Game CRAWLS on my machine

[Incubus]

I just got SH4 today. I was really excited about it. SH3 worked great on my computer; only problems I had was when I installed GWX. The problem is the game runs INSANELY slow. I have all the graphics settings turned as low as I can. On the nav map things are ok with minimal time compression, but on the surface its a slideshow. Firing deck guns/aircraft passing by make the game unplayable. I have version 1.3 of SH4, and here are my comp's specs:

Dell Dual-core Pentium 2.66 Ghz
1 Gb ram
Radeon X600 256mb video memory
Dunno about the sound card

Is the video card having issues? Anything I can do on a software level (it would suck to have to buy a whole new video card just to get the damn game to work properly)

[Von Manteuffel]

Don't know about the video card, but 256 Mb of video memory is a bit on the low side for SH 4 and I have a feeling that 1 Gb of RAM is barely sufficient. I suspect that the problem lies in a combination between the two.

I take it you have optimised your system by turning off all running processes, except the absolutely necessary, before running SH4?

[Seadogs]

I don't know for sure, but heck with a CPU like that I would definately reccomend a ram and vid upgrade regardless. 2 gigs is pretty much standard issue nowadays. But if this is not possible I really hope someone can help you out. Sorry I wasn't so helpfull.

[Incubus]

Thanks for the quick replies. I'm rather surprised how outdated my computer has become. Granted, its nearly a year old but SH4 is the first game to cause it to really choke and sputter.

[THE_MASK]

Its the graphics card that runs the game . You need a better card :yep:

[switch.dota]

Actually that might not be the issue. Many people reported issues with SH 4 on dual-core systems. Try to set the affinity to only one of the cores for sh4.exe. See if it helps.

[TDK1044]

Dell Dual-core Pentium 2.66 Ghz
1 Gb ram
Radeon X600 256mb video memory
Dunno about the sound card

Is the video card having issues? Anything I can do on a software level (it would suck to have to buy a whole new video card just to get the damn game to work properly)

The X600 is typically a Hypermemory card which has 128MB of on board memory and then draws the other 128MB from your system RAM. If yours is the Hypermemory version, by only having 1 GIG of system RAM you have a real problem. Replace your video card and double your RAM if you can.

[Capt. Shark Bait]

Incubus, i'd suggest nothnig less than a 850XT. i had decent fps with some settings maxed or midway, except when getting really close with the freecam. then it was a slideshow:damn:

[rls669]

As usual I'll suggest the X1950 Pro or 7900GS for a cheap upgrade. Should be able to find either for well under $150 if you go rebate-hunting. Just don't get one of the newer cards like the Gf8500 or Radeon 2400 etc, they're no good for gaming.

[Bathrone]

My current sys runs SHIV in a manner that just makes it for my tastes. P4 Northwood, 2gig ram, x800 256mb Ati AGP. The frames are acceptable (always above 30 unless you go too big on the time compression) and I can run FSAA and AF 1280x1024. Ive turned off the usual culrpits except for normal maps and high res textures.

With yours your well ahead in CPU but that graphics card needs to be depth charged :)

[Seaman_Hornsby]

I suspect the video card is the culprit too. I run the game on a nearly four year-old Athlon 3200+ with 1gb RAM and an X1600 pro 512mb and get perfectly playable framerates with modest graphics settings in the game.

[banjo]

The game ran just fine on my old 2.8 gig P4 with 2 gigs of ram and a 128 meg 9800 Pro. This was with the details somewhere between low and medium with vol fog and other stuff not enabeled. Game looked and ran fine--20 - 25 fps. Are you running a lot of stuff in the background? Have you defraged and otherwise cleaned up your hard drive. Given my machine and yours I see no reason hardware wise that yours should crawl. There has to be something else going on.

[rls669]

Except for memory size, the 9800 Pro is quite a bit more powerful than the X600.

[Incubus]

Guessing I'll be buying another gig of ram and a new memory card then. This is getting expensive :shifty:

I'll clean up my HD and see if that helps any when I run the game. Like I said, SH3 worked fine (ironically enough, GWX, as cool as it was with all the traffic, borked it. I'm guessing it added so many more objects it affected performance.)

I bought SH4, IL2/46 and a joystick online. Gotta wait till I get new hardware to really play with SH4 and the joystick hasn't come in the mail so IL2 is almost unplayable at this point :damn:

[Theraven]

Except for memory size, the 9800 Pro is quite a bit more powerful than the X600.

You know, I was wondering about that. I recently changed from a 128MB 9800 pro that was starting to have some problems over to a 256MB 7600 GT and wondered why I didn't see any improvement in my gameplay. I still get a pretty big fps drop when i go above 1024 time compression and everything else seems about the same. The only improvement I've noticed is I get a few less of those times where the game temporarily seems to freeze for a few seconds, where the music repeats itself and you can't move anything. Other than that performance seems the same and this card (which is at least 3 years newer then my old 9800 pro) doesn't really seem like an upgrade at all. I think the 9800 pro actually performed better during high time compression.

[cali03boss]

itd be nice to have a thread with the most basic of basic setups to get a general 30 FPS range.

[rls669]

Other than that performance seems the same and this card (which is at least 3 years newer then my old 9800 pro) doesn't really seem like an upgrade at all. I think the 9800 pro actually performed better during high time compression.
As a general rule, the last generation's high-end card will outperform the current midrange cards, and depending on specifics could equal a midrange card 2 generations newer as seems to be the case for you.

[Tarl]

Yes, the x600 is the problem. That was one of the "first" PCI-E cards and I think it had an AGP flavor also.

It is about 4 years old and was a bottom end card then. The game graphics are "choking" it. Your CPU should be OK and the min requirement is 1gig of RAM, 2 would be much better.

Main culprit in my mind is your video card.

A 7600GT should run it nicely. And it won't break your bank either....or u can opt for some of the higher end cards.

Hec, my old 6800GT will run circles around that x600....

Good luck.

Tarl