Smoke problems on Nvidia hardware

marvelous211

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I recently got GRID and it performs well except for the fact that when tires smoke all over the screen my frame rates drop to 10-15fps while the actually game play averages over 40fps. This isn't the only game that chokes with smoke either. In bf2 when artillery is blasting on my screen with smoke it drops to 30fps or so in some intense situations. I also noticed this on my 8600gts and now 8800gs.

I've had a 1950pro and it didn't drop the frame rates like this not to a point it becomes a slide show.

If you have a modern ATI card would you mind giving some feedback?
 

ovaltineplease

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I never had this problem when I was running single 8800 GT

I however have had this problem in the past on other systems in Call of Duty 2 - but only when smoke grenades were involved
 

papasmurf211

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yea my 8800 GT starts puffing smoke when i play grid it tends to make my components heat up, but it dosnt seem to slow down when smoke appears in-game.
 

marvelous211

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I'm talking about when you start burning your tires and the car goes in circles trying to get traction. Little bit of smoke particles doesn't make it choke to 10-20fps. It's just for a split second does it drop like that in those rare instances.

Someone told me in another web that his 8800gtx does the same thing. So it's definitely Nvidia.

Now I just want to hear from ATI users who tried GRID>
 

ovaltineplease

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Okay, so if its "definitely nvidia" why don't I have this issue?? I don't understand that rationale and i've played a crapload of GRID without this kind of issue
 

marvelous211

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Perhaps you didn't crash and burn. Better driver? :na:
 

carver_g

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I haven't, but I can safely say it wasn't a 'slide show' like you described.



One guy in one forum makes it a universal 8800GT problem?
 

marvelous211

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It's just for a split second only when burning rubber. Perhaps you miss it.

Not one guy. A moderator in another forum says his 8800gtx does it. Another guy says his 8800gt does it. My 8800gs does it. :pt1cable:
 

the last resort

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awhile back while playing NFS III on a Dell XPS running a 700 MHz Pentium III, whenever there was smoke the framerates would drop considerably, but once the smoke cleared, play was fine.
The videocard was an NVidia, 32MB.
Hmmmm.
 

carver_g

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That's possible; I may not see it as much because I have the view set to inside the car. In the Le Mans races, there is a fair amount of smoke from the other cars but I haven't seen a large drop in the framerate. All settings high, BTW.



Right, three guys. How many cards has Nvidia sold? :pt1cable:
 

marvelous211

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That must be it you are viewing inside your vehicle where you can't even see rear tires burning rubber. :pt1cable:

I'm running ultra settings with 4xAA @ 1440x900 resolution. Don't care for high settings.




Did anyone ask every Nvidia users if they had smoke problems? I would rather trust my own judgment than yours honestly. :sarcastic:

This is the reason why I'm asking ATI users to give feedback.

I remember playing 1950pro and I never had issues with smoke. I've owned 8600gts and 8800gs recently and both had problems with smoke.
 

carver_g

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There are cars right in front of me burning rubber. Lots of it. Besides, the from the rear of the car is the wuss way to race.



Sorry, I should have said the highest (ultra) settings @1680x1050. Also 4xAA.



Down boy! I'm just saying that three users does not a hard fact make.



If you really want to know if Nvidia cards have this smoke problem and ATI users do not, you would ask for input from both sides for a balanced response.


 

ovaltineplease

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I imagine you have enough sense to update drivers and what have you, but did you check your nvidia panel settings for grid to see if anything was uh defaulted to a setting maybe it shouldnt be (ie: T.R.A.A) that could have a detriment to that?

Oh, one weird bug I will note that I had with Grid. When quitting from the game, sometimes the program stays resident in memory, 850 mb worth - so I just end process and its a done deal; but thats the only issue i've had. Vista64

I do know that when I did have Grid still "running" after I exited the game, it had a serious impact on my performance in other games. I don't know if this sort of thing is related or not but I just thought i'd throw it out there.
 

ovaltineplease

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haha i like the wuss way

I will say this: why is every single driver in Grid 4 foot 2 inches? Its like the cars have bucket seats in them that touch the ground cause I swear you can barely see over the bloody dashboard in 1st person mode. I can't say I ever drove a car IRL where I felt like I had to lean forward and peer over the dash just to see the road..
 

marvelous211

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Not like how your own cars burn rubber than a computer. Also viewing insider your car raises fps with GRID. I bet you didn't even notice that either. :pt1cable: So much for your judgment. :sarcastic:





Shall we have a poll boy? Shall i make it a fact for you? :lol:



That's why I'm asking ATI users to give some feedback but what we have is this lame 8800gt lover. :pfff:
 

carver_g

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Yeah, I have the same problem with my Vista 64 system. There is a workaround I found on the GRID forums but it didn't work for me. Also had the logitech steering wheel bug but that was fixed in a patch.

 

marvelous211

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I had this same issue with 8600gts with NFS and BF2 where it would choke with screen full of smoke. Drivers doesn't magically clear up smoke problems.





 

carver_g

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Did you notice I'm also running at a higher rez than you? That would equal out the FPS somewhat.



That would be why you started the thread, obviously.



Oh man, you are amusing, I'll give you that. I've had a 9800pro and an x850xt. Great cards.
 

ovaltineplease

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I went from my manufacturer's video driver to nvidia's driver once upon a time, and it halved my fps in gears of war - hell I never changed a setting, just the driver!

If you are THAT well acquainted with the nuances of your issue than I think you should be talking to Grid technical support, not we lowly peons ! lol