Graphics problems
 

I am using a PC with Sh3 GWX 2.0 with U Boat 1.2, using a ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro and am getting the famous black triangle issue, as well as jerky graphics.
The rest of the system is 3GZ twin core processor, vista 32 and 3GB RAM.

I have heard of this problem before and wondered if anyone knew what the answer is?

I have heard about re clocking your card using software atitool but it doesnt seem to support vista- can anyone help?

Many thanks :arrgh!:

Thanks for the rush of advice guys! :shifty:

:hmmm:

My advice for you would be to update your video card drivers.
Another thing would be to buy a better video card. The Hd 2400pro is a old generation card and finally a more detailed description of your pc would be useful :yeah:

see:http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...Black+triangle
I suggest you do a search of the forum before posting, especially if you want an immediate answer to your problems.
This is a known problem, especially with old ATI cards, especially with original drivers. When I had an ATI card, I used the latest Omega drivers

Hi and thanks for the replies.

The first thing I did was update drivers so it seems that the card is old in that machine- I will update.

Regards

Just as a further point- if updating to a far better card, how do you know which card to buy, since I assume they dont all fit every machine?

Thanks again :up:

I was an ATI guy now I'm only nVidia. I got on nVidia's website and found the physical dimensions of the video card I was looking to get (~10.5" long - 8800GTX) and then I contacted the manufacturer of my case (Antec 900) to get the inside physical dimensions to ensure it would fit (it was close about .5" to spare)
Now you also have to ask yourself what your motherboard supports. Do you have AGP,PCI-E, or god forbid PCI? If you have PCI-E what version? 1.0 or 2.0? These will all weigh in on your video card purchase. I'm stuck with my 8800GTX and can't upgrade to the GTX 295 until I get a new motherboard that supports PCI-E 2.0.

That depends on the slot which the card was made for. Check your motherboard. If you have a AGP slot then a AGP card if you have a PCi express the a PCi express card.
There are two generations of PCiexpress standards: PCix 1.0 and the more recent 2.0 which gives you twice the bandwidth. As for which video card that depends on your budget.

There's a load of advice on the Hardware/software forums:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/forumdisplay.php?f=235

Thanks guys for your valued comments- I use a better nvidea card on my UK machine (GE Force 7900 GS) and it runs faultlessly with no frame rate problems, so really can enjoy the latest mods to their very best.

The card causing problems is on another machine at my house in france, and since I must have the u boat fix when there too, I am going to upgrade it!

The machine has good processor and RAM but this card seems poor, and the above comments confirm what I thought.
The sub seems to jerk across the sea rather than move smoothly when using the ATI card machine.

Personally, I seem to favour n videa and have never has any problem with the black pyramid issue with these cards.

I will try to find out what slot and system the motherboard has, but am not really sure on this issue so may need to ask someone who does know.

Cheers! :arrgh!:

I recommend an 8600 GTS card there cheap enough and should work in your current system!!

ok
Rick

When dealing with older games, newer drivers are sometimes not the best thing to have.

I have an ATI 4870x2, the new drivers cause me all kinds of problems, including graphics hiccups.

for me the test is FRAPS, Normally I get outstanding FPS when recording. If my driver isn't working properly I can tell by starting FRAPS and try to record something.

IF the FPS during recording is low , and by low I mean it drops to 4, I know the drivers are an issue. I'm running the 8.5 driver and having no problems.

I had this same problem with my last ATI card a 3870x2.

Another cause of graphics issues can be trying to force the new cards performance onto an old program.

This is usually an Anti-Aliasing problem I actually received a dramatic increase in FPS by turning it down to 2 or 4. I can't see any difference in how the game looks and I lost the "geometric shapes floating in the sky.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...shh-PR-/AA.jpg

This was a major problem with my IL-2 game until I figured it out.

Also try turning the Catalyst AI setting from "Advanced" to "Standard". This helped remove all of my graphics anomolies. Stuff like black sky, wierd rivers and wavy lines all over the ground.

Overclocking can cause issues with older games. Any of you who were around and computing back in the days of the old 8088 , 286, 386, 486, 486DX2 and 486DX4 days will remember that when you upgraded your computer sometimes the old games wouldn't work anymore. You had too much horsepower. Back then we did stuff like turning off emm386.exe and not using any extended or expanded memory functions to get old games to work.

Overclocking a video card to run an old game is like trying to run a Ferarri engine on 2 tablespoons of gas. Try turning the overclock down or off. You can create different profiles in you ATI CCC that will reconfigure you Graphics and even adjust fan speeds AND start the program you want to play. It's possible to customize the Grpahics horsepower and taylor it to each game whether new or old.


Hope this helps.

Ccrashh

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ubsimlatin.jpg

Thanks for your messages guys- I am in touch with ATI technical dept prior to getting your recommendations also.
I have not done any overclocking as I was worried about overheating (and dont really know how to!).

I have read the links sent to me above also within this forum, and it would certainly appear that my card is an old one for this game requirement (especially with the many great new mods that I am running with the game), so will upgrade it asap.

Cheers for now :up:

My pc is:
Cpu: Intel core2duo 8400
MB: Gigabyte EP43-DS3L
Ram: 2 Gb Ram 1066 ddr2 Mushkin in dual channel
Video: ATI 3850 with 512 mb/ram and the latest drivers.
I don't have any graphic problems as I play SH3 and SH4 without a glitch. From my experience I discovered that for some games you need to setup a graphic profile in your card's driver. I will go against a Nvidia 8600gts because it is an old card in the same generation with Ati 2400. Sometimes Windows Vista is the problem and it is known that graphic performance in games drops when using Vista. I would choose a card belonging in the latest generation of products. From Ati is the 4000 series and from Nvidia the Geforce 200 series.

i agree with bybyx; just because a card is cheap doesn't mean it is a good buy. Also in the future, you will want to play the new games as they come out, and so you might be disappointed in your card.
4H_Ccrashh, thanks for the info; I also have found that the AA settings do better if kept low as it is really a frame rate killer.