nForce2 chipset issue?

[Talos]

Hello everyone,

I have a nforce2 based motherboard (Abit NF7-S rev2.0) and my question is that during gameplay (Call of Duty, Collin Mc Rae 3, Generals...) i get this weird "hickups" during gameplay for about a second, but it's noticeable. Like it takes sometime to load some sounds. I'm quite certain that it is sound related, so since i'm using the onboard sound i believe that it has to do with the nforce2 chipset.
Is it a driver issue (i've tested various versions from nvidia site as well from Abit's site)?Could it be a heat issue?I've read in the forums that ACPI with nforce2 bases boards under Windows XP result in some performance decrease, could it be that?
Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

Here are some benchmark scores that i'm getting (if that helps):
In Windows display properties everything is set to maximum except Antialiasing & Anisotropic:
Quake3 Arena:216-217 fps (sound-->high)
UT2003: 178-179 flyby, 58-59 botmatch (gfx,sound-->max, no AA or Anisotropic)
3DMark2001: 13700
3DMark2003: 5365
Aquamark3: 36138
HD Tach: max 44MB/s min 26MB/s Avg 37MB/s (burst:65MB/s, 14,8ms) CPU usage:25%

Thank you in advance.

AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (15x133)
1X512MB RAM Kingston PC-3200 (400)
Abit NF7-S rev2.0 (3.13 nvidia drivers)
Ati Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB (3,9 Catalyst)
Seagate Baracuda IV 60GB 7200Rpm 2MB cache (SATA connected-Serial Adapter, Sil3112A)
On-board Sound-Soundstorm (3.13 nvidia drivers)
Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 1
(nothing overclocked yet)

 

[endyen]

Used to have probs with Cod on the 3.9 cats, gone with the 4.3 cats. Try the newer Ati drivers.

 

[blah]

It is not a chipset, I can bet you are running WinXP, and if it is so, don't bother looking for answer.

..this is very useful and helpful place for information...

 

[Oracle]

Here's a thought.
You are a running a low system FSB (133Mhz). This may hurt performance in hungry games such as Call of Duty and McRae 3. Also, try the latest drivers from nVidia and ATI.
nVidia released its latest platform drivers last May 10, with enhanced audio drivers, and ATI just released Catalyst 4.5 recently.
I seriously doubt WinXP is the problem. I played Call of Duty on it without a glitch.
I'm also a SoundStorm user as preferred APU. Sound quality in games is exceptional for such a solution. CPU utilization is near 0%.

 

[blah]

I can bet if he puts w2k on the rig, it will not clitch.

PS: but me hath mistaketh a lot of timeth, so thy might be correcteth in assuming mine is fulleth of it

..this is very useful and helpful place for information...<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by BLaH on 05/18/04 00:03 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[ChipDeath]

I think its simply that you could do with more RAM. XP is quite RAM-hungry, and these new games are too.

Try sticking more memory in and see if you still get the problem.

---
Epox 8RDA+ rev1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @205x11 (~2.26Ghz), 1.575Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL 2-2-2-4
Sapphire 9800Pro 420/744

 

[Oracle]

It probably won't. W2K is less power hungry than XP.
It's not because XP is the problem, but rather because XP is not fed adequately. Sure, it has its flaws, but I never had a problem I could link to XP failing me.

 

[TheRod]

AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (15x133)
1X512MB RAM Kingston PC-3200 (400)

nForce2 don't like async MEM/FSB.

Go into your BIOS and do this :
1. Change your FSB to 166MHz
2. Change your CPU multiplier to 12
3. Make sure your memory in SYNC mode (166MHz too)

So, you will underclock your memory to DDR333 but you will now be in sync mode. This should boost a bit your performance.

If you have followed my instruction correctly, your PC will boot normally without any problems.

Then reboot or use the <A HREF="http://www.nvidia.com/object/sysutility_1.08.5.html" target="_new">nVidia System Utility</A> to increase your FSB in step.

Try 170, 175, 180, etc... Until your sytem get unstable, then, reduce your FSB a bit. Tip : if your system become unstable, try reducing your CPU multiplier, your system might be unstable because the CPU have reach is limit. You can also boost your RAM and CPU voltage a bit to run everything faster and with reliability.

Then change your multiplier to 12.5 and more to overclock your CPU!

Humm... I'm not sure this will helps with your sound issue, but this will surely give you a boost in overall performance for free!

--
Lookin' to fill that <font color=blue>GOD</font color=blue> shape hole!

 

[Talos]

Thanks for the advice TheRod,

I followed the 3 steps that you suggested...and believe me that is sth i should have done a long time ago!!!I don't know if this is a bit of boost performance or a little more than that:
The graphic/sound settings as before:
Quake3Arena:217-->232fps (sound set to high)
3DMark2001:13700-->14543 (10 looping times just to notice any "artifacts")
3DMark2003:5365-->5458
UT2003 178-->189(flyby)& 58-->62(botmatch)
Aquamark3:36138-->37749

temp:28 C(system)&45 C(CPU)iddle, 33 C (system)& 50,5 C (CPU)load

I must admit that the gameplay seemed a bit smoother now in many games, i still have though those "hickups" in certain places in CoD but it might be more of a driver problem or the game itself.
I've also heard of this nforce2 and async MEM/FSB behaviour-i don't know where the problem show, but i remember in my previous MEM/FSB settings that i had seen a slight better performance (quake3arena sync mem/fsb:212 and 400/15X133:217). Maybe i'll test again tomorrow with the MEM set to 400.
Anyway, thank you all for the opinions/suggestions on this!

AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (12x166)
1x512MB Kingston RAM PC-3200 (333)
Abit NF7-S rev2.0 (Nvidia UDP 3.13)
Ati Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB (3,9 Catalyst)
HD Seagate Baracuda IV 60GB 7200RPM 2MB Cache SATA Connected-Serial Adapter Sil3112A)
On board Sound-Soundstorm (3.66 WHQL -3.13 UDP package)
Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 1

 

[blah]

512 meg is not enough to play q3? hehehe, what are you smuking? the entire game can be loudid into Radeon's memory, lol

..this is very useful and helpful place for information...

 

[TheRod]

Good! You got a boost! Have you tried higer FSB??? 170,175...

To get another boost, you should try to overclock your video card. You can do it with Radeonator (search Google).

You should unsitall your Catalyst 3.9 and install Catalyst 4.5. This might help your your problem.

Have you updated your motherboard BIOS to the latest version?

--
Lookin' to fill that <font color=blue>GOD</font color=blue> shape hole!