Poor computer performance

[AJ!]

Hi all

I am having huge problems running SH3 and most other games on a computer that should be able to run them fine

The computer is a dell 3100 with 1GB of ram and a 3GHZ processor. The graphics card is a Geforce 8500GT which was installed recently, (the computer used to use a intergrated intel card)

The game slows down inside the submarine and grinds to a halt when on the outside view. I know something is wrong here because my old dell laptop had 1gb ram and 3ghz and a old radeon 9600 which is much slower then the 8500 and it ran the game perfect. Generaly with most other games the performance is subpar to what would be expected.

Any idea whats going on? Is the card installed wrong. The dell 3100 doesnt have the standard slots for graphics cards so it was a special 8500gt card used (not sure of the name of the old slots)

Thanks

[irish1958]

I don't have a clue as to why you are having so much trouble; however, the game runs much better with 2Gb of RAM; this is cheap, so the first thing I would do in buy and install enough ram.
Then I would quit any unnecessary programs and use something like FSAutostart or similiar programs to kill any unnecessary RAM killers.
Finially, I would check the drivers for your video card. A lot of people have been having problems with the drivers on the Nvidia (sp) cards.

[ichso]

It's most likely some driver or directx related problem.
Or, like irish said, some application(s) in the background.

For me SH3 runs well on a Athlon XP 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM and a Radeon 9800 card.

So as 2 GB of RAM should be better, especially with GWX installed, it's not absolutely necessary as I can tell from experience.

[flakmonkey]

Yep sounds like driver issues, with that spec you should be getting framerates of 100+ at all times, if you are already using the latest drivers try going back a few versions and using an older set, brand new drivers (especially nvidia ones) often have undiagnosed bugs.

I still occasionally run sh3 on my old laptop which has a 1.1GHz celeron processor, 512Mb ram and a radeon 9200se, even that crummy spec gets a minimum of 30-50fps although loading times are >10mins.

(edited several times to correct spelling mistakes!)

[mino]

all other games playing ok? then un, then re-install sh3 stock and try....

heck, I run sh3 on a p3 with 512ram and 256 nvidia card, she gives me great fps!

more than drivers is this issue here,,but you could try another set,,,just ensure their nvidia sets, NOT reference drivers etc

good luck

[bert8for3]

Best bet first imho, as irish etc have said, see what progs/processes you have running in background and eating up RAM (have a look at task manager to see how much RAM you have available). Shut them down with FSautostart (@softpedia.com). edit/add: My specs are similar (although different graf card) and the game runs fine. But I pull my internet cable so that I can shut down everything possible, inc antivirus/firewall etc plus the kazillion unnecessary services/processes.

[Phaedrus]

Also, I recommend going into the Nvidia toolbar and changing your 3d settings to Performance rather than Quality.

[irish1958]

Or, If you have three gin and tonics the game will appear to run fine. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[Laufen zum Ziel]

I'm with Irish works fine with two or three scotch's also. Bad for your dive time though. Many of good crew lost to scotch.



Pass der Grog





http://silent-hunter-addict.com

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by irish1958

Or, If you have three gin and tonics the game will appear to run fine. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Even Tequila

[AJ!]

Ok thanks for the help peeps

Im afraid im going to have to pass on the drinks suggestion though. After having had 11 beers and ending up chucking my guts for the next hour and waking up the next evening feeling like i headbutted a brick wall i decided that alcohol wasnt the best idea

[zombiewolf]

i have a lowly fx5200 vid card.162.18ver
gwx is rough un harbours.but al else is ok.

have you enabled the new card?
also check background programs a suggested.

[johnno74]

Hi,

It sounds like your new GFX card is a PCI graphics card, as your dell probably didn't have an AGP slot.

This will cause a slight bottleneck as AGP is faster than PCI but that doesn't explain the terrible performance.

So... it might sound like a stupid question, but make sure your monitor is plugged into the new card, and not still into the onboard graphics!

I also reccommend you go into your bios and disable the onboard graphics, if this isn't already done.

And as others have said, get more ram. Its dirt cheap, and by far the most cost-effective way of increasing performance. You don't say if you are using GWX but if you are, 1gb just isn't enough.

[Cohaagen]

AJ-

I had exactly the same problem as you. 8500GT PCI version by Sparkle, aye?

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=129977

I am sorry to say that you will never get SH3 to run properly with this card. I have tried everything - way above and beyond the suggestions listed here. RAM is not the issue. I have 1.5gb and it still runs like crap. The 8500GT PCI just doesn't do Silent Hunter...neither 3 or 4. It'll chew through S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or IL2 or Half Life 2: Episode 2, but you can forget about playing SH. Sorry, mate - just take my word for it and save yourself the (literally) dozens of hours of low-level tweaking that I tried.

I'm building a new system this month, and will be getting rid of this piece of cack Dell once and for all. I hope none of the above suggestions have inspired you to spend money on more RAM, because it's a total waste. The best I can suggest is returning the 8500 or selling it, and spending the money on one of the new ATI 2400Pro series PCI cards that are coming out, or a good 128bit x1550 PCI card.

PS: If I didn't say it loud enough before - DON'T BUY MORE RAM!

[GlassTrain]

Not sure if this has anything to do with the OP's problem, but after removing SHIII from the very same Dell computer it was installed on when the game first came out (which ran smoth as glass!), and then re-installing it recently, I started the game and the graphics were horribly slow! Outside the boat was bad, but inside (the command room mostly) was unplayable.

Turned out there is an option in the graphics section of the menu called "synchronized" or Sync. After checking that box and then restarting the game, it fixed the problem.