[RavenStorm]

Hey Everyone,

Im having problems running a copy of Grand Turismo 1 on my win2k computer. The frame rate varies dramatically during the menus/intro movie and gameplay (and the music sounds anything from half asleep at times to psychoticly fast). I'm using petes gpu pack with opengl, d3d and software modes.
Software only works in a window mode, 16bit and slows down dramatically anywhere above 320x240 (gameply is often again, psychoticly fast at that res)
OpenGL runs full screen sometimes, but isnt all that fast (15fps or so in gameplay) and also varies from 50fps to 10fps
Im running a
Athlon tb 1.4ghz
40x asus cdrom
Trio 3d/2x agp video card
c-media 3883 pci sound card
320meg sdram
win2k

Is there a better gpu that I can get or is it a case of get a better video card? if not, why does it rely so heavily on my video card, when ive got 1400mhz to kill?

thanks

 

[kairi00]

Trio 3d? I'm guessing it's a S3 Virge video card.... trust me, your best bet is to either use the Soft Plugin, or get a new video card. S3 Virge cards are 3D-decelerators, if I may say so

As for varying framerates, have you tried turning on the fps limiter? Set it to 60fps if you're playing NTSC games, or 50fps for PAL games.

 

[RavenStorm]

Yeah thats right, its an S3 virge card i think. As for your decelerator comment, your right! I've actually run a program before -slower- using opengl than a software mode.

The problem with the software mode was that I had huge amounts of trouble runnig it fullscreen. It either crashes epsxe completely, or dumps me to the the console and im forced to ctrl-alt-delete it. If you run it in 320x240 window mode and hit alt-enter to maximise it, win2k says its got some error (i forget its nature) basically saying that an error log will be written or something.
(can we tell im new to win2k?)

 

[kairi00]

Did you actually check the Fullscreen option, or have you been using Alt-Enter all this time to get fullscreen mode?

 

[RavenStorm]

Yeah, I've tried both on both
The gl one works with the fullscreen option selected or if you alt-enter it from window mode.
The software mode works neither way, tho in distant memory i think i had it working once without controls and it never worked again.

 

[kairi00]

This one got me stumped.... I've never really used the soft plugin, so I don't know what the cause is... last time I tried it worked fine anyways....

Just to try and troubleshoot this further: Try disabling the DirectX acceleration features, to see if it works better. Just run dxdiag, click on the "Display" tab, then disable directdraw and direct3d acceleration, then disable AGP texturing as well.....
Then run the soft plugin fullscreen and see what happens.

 

[RavenStorm]

thanks for your help
i'll have to try that when i get home from work..

i didnt think the software render used directx? If it helps, btw im runnig directx8a..

 

[kairi00]

Originally posted by RavenStorm
i didnt think the software render used directx? If it helps, btw im runnig directx8a..

It does actually... it uses DirectDraw.

 

[RavenStorm]

do you think it matters that im using NT4 drivers for my video card?
It didnt have win2k drivers when i was installing it, and i thought the difference couldnt be that signficant..
besides, unreal tournement runs 800x600 16bit flawlessly with 16bots running around at 30+ frames a second (dont know the frame rate, but i can tell the difference)

 

[kairi00]

Originally posted by RavenStorm
do you think it matters that im using NT4 drivers for my video card?
It didnt have win2k drivers when i was installing it, and i thought the difference couldnt be that signficant..
besides, unreal tournement runs 800x600 16bit flawlessly with 16bots running around at 30+ frames a second (dont know the frame rate, but i can tell the difference)

Hmm... maybe... could be. Have you tried using the default driver that comes with Win2k.... or does Win2k not recognize that card?

 

[RavenStorm]

nope, it dosnt recognise it.
I was -shudder- using 640x480 untill i found the nt4 drivers on cd..
im not even sure if there are any 2k drivers..

 

[kairi00]

http://www.s3graphics.com/ should have some drivers for the Trio3D card.. check it out.

 

[RavenStorm]

what do you know? there is one!
hehe
i wont be able to use it till tonight tho..

 

[kairi00]

Well, just update me on the progress later, once you've tried it out

 

[Bandy1]

I have tried use the petesoft plugins for my s3virge. Im not sure bout it but it can't run correctly.

you may need to try kazsoft plugins which i find run better than petesoft.

 

[Prafull]

Try the drivers but it Doesnt look like the driver problem to me coz that would have resulted in bad performance in pc games(I hope you run them) and may be even in windows.

Have you tried 1:1 ratio option in software mode ?Tried running any other games or other emulators like cvgs ?If installing the drivers doesnt help post the configurations you are using.

*Your system specs are quiet good for running in software mode I guess*

 

[RavenStorm]

hey, I instaledl the 2k drivers for my video card last night. Stuck the frame limit on 50fps and bam! worked like a charm
Who'd of thought that it was video drivers all along?
However.
It only really seems to run steady in 320 x 240 (in full screen).
In software mode the limit of 50fps dosnt budge any lower..
and in GL mode it sites on about 30fps in gameplay, and jumps from 50 - 17 fps in menus/etc

by now you have seen my specs...is it possible i could get it running any faster/better (without buying a geforce2?)

whats the deal with kazsoft plugins? and what other good emulators work with win2k?

 

[Badaro]

Originally posted by RavenStorm
by now you have seen my specs...is it possible i could get it running any faster/better (without buying a geforce2?)

whats the deal with kazsoft plugins? and what other good emulators work with win2k?

1) You could try adjusting the settings on the plugins, reducing a little the graphic quality. Also, some SPU plugins are faster, and may give you some extra FPS.

2) Most freeware emus run perfectly in Win2K/XP. Some I have tested: ePSXe, AdriPSX, FPSE, PCSX. Both commercial emus (Bleem! and VGS) do not run (and likely never will) in Win2K.

[]s Badaro

 

[Prafull]

If I am right that card doesnt support hardware opengl and must be running in software opengl mode thats why its slow.Not sure about direct 3d though.Neway my system specs arent any good but I still can get higher fps (can afford 640*480 fullscreen)even in software mode.