Frame rate problem with new graphics cards

Dogbones · Post by **Dogbones** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:52 pm

Edit: Let me clarify, by 'problems' I mean low frame rate in relatively empty sectors or even during training mission 6 with NEW graphics cards (i.e. those released in the last ~18 months) not just cards 'new' to you /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" /> . Temporary choppiness on entering a new sector or when a sector is crowded is to be expected.

I want to get a feel for how many people are being affected by this and how many people cannot play because of it.
A number of people (myself and ImmortalZ included) have experienced problems after installing new (moderately) high end graphics cards.

The problem is very poor frame rates which results in a very choppy (jumpy) game play experience which is NOT due to lag but due to the graphics card not being able to updated the screen at a decent rate (i.e. frame rate). alt-f (in game) will show you the frame rate in the upper left corner. In severe cases the game is just not playable.

The latest crop of drivers for nVidia cards (like the 8800 GT) have this problem. Some ATI cards may have a problem as well. Feel free to report what graphics card you have, what version of the driver you are using and what OS you are running. For nVidia report the Forceware version number, like 169.02. For ATI I believe they are still using Catalyst versions. (There is sub version for the device driver itself but that is of lesser interest.)

I should stress that NOT EVERYONE with new cards is having a problem. For instance w0dk4 is not having any problems running Forceware 169.02 on Vista 64bit but I am having a problem on Win XP Pro SP2, we both have 8800 GT's.

nVidia has been alerted of the problem but I would not hold my breath waiting on a fix from them. The dev team has taken a stab at a solution but RL work/circumstances comes in to play here.

Dog

DrBeginner · Post by **DrBeginner** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:55 pm

My frame rate drops when into sectors with more then 20 moving things. Then it goes back up after a second or two. 8600GTS

Post by **aem** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:08 pm

ATI HD3870 works great.

kramari · Post by **kramari** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:26 pm

I have ATI Radeon 9600 Pro, Allegiance wouldn't start with the newest drivers had to install older drivers...

No frame rate problems except there are moments when eveything becomes choppy and it lasts for a few seconds, don't know if it's the internet connection or something with the computer.

Post by **Raveen** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:46 pm

Radeon X850 XT. Recently installed the latest drivers. No problems I've noticed.

Grimmwolf_GB · Post by **Grimmwolf_GB** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:47 pm

I have a 6600GT and have yet to find a driver >100 that works properly with the R4 client.

Post by **pkk** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:49 pm

DrBeginner wrote:QUOTE (DrBeginner @ Mar 17 2008, 09:55 PM) My frame rate drops when into sectors with more then 20 moving things. Then it goes back up after a second or two. 8600GTS

IMO that's normal, my framerate drops also (by 33% on my 8600GTS 512MB) if I have 40 drones (not moving) on F3 screen.

Quia · Post by **Quia** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:26 pm

I've got a 8800 GTS, running 32bit Vista, 169.06 drivers with no problems.

logsniffer · Post by **logsniffer** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:41 am

I would like to vote 15-20 but unfortunately I need to spam some worthless posts before I am worthy of voting on this forum.

8600 GTS and I am forced to run 160.02.

ImmortalZ · Post by **ImmortalZ** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 3:30 am

Catalyst 7.12, HD2900XT 1GB, no problems.

There are severe corruption and vertex artifacting with drivers versions from 7.8-7.11.

I am yet to install any of the 8.x drivers. I'll get around to it one day because one of the latest releases promise some great framerate improvements.

Also, guys who posted above me, PLEASE, post your driver versions even if you have no problems. We are looking for which drivers will work properly and which won't (among other things).