Re: N4 "stuttering" out of corners? More RAM!

On Sat, 24 Feb 2001 08:56:04 -0800, Tim O <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>I was running N4 at 1024x768 on my P3 866/Geforce2 MX/128 meg machine, >and getting brief stutters, generally at the exits of turns. >The problem really irked me at New Hampshire, since the corners are >tight and the racing is close. The stutters were enough to have me >bumping traffic. >I had N4 set to show about 12 cars ahead, and thought that might be my >problem until I took the lead and the problem persisted with no cars >in my view. > >I noticed quite a bit of disk access, which clued me in to trying more >RAM. The difference is HUGE after upgrading to 256meg. >I jumped right into a quick race with no qualifying at New Hampshire, >and even from the back of the pack there is no disk access and the >stutters are gone.

Did you try anything like setting your Windows swap file to a large fixed size before adding RAM? (I'm using 320/320M on a 128M WinMEmachine.) Which version of Windows? "But in a way, fear is a big part of racing, because if there was nothing to be frightened of, and no limit, any fool could get into a motor car and racing would not exist as a sport." -- Jim Clark

I think N4 may have a memory leak problem. Seems (to me anyway) the longer you race the worse the framerates get. Falcon4 had a similar problem and it was fixed with a patch. "Tim O" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> > I was running N4 at 1024x768 on my P3 866/Geforce2 MX/128 meg machine, > and getting brief stutters, generally at the exits of turns. > The problem really irked me at New Hampshire, since the corners are > tight and the racing is close. The stutters were enough to have me > bumping traffic. > I had N4 set to show about 12 cars ahead, and thought that might be my > problem until I took the lead and the problem persisted with no cars > in my view. > > I noticed quite a bit of disk access, which clued me in to trying more > RAM. The difference is HUGE after upgrading to 256meg. > I jumped right into a quick race with no qualifying at New Hampshire, > and even from the back of the pack there is no disk access and the > stutters are gone. > > Tim >

where and what is the windows swap file? please be specifc. TIA Mike

YES! I agree completely. Way too much disk access after a few dozen laps. Reminded me very much of early Falcon hell ;-). -- Joe Marques "Rob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:2FPl6.43796$[email hidden]... > I think N4 may have a memory leak problem. Seems (to me anyway) the longer > you race the worse the framerates get. Falcon4 had a similar problem and it > was fixed with a patch. > > "Tim O" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > > > I was running N4 at 1024x768 on my P3 866/Geforce2 MX/128 meg machine, > > and getting brief stutters, generally at the exits of turns. > > The problem really irked me at New Hampshire, since the corners are > > tight and the racing is close. The stutters were enough to have me > > bumping traffic. > > I had N4 set to show about 12 cars ahead, and thought that might be my > > problem until I took the lead and the problem persisted with no cars > > in my view. > > > > I noticed quite a bit of disk access, which clued me in to trying more > > RAM. The difference is HUGE after upgrading to 256meg. > > I jumped right into a quick race with no qualifying at New Hampshire, > > and even from the back of the pack there is no disk access and the > > stutters are gone. > > > > Tim > > > >

I was running N4 at 1024x768 on my P3 866/Geforce2 MX/128 meg machine, and getting brief stutters, generally at the exits of turns. The problem really irked me at New Hampshire, since the corners are tight and the racing is close. The stutters were enough to have me bumping traffic. I had N4 set to show about 12 cars ahead, and thought that might be my problem until I took the lead and the problem persisted with no cars in my view. I noticed quite a bit of disk access, which clued me in to trying more RAM. The difference is HUGE after upgrading to 256meg. I jumped right into a quick race with no qualifying at New Hampshire, and even from the back of the pack there is no disk access and the stutters are gone. Tim

"Rob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:2FPl6.43796$[email hidden]... > I think N4 may have a memory leak problem. Seems (to me anyway) thelonger > you race the worse the framerates get. Falcon4 had a similar problem andit > was fixed with a patch. Agreed. I've had the same experience. The longer I raced last night, the worse the stutters got. For the original poster, adding more ram probably helped, because there was more memory to leak ;)

In Windows device manager there is a check box labeled DMA for your disk devices. Make sure you have this box checked. You get to device manager via Start - Control Panel - System. Bart Westra "Tim O" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> >.... > > I noticed quite a bit of disk access, which clued me in to trying more > RAM. The difference is HUGE after upgrading to 256meg. > I jumped right into a quick race with no qualifying at New Hampshire, > and even from the back of the pack there is no disk access and the > stutters are gone. > > Tim >

One possible cause might be the accumulation of skid marks in longer sessions. -- Eric "Jeff Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:978qak$o6t$[email hidden]... > Agreed. I've had the same experience. The longer I raced last night, the > worse the stutters got. For the original poster, adding more ram probably > helped, because there was more memory to leak ;)

I have 512MB and I still get the 'freeze frames'. -Larry "Tim O" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> > I was running N4 at 1024x768 on my P3 866/Geforce2 MX/128 meg machine, > and getting brief stutters, generally at the exits of turns. > The problem really irked me at New Hampshire, since the corners are > tight and the racing is close. The stutters were enough to have me > bumping traffic. > I had N4 set to show about 12 cars ahead, and thought that might be my > problem until I took the lead and the problem persisted with no cars > in my view. > > I noticed quite a bit of disk access, which clued me in to trying more > RAM. The difference is HUGE after upgrading to 256meg. > I jumped right into a quick race with no qualifying at New Hampshire, > and even from the back of the pack there is no disk access and the > stutters are gone. > > Tim >

LOL! -Larry "Jeff Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:978qak$o6t$[email hidden]... > > "Rob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:2FPl6.43796$[email hidden]... > > I think N4 may have a memory leak problem. Seems (to me anyway) the > longer > > you race the worse the framerates get. Falcon4 had a similar problemand

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> it > > was fixed with a patch. > > Agreed. I've had the same experience. The longer I raced last night, the > worse the stutters got. For the original poster, adding more ram probably > helped, because there was more memory to leak ;) > > > >

On 24 Feb 2001 15:57:14 GMT, [email hidden] (Race1530) wrote: >where and what is the windows swap file? please be specifc. >TIA >Mike The option you want is "virtual memory". Go to: Start Menu / Settings / Control Panel / System icon / Performance tab / Virtual Memory button. Click on "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings". Set Minimum and Maximum to *the same value* (this will keep the swap file from re-sizing, causing unexpected disk access). Probably a value between 2X and 4X your physical (RAM) memory (I used 2.5X, 320M for 128M RAM). "But in a way, fear is a big part of racing, because if there was nothing to be frightened of, and no limit, any fool could get into a motor car and racing would not exist as a sport." -- Jim Clark

"Tim O" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> > If you decide to use the manual virtual memory settings, you should > run defrag before doing this so the swap file is written in one > continuous block on the hard drive. > I've also seen it recommended that if you have 2 hard drives to set > the swap on a drive *other* than the one Windows is on. > > Tim

The optimal location for the swap file is in it's own partition on a 2nd physical drive, on a separate IDE chain ... to be specific ;)

"Dog-Leg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:3XZl6.19780$[email hidden]... > I have 512MB and I still get the 'freeze frames'. > > -Larry thats because Bill GAtes personally coded all windows versions to ignore extra memory purchased by folks with toooooo much time/mone/etc on their hands. you sir should immeadiately remove some of that excess memory and donate it to those of us who are less fortunate. and be quick about it....:) dave henrie

On Sun, 25 Feb 2001 02:17:35 GMT, "Dog-Leg" <[email hidden]> wrote: >I have 512MB and I still get the 'freeze frames'. > >-Larry Maybe I just haven't seen it because I haven't done a long race. I had other stuff to do today, so I was only able to run about 15 laps or so. The problem didn't occur in that amount of time. I'll pay attention to see if it starts occuring during 30 lap races. My 30 lapper at New Hampshire was stuttering horribly by the final laps. Tim

On Sat, 24 Feb 2001 14:26:52 GMT, [email hidden] (Jeff Vincent) wrote: > Did you try anything like setting your Windows swap file to a large >fixed size before adding RAM? (I'm using 320/320M on a 128M >WinMEmachine.) Which version of Windows? I have used a fixed sized swap in the past, but I'm letting Windows manage the memory at the moment. Did you notice a that setting it manually reduced disk thrashing? I was due for a memory upgrade for the apps I run anyway, but N4 gave me a real reason. Heh. Tim

If you decide to use the manual virtual memory settings, you should run defrag before doing this so the swap file is written in one continuous block on the hard drive. I've also seen it recommended that if you have 2 hard drives to set the swap on a drive *other* than the one Windows is on. Tim On Sun, 25 Feb 2001 02:31:25 GMT, [email hidden] (Jeff Vincent) wrote:

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>On 24 Feb 2001 15:57:14 GMT, [email hidden] (Race1530) wrote: > >>where and what is the windows swap file? please be specifc. >>TIA >>Mike > > The option you want is "virtual memory". Go to: Start Menu / >Settings / Control Panel / System icon / Performance tab / Virtual >Memory button. Click on "Let me specify my own virtual memory >settings". Set Minimum and Maximum to *the same value* (this will >keep the swap file from re-sizing, causing unexpected disk access). >Probably a value between 2X and 4X your physical (RAM) memory (I used >2.5X, 320M for 128M RAM). > >"But in a way, fear is a big part of racing, because if there was >nothing to be frightened of, and no limit, any fool could get into >a motor car and racing would not exist as a sport." -- Jim Clark

Had DMA checked, but thanks for the suggestion. Tim On Sat, 24 Feb 2001 18:26:57 +0100, "Bart Westra" <[email hidden]> wrote: >In Windows device manager there is a check box labeled DMA for your disk >devices. Make sure you have this box checked. You get to device manager via >Start - Control Panel - System. > >Bart Westra

On Sat, 24 Feb 2001 22:08:52 -0800, Tim O <[email hidden]> wrote: >I have used a fixed sized swap in the past, but I'm letting Windows >manage the memory at the moment. >Did you notice a that setting it manually reduced disk thrashing? >I was due for a memory upgrade for the apps I run anyway, but N4 gave >me a real reason. Heh. I didn't have a problem with disk access myself, so I can't really say. (I don't run very long sessions either.) "But in a way, fear is a big part of racing, because if there was nothing to be frightened of, and no limit, any fool could get into a motor car and racing would not exist as a sport." -- Jim Clark

I raced about 7hrours one night and the slowed down to a crawl & then for some reason Windows 98SE tossed me right out of N4.<g> It must of been PO'ed I spent so much time in their.. Thom_j. "Jeff Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:978qak$o6t$[email hidden]... | | "Rob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message | news:2FPl6.43796$[email hidden]... | > I think N4 may have a memory leak problem. Seems (to me anyway) the | longer | > you race the worse the framerates get. Falcon4 had a similar problemand

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| it | > was fixed with a patch. | | Agreed. I've had the same experience. The longer I raced last night, the | worse the stutters got. For the original poster, adding more ram probably | helped, because there was more memory to leak ;) | | | |

That's not a bug it's a feature. It's called the marriage saver. After 7 hours of consecutive play, it drops you to the desk top with a message to kiss your wife and buy her flowers ;-). -- Joe Marques "Thom j." <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:IPam6.12376$[email hidden]... > I raced about 7hrours one night and the slowed down to a crawl & then > for some reason Windows 98SE tossed me right out of N4.<g> It must > of been PO'ed I spent so much time in their.. Thom_j. > > "Jeff Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:978qak$o6t$[email hidden]... > | > | "Rob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > | news:2FPl6.43796$[email hidden]... > | > I think N4 may have a memory leak problem. Seems (to me anyway) the > | longer > | > you race the worse the framerates get. Falcon4 had a similar problem > and > | it > | > was fixed with a patch. > | > | Agreed. I've had the same experience. The longer I raced last night, the > | worse the stutters got. For the original poster, adding more ram probably > | helped, because there was more memory to leak ;) > | > | > | > | > >

But Joe!! Say It Aint So! Cuz I aint Married!! hahahahahaha :-) Sorry I couldnt resist!! & Yes I have a gal-friend but she sits & watches.. It's nice when you aint tied the knot yet.. <VBG> :o) "Joe Marques" <Joe [email hidden]> wrote in message news:uDhm6.309551$[email hidden]...

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| That's not a bug it's a feature. It's called the marriage saver. After 7 | hours of consecutive play, it drops you to the desk top with a message to | kiss your wife and buy her flowers ;-). | | -- | Joe Marques | | | "Thom j." <[email hidden]> wrote in message | news:IPam6.12376$[email hidden]... | > I raced about 7hrours one night and the slowed down to a crawl & then | > for some reason Windows 98SE tossed me right out of N4.<g> It must | > of been PO'ed I spent so much time in their.. Thom_j. | > | > "Jeff Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message | > news:978qak$o6t$[email hidden]... | > | | > | "Rob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message | > | news:2FPl6.43796$[email hidden]... | > | > I think N4 may have a memory leak problem. Seems (to me anyway) the | > | longer | > | > you race the worse the framerates get. Falcon4 had a similar

problem | > and | > | it | > | > was fixed with a patch. | > | | > | Agreed. I've had the same experience. The longer I raced last night,the

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| > | worse the stutters got. For the original poster, adding more ram | probably | > | helped, because there was more memory to leak ;) | > | | > | | > | | > | | > | > | |