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teropa

GF4 Ti-4200 stutters

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Hmm.. XP is more of an ACPI OS and it needs to have compliant ACPI hardware. IRQ sharing isn't a problem as you can set the video card to have it's own IRQ and you'll get the stutters. XP is very problematic with SCSI hard drives as it seems that the XP drivers are poor, whereas running an optical SCSI media device is fine. AGP Aperature settings could be the problem as well as the AGP settings. But let's not forget dX8.1 on this installed on XP. Or a busmastering hogging device such as a sound card could be the culprit. There are too many solutions and fixes to go about this as the size of the textures used in FS can choke a vid card. I would do the following: (try one setting at time and go into FS or another game. I know this is going to take up a lot of time but in order for you to find the culprit, this is the only way I can think of)1. replace the video drivers that came with xP as they are problematic - there was a bug when it a released that hurt performance. Be sure to get the latest core-chipset drivers for your mobo and that your BIOS is up to date. 1b. disable all TSR programs like AV, task scheduler, etc.2. Goto Administration and disable services that you don't need. Your goal here is to give as much resources available. 3. Set AGP Aperature to 64MB and then turn off fast writes, sideband addressing and finally, drop down to aGP 2x. Bascially detune the system and try each setting one at a time. 4. If you have a sound card or busmastering peripherial using a PCI solt - not onboard sound, "walk the card". Try start moving the sound card closer/farther in relation to the AGP slot. I'd rather just take the sound card out or any PCI hardware and see how things are first. 5. IF all else fails and you still get stuttering, you might have to do some hardware editing =>wcpredit.jd

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Alex,Is your HDD led flashing at the same time you get the stutters?Tero


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Guest gasebah

Hi jd,>XP is more of an ACPI OS and it needs to have compliant ACPI >hardware. IRQ sharing isn't a problem as you can set the video card >to have it's own IRQ Where can I set the video card to have its own IRQ? Mine ahares its IRQ with the onboard NEC USB host controller.Thx,Alex

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Alex, It's really BIOS dependent. But be sure to tell the BIOS that the OS is not PNP so you can set it and hopefully XP will take note of it. The reason why I say that is because XP has it's own rules in controlling hardware resources. Nevertheless, my vidcard is sharing with my NIC. If you think you have bad memory.. search for "memtest" and install on a floppy and test your memory. When I had a bad chip go bad, in FS, the symptoms were CTDs, which occured when using highy polygon aircraft. Just don't don't remove the memory and assume it is just test it w/o physically moving it. One more thing, try turning off all screen savers, monitors going to suspend mode and be sure your Energy saving is set to proper settings in the BIOS. If it isn't, XP won't be happy. Remember, XP wants complete control of the hardware. jd

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Guest gasebah

Problem solved!! Problem solved !!!1. The shared IRQ was absolutely positively the problem.2. I obviously have two onboard USB controllers. But only one of them can disabled in the BIOS. I disabled it and was lucky. It was the IRQ sharer. I extended the other one with an external hub.3. Stutters are completely gone. The first time I can acually see how fast that GF4Ti4600 really is.4. This way I can even keep all ACPI functionality.5. I am a real happy camper .-).Cheers and thx fr all the help. Could not have done it without you guys.Alex

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Guest gasebah

Just by the way I also gained 500 3DMark2001 points finally bringing me over the 10000 mark. Forget all this ACPI IRQ sharing crap.Alex

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OK guys,My problem solved as well. The extra 256mb did the trick.Boy, is this GF4 something else !! NO stutters and getting at least 18-20 even in the densest areas with all maxed out ! ;) And what about the picture quality then ?!I'm a very happy camper too!Btw. Alex, what are your computer spects otherwise.I find that I got "only" ~ 9000 3DMarks with:AMD Athlon XP 2000+512MB DDR PC2100 (266)Gainward GF4 Ti-4200ECS K7S6A SiS745 chipset (corresponds VIA KT333)Running all as "stock" 133/133/33, FSB/MEM/PCI


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Guest gasebah

I would not worry too much about the 3DMark score, because it is heavily depending on your driver settings, and does not mean a lot for FS2002 anyway. My 10380 were reached with no AF and no AA. My rig:MSI KT7-266 Pro Ru-2 (Via KT266)Athlon XP2100+ (133 MHz, stock)512MB Apacer DDR Ram (all timings and other settings set for max Spd, stable)MSI GF4Ti4600 (no o/c so far), running on 30.30sThe MSI GF4 ram is a little o/ced by default (660Mhz). This could make a little difference. I do not think that the little difference in the processor would add much.However when you feel your score is too low before I o/c the card I would check on memory timings, burst length, 4-way overleave etc. of your Ram. That is where most if the time you can gain a little.Alex

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Guest gasebah

Ah, only now I c that you have a Ti4200, that should be the difference.By the way, what are your driver settings for the GF4?Alex

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Hello Alex,Yes, it's a Ti-4200.I haven't touched my driver settings AT ALL. I mean, I got the 29.42 detos and they're running on the default settings.Is there something in the driver settings that I can change to improve performance in FS2002 (and/or 3DMark) ?Tero


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Guest gasebah

Hi Tero,there is not much you can do for 3DMark, except setting the picture quality to high performance insted of highest quality. However you will loose picture quality.This is only for benchmarking. So what's the point. I would suggest to make benchmarks only with the standard driver settings in order to get comparable results. And do not be shocked my the scores you see in the madonion ORB. Most of it the are highly overclocked, unstable systems where someone was sittings in front of the monitor hoping that the computer will run through the benchmark unharmed :-).However to improve picture quality in FS2002 I would get a program called GTU. You can get it at www.guru3d.com.You can activate hidden driver options with it, that make for a much better picture quality in FS2002.Good settings are:FSAA off, Anisotropic filtering 32xorFSAA 4s, Anisotropic filtering 16xHowever do not play with all the cryptic settings of GTU. You can really mess up your system with it. Change one thing at a time in order to keep track of the changes you make. Try it. It is absolutely worth the small risk.Alex

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Alex,Thanks for the tip. I'll get the tweaker and try it out!Btw. What are the effects on frame-rates after changing to the settings you mention? I've heard something about changing some LOD setting as well in the tweaker. Do you have an idea what it does and at what cost?cheers,Tero


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Guest gasebah

Hi Tero,there certainly is a big impact on frame rates, but your card can take it. If you do not like it you can always go back. As far as a change of LOD bias is concerned, this can not be achieved by simply using the GTU slider. The driver has to be patched first. But I suggest that you play with the the other stuff first and we go on from there.Alex

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Alex,OK thanks! I'll see what it does and get back to you ;)Appreciate the information!Tero


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