video/graphics/performance help, please?

[schlechter pfennig]

I have a HP Pavilion 061 with Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600, and processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~3065 Mhz. The graphics card is an ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series with 256.00 MB RAM, Driver Version 6.14.10.6571.

I have several questions. One is what compatibility display settings should SHIII/GWX Gold (i.e. SH3) run at? For instance, 256 colors?

I'm also looking for the best setting compromise between quality and performance. I have no idea, for instance, what nominal screen resolution or color quality of Display Properties should be. Nor do I have any idea about things like 'anti-aliasing' or 'anisotropic filtering'.

I'd like to try and get my fps above 8-10 when things get 'busy'.

Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated!

[Paul Riley]

-First of all your video card has enough memory to run the game.
-How much system RAM do you have?
-Make sure you have the latest drivers for both your video and sound cards.
- most games are optimized for 256 (or true) colours,and SH3 would be no exception
- ideally set your resolution to 1024x768,unless you have a widescreen monitor,in which case you can play in higher resolutions,but you will need to install a special mod for this called 'res fix mod'
- if you are having performance issues with the game,first of all set your video card for performance.
- the effects called anti aliasing and anisotropic filtering are advanced features of most if not all video cards,and they can severely impact performance in games,especially games that dont fully support the feature.Anti aliasing reduces the jagged edges you sometimes see on the edge of graphics making them look smoother and clearer.Anisotropic filtering allows graphics to be rendered in great detail in the distance instead of only being rendered in the foreground making games look sharper and more detailed.Turning this off for example would make distant objects look blurred due to the video card not rendering those textures.
I would not recommend AA in SH3 especially with GWX3 installed,as this is a major memory hog and your frame rates would really suffer.If you want to play around with AF first start at x2 and see how your fps go,and increase until they drop to unacceptable levels.Ideally though you want both turned off to maximize your performance.These features are really only designed for video cards with 512MB + memory,and probably dual core CPUs.

Hope some of this helps,and feel free to ask anything else you dont understand.

[schlechter pfennig]

Forgot to mention system RAM. It's 1 gig.

I tried your suggestions: started a new patrol from Wilhelmshaven . . . now have a frame rate of 2.

[Paul Riley]

Originally Posted by schlechter pfennig

Forgot to mention system RAM. It's 1 gig.

I tried your suggestions: started a new patrol from Wilhelmshaven . . . now have a frame rate of 2.

I really would suggest getting another 1GB RAM installed bumping it up to 2GB,you may be experiencing a memory bottleneck trying to compete with your video card.For most modern games,and even those from about 2005 onwards 2GB system RAM is recommended to help run games smoothly.

[flakmonkey]

I would certainly expect better fps from the system specs you posted but in any case ram is a major factor with sh3, so grab at least another 1Gb.

Also (and this may not be popular with some) but would suggest grabbing a copy of vista or win7, despite the initial issues with having to update starforce drivers with some early sh3 discs, vista/7 are much much better optimized as gaming platforms than xp, i noticed a 10-15% increase in fps in sh3 when switching my old rig over to vista with no change in hardware so its certainly worth thinking about.

+The usual junk, make sure you dont have loads of stuff running in the background, turn off AA and AF in your cards control panel. If the drop in visual quality is too much to stand just turn them back up a bit at a time until you can live with the fps/visual quality tradeoff.

[irish1958]

Your spects are borderline at best.
Without another Gb of RAM there is no way to get better performance.
With another Gb of RAM, you will have minimum spects.
At that time, turn down particle effects in the option screen.
Check out the Omega driver for your video card. (google omega drivers)
Download and install AlacrityPC to get rid of all the junk running in your RAM
Keep your hard drive defragged, and use GameBooster 1.4 to defrag your game files. (AlacrityPC works a lot better than Game booster to clear RAM of junk, but it doesn't defrag the game files)
Some defrag programs will move the game files to the optimal section of your hard drive which have better access and transfer of files to RAM and CPU cache. Since I don't use them I don't know what ones do this.
Be careful of mods that hog RAM and CPU, especially sea floor mods. and harbor mods.
Use SH3CMDR and use the no fatigue and start at sea options.
Check your PC and make sure you have performance optimized for your operating system, including virtual RAM settings
Try different priorities in task manager settings to see if it helps. (Almost all priorities are set to normal. Try different settings to see what effect it may have on performance.)
If you attack convoys, you will have very poor frame rates as the computer has a lot of work to do.
Do not purchase SH4 or SH5 as you have no chance of running them.
Save your spare change and check out the new computers with Windows7; in spite of what the Mac religious fanatics say, it is a very good operating system.

[pickinthebanjo]

Originally Posted by Paul Riley

-ideally set your resolution to 1024x768,unless you have a widescreen monitor,in which case you can play in higher resolutions,but you will need to install a special mod for this called 'res fix mod'

I was just wondering, I play the game on my laptop. It's about 1-2 years old but has an HDMI port I use to watch it on the tv. I run the game in 1920X1080(this is what I adjust the Computers resolution to, for the TV)
and then adjust the borders on the tv to fit it. I find that it looks about the same, aside from better color and such. Now my question is would it look any better with that res fix mod?

I do find things a little blown up but I figure it's due to being enlarged to 46", but there still all in proper scale/proportion

[Didd]

Forgot to mention system RAM. It's 1 gig.

I tried your suggestions: started a new patrol from Wilhelmshaven . . . now have a frame rate of 2.

What mods are you using? GWX for example fairly cripples frame rates in harbours. I usually get around a factor of 10 reduction in fps in harbour, and sometimes less than that when compared to what I get at sea. In stock SH3 this reduction wasn't quite so noticeable. But then I'd rather have some life around me.

In my experience the fps takes a hit with AA and AF. I don't use these.

[Paul Riley]

Originally Posted by pickinthebanjo

I was just wondering, I play the game on my laptop. It's about 1-2 years old but has an HDMI port I use to watch it on the tv. I run the game in 1920X1080(this is what I adjust the Computers resolution to, for the TV)
and then adjust the borders on the tv to fit it. I find that it looks about the same, aside from better color and such. Now my question is would it look any better with that res fix mod?

I do find things a little blown up but I figure it's due to being enlarged to 46", but there still all in proper scale/proportion

I know this wont be much help to you,but I really wouldnt recommend playing games on a laptop.Now that doesnt mean that they may not perform well enough it is mainly down to a overheating issue,a laptop cannot get rid of heat as well as a custom built desktop that has adequate cooling solutions,such as internal fans and fans over the video card,which I happen to have 5 fans in total.Improper cooling can affect and even crash games,especially demanding games.
Other than the post I gave above I cant really help you any more at this point,but dont lose heart,someone in here will be able to help.Keep posted over the next day or so for a reply.

Good luck.