Terrible FPS Drop, Alt-Tab fixes it?

[brandtryan]

Okay, I've searched these forums for a solution to my problem--and can't find it--so I'm hoping someone may have figured this one out. This usually happens when other ships are around--but it has also happened when nothng else is around. My framerates drop to 3-4 per second--and when I look somewhere else on the bridge--say at the sky, they go back to normal. When I look ahead again, everything slows down.

Now--if I Alt-Tab out to my desktop, and then come back in, everything is AOK. It might happen again 15 minutes later--and I just Alt-tab back out, and then back in, fixing the problem.

What I'm wondering is--can some guru out there tell me what is causing this? I figure since the Alt-Tab fix works--that might be a hint as to what is causing the problem in the first place.

This has happened since 1.3. -- including in Stock 1.4. Now I'm running a few mods--a sound pack, and New Clouds.

I'm updated on all my drivers for video, motherboard, and sound.

My system specs:

Intel Core Duo @2.66
2 GB Ram
GeForce 8800 GTS (320mb)
Onboard sound (Realtek)

Thanks for any help!

[seafarer]

I've seen similar, although my fps only goes down to around 10 (from 50 or more). I usually just punch the "windows" key on the keyboard, then right back into the game and it's gone.

So, it must be some background task, but I have as of yet, not been able to isolate which one (especially as it seems as soon as I go to the desktop to check, that kills it).

I always launch the game with pretty much everything obvious shut down (spysweeper, AV software, etc, etc), but none of those things actaully seem to make a difference so must not be the culprit anyway.

running SH4, patch 1.4 with a few mods (NSM, metalhud, Airbase map,...), but have seen the phenomenon with and without mods.

--
AMD Athlon 64x2 4800+
4Gb DDR2 RAM, 400GB SATA HD
PNY GeForce 8600 GT/OC 512Mb VRAM
Vista Home Premium, 32bit

[brandtryan]

I wonder if there is some program out there that will "record" a snapshot of what is running in the background for a given length of time?

[SteamWake]

Direct X has a nasty tendency to 'loose focus' from time to time. Its espically apparent on dual core machines.

Perhaps get the latest version of DX and try that. Dont forget to set up a restore first cause... well... its microsoft.

[Powerthighs]

I don't think its a background task, because then why would it stop when you alt-tabbed out of the game?

I agree with SteamWake, it sounds like an issue with DirectX or the video card driver geting into a bad state.

[Nightmare]

Had the same issue back when 1.3 came out. I got rid of it reinstalling DirectX followed by NVIDIAs latest video drivers.

[jazman]

I wonder if there is some program out there that will "record" a snapshot of what is running in the background for a given length of time?

SysInternals utility called Process Monitor. It will give you all sorts of info.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/processmonitor.mspx