I just got a speedy new rig so I could enjoy F1 Challenge and the ETCC mod
to their fullest. But initially the frame rates were terrible, considering
the hardware. Then I discovered that changing my Momo wheel from one USB
port to a different one raised the FPS almost 400% !
Here's the setup: My Dell FP2001 screen has four USB ports built into it. A
cable connects to one of the computer's USB ports, so the monitor basically
acts a USB hub. It seemed pretty handy to plug the Logitech Momo into there.
But when I installed F1C (full graphics, 1152x864 32-bit, and default ATI
D3D settings, mostly 'application preference') I was only getting about
22-25 FPS when sitting in the garage waiting to go out on the track for a
practice session. Even the menus seemed sluggish.
In the course of fiddling around, trying different things, I happened to
plug the Momo into one of the USB ports on the back of computer rather than
into the display. The frame rate in F1C went up to about 85-88 FPS.
Interestingly enough, if I disconnected the wheel entirely, I could gain
another three or four FPS, but steering with a keyboard was, ummm, a
challenge. Just to make sure the improvement wasn't because of some other
change I had made, I switched the wheel back to the monitor's USB port, and
sure enough, the frame rate plummeted.
I know I can do further tweaking of the game & the ATI card to improve
things, but I'm wondering why the heck would one USB connection be so
different from another?
From looking at the specs of the monitor, I thought it acted as a 'powered'
USB hub. I've used a Logitech powered hub for years on my old system with no
problems like this. (Although it was only USB 1.x speed.) Any technical
whizzes out there have any ideas why this happened?
...Klinn
