Do many people have experience of inferior game performance AFTER they've upgraded their machines?

I had a P4 3.0, with a fairly average geforce and 512MB ram, with the settings I had - I would get 60fps with around 4-5 cars on screen.. more than that and it would start to drop.

I've recently re-installed windows, upgraded to 1GB of RAM - re-unlocked my copy of LFS S2 - but I'm running on the OLD install (as in I copied the LFS folders and files from my old install to my new windows install).

Everything is exactly how it was before, except the install of windows is cleaner and I now have twice the amount of RAM, unbelievably.. the game is now struggling to hit 30-40fps when theres NO other cars on track.

Can anyone offer some help here?

Do you know the specifications of the old and the new RAM?
Specification like in PC-2600 or PC-3200.

Did you really check for all drivers when reinstalling windows? Some mainboards are known to be troublesome when they don't have their correct drivers. Also check the other hardware-drivers.

Vain

Some types of memory modules can't mix up, did you a different brand memory module? If thats the case you should try to run this first: http://www.memtest86.com/

Right after i bought myself an added memory module for my computer (no-name) i got weird crashes in games like the mouse not moving and keyboard not responding. After that i ran the test and it found 1000 errors, i went back to the store and i got another memory module (Dane-Elec) and ran the test again, this time without any errors

Vain, I'm running the same motherboard with exactly the same drivers as before, the extra 512MB ram i added to my PC is exactly the same spec and brand as before.

Kevin, cheers for the info I'll give it a go.

what is the graphics card? "fairly average" doesnt help much at all.

Your RAM, is it 1@1GB or 2@512MB each? If 2, I'd try running each one separately to see what happens.

If you reinstalled Windows (as you said) I think the problem may lay there.
Since you changed nothing at the hardware (well, try your old RAM stick only to see what happens) the chance is quite big that your software installation is a bit faulty.

Install all the latest drivers, especially chipset.

Cause a new stick of RAM won´t cause the system run slower....usually....

The graphics card is a Geforce FX 5700, but like everything else in the PC, its identical hardware to when I was getting good framerates before.

My RAM is now 2x512MB, before it was just the one 512MB stick, the second stick I added was was exactly the same speed and brand as the first.

I even tried re-installing S2, and then changing the settings back to how they were - no luck, I'm getting 40fps on the Blackwood start-grid.. with not a single ai on the track (-_-)

If the problem is software (ie, the windows installation) - then I've got no idea what I'm supposed to do about it really.. everything is behaving correctly and other games work fine.

I wouldn't say its an installation problem, just maybe something wrong with the drivers or a windows configuration problem. I'd also recommend going back to your original RAM and seeing if the problem persists. If it does, you then know the fault lies in the software. Just do what you can to rule everything out, one by one and eventually you'll find what it is. Sometimes it can be a long process!

Also, is the RAM running in dual channel or single channel? It'd be best in dual obviously, but that can cause problems sometimes.

Try removing a stick of RAM first, then try re-installation of latest chipset and graphics drivers.

Quote from Blue-Bomber :

The graphics card is a Geforce FX 5700, but like everything else in the PC, its identical hardware to when I was getting good framerates before.

How about your drivers? Even if they're the same, you may have had it set to deliver better performance before and better graphics now. I'd also take a look at any extra programs running in the background.

Motherboard drivers, sound drivers, GFX drivers all installed correctly? Go to your device maneger to check if your unsure.

What two slots have you got the RAM in? There meant to be in the closest slots to your CPU IIRC. Are you running dual channel or not? Try removing one stick of RAM and see what its like, its could well be dodgy RAM.

Make sure you have not set AA and AF in your nvidia control panel by accident, or at least set them too high.

What are your complete system specs? CPU, RAM etc etc.

Its rare but possible. Check for viruses or syware that may be taking up system resources or any pther software that may be taking resources.

Finally. Have you checked your running the right resolution on LFS? Not tryign to be unfair or anything, but LFS on a 5700 might not run too well on a high resolution.

i used to run lfs on a 5500 before i got my x800. It ran like a dream, so im sure his 5700 will handle it no problem.

also, it doesnt matter what slot you put your ram in when they're both the same size. it only becomes a problem when you mix and match or use dual channel.

All motherboard (as with everything else) drivers are installed correctly and are up to date. This includes graphics drivers.

I've no idea if my RAM is single or dual channel.

I've done system checks for peformance, there are no programs running int he background and I have an incredibly clean task manager (not running any processes that aren't absolutely essential)

I'm running LFS with identical options and configuration as before, which includes a modest screen res of 800x600 16bit - just as before. Generally speaking I've always had reduced visual settings, including half texture res, low LOD settings, reduced shadow and dust settings etc

As for full system specs, off hand (im at work) I don't have the full details, the machine itself is a Shuttle, the motherboard is about a year or 2 old max

Its a P4 (the 4-something socket) running at 3.0 ghz
1GB RAM
The graphics card I mentioned before
Onboard sound etc and everything else


Identical hardware (except the extra 512MB RAM) to what I had when I was getting 60fps locked (with 4 or so cars on track) just a few days ago.

Anyway, cheers for the help guys, I must admit though.. this is very fustrating.. doing hotlaps with a fluctuating 30-40fps framerate just completely sucks.

Quote from vpr01 :

also, it doesnt matter what slot you put your ram in when they're both the same size. it only becomes a problem when you mix and match or use dual channel.

Depends on the specific mainboard. It shouldn't be this way, but some mainboards respectively their BIOSs become instable when the RAMs aren't placed with great care.

Vain

..for the record, both of my RAM sticks are identical size, shape and brand.

The manual to the motherboard even states that its more than happy for you to mix and match size \ brand too.

Then remove the new RAM stick and see wether the problem persists.

Vain

Yep, take out your new stick and see if its OK with your old stick only, if it is then try it with your new stick only and see if thats OK. Your new stick could be borked, but couldnt be certain.

yeah I'm going to have to try this next.. cheers

I've tried my PC with just the original 512MB stick of RAM AND (just for the sakes of it) just the new 512MB stick of RAM, it made no difference.. same bad framerates.

I'm beginning to get really fustrated, I've actually paid money AND spent the time doing a clean windows install \ fresh driver update only to find my performance get WORSE (-_-)

I've been racking my brains, the ONLY difference (in software) that I can think of between now and then (then being back with my good framerates) was the actual version of Windows XP

Originally, I installed an early version of XP Pro and manually updated it to SP1 and then SP2 - this time around I've installed a much more recent version of XP Pro - one that has both service packs built into it.

But surely this can't be the issue?

Quote from Blue-Bomber :

I've tried my PC with just the original 512MB stick of RAM AND (just for the sakes of it) just the new 512MB stick of RAM, it made no difference.. same bad framerates.

I'm beginning to get really fustrated, I've actually paid money AND spent the time doing a clean windows install \ fresh driver update only to find my performance get WORSE (-_-)

I've been racking my brains, the ONLY difference (in software) that I can think of between now and then (then being back with my good framerates) was the actual version of Windows XP

Originally, I installed an early version of XP Pro and manually updated it to SP1 and then SP2 - this time around I've installed a much more recent version of XP Pro - one that has both service packs built into it.

But surely this can't be the issue?

Windows is a strange beast. The two different versions of XP might be the issue. Also order of software install etc can cause strange things to happen etc.

Sounds like the drivers have changed in the SP2 XP version, and that is causing the lower performance. Any way of rolling back the drivers to their original versions?
Could this be a possibililty?

Small Checklist:

Did you try start -> run -> dxdiag.exe and checked wether there is a problem with DirectX installation?

Did you install the Intel Application Accelerator? I often forget this thingie as it is not neccessary but improves performance on Intel-based systems a lot. You can find it at the intel download page.

Also - did you use the (mainboard) install cd that shipped with the Board/Computer? That drivers work, but might be rather old. Chosing new drivers on the manufacturers download page for each component is worth a try.

What about your windows swap file? Did you set it to the same setting as under your old Win Install?

Cheers for the continuing support guys,

I've got directx 9.0c and the installation seems fine,

I've no idea what the Intel application accelerator is.

I've updated my motherboard drivers using the latest from the website, not the original installation cd.

I don't know much about windows swap files, I don't know what my current settings are or what my old settings were.

Quote :

From Intel's website:
The Intel® Application Accelerator replaces the ATA drivers that come with Windows* with drivers optimized for desktop and mobile PCs using select Intel® chipsets. It reduces the storage sub-system bottleneck, enabling the processor and other system level hardware to be more productive and efficient. It is not a requirement for your operating system to work properly.

You can find the download page for the IAA here.

I got this installed on my shuttle as well, seems to work just fine. To give you an idea of my system: Shuttle SB51G, P4 3.06 ghz (the one which is getting massively hot ), 1 GB Ram, Geforce 9800 Pro. Racing on AS National with a lot of cars happening on screen results in 70 to 90 fps, dont got a benchmark, but it is running very smooth. Obviously, Graphics Adapter come into play and your fps will be something different from mine.

My Shuttle runs very fine with the latest drivers from the website, so that should be fine with you, too.

About windows swap file: This is a amount of hard disk space used as virtual memory. Once you are in the task manager (ctrl+alt+del), you can find the systems usage or whatever it is called, showing you how much RAM is used and how much is available. Same goes for the virtual memory (swap file). You can set the amount used for swapping when you right-click "my desktop", choose preferences, extended(?), system performance(?), virtual memory. I've set it to the same amount as my RAM, that's 1024 MB for swapping. If you run multiple partitions on your systems, you might chose a partition for swapping that is not used as the Windows partition ( c: ).

Dunno if those will dramatically change anything.

In my opinion, it makes no difference wether you install a Win XP without any Service Packs and patch to the most recent version or start off with a SP2 XP.

Another wild guess: Try to change the Hardware acceleration for the Sound Card in Direct X Setup (dxdiag.exe).

Swap file isn't going to have any effect on this problem. The OP said that he's getting poor frame rates just sitting on the starting grid. In that case the hard drive isn't even being used because no textures are being loaded into memory from the drive.

Is it possible that you now have AF/AA turned on where before you didn't? I know that on my machine turning on AA or AF cut my frame rate by a huge margin.

Once you get the problem figured out, which will happen sooner or later, you might want to check your frame rates for 800x600 versus 1024 or 1280. Most likely your frame rate won't suffer at all but your eye candy will be much improved and things like the mini map won't take up so much screen real estate.