N4 At Last!!!

Hi all, Well, my patience was finally rewarded when one of my colleagues from work returned from the USA yesterday with a copy of N4 safely packed away for me. Unfortunately I had to wait until this morning until I could get my hands on it but it was well worth the wait. I have only so far raced a few short races around Daytona, New Hampshire and Atlanta but it already has me well and truly hooked. Just a few questions about performance. I am running the sim on a PIII600, 128mb, V5 system so am having to make a lot of sacrifices to get a playable performance. So far I have only raced with 20 ai cars and have lots of the graphics turned off or way down. Can anybody with a similar system give me some pointers on the settings I should try on the V5 to eke out a little more speed. Would picking up a GeForce card afford any increase in frame rate with the current CPU or would that be a false economy. I am currently running at 800x600x16, I did try 640x480x16 but this was actually slower than the higher resolution. TIA PH

I have the follwing system PIII-733 Asus P3V4X 256mb PC133 SDRAM Intel Pro 100 NIC Philips Acoustic Edge Sound Card Win98SE Logitech Formula Force wheel and pedals I swapped out my VD5 and installed a GeForce DDR (Asus V6800 Pure) from my wife's PC. I lost the use of FSAA but my frames per second nearly tripled. With FULL details, 42 cars (25 cars drawn ahead), and Force Feedback enabled, I maintain a solid 30fps with the GeForce in OpenGL. As much as I love FSAA I will live without it to play N4 :-) Cheers

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>Hi all, > >Well, my patience was finally rewarded when one of my colleagues from >work returned from the USA yesterday with a copy of N4 safely packed >away for me. Unfortunately I had to wait until this morning until I >could get my hands on it but it was well worth the wait. > >I have only so far raced a few short races around Daytona, New >Hampshire and Atlanta but it already has me well and truly hooked. > >Just a few questions about performance. I am running the sim on a >PIII600, 128mb, V5 system so am having to make a lot of sacrifices to >get a playable performance. So far I have only raced with 20 ai cars >and have lots of the graphics turned off or way down. Can anybody with >a similar system give me some pointers on the settings I should try on >the V5 to eke out a little more speed. > >Would picking up a GeForce card afford any increase in frame rate with >the current CPU or would that be a false economy. > >I am currently running at 800x600x16, I did try 640x480x16 but this >was actually slower than the higher resolution. > >TIA > >PH

Hey hammer man! Yes get a GeForce card and you'll be fine consider MX boards as a best buy! But the GTS cards really rock! -- Oliver "Peter Hooper" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Hi all, > > Well, my patience was finally rewarded when one of my colleagues from > work returned from the USA yesterday with a copy of N4 safely packed > away for me. Unfortunately I had to wait until this morning until I > could get my hands on it but it was well worth the wait. > > I have only so far raced a few short races around Daytona, New > Hampshire and Atlanta but it already has me well and truly hooked. > > Just a few questions about performance. I am running the sim on a > PIII600, 128mb, V5 system so am having to make a lot of sacrifices to > get a playable performance. So far I have only raced with 20 ai cars > and have lots of the graphics turned off or way down. Can anybody with > a similar system give me some pointers on the settings I should try on > the V5 to eke out a little more speed. > > Would picking up a GeForce card afford any increase in frame rate with > the current CPU or would that be a false economy. > > I am currently running at 800x600x16, I did try 640x480x16 but this > was actually slower than the higher resolution. > > TIA > > PH

That motherboard really is bad... I have one and thinking of changing it. It seems I can't get the AGP slot to work at more than 1X (out of a possible 4X); that's not mentionning the couple of instabilies caused by the Via Appollo chipset... Abunra Ben'Ghazah wrote:

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> > I have the follwing system > > PIII-733 > Asus P3V4X > 256mb PC133 SDRAM > Intel Pro 100 NIC > Philips Acoustic Edge Sound Card > Win98SE > Logitech Formula Force wheel and pedals > > I swapped out my VD5 and installed a GeForce DDR (Asus V6800 Pure) > from my wife's PC. I lost the use of FSAA but my frames per second > nearly tripled. > > With FULL details, 42 cars (25 cars drawn ahead), and Force Feedback > enabled, I maintain a solid 30fps with the GeForce in OpenGL. > > As much as I love FSAA I will live without it to play N4 :-) > > Cheers > > >Hi all, > > > >Well, my patience was finally rewarded when one of my colleagues from > >work returned from the USA yesterday with a copy of N4 safely packed > >away for me. Unfortunately I had to wait until this morning until I > >could get my hands on it but it was well worth the wait. > > > >I have only so far raced a few short races around Daytona, New > >Hampshire and Atlanta but it already has me well and truly hooked. > > > >Just a few questions about performance. I am running the sim on a > >PIII600, 128mb, V5 system so am having to make a lot of sacrifices to > >get a playable performance. So far I have only raced with 20 ai cars > >and have lots of the graphics turned off or way down. Can anybody with > >a similar system give me some pointers on the settings I should try on > >the V5 to eke out a little more speed. > > > >Would picking up a GeForce card afford any increase in frame rate with > >the current CPU or would that be a false economy. > > > >I am currently running at 800x600x16, I did try 640x480x16 but this > >was actually slower than the higher resolution. > > > >TIA > > > >PH

-- Philippe "Philster" Sergerie

No, it is a terrific motherboard!!! I get incredible results with it. Every little tweak program I try doesn't do anything, because it is already running at peak performance. 4x works like a charm. "Philster" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> That motherboard really is bad... I have one and thinking of changing > it. It seems I can't get the AGP slot to work at more than 1X (out of a > possible 4X); that's not mentionning the couple of instabilies caused by > the Via Appollo chipset... > > Abunra Ben'Ghazah wrote: > > > > I have the follwing system > > > > PIII-733 > > Asus P3V4X > > 256mb PC133 SDRAM > > Intel Pro 100 NIC > > Philips Acoustic Edge Sound Card > > Win98SE > > Logitech Formula Force wheel and pedals > > > > I swapped out my VD5 and installed a GeForce DDR (Asus V6800 Pure) > > from my wife's PC. I lost the use of FSAA but my frames per second > > nearly tripled. > > > > With FULL details, 42 cars (25 cars drawn ahead), and Force Feedback > > enabled, I maintain a solid 30fps with the GeForce in OpenGL. > > > > As much as I love FSAA I will live without it to play N4 :-) > > > > Cheers > > > > >Hi all, > > > > > >Well, my patience was finally rewarded when one of my colleagues from > > >work returned from the USA yesterday with a copy of N4 safely packed > > >away for me. Unfortunately I had to wait until this morning until I > > >could get my hands on it but it was well worth the wait. > > > > > >I have only so far raced a few short races around Daytona, New > > >Hampshire and Atlanta but it already has me well and truly hooked. > > > > > >Just a few questions about performance. I am running the sim on a > > >PIII600, 128mb, V5 system so am having to make a lot of sacrifices to > > >get a playable performance. So far I have only raced with 20 ai cars > > >and have lots of the graphics turned off or way down. Can anybody with > > >a similar system give me some pointers on the settings I should try on > > >the V5 to eke out a little more speed. > > > > > >Would picking up a GeForce card afford any increase in frame rate with > > >the current CPU or would that be a false economy. > > > > > >I am currently running at 800x600x16, I did try 640x480x16 but this > > >was actually slower than the higher resolution. > > > > > >TIA > > > > > >PH > > -- > Philippe "Philster" Sergerie

Try using the latest drivers, Beta8. They're not as stable on my system (have to drop my oc from 1102 to 1071mhz) but are a bit faster. In Advanced Options, set the AGP to the highest value shown and try geometry assist. This can give as much as 5 FPS if it doesn't screw up the video. Try driving in bumper cam mode instead of cockpit. Use M to turn down mirror detail, or even turn it off. Big frame boost here. Also might want to use N to get rid of the cage in the mirror. Not a big frame boost (if any), but it's easier to see through. Don't expect to get a frame rate boost from a GeForce unless you get a GeForce2 Pro or Ultra. If all else fails, get Nascar Heat instead. -- Slot Tweaks & Reviews www.slottweak.com "Peter Hooper" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Hi all, > > Well, my patience was finally rewarded when one of my colleagues from > work returned from the USA yesterday with a copy of N4 safely packed > away for me. Unfortunately I had to wait until this morning until I > could get my hands on it but it was well worth the wait. > > I have only so far raced a few short races around Daytona, New > Hampshire and Atlanta but it already has me well and truly hooked. > > Just a few questions about performance. I am running the sim on a > PIII600, 128mb, V5 system so am having to make a lot of sacrifices to > get a playable performance. So far I have only raced with 20 ai cars > and have lots of the graphics turned off or way down. Can anybody with > a similar system give me some pointers on the settings I should try on > the V5 to eke out a little more speed. > > Would picking up a GeForce card afford any increase in frame rate with > the current CPU or would that be a false economy. > > I am currently running at 800x600x16, I did try 640x480x16 but this > was actually slower than the higher resolution. > > TIA > > PH

Funnily enough I just downloaded the beta drivers so I'll check them out later. I'll try your other suggestions now, I like the speed of the bumper cam view but find it pretty difficult getting used to driving in that view for long. Agree about the mirrors, I have set them to lowest detail and turned off the cage and only use them when I have to. One thing though... when I turn them on it takes 2 key presses to turn them back off again as it cycles through the detail levels. Is there not a way to just turn them on and off with one key press?? can't see that anywhere and it's not a biggie but a couple of times in the heat of a race I have switched the mirror on to check the position of a car behind me then pressed the button once to turn the mirror off and forgot I have to press it again to turn it off. Cheers PH On Fri, 23 Feb 2001 10:03:24 -0500, "GTX_SlotCar" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Try using the latest drivers, Beta8. They're not as stable on my system >(have to drop my oc from 1102 to 1071mhz) but are a bit faster. In Advanced >Options, set the AGP to the highest value shown and try geometry assist. >This can give as much as 5 FPS if it doesn't screw up the video. Try driving >in bumper cam mode instead of cockpit. Use M to turn down mirror detail, or >even turn it off. Big frame boost here. Also might want to use N to get rid >of the cage in the mirror. Not a big frame boost (if any), but it's easier >to see through. >Don't expect to get a frame rate boost from a GeForce unless you get a >GeForce2 Pro or Ultra. >If all else fails, get Nascar Heat instead.