db6 Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 Hi, I checked to see if anyone has posted about this, but I didn't see anything. I am having a problem when playing any 3D game (but mostly outcast). The game loads fine and the loading time is short. During the game the graphics are fluid, but then I detect some loading (hard drive activity) and the frame-rate drops substantially, then goes back to normal. This happens even though I'm just standing around. This happens about 3 times in one minute, which is very annoying. When I run dxdiag, and test Direct 3D, the spinning cube demo has the same problems (normal frame rate -> drop -> normal again) in all DirectX interfaces (DX7, DX8, DX9). However, no dll conflicts or anything show in the diagnostics. This wasn't always the case, it only started recently. I tried upgrading to DX9 but the problem persists. Since the computer is accessing the hard disk, I suspect it might have something to do with swap space. I'd appreciate everyone's advice. If you aren't experiencing the problem or can't help, I'd appreciate you at least posting the size of your dedicated page file. (I am not near a windows machine right now, I shall try to post instruction on how to get to that ASAP). Thanks in advance. P.S. Specs are: Pentium III 1.0Ghz GeForce 4 MX 256 MB RAM 40 GB HardDrive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Fisher Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 That has happend to me before, but not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db6 Posted June 30, 2003 Author Share Posted June 30, 2003 I'm glad someone has found a way around it. What exactly was the problem and what are the step to remedy it? Or does it just go away after a while? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy867 Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 You could running defrag overnight to help reduce the fragmented files, which will vastly improve performance by reducing disk access time. Also, try changing the swap file from the value it is set at now, to 1.5x RAM to where the name is 1.5x the amount of RAM in your machine or 384 MB RAM in your case. Also, trying messing with the level of details, and try running the game in 800x600x16-bit graphics to see if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db6 Posted June 30, 2003 Author Share Posted June 30, 2003 Interesting. I defrag weekly overnight, so disk fragmentation may not be the issue. I think my page file is about 500 MB, I have heard that reducing the page/swap space causes your computer to slow down as you launch more applications. As for reducing the resolution, this behavior repeats itself in all applications that use DirectX (including the 3D pinball that comes with Windows!!!). It seems that this may have something to do either with the DirectX dll’s (I certainly hope not), or something that’s accessing the hard disk when it shouldn’t be. I will try setting the page file to what you suggest, hopefully that will at least reduce the persistence of this issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy867 Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Well, the RAM could be one issue, although since you mention pinball, that brings up another issue. It does sound like your DirectX does have a problem somewhere... could you post your DXDiag Report here and see what we can find? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
•-BLaCKouT-• Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Erm, I know it's got a lot more technical than the question I'm about to ask... so you can slap me for being so obvious if you like, but: You haven't got anything else running in the taskbar have you? File Sharing Programs etc that might start operating without your direct command? Scheduled tasks? I know it's probably the first thing you checked, but I just thought I'd check that you'd checked B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db6 Posted July 2, 2003 Author Share Posted July 2, 2003 Thanks for everyone's reply, I appreciate it. Originally Posted by Andy867 Well, the RAM could be one issue, although since you mention pinball, that brings up another issue. It does sound like your DirectX does have a problem somewhere... could you post your DXDiag Report here and see what we can find? Last time I checked, the dxdiag reported no dll conflicts/corrupution, the only weird message I get is that my drivers are not digitally signed by Microsoft, which I don't think is a problem. I tried setting the page file to 384, but the problem presists. Originally Posted by BLaCKouT_1138 Erm, I know it's got a lot more technical than the question I'm about to ask... so you can slap me for being so obvious if you like, but: You haven't got anything else running in the taskbar have you? File Sharing Programs etc that might start operating without your direct command? Scheduled tasks? <snip> hmm, interesting. I did check for that, but now that I think about it, I did visit the windows update site a few days ago. I read somewhere that this enables the automatic updates even if you disable it. I can't confirm this since I am not at home right now and won't be back 'till Thursday, but in the mean time, can anyone confirm whether or not this is true? UPDATE: No use, I had someone disable the automatic updates but the problem presists.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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