A little problem.

[damienx]

Hi there everyone,

I'm having a little problem and I'm having trouble finding a forum that specifically tailors to this sort of question, but I figured I'd ask here, as it is probably some kind of hardware configuration issue. I have a Geforce Ti4200 (64mb version) and I'm running an XP1700+ (~1.5Ghz) and 612mb DDR RAM on WinXP Pro SP1 (so I know my problem's not really a performance issue per se).

No matter what game I run I always get incredible slowdown/lag when there's smoke. Fog is fine, even volumetric smoke seems to be fine, but just plain thick clouds of smoke from whatever source. I'm not entirely sure what causes this. Can anyone give me a clue as to what this could be so I could solve it? I have the latest drivers for absolutely everything I could possibly have (I'm a tad neurotic about keeping things updated) and that doesn't seem to help much either.

I know this is more of a hardware forum related to the boards themselves but I was just asking because I'm not sure where else to ask! Please help, anyone? =)

[Rytr]

Hi there everyone,

I'm having a little problem and I'm having trouble finding a forum that specifically tailors to this sort of question, but I figured I'd ask here, as it is probably some kind of hardware configuration issue. I have a Geforce Ti4200 (64mb version) and I'm running an XP1700+ (~1.5Ghz) and 612mb DDR RAM on WinXP Pro SP1 (so I know my problem's not really a performance issue per se).

No matter what game I run I always get incredible slowdown/lag when there's smoke. Fog is fine, even volumetric smoke seems to be fine, but just plain thick clouds of smoke from whatever source. I'm not entirely sure what causes this. Can anyone give me a clue as to what this could be so I could solve it? I have the latest drivers for absolutely everything I could possibly have (I'm a tad neurotic about keeping things updated) and that doesn't seem to help much either.

I know this is more of a hardware forum related to the boards themselves but I was just asking because I'm not sure where else to ask! Please help, anyone? =)

Have you tried lowering the resolution as well as in-game settings? Usually fog will have about the same performance impact as smoke with the same driver.

[stncttr908]

Well you have an NVIDIA card and your question relates to game performance, so I'd say that you selected the correct section for your question. If only all newcomers were as thorough.

I know you said it happens in almost any game, but if you could be more specific perhaps we could be of further help. Smoke seems to be one of those troublesome things, as people with top-end cards still experience framerate hits in games such as CS with it on occasion. In newer games, are you using antialiasing or anisotropic filtering?

[damienx]

I have tested with AA off and on, and usually I have anisotropic filtering off since it creates frame issues on most games (I keep it on for older games that support it, like the Jedi Knight/Academy series). For example, in UT2004, smoke from vents causes this lag. In basically any FPS, smoke grenades cause this lag. It is not really a fogging issue. In Painkiller the smoke that is on the floor sometimes for the 'foggy' effect causes it. Fog itself (white haze in the distance) does not cause it. It usually, of course, increases frames. Smoke from burning choppers/planes in games like the Battlefield series usually does it as well. DOes this give you any insight? Thanks again.

[damienx]

I hadn't heard back in a while so I figured I'd reply to this again in hopes whoever had helped me out before could have a better chance of seeing it and helping out a little more! =) Thanks again.

[walkndude]

Smoke rendered using alpha textures eats frame buffer space quick, it's been complained about for a looong time. It goes as far back as early nfs titles... I can remember dozens of complaints of stuttering back on 3dfxgamers.com when driving/flyin/walking through smoke...

While newer cards are much more adept at rendering these type of situations it still tends to be a problem, just to a much smaller degree. The fact that your running a 64mb card will aggrivate the problem as well.

The most recent title I can think of that displays this type of behavior is gta vc... driving through the water spraying from a hydrant, or the rotor wash from the rc heli halves my framerate on a 9800pro and ti4200 128mb board.

Unfortunately it come down to rendering techniques used by the application and your only choice is to do the best to twek the config's of the games your having the most problems with.