Stymied by poor performance of FX5900 & P4 in GTA:VC

Kanariya · 12-17-03, 06:09 AM

I just recently changed my cpu from an AMD XP 1900+ to a P4 2.4c O/C to 3.0 running on dual channel DDR,and using a FX 5900. I thought of playing Vice City again and fired it up with 8xAA/8xAF using the latest 53.03 dets thinking that if i had previously played it with the same video card on a 1900+ with the same AA/AF settings & running it as smoothly as a baby's bottom,then logically it shouldn't be a ploblem at all with a P4 3.0.

Boy was i in for a shock for the frame rates often dip below 20s especially if there was tire smoke or fog and even on good clear weather the gameplay was jerky.

This is regardless of the in game frame limiter being on/off,or vsync on/off.
I even tried the 1.1 patch even though it was not needed as the corrupted textures bug was fixed in later nvidia driver revisions,to no avail.

I've tried reinstalling video drivers,the game itself and nada no dice. Other much more graphically intensive games like DX2:IW/COD/KOTOR etc are running perfectly fine.
Can someone running a P4c with a 5900 comment?
I need some help for i am truly stymied by this weird behavior.

Thanks!

mrsabidji · 12-17-03, 06:25 AM

Same old question : did you patch VC to 1.1 ? It's a Geforce FX specific patch. As you can read in my sig, I have no P4 but I do have a 5900 and VC runs like dream in 1152x864 4xS AA 4xAF.

mrsabidji

edit : yeah, I'm stupid

. I see you already patched it. So... I dunno. Did you install SP1a ?

Edge · 12-17-03, 07:35 AM

It's not because you changed your CPU, it's because you updated your Nvidia drivers. In the latest drivers, they've mixed up their Anti-aliasing modes a bit. What was previously 6x is now 12x, and what was 8x is now 8xS (but both retain their origional names of 6x and 8x). 8xS is a more graphicly demanding mode then regular 8x is, so you'll notice more framerate droppage with it. If you want similar quality to what you had before with the old 8x mode, use 6x AA, as it will offer much better performance then what you're getting now. However, I'd suggest using 4xS mode. I think it's the best performence/quality mode there is, and should run plenty smooth if the game still manages to stay in the 20s with 8xS.

Edit: Just remembered that 4xS may not be availible under the control panel for GeforceFX cards. However, you can use a program like Rivatuner to access all the availible AA modes (including the OLD 6x and 8x settings), as well as other cool tweaks.

Kanariya · 12-17-03, 08:47 AM

Oh man thanks for the heads up,this issue caused me quite alot of trouble. I'll try Rivatuner & see how it goes,thanks for the replies!

12-17-03, 06:09 AM	#1
Kanariya Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 5	Stymied by poor performance of FX5900 & P4 in GTA:VC I just recently changed my cpu from an AMD XP 1900+ to a P4 2.4c O/C to 3.0 running on dual channel DDR,and using a FX 5900. I thought of playing Vice City again and fired it up with 8xAA/8xAF using the latest 53.03 dets thinking that if i had previously played it with the same video card on a 1900+ with the same AA/AF settings & running it as smoothly as a baby's bottom,then logically it shouldn't be a ploblem at all with a P4 3.0. Boy was i in for a shock for the frame rates often dip below 20s especially if there was tire smoke or fog and even on good clear weather the gameplay was jerky. This is regardless of the in game frame limiter being on/off,or vsync on/off. I even tried the 1.1 patch even though it was not needed as the corrupted textures bug was fixed in later nvidia driver revisions,to no avail. I've tried reinstalling video drivers,the game itself and nada no dice. Other much more graphically intensive games like DX2:IW/COD/KOTOR etc are running perfectly fine. Can someone running a P4c with a 5900 comment? I need some help for i am truly stymied by this weird behavior. Thanks!

12-17-03, 06:25 AM	#2
mrsabidji I am the cheese... Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 506	Same old question : did you patch VC to 1.1 ? It's a Geforce FX specific patch. As you can read in my sig, I have no P4 but I do have a 5900 and VC runs like dream in 1152x864 4xS AA 4xAF. mrsabidji edit : yeah, I'm stupid . I see you already patched it. So... I dunno. Did you install SP1a ? __________________ Signing posts since 1427. Last edited by mrsabidji; 12-17-03 at 07:26 AM.

12-17-03, 07:35 AM	#3
Edge 3d animator for hire! Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Minnesota, USA Posts: 3,564	It's not because you changed your CPU, it's because you updated your Nvidia drivers. In the latest drivers, they've mixed up their Anti-aliasing modes a bit. What was previously 6x is now 12x, and what was 8x is now 8xS (but both retain their origional names of 6x and 8x). 8xS is a more graphicly demanding mode then regular 8x is, so you'll notice more framerate droppage with it. If you want similar quality to what you had before with the old 8x mode, use 6x AA, as it will offer much better performance then what you're getting now. However, I'd suggest using 4xS mode. I think it's the best performence/quality mode there is, and should run plenty smooth if the game still manages to stay in the 20s with 8xS. Edit: Just remembered that 4xS may not be availible under the control panel for GeforceFX cards. However, you can use a program like Rivatuner to access all the availible AA modes (including the OLD 6x and 8x settings), as well as other cool tweaks. Last edited by Edge; 12-17-03 at 07:41 AM.

12-17-03, 08:47 AM	#4
Kanariya Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 5	Oh man thanks for the heads up,this issue caused me quite alot of trouble. I'll try Rivatuner & see how it goes,thanks for the replies!