Graphics Lagging while Gaming

[kapilverma]

Hello,

I have following config:

Win XP SP3
CPU E5300 dual core 2.6 Ghz
Nvidia 9400 GT graphics Card
P5kpl am/ps Mother board
4 GB Transcend Ram
Latest Nvidia drivers
Nvidia PhysX
Direct X 9c

Problem:

While gaming on NFS shift, NFS Undercover, Batman AA, etc the game works fine initially while they are talking and stuff(Movies), but as soon as the race/game begins, the game lags as if running in slow motion. Please advise what can be done to correct the problem.

Regards,
Kapil

 

[Rustyy117]

Hi, welcome to the forum : )

What resolution do you play at and what graphics settings do you use?

Also what power supply do you have?

 

[kapilverma]

Hi omgitzfatal,

Thanks for your message and time.

I'm playing @ 1024 * 768

I have an Intex cabinet with SMPS of 350Watts I guess. Not sure though.
Am at work right now, but can confirm once get back.

Thanks again.
Regards,
Kapil

 

[Rustyy117]

ok well when you get home check the graphics settings, a 9400GT is showing its age and will struggle if the settings are up high.

Let me know how you get on.

 

[kapilverma]

Thanks again. Will surely check and get back to you.
In the mean time what I have seen on the net.... Power supply is my biggest suspect.

Also, does monitor has anything to do with it?
I have a pretty old Samtron 56V @ 60 Htz

 

[Rustyy117]

according to nVidia your 9400GT uses 50W maximum and the required PSU for a entire PC (with a 9400GT) is 300W

I wouldn't have thought your monitor would have anything to do with it.

 

[kapilverma]

Hello Again,

according to nVidia your 9400GT uses 50W maximum and the required PSU for a entire PC (with a 9400GT) is 300W

I wouldn't have thought your monitor would have anything to do with it.

I checked the XFX site. According to them, the card uses 400Watts.
Anyways I checked my supply, it is 450 watts.

I tried 600 Watts of supply as well, but no luck.

I installed Windows 7, surprisingly things got better.
However, whenever there is a speech or a special effect, the game still lags.



I don't know what to do now.

 

[Rustyy117]

Did you check the in game settings?

 

[jonnyboyC]

Well the gt 9400 is really not that powerful of a card only 16 cores. The reason why movies are running quite well then gamplay is lagging is because most movies are pre rendered, and therefore would be like playing a dvd. I know in Batman AA they are pre rendered with Need for speed shift i'm not sure never played it. and again like omgitzfatal said what game settingare you playing at

 

[kapilverma]

Hi Again,

I'm using default settings of the game. Though I have tried all settings nothing works better.
As per NFS undercover requirements, it needs 128 mb graphic card (Nvidia 6 series recommended) and 1 GB RAM. I have a system with much better config. So it does not seem to be a case of out dated card.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Kapil

 

[Rustyy117]

All I can suggest is to put some of the settings down. Diasble any AA and AF and maybe put some settings on low.

 

[kapilverma]

Tried that as well. But no luck...
Stupid question, but can it be because of the motherboard?

 

[Rustyy117]

No I don't think so. If there was a problem with your motherboard it would either work or it wouldn't.

I find it hard to believe that lowering the settings didn't net you anymore performance.

 

[jonnyboyC]

well something to try is play the game in windowed mode pull up gpu-z and make sure your card is coming out of it's 2d mode, when you start the game

 

[kapilverma]

Agree with you omgitzfatal. I do not understand that either.
With 4 GB ram, 1 GB graphics card, I should be getting this problem.

Also why does things improve in Windows 7?
Even in windows 7 the game lags when I move or whenever there is speech.


This is the second card I'm using earlier was a 7300 GS with 256MB. I thought that new card would imrpve things... But no.

I have also seen people using lower settings than mine but have better results, cannot understand what am I doing wrong.

Jonny, I tried playing in the windowed mode as well but can you elaborate on how to pull gpu-z and see if the card is coming out of it's 2d mode?

Appreciate the help guys, thanks a ton.

It's just that I should have just bought the PS2 and played them.
I thought that with money already spent on the PC a little more and I would have same fun, but honestly spending money on card was a waste.

It's killing me now.

 

[oblivion errors]

Weird when was this game made? what is this game?and when was your computer made.

 

[oblivion errors]

Tell me or somebody the answers to those questions they will probaly be able to tell you why.

 

[Rustyy117]

Lowering the settings and not seeing any benefit usualy indicates a CPU bottleneck. However your only running a 9400GT (no offence).

You could try overclocking your CPU and see if it makes a difference.

If I were you I'd:

Format my HDD
Re-install windows
Install the latest drivers
Check temps.
Install the games you play
Download and Install FRAPS
Run a Game (maybe try more than 1 game)
Run FRAPS to check frame rates
If performance is poor than I'd restart, Enter the BIOS and overclock my CPU as much as possible whilst maintaining good temps and safe voltage levels.
Run a Game and FRAPS again and see if there's any improvement

If not then I'd sell the PC and save for a new build.

 

[kapilverma]

Hi Omgitzfatal,

I overclocked the CPU by 20%. It's running at 3.14Ghz at the moment.
I installed FRAPS and can see the frame rates now.

The game runs at about 40-60 frames but suddenly drops to 9-7-2 frames when the game starts lagging.

I guess, this might be a problem with the software as well.

I have written the problem to Excel interactive who are official re-distributors of NFS in India, let's see what do they have to say about it.

If nothing works at least I can be assured about a full refund of the game.
Will keep you posted.

Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Kapil

 

[Guest]

i have an AMD quad core with windows 7 and i have lag issues that happen in a pattern. game play( online or offline)starts normal but between 15 - 20 minute sin, it lags for a period of 5 minutes then goes back to normal for another 15-20 minutes, repeating itself on ANY game. so i dont think its the game software, i could be wrong i have tried every solution short of reloading everything, selective startup didnt work, new drivers didnt work, new codecs didnt work, and this issue started about 2 weeks ago , everything ran fine before then and i have made no major changes in that period.


windows 7 home premium
HP Pavilion
x64 based PC
AMD Athlon II X4 620 processor, 2600 Mhz
NVIDIA GeForce 9100
realtek HD audio(i know it uses up system, but its not the problem from what i can tell)