Erratic fps problem

[Blazer]

I have a strange problem with fps. It seems I am taking an 11.1fps hit. I know that it is exactly 11.1 because I have vsync enabled and while flying against a very low demanding scene I only get 48.9 fps instead of 60.0 fps. This problem dos not show up every time, but most. I have tested it many times and it is a 11.1 hit across the board. If the scene normally produced 35fps I get 23.9.

One time I start RF4.5 and get 59.8-60.1 fps flying against the clear sky the next time I get 48.9 fps, no other changes made to the system?

Any ideas?

[opjose]

Could you post the diagnostic dump here?

The instructions are found in this post:

Click me!

[Blazer]

I don't know how to run Windows Notepad?

[opjose]

Use Wordpad instead.

[jeffpn]

Originally Posted by Blazer

I don't know how to run Windows Notepad?

Start|Programs|Accessories. After you've copied the contents of the dump, paste it into notepad (Ctrl-V)

[Blazer]

http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/atta...id=20700&stc=1

Hope this works?

[opjose]

Great that worked fine!

----

You have a good number of programs that are started when the system is booted.

A few are support services for your Zune MP3 player, but there are a bunch of others.

Google for "Autoruns" ( first entry that appears ) and download and run Autoruns Directly...

Go to any of the "run" keys and remove everything BUT Antivirus software.

Also check to see any scheduled tasks and remove those.

Also download ccleaner from www.ccleaner.com and install it, using a "custom" install.

Make sure that you DO NOT add any toolbars ( Toolbars such as Yahoo, Google, etc. are no-no's! ) as part of the installation.

Turn on ALL of the options in ccleaner and run the program. It will delete old garbage files from your system.

Let it also scan the registry, and delete any entries that appear erroneous ( they don't work anyway! )... repeat until nothing shows as errors in the registry.

Exit.

Set your memory utilization in the control panel for "system Cache"...

Then reboot.

Wait until the computer settles down ( it does a lot of housekeeping and AV scanning when it first comes up ), then run G4...

Fly the plane in a complete circle around you, THEN check your FPS.

Also with your card you can use ATITool or some other utility to slightly overclock your video card which will also increase performance...

[Blazer]

Thanks for the help opjose!

I do have the HD 3870 overclocked, 776/1126 stock to 860/1151.

I have CCleaner installed, I run it often. I did not download it as "custom", what should I do about this? When I run CCleaner some of the options are not checked, down towards the bottom, I am afraid to check these boxes?? Should I?

Are you saying I should remove all my tool bar options?,,,google,yahoo...?? What is the best way to do this?

I am really happy with the performance of the HD3870, I have everything on highest with 4x AA, 4X AF and at Real Flight Ranch average 35fps. It never has been a problem with low fps, more of an erratic fps problem. My cpu is also overclocked from 2.13GHz to 2.60GHz, I am not sure if that helps much?

[opjose]

Originally Posted by Blazer

I have CCleaner installed, I run it often. I did not download it as "custom", what should I do about this?

Go too add/remove programs and UNINSTALL any search or tool bar items you may see, this includes windows search and indexer.

Originally Posted by Blazer

When I run CCleaner some of the options are not checked, down towards the bottom, I am afraid to check these boxes?? Should I?

Yes. the only one you may want to leave unchecked is the HotFix Uninstaller.

Originally Posted by Blazer

Are you saying I should remove all my tool bar options?,,,google,yahoo...?? What is the best way to do this?

Add-remove programs

Originally Posted by Blazer

I am really happy with the performance of the HD3870, I have everything on highest with 4x AA, 4X AF and at Real Flight Ranch average 35fps. It never has been a problem with low fps, more of an erratic fps problem. My cpu is also overclocked from 2.13GHz to 2.60GHz, I am not sure if that helps much?

AA has a very high hit on the performance of the video card.

Some AA modes are supported in hardware, which is what you want to choose... while others are aided by software within the drivers. The latter slow down performance greatly...

On Nvidia cards the Hardware only modes are distinguished with the "Q" e.g. 8Q or 4Q.

I forget what ATI uses to differentiate theirs.

Also enabling normal maps in G4 produces a big performance hit.

[Blazer]

You are not kidding about AA/AF!! I tried running AA/AF at 8x and my fps went to 12-18 at the 3D fields. With AA/AF at 4x and everything set to max quality I can do 35+fps in 3D fields. I am very happy with my HD3870, I upgraded from an ATI X1300Pro and it is a night and day difference. I will try your suggestions this afternoon. Thanks!

[Josh 0987]

Just out of curiosity what does the Q stand for in the AA/AF settings? I have mine at 16Q

[jeffpn]

Is your Google button broken, Josh? Let me help you.

[opjose]

It's interesting that in that link, the people claim that the (Q) Quincunx modes operate more slowly that their non Quincunx counterparts.

The opposite is true... as borne out by many benchmarks...

A better explanation of this is available here which also discusses the hardware support & benchmarks...

Click me for Quincunx explanation!

[opjose]

Originally Posted by Blazer

You are not kidding about AA/AF!! I tried running AA/AF at 8x and my fps went to 12-18 at the 3D fields. With AA/AF at 4x and everything set to max quality I can do 35+fps in 3D fields. I am very happy with my HD3870, I upgraded from an ATI X1300Pro and it is a night and day difference. I will try your suggestions this afternoon. Thanks!

Also remember that in G4, FPS is also highly dependant upon the complexity of what you are looking at along with what is behind it.

You can look at a plane in the sky and the FPS may rise dramatically...

Put it at the horizon and the FPS will take a BIG hit because G4, tries to render the trees and objects in the background.

One simple thing that anyone can do, to improve FPS which has almost no hit on visuals is to lower the rendering distance of background terrain...

Drop it to say 10 miles for a good speed increase.

Furthermore, zooming into the plane ( + key on keypad ) causes G4 to cull from a smaller database subset, increasing FPS, while keeping everything else the same...

And of course Normal mappings produce big hits on cards, as does the texture compression setting on ATI cards... ( Nvidia's don't seem to care about this... ).

[jeffpn]

Originally Posted by opjose

It's interesting that in that link, the people claim that the (Q) Quincunx modes operate more slowly that their non Quincunx counterparts.

The opposite is true... as borne out by many benchmarks...

A better explanation of this is available here which also discusses the hardware support & benchmarks...

Click me for Quincunx explanation!

Great, now Josh is going to be mad at me (again) for feeding him mis-information. That's what happens, I guess, when you try to do a search for someone else! Hey, I didn't read the article, I wasn't the one looking for the answers!