Hey guys.....
Here's some general issues and things to check if you experience any or all
of the above.....particularly on a new system you've not had long term
success running racing sims on.
I'm pulling this off my pure memory....hope a few others can add to the list
to make it complete?
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Screen Stutter, Screen Freeze, Lockups, Crashes - Possible Causes
***************************************************
1. Power Supply:
If your power supply is weak...by design or by flaw....your system will
display all types of anomalies...random....and that will include all of the
above. I have for some time now used only Antec PP403X units in all gaming
rigs we've built.....and have never had a power supply issue since. This is
a 400w power supply......but the real issue is what the watt power is over
the +5V and 3.3V combined output (that's the core of what runs your key
components)...its 245W in this excellent power supply. I've seen 350 and
400 watt ps units out there that were only 50W in this combined
output.....so be careful what you buy! If you have a proprietary computer
system (Dell, Gateway, Compaq...etc.)....who knows what junk has been
installed in your system to save a few dollars....x.....millions of units?
If you build your own systems....consider spending "top dollar" on your case
and on your power supply......then you are free to swap out, upgrade and
trade out motherboards, video cards, sound cards, central processors as your
budget and "time" allow....always keeping the case and ps the same. Its a
good "rule" to follow and I recommend this to anyone who builds their own
computers.
2. AGP and Video Card Overclocking:
When ever I have screen freeze issues or any system lockup issues.....the
first thing I do is reset the AGP aperture to 64 megs, 2X....and return the
video card to default clock settings. 50% of the time that solves the
problem (some Nv drivers just don't like those settings being max'd......I
guess?).
3. Windows Swap File:
This is a primary culprit of this issue. Reset the min/max to the same
value....you must follow the guidelines established for your system memory
size and so forth.....there's many places for instructions to do this.
Also, go to the racing sim's "replay memory allocation"....usually its in an
"ini" file of some type.....and lower the number to half or so....from what
the default setting is. You should regularly check your Windows Swap File
settings.....especially with Win98SE....which has a nasty little habit of
taking back control of it automatically. I have never found out a
definitive situation "why" it does it....I just know it does. So, I tend to
check this regularly (weekly).
4. Video Card Drivers:
I have found this to be a cause only in a few instances.....very rare...in
my opinion. However, if you have narrowed down the cause (done all of the
above)....then try installing older/newer versions. Sometimes just
uninstalling and reinstalling the same video card driver version will solve
the problem (in about 10% of the cases).
5. Motherboard Chipset Drivers:
This was a huge issue about a year ago....with the VIA northbridge chipset
drivers having lots of problems with Nvidia video cards.....especially on
AMD platforms. Its not so much of an issue with newer mobo's....IMHO. But,
it never hurts to obtain the latest version for your mobo (usually available
at the manufacturer's website) and install them. Often, just reinstalling
the current version you are running will solve these problems.
***Background Information: Understanding what the "chipset" drivers
are/do..... may help you with understanding/solving video card issues in
general.....this is a simplified explanation: Motherboards have two general
sets of circuitry......the video and the data storage drives (hard drive,
floppy, CD, etc.) circuits. These two "circuits" are controlled by
drivers/chipsets, which are small memory modules located on your mobo.
These "modules" are also known as "bridges"....and the one located near the
processor is often referred to as the "northbridge" chipset.....the one
located down near the PCI slots is called the "southbridge" chipset. The
"northbridge" runs all the video and AGP circuitry.....the "southbridge"
runs all the IDE drive circuitry. Several different manufacturer's make
these "chipset" circuitry memory modules...and provide the "drivers" for
them as well, which ship with the mobo but are not always "installed" on the
mobo from the factory. A motherboard manufacturer can actually use several
different "chipsets" depending on their mobo design. A company called "VIA"
is very popular among the AMD platform manufacturers......but there are
other companies who make chipsets as well (including AMD and Intel). The
VIA chipset drivers are popularly referred to as: "VIA 4in1" chipset
drivers. At one time....there were new versions of these drivers being
released by VIA almost every week! They are...can be....as prolific with
these chipset drivers release.....as the Nvidia reference drivers
themselves.
6. Video Card Settings:
This is a big area of causing problems with all of the issues of freezing
and screen stutter (or poor FPS). It has gotten worse with the relatively
recent phenomenon of racing sims actually controlling/setting many aspects
of the video card's "features" via program "ini" files....that are unique to
the particular racing sim. Here's some general things to consider:
a. Video card settings can be reset without your knowledge. When you
find a "set" that works well....write it down and then periodically check
that nothing has been changed (a "box" hasn't been unchecked...or
checked....without your knowledge).
b. I have often found some weird setting in Riva Tuner.....then
remembered I did it and forgot to change it back (usually because it didn't
do something I thought it would). Then....I find that in racing sim
"A".....it didn't cause a problem....but in racing sim "B" it caused screen
freezes...or lower FPS...or something I didn't like/want. You should always
check your video card settings against a written "base" that you have some
history with and you know works well in most of your sims. I have kicked
myself in the butt many times...as being the cause of my own problems!
....lol.....
c. The newer racing sims can have "ini" file settings that override
your video card settings. You may have it set one way in Riva Tuner....but
the "sim" changes it when you run that sim....but not others. I haven't
found any pattern to this among the sim developers.....so I always look for
"ini" file settings that might be culprits of screen freezes, stutter and
lower FPS.
d. If you have an Nv video card....use a tweak utility like "Riva
Tuner" to make all your settings.....and look for newer features every time
you install a new driver. Example: The "LOD Slider" for OpenGL didn't show
up in the Nv ref drivers until version 27.50 (I think)....and that's a
hugely important feature if you run OpenGL sims. As far as I know, only
"Riva Tuner" unlocks this feature for Nv video cards (but I could be wrong
about that.....its just the only one I know that does).
7. Benchmark Your Computer:
If you are running a high-end, AMD and Nvidia system.....run 3DMark2001 and
establish a benchmark score for your system. When ever you change
ANYTHING.....on your computer...(even one stupid little setting in a sim ini
file...or on RT).....I always re-run 3DMark2001 and make sure that change
didn't screw something up. Its a good rule to follow and will save you
countless hours of troubleshooting headaches....if you can take the extra 15
minutes it takes to regularly run and benchmark your system. If you start
getting screen freezes and stuttering (or system crashes)....run your
benchmark and find out if its score has deteriorated, by how much....or does
the benchmark freeze/stutter too? This is an incredibly valuable racing
system troubleshooting tool!
In the real-world of racing....high-tech racing cars require constant
maintenance and vigilance...to perform at peak levels. Our "race boxes"
today......the ones needed to run all the "cutting edge" racing sims....with
the tweaks and patches and on and on.....are no different. Your "race box"
is no different than a high-tech F1 car....and if you neglect it and don't
stay on top of all of the detail.....it will deteriorate over time.....in
performance. That's just the facts....of sim racing today.
I hope this is helpful to some of you?
Regards,
Tom
Two contributions -
- it's a good idea to have a smaller C-drive, and to have an image of that
C-drive containing an OS installation level that is a fairly base
installation with all the important apps and tools, drivers etc. installed
that works well. Because, any mod, a new driver, applications that fiddle
around on system level etc. always bring about a certain risk that
afterwards, the system is a little less stable and cannot be brought back to
the previous glory by disinstalling them either. A restorable image is an
elegant solution
- for a VIA southbridge, for me the IDE drivers of WinME have always been
faster and more stable than VIA's IDE drivers
Achim
Achim Trensz wrote...
>
> - it's a good idea to have a smaller C-drive, and to have an image of that
> C-drive containing an OS installation level that is a fairly base
> installation with all the important apps and tools, drivers etc. installed
> that works well.
Ok...good time to ask a question about this. I just bought a WDC 20 Gig HD
to replace my two older, smaller ones. (7 gig and 3 gig)
My plans were to just have the one 20 gig on my system after I partitioned,
formatted, installed Win98SE, and copied all the necessary files over to it.
Would I be better off keeping one of the smaller drives on the system to use
as my main C: drive? Or should I partition the new drive with a smaller
partition for the system stuff? And if so...what size partition should it
be? My current Windows directory is just shy of 1 gig (913 mb), and it has
a bunch of stuff on it that has accumulated in the last two years I've used
it. So I'm quite sure it doesn't need to be THAT big. But I don't know
what is a 'normal' size for the Windows directory.
Thanks in advance...
Jim Tester
Not an easy question to answer, Jim. All options have pros and cons to them.
The Windows partition in general should be small, as that'll make the OS
faster, and image backups easier and faster. 1GB seems very small, I'd go
for 2 with that new HD. That'll give you room for the OS, and some spare for
applications or tools you'll perhaps want to install in the Windows
partition for practical purposes (like being able to include them in the
image-backup you take of the system partition.
You can still change the size of that partition later using a partitioning
tool, but personally, I'd say 2GB is a good compromise. Using one of the
older HD's as C: drive is a good idea, but only if they're fast. If they're
much slower than the new HD, the system will start slower, and you'll have
slower application loads etc. than as if you'd have the OS on the faster
disk.
The same applies to the swapfile. It's a good idea to have it on a separate
disk from the OS, as that'll speed the system up, but if that older HD is
really slow, you'll relinquish overall system operation speed.
The prob with large partitions is btw that in Win98SE under FAT32, they'll
be wasting some diskspace due to the way Win98's filing system works. The
larger a partition gets, the more space gets wasted, generally speaking.
OTOH, by creating several smaller partitions, you'll get to the point where
an application simply doesn't fit into that partition anymore and you cannot
use the remaining space, which also means that space is wasted.
You might also consider using one of the old HD's as a backup medium for
image files - that'll allow you to return quickly to various system
installation states - which is a very nice thing to be able to do.
IMO, there is no such thing as one optimal solution. They all have pros and
cons.
Achim
"Jim Tester" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:a6d9o3$oj7$[email hidden]...
> Achim Trensz wrote...
>
> >
> > - it's a good idea to have a smaller C-drive, and to have an image ofthat
> > C-drive containing an OS installation level that is a fairly base
> > installation with all the important apps and tools, drivers etc.installed
> > that works well.
>
> Ok...good time to ask a question about this. I just bought a WDC 20 GigHD
> to replace my two older, smaller ones. (7 gig and 3 gig)
>
> My plans were to just have the one 20 gig on my system after Ipartitioned,
> formatted, installed Win98SE, and copied all the necessary files over toit.
>
> Would I be better off keeping one of the smaller drives on the system touse
> as my main C: drive? Or should I partition the new drive with a smaller
> partition for the system stuff? And if so...what size partition should it
> be? My current Windows directory is just shy of 1 gig (913 mb), and ithas
> a bunch of stuff on it that has accumulated in the last two years I'veused
Quoted text (8 lines)
> it. So I'm quite sure it doesn't need to be THAT big. But I don't know > what is a 'normal' size for the Windows directory. > > Thanks in advance... > > Jim Tester > >Thanks Achim!
I really appreciate the information. My new drive spins at 7200 RPM and
both the older ones are only 5400 RPM drives. I'll probably go with a 2GB
partition on the new drive for the OS, and just use the bigger of the other
two as a backup medium.
Your information has been very helpful.
Jim
"Joachim Trensz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:a6df0k$dgkdt$[email hidden]...
> Not an easy question to answer, Jim. All options have pros and cons tothem.
>
> The Windows partition in general should be small, as that'll make the OS
> faster, and image backups easier and faster. 1GB seems very small, I'd go
> for 2 with that new HD. That'll give you room for the OS, and some sparefor
they're
> much slower than the new HD, the system will start slower, and you'll have
> slower application loads etc. than as if you'd have the OS on the faster
> disk.
>
> The same applies to the swapfile. It's a good idea to have it on aseparate
where
> an application simply doesn't fit into that partition anymore and youcannot
and
> cons.
>
> Achim
>
