rec.autos.simulators

N3 and N4 lock up while moving around in the menus, some times when entering
a race, some times I can do 4 or five laps. Never locks the same way twice
in a row.
I read somewhere about a possable conflict between the Althon and the
Geforce. Can any one shed any light on what may be my problem?

Mike

P.S. GPL runs fine.

**GeForce 2 (MX, GTS, ULTRA) and GeForce 3***

 "Tweaks and Settings" for N4

****************
General Settings
****************
**Desktop Color:  Set to 16-bit color.
**DirectX: Use a DX 8.0 compatible driver(NvRef drivers 7.0 or higher, 12.0
and up for GF3 cards).
**OpenGL or D3D?:  Run OpenGL for N4 in "XXXX"x16 (use a res compatible with
your CPU speed and ram).
**Monitor:  Obtain the latest drivers for your monitor...DO NOT USE Windows
"Plug and Play" monitor drivers!  Set your refresh rate at the highest
setting you are allowed for your monitor at the specific screen res you run
N4 at.

********************************
Advanced Settings Tab For OpenGL
********************************
In The Scroll Down Box:
   [*]Enable Buffer Region Extension. (Checked)
   [*]Allow the dual planes extension to us local video memory. (Checked)
   [*]Use fast linear-mipmap-linear filtering. (Checked)
   [ ]Enable anistropic filtering. (Unchecked)

Individual Scroll Down Boxes:
   Default Color Depth for Textures: [Always Use 16 bpp]
   Buffer Flipping Mode:             [Use page flip]
   Vertical sync:                    [Always off]
   Full Scene Antialiasing Method:   [Always off]
   (note: this is not here on a GF3 card which has its own antialiasing
screen)

   Use up to [62] MB of system memory for textures in PCI mode.

**************************
Mother Board BIOS Settings
**************************
   Video BIOS Shadow............[Disabled]
   Video BIOS Cache.............[Disabled]
   Palette Snoop................[Disabled]
   AGP Turbo (or Fast Write)....[Enabled]*
   AGP Aperture Size (MB).......[128]*
   AGP ISA Aliasing.............[Disabled]*
   AGP Secondary Lat Timer......[20h]*
   AGP Data Transfer Mode.......[4x]*
   K7 Clk_Cntrl Select..........[Optimal]*
   PnP Aware OS.................[Yes]
   Resources Controlled by......[Auto]
   Assign IRQ to VGA............[Yes]

Note: (*) Items above will appear only on mobos with 2x compliant AGP bus.
If you don't have one of these mobos now, DO NOT waste your time and money
to purchase a fast Nvidia card....its a complete waste!

DO NOT FLASH or upgrade your system BIOS UNLESS YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH
YOUR MOBO....that are **specifically addressed** in the BIOS upgrade (see
the Readme.txt file for your BIOS flash upgrade).  Flashing your system BIOS
is risky business....and you can render your mobo completely inoperable if
you screw even the slightest thing up in following the steps.  You've been
warned!  Ask Dave Henrie!

********************
Mobo Chipset Drivers
********************
Your mobo contains two "chips" similar to your CPU chip (but smaller) that
control all the functions of your mobo (system bus, AGP bus, IDE
controllers, etc.).  The one located closest to the CPU is called the
"northbridge" chip, and the one furthest away is called the "southbridge"
chip.  The northbrigde chip is very important for video graphics since it
controls the system bus and AGP bus (among others).  THE SINGLE MOST
IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR GRAPHIC'S CARD SPEED AND STABLE
OPERATION IS INSTALL AND MAINTAIN THE CHIPSET DRIVERS IN THE LATEST **DRIVER
VERSION**.  This applies to Intel and AMD platforms, but is critical in all
AMD platforms!

There are several "chipset" manufacturers and you must determine which one
you have on your mobo.  I can tell you that VIA is the most popular, but ALI
and AMD also make chipsets.  Once you've determined which you have, go to
that manufacturer's website (bookmark it...you will need to check for
version updates atleast monthly).  Download and very carefully install the
latest chipset drivers for your mobo.  This is an area where I have seen the
most improvement in frame rates and graphic quality.  DO NOT DO THIS
CASUALLY.....READ AND FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT AND HOW YOU ARE TO INSTALL THESE
CHIPSET DRIVERS!

Chipset drivers can easily get corrupted with normal
operations....especially running a lot of pc games.  I install mine every
week.....whether needed or not.  You can "over-write" install them....its
very simple to do once you have the routine down.

*******************************
Windows Virtual Memory Settings
*******************************
Many sim racers have had problems with "screen stutter"....usually occuring
as the car is entering a turn.  This happens at this point because the FPS
slows....just as the requirements for a faster FPS are greater (when
turning...the screen is rapidly changing the scenery and background).  If
your system is at the same time accessing the Windows Swap file (located on
your hard-drive)....you can get this screen stutter (a brief, usually less
than a second "freeze" of the screen).  This can occur independently of the
type of video card you use....and the amount of system RAM (although that
doesn't totally make sense to me....but I get this screen stutter on both my
systems, one has 512 MB of ram, the other has 738 MB of ram...so go
figure?).

One way to reduce or eliminate this problem is to remove Windows from
control of your Virtual Memory (that's the swap file).  Windows will
increase and decrease it as needed (on your hard drive)....and as that area
of your hard drive becomes fragmented, Windows doesn't clean it up for you
(nor does defragmenting your hard drive....that only defragments the area of
the hard drive outside of this swap file)...it will just keep taking more
and more drive space to satisfy its (often incorrect) evaluation of how much
"virtual memory" it needs for the ops you are running.

The **Quick Fix**.....is to take control of your Swap File hard drive space
allocation.  To do this, follow these directions:
  1. Go to the "Windows Virtual Memory" settings box (right click "My
Computer" -select- "Properties" - select- "Performance Tab" -select-
"Virtual Memory" [button] on lower right side of box.
  2. Select "Let me specify my own Virtual Memory settings." bullet.
  3. Set the Minimum and Maximum **to the same value**....this is very
important! [This will keep the swap file from being re-sized all the time.]
  4. Set the value at something between 2x to 4x your physical RAM memory
(remember the Value is entered in KB, not MB).  Example: With 128 MB ram, at
2.5xRAM = 320 MB (entered as: 3200 KB in the box).
  5. Restart your computer as Windows requests.
  6.  Go back and make sure the settings you made are still there....and
check this regularly.  Windows has a nasty habit of deleting this stuff all
the time....and taking back over the management of VM.  I've never been able
to figure out a "pattern" for when Windows does this....I just know that
half the time....when I check this.....Windows has taken back control of VM
and I have to reset it to the above settings.

***DOING THIS WILL SOLVE THE N4 FRAME STUTTER......assuming you have no
other "issues" with IRQ sharing and so forth.  I also found this solves the
same problem in GPL...when using the high-res cockpits and race tracks.

The **Long-Term Fix**.....is to purchase software that will allow you to
defragment the area of your hard-drive that is allocated for the swap file.
These programs can also allow you to partition your HD so you can locate the
swap file in this partition, which will reduce resizing and fragmentation
even further.  There are several programs to do this, ask around.  I don't
use them, because I just "fdisk" and "format C" my HD regularly....having a
"clone" of my "race box" system and programs on a CD.  Its much easier, and
completely refreshes my system (I usually do this monthly).

***********************************************************
HEAT....It Is Now A Major Issue - What You Can Do About It!
***********************************************************
This has become a major issue, even though the computer manufacturers do not
want to make that public.  If you are regularly playing 3D games, or sim
racing weekly or daily.....the biggest favor you can do for yourself is deal
with the heat issue now!

The Heat Rule:  The hotter your computer runs (CPU, mobo circuitry, video
card chips and circuitry, other PCI card chips and circuitry)....THE SLOWER
YOUR COMPUTER RUNS!

I don't mean "a little slower" either....its a BIG-Time a lot slower!

Example:  My systems gets scores of around 9200 on 3DMark2000.  If I turn
off all my fans (except the CPU fan...never turn it off)....wait 10 mins,
then run 3DMark2000.....the best score I get is in the low 7000's.  If you
think "heat" is not an issue...you are kidding yourself.

If you are running an AMD platform, and an Nvidia GF2 or GF3.....if you
don't adequately cool your cards and CPU case....you are just wasting time
and money.....go buy a Compaq or HP computer and write email to
someone.....stop sim racing! .....lol....  Your system will be "buggy and
slow"....for ever (until it fails).

      ****The Good News Is You Don't Have To Be A Computer "Techy" To Fix
This****
This stuff is NOT....high-tech stuff.  First of all, I buy all my fans and
cooling devices, temp gauges etc. at one place.  www.3dfxcool.com  Its a
small company, run from home (Seattle).  I have been buying fans from Bart
and his wife since the late 90's and they are the best...and best value.
You can purchase fans anywhere, and its not a "high-dollar" item anyway.
The better the fan, the more air it pushes, the longer it lasts, and the
quieter it is.  The worst 90mm case fan you can buy is about $6 bucks....the
**best one** you can buy is about $8 bucks....why screw around with the
cheap, bad fans?  And, "no" I don't own stock in this company or get a
"rebate" for telling you this.  I'm trying to make it simple for those of
you who don't know that you can unscrew two little screws, and remove the
sides of your computer case...lol...  The rest of you....already know this
stuff!

**The Tools/Supplies**
You'll need a phillips head screw driver (long shank is best, small snips,
small (black) zip straps (any ...

read more »

Huge Snip

Gee Tom, you just blew me away. I will print this, sit down wtih a cup of
coffee and a smoke, read it, read it again and then try it! Stay tuned!!

Thanks alot
Mike

ed_

| FYI Tom, this isnt always the case...  I have Win98SE installed on my
system
| and this setting is in *megabytes*.  I have 384mb or ram on my system, and
| about 3624mb of free space on my C-drive. I tried to set the swapfile to
| 8000 - but windows wouldnt allow me to go higher than - guess what...
3624!
| :-)
| ed_

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Bart Westra

There's no such thing as *much* RAM !
:-)
ed_

True, but windoze doesn't like it. Set it fairly low, but you'll have
LOTS of compatability problems with no swap file.

BTW, there's an option to disable virtual memory, rather than setting
it to zero. but like I said, windoze doesn't like it and will make you
pay!

Rafe Mc

You are absolutely correct.  Thank you for pointing out that Win98SE lists
the swap file size in megabytes...not KB.  I will revise the "Settings
Guide" accordingly.

My understanding of this "swap file" issue is to set the minimum and the
maximum to the same number so Windows doesn't constantly resize it...thus
over time it becomes so fragmented that it keeps taking more and more disc
space.  However, with many of us running 256 MB of RAM or more (512 or 768),
I'm not even sure if our swap files are ever getting accessed?  I'm not
totally clear how and under what circumstances Windows uses this swap file
when fed so much RAM?

It would be great if a Windows Guru could clue us all in.....and another
question too:  What is the amount of RAM, beyond which Windows will not (can
not?) use or recognize?  I've heard Win98SE.....can't recognize over 512
MB....but that is totally unconfirmed or substantiated.  Does someone know
for sure?

Tom

ed_

I'm not a guru at all, but do have a few good pointers. Do not set min
and max to the same, you may run into problems if you run the
occasional game that requires lots of memory. Best to set a minimum of
about 300-400mb and no maximum. That way the swap file will not
dynamically change size for most games but will still be able to run
games or open huge photoshop files when needed. Do not use the 2.5x
system ram to set how large your swap file should be. The more ram you
have installed then the less swap file you would need so this formula
is not valid in most cases. HD space is cheap so don't be frugal in
this area.

You have to limit the vcache to 512mb in the system.ini then Win9x can
use as much ram as you have installed. This is not a problem with
Win2K/NT.

For GPL & most games, a 256 Mb s.f. is fine.  Can't say how Photoshop etc.
would do with one this "small," but then Ps likes 512 Mb of RAM and many
games (like GPL) don't, so I wouldn't have them on the same 'puta: one or
the other is gonna be compromised.

What you wanna do is use a util like Norton to establish a permanent (fixed
size) s.f. at the head of the disk, where reads & writes are the fastest.
You don't want to leave it open ended, because, as said, Win will start
fragging it all over the disk, which will really slow it down, thus killing
the idea for having it in the first place.

Bonus tip: if you've got a 2nd HD (not just a separate partition), put the
swap file at the head of this disk (usually D:) so a single headset doesn't
have to swing back & forth to get from the pgm. to the s.f.

Yer welcome.  I get paid to know this kinda stuff.

--Steve

ed_

Windows tends to adjust the swap file usage according to the amount of
RAM you have automatically. When I had 128mb, it would use 50-150mb of
the swap file (set at 400mb) depending on usage. Photoshop, paint shop
pro, Dreamweaver, IE, etc. all runnning at once (web page stuff)

When I upgraded to 256mb, my swap file usage went down to 100KB (!) up
to 10 or 20 MB (Still set at 400mb static). That's only after the
256mb was filled, it stays less than 1mb if you still have physical
memory unused.

As data in RAM gets older, and unused, it gets transferred to the swap
file I believe, but obviously the more RAM you have, the less swap
file is needed. And this all depends on usage, I'm a multi-tasking
junkie, keep way too many windows opened ;)

Just use system monitor in win98 to check if you're unsure about what
to set it at.

Rafe Mc

On Sun, 08 Jul 2001 20:19:54 GMT, "Stephen Smith"

With a fixed min and no max you won't see fragmenting in most cases,
but will be ensured that you won't run into any problems if a game
does require more than your fixed min. I can post urls that back this
theory up if required.