Topic: Ideas on why slow load

[Mantis]

First the Problem:

SFCIII performance is poor on my machine, with loading taking several minutes (56Kers even finish loading before me), and lag if too many objects are in the battle.

My System:
1.7GHz Celery (Celeron)
256 MB RAM
Radeon 7000
Plenty of HD
Programs: SFCIII, TeamSpeak2
I believe I have the latest drivers installed
WinXP Home
Cable modem (1.7Mbps down, 60-110 Kbps up)

Anyone have any ideas of how I can a. get faster loading of the game (for GSA)? Also, when there are many asteroids or ships I get lag, even if it is only me.

Any ideas. I thought about more memory, but a technician said that probably would not help in this situation. Is this correct?

Thank you for your insight.  

[Monty]

I would suggest, if you have not already done so, to get the latest version of DX.

Before i had version 9.x it took ages for things like logging into D3 (DirectPlay Test Host especially slow) and I rarely made it into battles.  

[CFA_Admiral_Tige]

Few things..


First, the Memory isnt a bad idea, but your thinking the wrong place.  The Radeon 7000 is most likely not up to the task.  The specs on the box list at least 16mb card is req...i personally think 32 is the lowest, but your mileage may vary...I recommend getting a new card thats at least 32-64mb(Geforce 3 Ti200 64 mb is a great buy!!)

If that is out of your reach, you can see if your settings on the video is correct.  In the case of a slow 7000, make sure that AA(anti-alaising) is OFF!!  Also make sure the filtering is off as well.  The ships may not look specatular, but it will seriously improve framerate if they were on before.

If your still having probs, PM me.


Tiger

[Mantis]

Thank you for the suggestions. Currently I am running DX9.something, but I will makes sure there is not a newer version. I will also look at my card settings as suggested. However, the Radeon 7000 does have 64MB of DDR though. I will also check the spindle rate of my HD. I suspect it is only 5400 RPM.  

[CFA_Admiral_Tige]

A Radeon 7000 is on par with a Geforce 2 mx, the low kind, plus the drivers just plain suck.

I still say it would help to get a Geforce 3/Radeon 8 series card.

The spindle speed of the drive probably wouldnt matter THAT much...2 out of the 3 HD's i have in are 5400(including the one that has SFCIII).

Tiger



Oh by the way...what tipped me in the direction of the vid card was the lag if too many objects...that most likely means that the vid card isnt up to the task of drawing and rendering the images.

[Mantis]

Perhaps I will go shopping this weekend Do you think a better Vid card would also increase the start time? I am always last on the GSA games.  

[zaniwhoop2]

Quote:
Perhaps I will go shopping this weekend Do you think a better Vid card would also increase the start time? I am always last on the GSA games.  

Well, how long does an average single player game take to load? They should be about the same I'd think minus the lag, so compare with other people. You can tell if your video card is too slow by playing single player and lowering the resolution of the game. Hope that helps as I am in a little rush.  

[CFA_Admiral_Tige]

Quote:
Perhaps I will go shopping this weekend Do you think a better Vid card would also increase the start time? I am always last on the GSA games.  

Yes I do...if the vid card is faster, it will be able to load all the images required to start the missions faster.

[Toasty0]

Tiger is absolutely correct. Check your video card and vid drivers. It does make a diff on load time and play.

Best,
Jerry  

[Mantis]

First the Problem:

SFCIII performance is poor on my machine, with loading taking several minutes (56Kers even finish loading before me), and lag if too many objects are in the battle.

My System:
1.7GHz Celery (Celeron)
256 MB RAM
Radeon 7000
Plenty of HD
Programs: SFCIII, TeamSpeak2
I believe I have the latest drivers installed
WinXP Home
Cable modem (1.7Mbps down, 60-110 Kbps up)

Anyone have any ideas of how I can a. get faster loading of the game (for GSA)? Also, when there are many asteroids or ships I get lag, even if it is only me.

Any ideas. I thought about more memory, but a technician said that probably would not help in this situation. Is this correct?

Thank you for your insight.  

[Monty]

I would suggest, if you have not already done so, to get the latest version of DX.

Before i had version 9.x it took ages for things like logging into D3 (DirectPlay Test Host especially slow) and I rarely made it into battles.  

[CFA_Admiral_Tige]

Few things..


First, the Memory isnt a bad idea, but your thinking the wrong place.  The Radeon 7000 is most likely not up to the task.  The specs on the box list at least 16mb card is req...i personally think 32 is the lowest, but your mileage may vary...I recommend getting a new card thats at least 32-64mb(Geforce 3 Ti200 64 mb is a great buy!!)

If that is out of your reach, you can see if your settings on the video is correct.  In the case of a slow 7000, make sure that AA(anti-alaising) is OFF!!  Also make sure the filtering is off as well.  The ships may not look specatular, but it will seriously improve framerate if they were on before.

If your still having probs, PM me.


Tiger

[Mantis]

Thank you for the suggestions. Currently I am running DX9.something, but I will makes sure there is not a newer version. I will also look at my card settings as suggested. However, the Radeon 7000 does have 64MB of DDR though. I will also check the spindle rate of my HD. I suspect it is only 5400 RPM.  

[CFA_Admiral_Tige]

A Radeon 7000 is on par with a Geforce 2 mx, the low kind, plus the drivers just plain suck.

I still say it would help to get a Geforce 3/Radeon 8 series card.

The spindle speed of the drive probably wouldnt matter THAT much...2 out of the 3 HD's i have in are 5400(including the one that has SFCIII).

Tiger



Oh by the way...what tipped me in the direction of the vid card was the lag if too many objects...that most likely means that the vid card isnt up to the task of drawing and rendering the images.

[Mantis]

Perhaps I will go shopping this weekend Do you think a better Vid card would also increase the start time? I am always last on the GSA games.  

[zaniwhoop2]

Quote:
Perhaps I will go shopping this weekend Do you think a better Vid card would also increase the start time? I am always last on the GSA games.  

Well, how long does an average single player game take to load? They should be about the same I'd think minus the lag, so compare with other people. You can tell if your video card is too slow by playing single player and lowering the resolution of the game. Hope that helps as I am in a little rush.  

[CFA_Admiral_Tige]

Quote:
Perhaps I will go shopping this weekend Do you think a better Vid card would also increase the start time? I am always last on the GSA games.  

Yes I do...if the vid card is faster, it will be able to load all the images required to start the missions faster.

[Toasty0]

Tiger is absolutely correct. Check your video card and vid drivers. It does make a diff on load time and play.

Best,
Jerry