Choppy, Jerky Video During Gameplay

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

OK, this is a weird problem and might be slightly OT for this group. I
have two nearly identical Dell 4550 Dimension computers (Pentium 4's).
One has 768 MB RAM with a GE Force 4 MX420 (64 MB of memory) with Dell
flat panel screen; the other has 512 MB RAM with GE Force FX5200 (128
MB of memory) and CRT monitor (800X600 resolution).

When I run EA Sports NHL Hockey 2003 on the machine with the smaller
memory GE Force 4 MX420 the game runs wonderfully. (Also, it ran
flawlessly when the system only had 256 MB RAM) When I run it on the
machine with the FX5200 the skating action is choppy--the players will
stop skating for split seconds and then resume. It's quite annoying.

EA Sports suggests turning down the "player detail" to cure the choppy
video. Tried it, doesn't help.

I've also tried changing the refresh rate on the monitor to no avail.

How is it that an older Dimension with less memory and with a video
card with less memory outperform a newer machine with twice the amount
of RAM and video memory?

Is the MX420 somehow better than the FX5200?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> Dan Sgambelluri wrote:

> updated video drivers and updated directx?

Yep. Same symptoms.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

powrwrap wrote:
> OK, this is a weird problem and might be slightly OT for this group. I
> have two nearly identical Dell 4550 Dimension computers (Pentium 4's).
> One has 768 MB RAM with a GE Force 4 MX420 (64 MB of memory) with Dell
> flat panel screen; the other has 512 MB RAM with GE Force FX5200 (128
> MB of memory) and CRT monitor (800X600 resolution).
>
> When I run EA Sports NHL Hockey 2003 on the machine with the smaller
> memory GE Force 4 MX420 the game runs wonderfully. (Also, it ran
> flawlessly when the system only had 256 MB RAM) When I run it on the
> machine with the FX5200 the skating action is choppy--the players will
> stop skating for split seconds and then resume. It's quite annoying.
>
> EA Sports suggests turning down the "player detail" to cure the choppy
> video. Tried it, doesn't help.
>
> I've also tried changing the refresh rate on the monitor to no avail.
>
> How is it that an older Dimension with less memory and with a video
> card with less memory outperform a newer machine with twice the amount
> of RAM and video memory?
>
> Is the MX420 somehow better than the FX5200?
>
> Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
>
>
updated video drivers and updated directx?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"powrwrap" <powrwrap@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1117928009.452396.274450@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>> Dan Sgambelluri wrote:
>
>> updated video drivers and updated directx?
>
> Yep. Same symptoms.
>

Background programs? Sounds like the newer machine has too much running in
the background.

Tom

 

[nick]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On 4 Jun 2005 11:49:29 -0700, in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell, "powrwrap"
<powrwrap@aol.com> wrote:

>How is it that an older Dimension with less memory and with a video
>card with less memory outperform a newer machine with twice the amount
>of RAM and video memory?

Are you using the same (or similar) settings for the video driver in both
systems?

If the driver in one system is set up for best performance and the other is
set for best display quality, that could cause a noticeable difference in
performance between the two systems. For example, setting Anti-aliasing at
maximum or minimum sometimes will make a big difference.

Might not be the answer, but it's certainly something worth a quick check.

I'm not familiar with your video cards, but the driver settings should be
somewhere under 'Control Panel | Display | Advanced'.

--
Nick <mailto:tanstaafl@pobox.com>

"Natural laws have no pity." R.A.H.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> Nick wrote:
> On 4 Jun 2005 11:49:29 -0700, in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell, "powrwrap"
> <powrwrap@aol.com> wrote:
>
> >How is it that an older Dimension with less memory and with a video
> >card with less memory outperform a newer machine with twice the amount
> >of RAM and video memory?
>
> Are you using the same (or similar) settings for the video driver in both
> systems?
>
> If the driver in one system is set up for best performance and the other is
> set for best display quality, that could cause a noticeable difference in
> performance between the two systems. For example, setting Anti-aliasing at
> maximum or minimum sometimes will make a big difference.

> Might not be the answer, but it's certainly something worth a quick check.

I'm running out of options. I will try your idea.



> I'm not familiar with your video cards, but the driver settings should be
> somewhere under 'Control Panel | Display | Advanced'.

They're there now that I've installed the latest drivers from nvidia. I
suspect the FX5200 was previously using Microsoft drivers.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> Nick wrote:

> Are you using the same (or similar) settings for the video driver in both
> systems?
>
> If the driver in one system is set up for best performance and the other is
> set for best display quality, that could cause a noticeable difference in
> performance between the two systems. For example, setting Anti-aliasing at
> maximum or minimum sometimes will make a big difference.

I checked and both video cards had the same settings. I moved the
anti-aliasing slider to the halfway point and the full point with no
resulting difference in video quality. Same choppiness.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> powrwrap wrote:

> > Tom Scales wrote:

> > Background programs? Sounds like the newer machine has too much running in
> > the background.

> I'll check on that.

OK, I closed down every process that Windows XP would allow me to do
and still run the game. I ended up with 21 processes running. Jerky
player movements are still there....

 

[nick]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On 5 Jun 2005 09:45:28 -0700, in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell, "powrwrap"
<powrwrap@aol.com> wrote:

>> Nick wrote:

>> I'm not familiar with your video cards, but the driver settings should be
>> somewhere under 'Control Panel | Display | Advanced'.
>
>They're there now that I've installed the latest drivers from nvidia. I
>suspect the FX5200 was previously using Microsoft drivers.

I've run into that too, with both an nVidia board and an ATI board: drivers
from Dell and from Windows update were dumbed down and missing configuration
settings that were in the drivers supplied by the video board manufacturer.

The missing settings probably don't matter to non-gamers, but can make a
definite difference in some games.

--
Nick <mailto:tanstaafl@pobox.com>

Nick's First Law of Computer Virus Complaints:

Just because your computer is acting strangely or one of your programs
doesn't work right, this does NOT mean that your computer has a virus.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

NuTCrAcKeR wrote:

> the MX440 may actually perform somewhat better that the FX5200 on DX8 games.
> The 5200 should perform better for DX9 games, as its GPU natively supports
> and executes the instructions.
>
> - NuTs
>
I was going to suggest the same thing; I'm not sure what version of
DirectX the game uses but this seems to be a plausible explanation.