshot of it?

btw, under memory it reads frequency: 200.5 mhz..... im no computer wiz, but i know thats not good
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on May 07, 2007, 08:13:27 PM
ok i figured out how to take the screen shot, but where do i find it!!
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Brooke on May 08, 2007, 12:54:10 AM
I'm wondering if his machine is overheating and consequently the CPU is going to lower clock speed.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Kev367th on May 08, 2007, 02:53:59 AM
Quote
Originally posted by ScorpCH
ok i down loaded the program, how do i take a screenshot of it?

btw, under memory it reads frequency: 200.5 mhz..... im no computer wiz, but i know thats not good


Depends I can't remember if it actually reads the a) frequency or b) automatically doubles it for DDR.

If (A) it should be right - 200.5 x 2 = 401 = DDR400
If (b) its wrong.

Press "print screen", to get screenshot.
Then use you paint prog select edit / paste and crop to size.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Krusty on May 08, 2007, 09:03:22 AM
I believe it reads the actual frequency, from memory it listed my DDR400 as "200".
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: airhog99 on May 08, 2007, 11:03:02 AM
Quote
Originally posted by ScorpCH
i have a navidea geforce 6150.

how do i upgrade the motherboard bio's?

is there anyway to increase the speed from 991mhz to 2ghz?

thanks for replying so quick


6150 sounds like an on-board graphics solution to me.
The solution for you, if that's the case, is simply to purchase a decent second hand graphics cards, such as nVidia 6800 GT or 7600, or better if the budget will stretch. Here is a useful list of performance figures (note that some later cards are less good than some earlier more upmarket ones).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_NVIDIA_Graphics_Processing_Units

(The column to look at is "Fillrate")
Just make sure you computer has the room and slot for a graphics card! (PCI Express)

Your specs look good otherwise, assuming your CPU runs at correct speed. The 1GHz figure you specified sounds like AMD Cool and Quiet is active. If so, speed goes up as you use the CPU more heavily. Still, this must be disabled to get AH to run right.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Krusty on May 08, 2007, 11:54:57 AM
Doesn't matter, if his cpu is running at 900MHz. Need to fix that first.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: airhog99 on May 08, 2007, 12:24:32 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Krusty
Doesn't matter, if his cpu is running at 900MHz. Need to fix that first.


I use less than the equivalent of a 1 GHz dual core processor to run AH. Anyway, that is fixable, and just a configuration problem.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Krusty on May 08, 2007, 12:46:19 PM
We hope so. We need to wait and see.


You may use the equivelant of 1GHz for AH, but how do you know? How much other GHz are being used to run windows in the background?

I know for a fact that AH has a lower limit. I was below it for a while. Used to be I could just barely run AH1 on a PIII 650MHz, then AH2 came out and it just wasn't even remotely possible. I'm guessing 1.5-2.0 is the reasonable "above 15fps" point for the lower limit, now.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Kev367th on May 08, 2007, 01:27:10 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Krusty
I believe it reads the actual frequency, from memory it listed my DDR400 as "200".


Well if thats the case, we know the CPU frequency is correct also.

So it could be -
a) Multiplier
b) Needs an updated BIOS to correctly configure/recognize the CPU.

Have a better idea when he posts screenies (including the mainboard screen)
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: coinbird on May 09, 2007, 06:49:05 PM
AMD by default has a lower clockspeed then intel simply in the way its designed, but if what he states is acurrate it is much too low.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: airhog99 on May 10, 2007, 06:46:13 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Krusty
We hope so. We need to wait and see.


You may use the equivelant of 1GHz for AH, but how do you know? How much other GHz are being used to run windows in the background?

I know for a fact that AH has a lower limit. I was below it for a while. Used to be I could just barely run AH1 on a PIII 650MHz, then AH2 came out and it just wasn't even remotely possible. I'm guessing 1.5-2.0 is the reasonable "above 15fps" point for the lower limit, now.


There is no way you can compare CPU cycles on a PIII (ancient) with a Athlon X2! Not only are today's processors clocked much higher, they also do a lot more useful work for each cycle. In addition a 1GHz X2 does 2 G cycles in a second (two cores).

I know the Windows (and all crap running on it) draws less than 1%, since that is what the process manager reports.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on May 11, 2007, 12:38:13 AM
OMG don't listen to any of these guys they don't know anything about AMD cpu's it seems.

Folks, most laptops have AMD Cool&Quiet enabled which will throttle the CPU speed down to a minimum when power is not needed for applications. This makes my 3000+ (2Ghz at full load) show 750Mhz in the panel. Immediately when a game etc. is launched the speed pops to maximum.

This is perfectly normal and as it _should_ be because it reduces heat.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: airhog99 on May 11, 2007, 03:16:37 AM
Quote
Originally posted by MrRiplEy[H]
OMG don't listen to any of these guys they don't know anything about AMD cpu's it seems.

Folks, most laptops have AMD Cool&Quiet enabled which will throttle the CPU speed down to a minimum when power is not needed for applications. This makes my 3000+ (2Ghz at full load) show 750Mhz in the panel. Immediately when a game etc. is launched the speed pops to maximum.

This is perfectly normal and as it _should_ be because it reduces heat.


Just for your information: I have already mentioned this.
Now, Cool&Quiet can have bad effects on AH, so may need to be disabled.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on May 11, 2007, 06:00:39 AM
Quote
Originally posted by airhog99
Just for your information: I have already mentioned this.
Now, Cool&Quiet can have bad effects on AH, so may need to be disabled.


Looks like that, I was basing on the last replies which completely ignored that. I personally haven't had problems with C&Q and AH2. It's generally a bad idea to turn it off on a laptop.

Result is increased power usage/lower battery life and increased heat / increased noise from cooling fans. Not something you want in a lappy.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: airhog99 on May 11, 2007, 06:50:48 AM
Quote
Originally posted by MrRiplEy[H]
Looks like that, I was basing on the last replies which completely ignored that. I personally haven't had problems with C&Q and AH2. It's generally a bad idea to turn it off on a laptop.

Result is increased power usage/lower battery life and increased heat / increased noise from cooling fans. Not something you want in a lappy.


It is possible that C&Q has been blamed for problems due to other issues, which have now been corrected with AMD's patches.

For some reason I can't enable C&Q in XP Pro SP2 on my desktop PC. Any ideas? (It worked before under Windows 2000. Processor is Athlon X2, 65W version)

Regards
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on May 11, 2007, 07:40:32 AM
It's supposed to work built in the new Athlon driver so it doesn't need the separate application like w98/w2k did.

So in order for it to work you should download the latest processor driver from AMD website and set powersaving options to 'minimal power management'.

Then you can monitor CPU clock speed, if the driver works like supposed, you should see 3/4 reduction on CPU speed when machine is at idle state.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on May 11, 2007, 01:24:39 PM
im still not sure how to get the screen shot to post, not sure what 'paint prog'....
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Krusty on May 11, 2007, 02:14:12 PM
Quote
Originally posted by MrRiplEy[H]
OMG don't listen to any of these guys they don't know anything about AMD cpu's it seems.

Folks, most laptops have AMD Cool&Quiet enabled which will throttle the CPU speed down to a minimum when power is not needed for applications. This makes my 3000+ (2Ghz at full load) show 750Mhz in the panel. Immediately when a game etc. is launched the speed pops to maximum.

This is perfectly normal and as it _should_ be because it reduces heat.



Are you sure about that? That doesn't seem right. I've known quite a few folks that had/have AMD chips now, and have never heard this.


That much on-the-fly underclocking can't be good for the chip. Not to mention the reason we have variable speed fans is so you don't need to underclock the chip...


Is this only for laptop chips, or something?? :huh
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: airhog99 on May 11, 2007, 03:08:07 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Krusty
Are you sure about that? That doesn't seem right. I've known quite a few folks that had/have AMD chips now, and have never heard this.


That much on-the-fly underclocking can't be good for the chip. Not to mention the reason we have variable speed fans is so you don't need to underclock the chip...


Is this only for laptop chips, or something?? :huh


It's standard on all newer AMD Athlons.
Of course "underclocking" will greatly reduce heat dissipation from the chip, which in turn allows reducing fan speed.  Since the chip is designed to do this it will work perfectly (less likely to go wrong than if running at max speed all the time).

BTW, it is not a good idea to run a CPU at max clock frequency all the time given how much energy will go to waste.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on May 12, 2007, 04:31:17 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Krusty
Are you sure about that? That doesn't seem right. I've known quite a few folks that had/have AMD chips now, and have never heard this.


That much on-the-fly underclocking can't be good for the chip. Not to mention the reason we have variable speed fans is so you don't need to underclock the chip...


Is this only for laptop chips, or something?? :huh


This is for everyone who has installed the XP driver from AMD website. The technology is designed to keep power usage to a minimum. In practise that means a cooler and more silent PC. It's a huge benefit when the CPU doesn't put out full heat all the time - the cooling fan literally stops completely as the fins are enough to disspate the heat.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: airhog99 on May 12, 2007, 05:20:26 AM
Quote
Originally posted by MrRiplEy[H]
It's supposed to work built in the new Athlon driver so it doesn't need the separate application like w98/w2k did.

So in order for it to work you should download the latest processor driver from AMD website and set powersaving options to 'minimal power management'.

Then you can monitor CPU clock speed, if the driver works like supposed, you should see 3/4 reduction on CPU speed when machine is at idle state.


Ahh.. so that was it! It's on "minimal power management" now, and C&Q is now active again. According to AMD Dashboard my 4200+ throttles back to 1GHz, and lowers the voltage from 1.2 to 1.1 volts.

I had this notion that a separate AMD specific power scheme had to show up in the list when this was working (perhaps i got the idea from Win2k).
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Pudgie on May 14, 2007, 11:03:04 PM
Just enabled the minimal power management on my box.

As soon as I did this & started C&Q proggie, my FX-60 throttled back to 1200MHz & 1.104 volts.

But as soon as I start anything CPU intensive she throttles up to full speed-2600MHz & 1.36 volts.

Thanks, I never knew that!

:D
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: Kev367th on May 15, 2007, 04:56:34 PM
Gets better with 'Barcelona'. (K-10)

Each individual core can throttle back independently.
Title: Need help getting AH2 to run on my computer
Post by: ScorpCH on May 16, 2007, 02:17:00 PM
ok so how do i activate it to get it to run at 2ghz?