So far ive spent hours trying to get this right. Im beginning to doubt Ive even got a problem and thats its running normal, but I just have this feeling that something is not right with it all. My computer knowledge is lacking but I do try . my problem is erratic and inconsistent FPS. Am I just a gaming hyperchondriac?
Here is screenshots of my Task Manager after running 1 lap of a replay of a multiplayer race. See Fig 1a for CPU usage. See Fig 1b for Processes. I have checked my processes and got it down to the bare minimum and it should be running nice now except for its still bad. but i also get this when in cockpit view while racing online.
My FPS is 100+ when the camera is up close to 1 car. Or around 80 when its one car alone. But if there is any cars around it bogs down and goes to 10 - 15 FPS and makes LFS almost unplayable. It sometimes goes even lower to 5 FPS. I dont just get this in LFS, but also in another multiplayer game called Planetside (100+ when looking at a wall, 5 when in a fight and action is happening). Half life 2 felt like it was also laggy and that is single player.
I have attached my dxdiags file for you to see.
Ok I bought my system as a complete build from Evesham. But I did reinstall windows myself since then. Im not quite sure wether I have my BIOS and/or Windows and/or my hardware fully set up correctly.
My hardware system specs:
First:
See fig 2a. This is my Drives in Windows XP. Deframented both hard drives. Have got 80GB free on my windows drive and 125GB free on my data drive. Could it be that my SATA drives are not setup correctly from the first moment I installed Windows? How would I know if its the right drivers for the SATA disks? How can I measure what they are doing and how would I know if thats the issue?
What the hell is that VIA-P VT6205-DevB USB Device and VIA-P VT-6205-DevM USB Device? Is that the drivers for my 2 SATA drives? Do I have a VIA chipset on my MSI motherboard or am I confused by this and its normal functioning?
Second:
All of my hardware seems to run through USB. And I dont know if this is limiting performance somehow. My modem, my input, my printer and my drives? does SATA use USB? man i dont know enough about computers for this.
Third:
See fig 3a for my device manager. there is an ethernet card installed or something that hasnt installed properly but i have disabled this. will that cause problems in my system? does the rest of my device manager look ok to you or does something look wrong?
Fourth:
ive heard about having to revert to old drivers or to third party drivers to get better results and to avoid issues, what should I try as far as drivers go for my graphics card?
Fith:
USB ADSL modem good or bad? Should it handle the bandwidth fine? Or should I purchase a router and get that ethernet card setup properly? Anyone know a lot about this area? I dont think my ping is the fault here its definately some sort of system lag, it happens in a replay.
Sixth:
Should I put my monitor refresh rate to 75hz to get better results with V sync or anything else?
Seventh:
How would I know if my power supply voltage is not enough, ive heard the 6800 ultra is a drain on power? I dont really know too much about what power supply I have in there or if i should upgrade to a better one.
Eigth:
See Figure 4a - 4i for my LFS options. i have it set to 1280x1024 32 bit colour depth but the issue persists in 1024 resolution too. i have tried the minimum sleep option with no change. tried hardware vertex shading on/off. z buffer to 16 and back. are any of those options wrong or conflicting or anything. ive tried v sync on and off but my fps still is too bad to race comfortably. im pretty sure my specs can handle this or is my system underpowered?
Ninth:
temperatures of my hardware. im not sure what the temperatures are at on all of my hardware. how is the best way to monitor all of my critical components. i keep my computer locked away in a wooden desk cupboard which probably makes it run hot and i havent opened the case on it for near on a year maybe more. should I give it a clean? swap cards into different slots? should i monitor my fan speeds?
Tenth:
Faulty memory or other hardware? How can i run stress tests on all my gaming critical hardware to see if its all functioning well under pressure. I have a really old copy of PC Check on floppy disk but its very old now and may not work as well on my PC. Should I use dos based diagnostics or windows diagnostics is fine for this kind of fault finding. whats good free software to diagnose my computer?
Eleventh:
Other current problems with the PC that piss me off i dont know if they are related? who knows. on boot i get detecting USB mass storage devices for about 5 10 minutes and then it boots into windows. ive had that problem since i installed my hp printer. i think it conflicts with those 2 VIA-P devices earlier. but even when i disconnect it i still get the fps problem. this printer has memory card readers on it and my floppy drive has memory card readers on it too, conflict?? ah i dont know im just a newbie. Also my microsoft optical mouse tends to have fits and spin all over the screen but i beleive this is due to the surface im using it on.
Twelvth:
Its an old windows install i guess i could do with wiping it clean and starting over. but this i am doing over time as I slowly back up my files and prepare for the big wipe and stuff. as I get to that point ill make more posts to inform you all of whats happening and to bump me thread.
Please please please all you brilliant tech gurus help me get my good system running like it should be. A million questions for you all. I have searched and looked through other threads for help as you can see im kind of at the limit of my knowledge of computers. i feel like im really close to beating this gremlin.
PS. Please tell me of other information or things I can do to try and resolve this. pics or graphs or tests or something.
Here is screenshots of my Task Manager after running 1 lap of a replay of a multiplayer race. See Fig 1a for CPU usage. See Fig 1b for Processes. I have checked my processes and got it down to the bare minimum and it should be running nice now except for its still bad. but i also get this when in cockpit view while racing online.
My FPS is 100+ when the camera is up close to 1 car. Or around 80 when its one car alone. But if there is any cars around it bogs down and goes to 10 - 15 FPS and makes LFS almost unplayable. It sometimes goes even lower to 5 FPS. I dont just get this in LFS, but also in another multiplayer game called Planetside (100+ when looking at a wall, 5 when in a fight and action is happening). Half life 2 felt like it was also laggy and that is single player.
I have attached my dxdiags file for you to see.
Ok I bought my system as a complete build from Evesham. But I did reinstall windows myself since then. Im not quite sure wether I have my BIOS and/or Windows and/or my hardware fully set up correctly.
My hardware system specs:
- Pentium 4 3.4Ghz (i think its an EM64t, 2 show up in device manager???) - 200 x 17 setting in the bios
- MSI bios v1.5b for MS-7058 Motherboard (ive found a 1.8 bios but have yet to update it)
- 2GB of DDR memory set to 333 mhz in bios
- nvidia geforce 6800 ultra pci express 256 meg
- creative SB audigy 2 ZS with front panel + speaker/sub set
- viewsonic vp191s lcd monitor @ 1280x1024 60hz
- 2x 180GB SATA disk drives
- 1x CD DVD ROM
- 1x DVD RW / CD R/RW combo
- 1x USB Hub self powered
- 1x HP USB 2.0 printer, USB 2.0 cable with memory card readers
- 1x Floppy disk drive with memory card readers
- 1x USB ADSL Alcatel modem
- 1x Logitech driving force pro
- 1x microsoft wired optical mouse
- 1x microsoft keyboard
- Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 quite old and clogged up install
- Norton Anti Virus Corporate Edition disabled and enabled no difference but id like to be secure
- Adaware SE
- Windows XP firewall
- nvidia drivers 93.71 had same fps problem with 81.98
- latest creative SB drivers
First:
See fig 2a. This is my Drives in Windows XP. Deframented both hard drives. Have got 80GB free on my windows drive and 125GB free on my data drive. Could it be that my SATA drives are not setup correctly from the first moment I installed Windows? How would I know if its the right drivers for the SATA disks? How can I measure what they are doing and how would I know if thats the issue?
What the hell is that VIA-P VT6205-DevB USB Device and VIA-P VT-6205-DevM USB Device? Is that the drivers for my 2 SATA drives? Do I have a VIA chipset on my MSI motherboard or am I confused by this and its normal functioning?
Second:
All of my hardware seems to run through USB. And I dont know if this is limiting performance somehow. My modem, my input, my printer and my drives? does SATA use USB? man i dont know enough about computers for this.
Third:
See fig 3a for my device manager. there is an ethernet card installed or something that hasnt installed properly but i have disabled this. will that cause problems in my system? does the rest of my device manager look ok to you or does something look wrong?
Fourth:
ive heard about having to revert to old drivers or to third party drivers to get better results and to avoid issues, what should I try as far as drivers go for my graphics card?
Fith:
USB ADSL modem good or bad? Should it handle the bandwidth fine? Or should I purchase a router and get that ethernet card setup properly? Anyone know a lot about this area? I dont think my ping is the fault here its definately some sort of system lag, it happens in a replay.
Sixth:
Should I put my monitor refresh rate to 75hz to get better results with V sync or anything else?
Seventh:
How would I know if my power supply voltage is not enough, ive heard the 6800 ultra is a drain on power? I dont really know too much about what power supply I have in there or if i should upgrade to a better one.
Eigth:
See Figure 4a - 4i for my LFS options. i have it set to 1280x1024 32 bit colour depth but the issue persists in 1024 resolution too. i have tried the minimum sleep option with no change. tried hardware vertex shading on/off. z buffer to 16 and back. are any of those options wrong or conflicting or anything. ive tried v sync on and off but my fps still is too bad to race comfortably. im pretty sure my specs can handle this or is my system underpowered?
Ninth:
temperatures of my hardware. im not sure what the temperatures are at on all of my hardware. how is the best way to monitor all of my critical components. i keep my computer locked away in a wooden desk cupboard which probably makes it run hot and i havent opened the case on it for near on a year maybe more. should I give it a clean? swap cards into different slots? should i monitor my fan speeds?
Tenth:
Faulty memory or other hardware? How can i run stress tests on all my gaming critical hardware to see if its all functioning well under pressure. I have a really old copy of PC Check on floppy disk but its very old now and may not work as well on my PC. Should I use dos based diagnostics or windows diagnostics is fine for this kind of fault finding. whats good free software to diagnose my computer?
Eleventh:
Other current problems with the PC that piss me off i dont know if they are related? who knows. on boot i get detecting USB mass storage devices for about 5 10 minutes and then it boots into windows. ive had that problem since i installed my hp printer. i think it conflicts with those 2 VIA-P devices earlier. but even when i disconnect it i still get the fps problem. this printer has memory card readers on it and my floppy drive has memory card readers on it too, conflict?? ah i dont know im just a newbie. Also my microsoft optical mouse tends to have fits and spin all over the screen but i beleive this is due to the surface im using it on.
Twelvth:
Its an old windows install i guess i could do with wiping it clean and starting over. but this i am doing over time as I slowly back up my files and prepare for the big wipe and stuff. as I get to that point ill make more posts to inform you all of whats happening and to bump me thread.
Please please please all you brilliant tech gurus help me get my good system running like it should be. A million questions for you all. I have searched and looked through other threads for help as you can see im kind of at the limit of my knowledge of computers. i feel like im really close to beating this gremlin.
PS. Please tell me of other information or things I can do to try and resolve this. pics or graphs or tests or something.