rec.autos.simulators

Problem -- Low framerates (15 to 45, averageing 25) in Nascar 2003. I run
this in 800x600 16 bit and it does not make much differance if I use
DXGraphics or openGL. I usually race against 19 AI.
    Other options for N2003,
    Car Quality - Med       Track Objects - some
    Pit crews - Low           Texture Filter - Normal
    Mirror- Med               World - Low
    Draw distance - 78%   Features - None
    Effects - none              Lighting - None
    Shadows - None

What it is --- Gigabyte 7ZX-FG  Motherboard with a 1.1g althon and 256
memory. Current drivers and BIOS installed.
                     Nvidia Geforce4 ti4200 agp8X   Drivers 43.45 dated
3/20/2003
                     Soundblaster Live Value  - Latest drivers installed
                     Realtek RTL 8139 PCI Ethernet card.

I just upgraded the OS from Windows 98se to XP. This was a upgrade not a
full brand new install.  I had an average framerate in win98 of 30 fps.
Although I didn't expect a framerate increase I didn't expect a decrease.

One thing that bothers me is all the cards in the system are using IRQ9 (ALL
of them, graphics, sound, ethernet). I removed them and installed them one
at a time but they all use IRQ9 no matter what. Help at microsoft says this
is normal. Huh?

I've given a lot of info, but I know you folks will want more, just ask
away.

Please try to help a 49yo wannabe racecar driver.

Mike Heard

  Well folks tell me that XP and Win2k don't care if the cards are all
grouped together.  Being an old 98'er...I beleive em but I don't trust the
OS that does that...  :)

   Chances are your vsync is set to on since you probably have re-installed
all your drivers and such with  the change of OSes.  Dig into the
properties, you may need coolbits, and verify that vysnc is disabled in
both opengl and d3d.  Next verify that FSAA is OFF and and Anistrophic
filtering is off.  

        Looks like you have covered most of the ingame stuff, but to just
double check, In the game set the viewing distance to a lower setting,
choose medium or lower for most options and for God's sake make sure those
last three Shadow options are off!  Reduce the number of visible cars fore
and aft.  Also lower by one or two clicks the number of sounds played.  

  Finally a good trick to gain a few fps is to race online.  By not having
to compute the driving of 40+ cars, you lighten the load on the cpu.

  You may also want to reduce (by one or two cliks) the sound acceleration
for your sound card in the direct X settings.
  In the bios you can set the AGP to a max of 4 and probaby also adjust the
AGP aperature...try 128 and then 64 to see if any difference is visible.
Good luck...
dave henrie

All those new "features" in XP take up system resources. I won't go into
what you can disable and tweak in XP, but you can search around for that
stuff. The first thing you need to do in N2003 is reduce your  draw
distance. 78% is overkill for most of the tracks anyway, especially since in
your system the processor is the bottleneck. Increase draw distance = more
polygons = lower framerate. You can also go into Display Properties>Settings
tab>Advanced button>Geforce4 Ti 4200 tab>Direct3D Settings>More Direct3D
button and set Vertical Sync mode to Always Off. That setting will probably
raise the high end of your framerates, but wont do anything about the lows.
If you notice any visible tearing of the image in Nascar 2003 or other
sims/games you can change Vsync back to enabled. You probably won't notice
the tearing in Nascar, but if you play first person or action games you
will. Since you have a fairly fast graphics card you should also be able to
increase your resolution to 1024x768 or even a little higher without
impacting your framerates at all.

Kyle

You can get a floppy disk set from Microsofts web site that allows you to
use a clean disk to install the upgrade of XP. The isnatll process will ask
for the qualifying CD but you won't have any legacy bits lying around
afterwards.

Andi.

Well I figured someone would point at the processor, but that just comfirms
my thoughts about the problem. I've the things you and Dave Henrie have
suggested with no improvement. So that leads to the question ------ What
Motherboard and what chip would you (or Dave, or anyone for that
matter)suggest? Keeping in mind my pimary use is Sim's, followed by internet
use etc,ect.

Mike Heard

  Get the biggest fastest cpu you can afford,  Everything else will either  
shine or suck based on that.  Fancy Video cards ***on slow CPU's.    
Start there...then Video and Ram upgrades...goodluck.

My system is a 1.8 GHz P4, 512 MB RAM, AGP 4x, Radeon 9700 (non-pro
version).  I have installed the Catalyst 3.5 drivers.  When I play
Nascar 2003, I start the race at the back of the pack at around 22
fps.  In-game options are all default.  During the race, my fps never
drops below 18 and has gone as high as 52, but usually is in the
twenties somewhere.

The kicker (and what I don't understand) is this:  I get this same
performance (within 3 fps) when I run at 800x600 or at 1600x1200.  I
also get this same performance whether I have my Catalyst driver
settings at the minimum (max performance) or at the maximum (max
quality - which by the was is at 4X AA and 8X Anis. Filtering).  This
seems very strange to me.

The only way for me to adjust my fps, is to adjust the in game
options.  For example, I can increase framerate by reducing the number
of cars I see ahead.

This is driving me crazy!  Why is my framerate not changing when I
change the resolution and driver settings?!  Should I return my card?
Do I have a faulty card?  HELP!

SkykingUSA

   This says your CPU is limiting your video card.  The card is waiting for
more info to throw up on the screen and the cpu is too busy with other
items to fully feed the video.

     CPU again...the horsepower needed to calculate the positions and
movements of the ai cars is overwhelming your cpu.  

        nope!  Card sounds great...it's just kinda loafing right now.  hasn't
even broken into a sweat.  Just make sure the last three shadow options on
the the lower right portion of the graphics options screen are turned off.
And for good measure you might want to check your SMoothvision settings and
your ansitropic settings.    
   Was that a Cessna or a Beach?
dave henrie

Thanks for the information!

I don't remember what plane I flew - it was so long ago.

SkykingUSA

Ill likely go to my grave remembering the call sign of my first solo
aircraft.  Tomahawk-Niner1414 :)  (piper)  Real men sit ON the wing not
under it :))

Mitch

SkykingUSA

Well, I installed the game and my new Radeon 9700 card on another
system:

P4 2.4 GHz
768 MB RAM
AGP 4x
Radeon 9700 (non-pro version)
Catalyst 3.5 drivers
Catalyst settings:  AA: 4x  AF: 16x  Vsynch:On
Resolution: 1280x960 32-bit in a window
Windows XP Pro
Default in game options except where noted below
42 cars visible in front (only 28 in the race though)
14 sounds
Extreme Texture level

When I play Nascar 2003, I start the race at the back of the pack at
around 35 fps now (22 with my other 1.8 GHz system).  During the race,
my fps is usually in the 30s, 40s or 50s and has gone as high as 102
when I'm facing the outside wall in a corner (not a desireable
position, but great for performance!).

I am surprised that this game is so CPU intensive.  I would have
thought it would be more like the 3D shooter games I am used to
playing like Unreal, Quake, Return to Castle Wolfenstien.  In those
games it always appeared to be restricted by my video card, not my
CPU.

Well, thanks to this newsgroup, I decided not to return my video card,
but to upgrade my processor and now I have a great *** environment!
 Thanks a ton to all of you who took the time to respond - damn, I
love the internet.

SkykingUSA

Eldred
--
Help find missing child: Tatianna Ashley Chillcutt from Michigan(info on my
homepage)
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett

Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.