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Will NASCAR2 work on a 486?

20 posts by 19 people · 20 Dec 1996 - 13 Jan 1997

Running NASCAR Racing 2 on a 486

Owners of 486 machines reported that NASCAR Racing 2 was playable in low-resolution VGA with reduced detail, but SVGA was impractical. Jim Sokoloff said CPU speed matters a lot and that no ISA video card would help much.

With Jim Sokoloff (Papyrus)

hardware: PC/graphicstech supportNASCAR Racing 2

Automated summary.

Keith Meye 20 Dec 1996#349430
Has anyone tried NASCAR2 on a 486? Is the performance acceptable? I have a 486 DX4 100 an got pretty good (vga) performance with NASCAR1 and most details. I also get acceptable (for me) performance in GP2 with textures on fences, trackside objects, and low detail. Thanks for any input... Keith
Ro 20 Dec 1996#349431
Quoted text (7 lines)> Has anyone tried NASCAR2 on a 486? Is the performance acceptable? I have > a 486 DX4 100 an got pretty good (vga) performance with NASCAR1 and most > details. I also get acceptable (for me) performance in GP2 with textures > on fences, trackside objects, and low detail. > Thanks for any input... > KeithKeith I have a 486dx2 66mzh with 20 megs of ram, VLB bus 1 meg video card
and I found the performance worse than unacceptable, even in low res. Even with all the graphics off. However on the P166+ with 16 megs of ram,2 meg Mystique, I can run with all the graphics on and get smooth animation in***pit view. Mike Rojas
Gavel 20 Dec 1996#349432
Hi Keith, I run Nascar2 on a 486dx4-120. In VGA it runs smoothly with most of the detail on. But to me it feels a bit claustrophobic. I've been totally spoiled by SVGA. In SVGA I have to make some heavy concessions to run it. I run with nothing but car textures/smoke at most tracks(some tracks I can turn on the grandstands without people). I have 4 cars ahead and 1 behind and 1 car heard. Pretty Spartan,eh? It runs acceptably though. I'll be upgrading to P-133 next month. Nascar2 has pushed me into it. BTW I use the worst video card in the world..Trident 9440 vesa so you may do better with a better vid card. My motherboard is an ASUS, that makes a difference ( my Biostar 486 board smokes my ASUS). In fact,in regards to GP2, my Biostar 486dx2-80 in VGA looks better and runs smoother than my ASUS 486dx4-120 in SVGA.No kidding. I've swapped vid cards, monitors, the works and I conclude that it must have the motherboard.Go figure!! Hope this helps Regards, Greg Gavel on Hawaii &TEN
On Fri, 20 Dec 1996 13:19:36 -0500, Keith Meyer >Has anyone tried NASCAR2 on a 486? Is the performance acceptable? I have >a 486 DX4 100 an got pretty good (vga) performance with NASCAR1 and most >details. I also get acceptable (for me) performance in GP2 with textures >on fences, trackside objects, and low detail. I haven't tried it on my DX2/66, but if you find GP2 (of all things!) acceptable on your machine, NASCAR2 should cause no problems. Seriously, on my P133/Reactor I find N2's SVGA (non-Rendition) frame rate comparable to N1 (the graphics engine has been optimized, but the extra speed is used to show more detail, so the frame rate is similar). It seems that ever since the "bleeding edge" performance requirements of N1, Papyrus sims (ICR2, N2) haven't been any *more* demanding (and the typical machine today is a lot more powerful than two years ago!). Pick one or more: Model Rockets (competition-NERCB) / PCs (even Atari!) / Papyrus ICR-ICR2-NCR / Who needs a life when you have multiple non-lives?
>>Has anyone tried NASCAR2 on a 486? Is the performance acceptable? I have >>a 486 DX4 100 an got pretty good (vga) performance with NASCAR1 and most >>details. I also get acceptable (for me) performance in GP2 with textures
Quoted text (7 lines)>>on fences, trackside objects, and low detail. >>Thanks for any input... >>Keith > Hi Keith, > I run Nascar2 on a 486dx4-120. In VGA it runs smoothly with most of
the >detail on. But to me it feels a bit claustrophobic. I've been totally >spoiled by SVGA. > In SVGA I have to make some heavy concessions to run it. I run with >nothing but car textures/smoke at most tracks(some tracks I can turn on the >grandstands without people). I have 4 cars ahead and 1 behind and 1 car >heard. Pretty Spartan,eh? It runs acceptably though. I'll be upgrading to >P-133 next month. Nascar2 has pushed me into it. > BTW I use the worst video card in the world..Trident 9440 vesa so you >may do better with a better vid card. My motherboard is an ASUS, that >makes a difference ( my Biostar 486 board smokes my ASUS). In fact,in >regards to GP2, my Biostar 486dx2-80 in VGA looks better and runs smoother >than my ASUS 486dx4-120 in SVGA.No kidding. I've swapped vid cards, monitors, >the works and I conclude that it must have the motherboard.Go figure!! >Hope this helps >Regards, >Greg >Gavel on Hawaii &TEN I have a dx4X100 and it runs but not at an acceptable rate. It's causing me to get a p200 tommorow. John
Gamecock 05 Jan 1997#351958
I run Nascar 2 on a 486/100 with 20 MB of RAM in VGA. I have a few things turned on, it isn't too spartan. I have 5 cars ahead and I think 2 or 3 behind. I am not quite sure. It runs pretty well most of the time. Occasionally it gets a little jerky but not too often. I have sound and everything. I run N2 under Win 95 and I think that is the reason it runs so well, but I have never tried DOS.
sbesh.. 05 Jan 1997#351959
>Subject: Re: Will NASCAR2 work on a 486? >Date: 5 Jan 1997 01:13:18 GMT >I run Nascar 2 on a 486/100 with 20 MB of RAM in VGA. I have a few things >turned on, it isn't too spartan. I have 5 cars ahead and I think 2 or 3 >behind. I am not quite sure. It runs pretty well most of the time. >Occasionally it gets a little jerky but not too often. I have sound and >everything. I run N2 under Win 95 and I think that is the reason it runs >so well, but I have never tried DOS. Notice he said VGA. If you can stand to see pixelated low resolution cars going around the track then go for it. Otherwise you will need a pentium class machine (100 or better) also a video card with rendition chipset would make the game even more enjoyable. This game requires more horsepower than Nascar 1, if you want good frame rates and high resolution..
Kai Fuller 05 Jan 1997#351960
it should run better in dos-mode (reboot to dos) because Win 95 has to emulate the dos game. nascar 2 does not utilize win 95's power. and make sure your running in low res too.
: I have a 486 80 mghz and it runs like crap. I even turned most of : the graphics off and it is still choppy, thats alright I am getting : a new computer soon, this ibm ps/1 has seen its best days
On my 486dx4/100, 16MB RAM, 1MB S3/805 video machine, VGA runs OK with asphalt/grass turned off, 8 drawn ahead, 1 behind. But after playing SVGA in NASCAR1, I'm spoiled. SVGA on a 486 is completely out of the question. If I want to take a nice tour of the SVGA scenery at the track, I can go to that mode and sightsee. Must get that Pentium....
Lee W. Gle 05 Jan 1997#351963
Quoted text (8 lines)>Subject: Re: Will NASCAR2 work on a 486? >Date: 5 Jan 1997 15:49:03 -0700 >On my 486dx4/100, 16MB RAM, 1MB S3/805 video machine, VGA runs OK with >asphalt/grass turned off, 8 drawn ahead, 1 behind. But after playing SVGA >in NASCAR1, I'm spoiled. SVGA on a 486 is completely out of the question. >If I want to take a nice tour of the SVGA scenery at the track, I can go to >that mode and sightsee. >Must get that Pentium....
With the following system I can run N2 in SVGA with only asphalt, wall, and cars textures on. Sky, infield and grandstands off. The frame rate is decent. No noticable jerkiness. ASUS SP3G Intel DX4-100 16MG 256 cache Hercules Stingray 64V (I think this is the key) 1.28 Quantum PCI busmastering controller. I have since (xmas) upgraded to a P166 that allow alot more graphics on but the DX4 was quite acceptable. I'm still using the Stingray which I think is a great and inexpensive 2D DOS *** card.
AKH 05 Jan 1997#351964
Quoted text (9 lines)> >Subject: Re: Will NASCAR2 work on a 486? > >Date: 5 Jan 1997 01:13:18 GMT > >I run Nascar 2 on a 486/100 with 20 MB of RAM in VGA. I have a few > things > >turned on, it isn't too spartan. <SNIP> It runs pretty well most of the time. > ><SNIP>I run N2 under Win 95 and I think that is the reason it runs > >so well, but I have never tried DOS.
******I would think a clean boot to DOS mode would yeild better results than in Win 95. *****I'm running on an AMD 5x86 133 with (yech- Cirrus Logic 1M VideoCard). SVGA-14 cars ahead, 1 behind, minimal deatail turned on (DOS mode). It runs pretty good but I have to agree it needs more HorsePower than Nascar 1. Dropping the AMD 5x86 133 in my machine to replace the 486 DX2 66 that was in it made a BIG difference in Nascar 1, so I'd have to think a 486 DX2 66 is gonna have a hard time with anything but VGA in N2. As far as a DX 100 it _should_ fare a little better... *****I've got a Reactor but I'm waiting on a BIOS upgrade for the computer before I'm able to install it in my machine. http://www.infochase.com/games/simshop
Aw C'mon 07 Jan 1997#352310
Quoted text (14 lines)> it should run better in dos-mode (reboot to dos) because Win 95 has to > emulate the dos game. nascar 2 does not utilize win 95's power. and make > sure your running in low res too. > > I run Nascar 2 on a 486/100 with 20 MB of RAM in VGA. I have a few > things > > turned on, it isn't too spartan. I have 5 cars ahead and I think 2 or 3 > > behind. I am not quite sure. It runs pretty well most of the time. > > Occasionally it gets a little jerky but not too often. I have sound and > > everything. I run N2 under Win 95 and I think that is the reason it runs > > so well, but I have never tried DOS.
Isn't "power" and "win 95" an oxy-moron? :)
Chad Well 07 Jan 1997#352311
Quoted text (12 lines)> > <snip> > *****I'm running on an AMD 5x86 133 with (yech- Cirrus Logic 1M > VideoCard). SVGA-14 cars ahead, 1 behind, minimal deatail turned on (DOS > mode). It runs pretty good but I have to agree it needs more HorsePower > than Nascar 1. > Dropping the AMD 5x86 133 in my machine to replace the 486 DX2 66 that > was in it made a BIG difference in Nascar 1, so I'd have to think a 486 > DX2 66 is gonna have a hard time with anything but VGA in N2. As far as > a DX 100 it _should_ fare a little better... > > <snip>
Ok, HOW the hell are you able to get 14 cars ahead with that system (I'm assuming you were talking about N2..) How much ram you got? I have a very similar system (AMD 5x86-133, diamond stealth 2mb vram, 16MBram) and I had to turn all detail off but smoke, skids/paint and car detail, and still could only have at MOST 5 in front and 1 or MAYBE 2 behind to be acceptable in SVGA. I'm just curious how you are acheiving this, so I can have more fun on that macine :) My newer P100 is quite better with that game...still might upgrade to a 166 or 200 soon though ....DAMN YOU PAPYRUS!!!(for making such a great game to force me to upgrade!) Chad Wells
Craig March 07 Jan 1997#352312
I had a 5x86 133 with 32mb ram, 2mb S3pci and it also ran alot better than my dx2-80, but I think any 486 based computer is going to have trouble running today's games at any decent or acceptable rate.
Quoted text (11 lines)> Ok, HOW the hell are you able to get 14 cars ahead with that system (I'm > assuming you were talking about N2..) How much ram you got? I have a > very similar system (AMD 5x86-133, diamond stealth 2mb vram, 16MBram) > and I had to turn all detail off but smoke, skids/paint and car detail, > and still could only have at MOST 5 in front and 1 or MAYBE 2 behind to > be acceptable in SVGA. I'm just curious how you are acheiving this, so I > can have more fun on that macine :) My newer P100 is quite better with > that game...still might upgrade to a 166 or 200 soon though ....DAMN YOU > PAPYRUS!!!(for making such a great game to force me to upgrade!) > Chad Wells
I bit the big one about 5 months ago and chunked the 5x86 for a P5-166 with Matrox Mell. and have been VERY happy with it ever since. I can play just about any game at excellent frame rates, and although not everyone can justify throwing out 6 or 7 hundred bucks to play games faster, I would try!! It became too frustrating trying to get the right combination of things on or off to get gameplay smooth on the old machine, now I just load the game up, turn everything on except grass and road texture, because I don't care for them, and play! -- Craig Marcho http://members.gnn.com/cmarcho/
Marcus Ple 07 Jan 1997#352313
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Huh? While I must admit I now have Win95 installed on my home machine, it was only after I was dragged kicking and screaming to this point. I appreciate the forced Win95 "upgrade" about as much as I appreciate seat belt laws, helmet laws, and gun control. Win95 is/was a ***. Where is Oliver Stone when you need him? ;-) If you want a powerful OS, check out any of the semi-modern Unices. Papyrus, when will the port of N2 to BSDI be ready? ;-)
Quoted text (8 lines)>Subject: Re: Will NASCAR2 work on a 486? >Date: 5 Jan 1997 15:49:03 -0700 >On my 486dx4/100, 16MB RAM, 1MB S3/805 video machine, VGA runs OK with >asphalt/grass turned off, 8 drawn ahead, 1 behind. But after playing SVGA >in NASCAR1, I'm spoiled. SVGA on a 486 is completely out of the question. >If I want to take a nice tour of the SVGA scenery at the track, I can go to >that mode and sightsee. >Must get that Pentium....
Are you running at 320x200 or 640x480? SLG (All spelling errors are intentional and are there to show new and improved ways of spelling old words. Gramatical errors are due to too many English classes/teachers)
Jo 11 Jan 1997#352923
Quoted text (9 lines)| >Subject: Re: Will NASCAR2 work on a 486? | >Date: 5 Jan 1997 15:49:03 -0700 | >On my 486dx4/100, 16MB RAM, 1MB S3/805 video machine, VGA runs OK with | >asphalt/grass turned off, 8 drawn ahead, 1 behind. But after playing SVGA | >in NASCAR1, I'm spoiled. SVGA on a 486 is completely out of the question. | >If I want to take a nice tour of the SVGA scenery at the track, I can go to | >that mode and sightsee. | >Must get that Pentium....
Is there a video card that would solve most of your problem? Or is it processor power that is the "bottom line" in the framerate? I may one day decide to put a new card in my one remaining lousy ISA slot.. fact is, I have no idea what card would make my 486 sing. Seems crazy to spend $3000 on a new computer just to play racing sims...
Jim Sokolo 11 Jan 1997#352924
>Is there a video card that would solve most of your problem? Or is it >processor power that is the "bottom line" in the framerate? No, video card has a lot to do with it, but CPU is very important as well... Unless it's a VLBus slot, don't bother; no ISA card has the capability to measurably improve your VGA/SVGA performance to acceptable levels for fast action games. (Besides, a decent VLB card would be a substantial fraction of a brand new P-90 machine... You could get a reasonable machine for around $1250 probably. You've always got the PSX... :-) ---Jim Sokoloff, Papyrus
> >On my 486dx4/100, 16MB RAM, 1MB S3/805 video machine, VGA runs OK with By SVGA, I'm referring to 640x480. I run the game in 320x200 for now.

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