N4, N3 , AMD Althon, geforce ultra -- No Go?-

System specs: MB -- Gigabyte 7zx (VIA KT133 chipset) BIOS = FD AMD Althon 1.1g 256 ram Elsa Gladiac Ultra (Same as Geforce Ultra) 64mb AGP. BIOS = 3.15.00.12.03 Nvidia drivers ver 4.12.01.0650 dated 3-12-2001 Sound Blaster Live Value. 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.

Here you go Michael....should fix you right up..........Tom Pabst **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 hardware store has these now) and some "surface mounts" for the zips (hardware store has these too). If you have an AMD platform, add a small exacto knife to the list. **What To Do** Install fans everywhere you can. Here's the most likely....your computer may already have one or more of these. a. Install a 90mm case fan as an "intake" fan in the front of your CPU box (usually at the bottom). The fans will have an arrow showing which way the air flows. This fan should suck air in the front of your computer case. b. Install as many 90mm case fans at the rear of your case as their are "fan mounts" for them. A full-tower ATX case can have as many as three, there's at least one always (sometimes just under the power supply, or just above it...or both). These fans should be installed to "exhaust" air out the back of your case. **What To Do Additionally - If You Have An AMD Platform (or just want to max-cool your system)** c. Install a "blow hole" 120mm fan on the side door of your case, just over the area of your video card and your CPU on the mobo. This should "exhaust" air directly off the CPU and video card. You can cut the hole with any Sabre (jig)saw fitted with a metal cutting blade. If you don't have one, go ask your "handyman" neighbor to do it for you. This is not hard to do....takes 10 minutes. d. Connect all fans to one "fan control unit"....available at www.3dfxcool.com or some other sites that sell fans and cooling devices. DO NOT USE a free power plug off the power supply that is routed to the hard drive. Use any other free power plug to feed power to the fan controller. e. Strip all your IDE cables into four separate bands, and tie them with a zip strap. There's several sites on the web with pics of this....its easy to do. This will allow for free movement of air flow in your case. After I did this, my "case temps" dropped a full 5 degrees centigrade...that is a lot! f. Use the zips and mounts...and get all your little cables and wires inside your case mounted securely and as much organized and out of the "center air movement" area of your case as possible. Once done, this will allow you to blow air (air cans are great for this), use a soft paint brush (a large women's make-up brush works great or this too), and regularly "dust" the inside of your case and all its components....I do mine once a month. Interior case dust..... used to not be an issue....but dust will trap heat...and it will kill your computer now. g. [optional but important] Install a small temperature gauge (I get mine at 3dfxcool, they are about $12 bucks) in the middle of the "free air space" just over the CPU and the video card. The "display" unit mounts in any free drive bay face in the front of your computer. Monitor this temp regularly when sim racing.....I record mine from time to time to keep track (record the ambient room temp too....especially important for those of you in hot/humid areas). If this temp gauge exceeds 40 degrees C....STOP RACING, shut your system down and let it cool down! h. [optional] If you have a 19" or 21" monitor, you should be exhausting the hot air from the monitor case. There's a cool-looking-easy-to-mount "monitor exhaust" fan available at 3dfxcool.....its about $20 bucks and it plugs into the "fan controller" above. After I did this, my monitor colors and stability improved dramatically. It was as if I had upgraded my monitor to an expensive CAD system type of monitor. I was amazed!

"Tom Pabst" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ikA17.159174$%[email hidden]...

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> Here you go Michael....should fix you right up..........Tom Pabst > > > **GeForce 2 (MX, GTS, ULTRA) and GeForce 3*** > > "Tweaks and Settings" for N4 >

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

Tom Pabst wrote: > **GeForce 2 (MX, GTS, ULTRA) and GeForce 3*** > 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). 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_

Ed, Get some more hardrives :-) I did cuz they're faster & cheaper now!! "Ed Solheim" wrote: | FYI Tom, this isnt always the case... I have Win98SE installed on mysystem | 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_ --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.262 / Virus Database: 132 - Release Date: 6/12/2001

"Ed Solheim" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:iqJ17.3554$[email hidden]... > Tom Pabst wrote: > > > **GeForce 2 (MX, GTS, ULTRA) and GeForce 3*** > > > 4. Set the value at something between 2x to 4x your physical RAMmemory > > (remember the Value is entered in KB, not MB). Example: With 128 MBram, > at > > 2.5xRAM = 320 MB (entered as: 3200 KB in the box). > > FYI Tom, this isnt always the case... I have Win98SE installed on mysystem > 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! > :-) With that much RAM try setting the swap file to 0. The best swapping is no swapping! Bart Westra

Whaddya mean that *much* RAM?? There's no such thing as *much* RAM ! :-) ed_ Bart Westra wrote: > > With that much RAM try setting the swap file to 0. The best swapping is no > swapping!

>With that much RAM try setting the swap file to 0. The best swapping is no >swapping! > >Bart Westra 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

Ed.... 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

Tom, perhaps you should ask *the other* Tom Pabst !?! :-) ed_ Tom Pabst wrote: > 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

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> 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 > >

On Sun, 08 Jul 2001 08:36:52 GMT, "Tom Pabst" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Ed.... > >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?

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.

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>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

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.

*Theoretically*, Windows won't recognize a swap file bigger than 256 Mb, but the chipheads over on the flite sim forums will angrily disagree (some problems w. B-17 can seemingly *only* be solved with a s.f. > 300 Mb...and an AGP aperature of 64 Mb). 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 "Noddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Sun, 08 Jul 2001 08:36:52 GMT, "Tom Pabst" <[email hidden]> > wrote: > > >Ed.... > > > >You are absolutely correct. Thank you for pointing out that Win98SElists > >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 moredisc > >space. However, with many of us running 256 MB of RAM or more (512 or768), > >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 swapfile

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> >when fed so much RAM? > > 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. > > >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 someoneknow

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> >for sure? > > > >Tom > > 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. > >

Unless I've misunderstood this completely... Photoshop for one will make and manage it own swap-file(s). These can be setup these disks form the "File > Prefrences > Plug-in's and Scratch disks" ed_ Stephen Smith wrote: > 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.

I agree, definitely set a swap file to a set size to avoid it getting fragmented if it expands, you just need to make sure that it is set large enough...I set mine at 400mb, which is TOTAL overkill for me, but it's never been a problem, and I have plenty of disk space :) 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" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>*Theoretically*, Windows won't recognize a swap file bigger than 256 Mb, but >the chipheads over on the flite sim forums will angrily disagree (some >problems w. B-17 can seemingly *only* be solved with a s.f. > 300 Mb...and >an AGP aperature of 64 Mb). > >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 > >"Noddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:[email hidden]... >> On Sun, 08 Jul 2001 08:36:52 GMT, "Tom Pabst" <[email hidden]> >> wrote: >> >> >Ed.... >> > >> >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? >> >> 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. >> >> >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 >> >> 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. >> >> >

On Sun, 08 Jul 2001 20:19:54 GMT, "Stephen Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote: >*Theoretically*, Windows won't recognize a swap file bigger than 256 Mb, but >the chipheads over on the flite sim forums will angrily disagree (some >problems w. B-17 can seemingly *only* be solved with a s.f. > 300 Mb...and >an AGP aperature of 64 Mb). Can you point me to any sites that state this to be true? >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. 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.

On Mon, 9 Jul 2001 04:12:19 +0200, "Ed Solheim" <[email hidden]> wrote: >Unless I've misunderstood this completely... Photoshop for one will make and >manage it own swap-file(s). These can be setup these disks form the "File >> Prefrences > Plug-in's and Scratch disks" > >ed_ You can do it that way, but if you don't specify then by default PS will use your systems swap file.

Don't think so. Experience tells me this is a LIFO inventory system, but once the swap file is full *just once* then it starts writing it to free space toward the end of the disk. If you spec min & max, once it's full, it starts overwriting the oldest stuff at the front of the disk. This is real easy to try for yerself by launching & relaunching a slow loader like Falcon 4, with & w/o rebooting (which also clears it), and experimenting w. different s.f. sizes. Besides, if you don't specify a maximum, it's a little hard to get yer defragger to put *some* of it (how much?) at the front of the disk, eh? --Steve "Noddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Sun, 08 Jul 2001 20:19:54 GMT, "Stephen Smith" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >*Theoretically*, Windows won't recognize a swap file bigger than 256 Mb,but > >the chipheads over on the flite sim forums will angrily disagree (some > >problems w. B-17 can seemingly *only* be solved with a s.f. > 300Mb...and

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> >an AGP aperature of 64 Mb). > > Can you point me to any sites that state this to be true? > > > >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

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> >the idea for having it in the first place. > > 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. > >

Thanks to Tom Pabst!!! Tom, I sat down with the list and made every change I could. Even though I had made most of them already. Messed around uninstalling and installing drivers etc. Still a no go. As this is a brand new system and not overclocked, and has a huge heatsink with two fans on it, I never gave the "heat" issue a thought. While messing around on the net, I found that Gigabyte had a program for watching chip temp along with some other resources. I down loaded it, installed it, ran it, and there it was! chip temp 96c. Got it cooled to 70c now and its working good. I also had to install new VIA drivers which takes care of an issue with the sound blaster live and the VIA KT133 chipset. Thanks again Tom. Mike

>it, and there it was! chip temp 96c. Got it cooled to 70c now and its >working good. >WHOA!!!! You're one lucky bloke, must've been a smidge away from a fried CPU. What's the system temp? Must be pretty damn high to give you such huge temps. There's still something not quite right at that temp, the highest you should be looking at is a CPU temp in the 50's. At first I thought you must've meant fareinheit, then I saw the c on the end, and realised you were raosting CPU's! Rafe Mc

Kind of an off topic discussion, but... Once the swap file reaches a specified max, you WILL get proggy crashes. It won't "overwrite" older data that is still in use at the start, only data that is no longer in use. Run any monitoring proggy, like windows' "system monitor", use the "swap file in use" monitor, and start opening programs. It'll increase it's usage within the file, even tho the size remains static, the drop it (albeit more slowly tho) as you close programs. If you hit the max, then you'll get out of memory errors. I don't think that an "open" sf is such a bad option, even though I wouldn't use it personally. As long as the minimum is large enough so as to be reached very infrequently (like 300-500mb). If the minimum is never reached, then it'll act the same as a static sf anyway, more or less. It could be defragged quite easily as long as it remains at it's minimum size. I agree it'd fragment quickly as soon as the minimum was breached however. Like I said, I'll stick to my static sf tho. Each one to their own, eh? Rafe Mc On Mon, 09 Jul 2001 20:55:12 GMT, "Stephen Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Don't think so. Experience tells me this is a LIFO inventory system, but >once the swap file is full *just once* then it starts writing it to free >space toward the end of the disk. If you spec min & max, once it's full, it >starts overwriting the oldest stuff at the front of the disk. This is real >easy to try for yerself by launching & relaunching a slow loader like Falcon >4, with & w/o rebooting (which also clears it), and experimenting w. >different s.f. sizes. Besides, if you don't specify a maximum, it's a >little hard to get yer defragger to put *some* of it (how much?) at the >front of the disk, eh? > >--Steve > >"Noddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:[email hidden]... >> On Sun, 08 Jul 2001 20:19:54 GMT, "Stephen Smith" >> <[email hidden]> wrote: >> >> >*Theoretically*, Windows won't recognize a swap file bigger than 256 Mb, >but >> >the chipheads over on the flite sim forums will angrily disagree (some >> >problems w. B-17 can seemingly *only* be solved with a s.f. > 300 >Mb...and >> >an AGP aperature of 64 Mb). >> >> Can you point me to any sites that state this to be true? >> >> >> >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. >> >> 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. >> >> >

On Tue, 10 Jul 2001 08:35:25 GMT, [email hidden] (Rafe McAuliffe) wrote: > Besides, if you don't specify a maximum, it's a >>little hard to get yer defragger to put *some* of it (how much?) at the >>front of the disk, eh? Why? If you specify a minimum you will see a permannet swap file on your hard drive just like if you have specified a min/max. If you use a defragger like Norton you can also specify where on the HD this file resides. As I said, make it big enough so that you rarely, if ever, go over this amount. I find using 300mb is working well for me. I just read about this method recently so haven't been using it for long, but I like it so far because it doesn't fragment and still protects me from possible out of memory errors.

Not mis-quoting me are you? :) I didn't say that... On Tue, 10 Jul 2001 07:03:44 -0400, Noddy <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>On Tue, 10 Jul 2001 08:35:25 GMT, [email hidden] (Rafe >McAuliffe) wrote: > >> Besides, if you don't specify a maximum, it's a >>>little hard to get yer defragger to put *some* of it (how much?) at the >>>front of the disk, eh? > >Why? If you specify a minimum you will see a permannet swap file on >your hard drive just like if you have specified a min/max. If you use >a defragger like Norton you can also specify where on the HD this file >resides. As I said, make it big enough so that you rarely, if ever, go >over this amount. I find using 300mb is working well for me. I just >read about this method recently so haven't been using it for long, but >I like it so far because it doesn't fragment and still protects me >from possible out of memory errors.

I have antistropic checked its the first thing i found to help fram stuttering Tom Pabst <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ikA17.159174$%[email hidden]...

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> Here you go Michael....should fix you right up..........Tom Pabst > > > **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 compatiblewith > your CPU speed and ram). > **Monitor: Obtain the latest drivers for your monitor...DO NOT USEWindows > "Plug and Play" monitor drivers! Set your refresh rate at the highest > setting you are allowed for your monitor at the specific screen res yourun

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> 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 systemBIOS

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> 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 inall > 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, butALI > 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 seenthe > most improvement in frame rates and graphic quality. DO NOT DO THIS > CASUALLY.....READ AND FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT AND HOW YOU ARE TO INSTALLTHESE

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> 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 (locatedon > your hard-drive)....you can get this screen stutter (a brief, usually less > than a second "freeze" of the screen). This can occur independently ofthe > 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 bothmy > 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 thatarea > of your hard drive becomes fragmented, Windows doesn't clean it up for you > (nor does defragmenting your hard drive....that only defragments the areaof > 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 howmuch > "virtual memory" it needs for the ops you are running. > > The **Quick Fix**.....is to take control of your Swap File hard drivespace

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> 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 stuffall > the time....and taking back over the management of VM. I've never beenable > 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 ofVM > 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 solvesthe > 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 swapfile. > These programs can also allow you to partition your HD so you can locatethe > 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....havinga > "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 donot > 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 isdeal > 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)....THESLOWER

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> 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

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> **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 hardware store has these now) and some > "surface mounts" for the zips (hardware store has these too). If you have > an AMD platform, add a small exacto knife to the list. > > **What To Do** > Install fans everywhere you can. Here's the most likely....your computer > may already have one or more of these. > a. Install a 90mm case fan as an "intake" fan in the front of your CPU > box (usually at the bottom). The fans will have an arrow showing which

way > the air flows. This fan should suck air in the front of your computercase. > b. Install as many 90mm case fans at the rear of your case as theirare > "fan mounts" for them. A full-tower ATX case can have as many as three, > there's at least one always (sometimes just under the power supply, orjust

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> above it...or both). These fans should be installed to "exhaust" air out > the back of your case. > > **What To Do Additionally - If You Have An AMD Platform (or just want to > max-cool your system)** > c. Install a "blow hole" 120mm fan on the side door of your case, just > over the area of your video card and your CPU on the mobo. This should > "exhaust" air directly off the CPU and video card. You can cut the hole > with any Sabre (jig)saw fitted with a metal cutting blade. If you don't > have one, go ask your "handyman" neighbor to do it for you. This is not > hard to do....takes 10 minutes. > d. Connect all fans to one "fan control unit"....available at > www.3dfxcool.com or some other sites that sell fans and cooling devices.

DO > NOT USE a free power plug off the power supply that is routed to the hard > drive. Use any other free power plug to feed power to the fan controller. > e. Strip all your IDE cables into four separate bands, and tie themwith > a zip strap. There's several sites on the web with pics of this....itseasy > to do. This will allow for free movement of air flow in your case. AfterI > did this, my "case temps" dropped a full 5 degrees centigrade...that is a > lot! > f. Use the zips and mounts...and get all your little cables and wires > inside your case mounted securely and as much organized and out of the > "center air movement" area of your case as possible. Once done, this will > allow you to blow air (air cans are great for this), use a soft paintbrush

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> (a large women's make-up brush works great or this too), and regularly > "dust" the inside of your case and all its components....I do mine once a > month. Interior case dust..... used to not be an issue....but dust will > trap heat...and it will kill your computer now. > g. [optional but important] Install a small temperature gauge (I get > mine at 3dfxcool, they are about $12 bucks) in the middle of the "free air > space" just over the CPU and the video card. The "display" unit mounts in > any free drive bay face in the front of your computer. Monitor this temp > regularly when sim racing.....I record mine from time to time to keep

track > (record the ambient room temp too....especially important for those of you > in hot/humid areas). If this temp gauge exceeds 40 degrees C....STOP > RACING, shut your system down and let it cool down! > h. [optional] If you have a 19" or 21" monitor, you should beexhausting > the hot air from the monitor case. There's a cool-looking-easy-to-mount > "monitor exhaust" fan available at 3dfxcool.....its about $20 bucks and it > plugs into the "fan controller" above. After I did this, my monitorcolors > and stability improved dramatically. It was as if I had upgraded mymonitor > to an expensive CAD system type of monitor. I was amazed! > > > >

I have a cusl2-c and some of those setting are not listed Tom Pabst <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ikA17.159174$%> **************************

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> 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!