choppiness in Halo and others?

[daz_uk]

Hi there,
Thought I'd make a new thread for this.

Then I loaded Halo........hmmmmm. on ,loading up my sound was popping a bit (using AC'97 onboard sound with latest Nforce Audio driver) and when I loaded the game, it stuttered and the sound was popping quite a lot and stuttering the audio and video simultaneously...hmmmmm. I immediatly thought it was either my sound drivers or my new video drivers.... So i stopped all apps and removed any suspect stuff or redundant stuff hanging around, then I made sure I had lates audio drivers etc and re-tried. It was still the same. I tried reducing my machine to stock - no difference. So i upped it again and tried another game. Max Payne 2 in 6x antriscopic at 1280x1024 max details etc. it ran great (GREAT!) but there was the poping and stuttering again - but very mild compared to Halo and less frequent but it WAS there. GRRRRR!
Ok, so it was now like 3am and i'd had about 8 hours sleep in 3 days plus working all day (ok, so its as a games designer but its still hard work!!!), so im tired at this point - so I try the Realtek driver instead of the Nvidia one, no difference. Then i reinmstall the audio on Nvidia driver and run Halo again....hmmmm....it is BETTER but not perfect by any means.

This was part of my previous post and this issue still remains. You can tell it will do this because as it loads up Halo, and you can press escape to skip the intro screens (splash screens and makers videos etc) you hear a 'popping' from the speakers, then when you play it will skip sometimes. Now, this is not what I wanna see on my lovely system with the new 9800xt on it!!
also i dont think its a patch issue for Halo because i ran it on a board with inferior on-board sound and it ran without the popping and slowdown...

My solution was gonna be to install my soundblaster 5.1 card back in BUT i dont like that card because the drivers are rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishe (isn't the creative website just rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish?!) and crash out 3dmark03 on the sound tests. There is one set of drivers that work ok for it but i never remember which ones they are and end up with multiple instances of the driver on my computer even with repeated attempts to remove one of them!!

Anyway, I haven't put this card in yet cos its a lot of hassle to go through for something that may or may not work right, unless someone can point me to the drivers for the soundblaster Value Live that dont crash 3dmark03?

Cheers!

DAz

[Ravens Nest]

What drivers are you using DazUK?
I use the latest Nvidia Unified Driver 3.13
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_winxp_3.13

But i use a much newer sound driver version 4.09
http://www2.driverguide.com/uploads/...s23/17430.html

You need to type a username & password to download so here they are
username= drivers
password=all

Also HALO has no problems for me with Nvidia's audio drivers.

[daz_uk]

Hiya Raven,
Yeah I actually had 2.45 nforce drivers cos I had read about some problems with some apps and the nfirce 3.13 drivers.... But anyway, I downloaded the 3.13 last night and installed them beofre I left for work this morning - and double clicked Halo and it quit to desktop with an exception before I even got into the game properly! GRRR!
had to leave for work at that point but I'll try a bit later to get it working.

As for the sound driver.... I dunno if the one bundled with the 3.13 has sorted out that problem due to the problem above and not getting chance to test it... but is the 4.09 the one that if you go to windows update it says theres an Nvidia sound update and it was 4.09 i think..... if it is then i've tried that one and it was no better.

hmm. To be honest i've neglected my computer because ive been building 3 pc's for other people simultaneously and i've only just finished them all, so basically over the next couple of days I will get chance to test properly and find out if it IS indeed a sound issue, or a graphics driver problem or whatever. One of my first tests will be to disable onboard sound and put my soundblaster back in. Maybe it's even a problem with Halo

What drivers are you using DazUK?
I use the latest Nvidia Unified Driver 3.13
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_winxp_3.13

But i use a much newer sound driver version 4.09
http://www2.driverguide.com/uploads/...s23/17430.html

You need to type a username & password to download so here they are
username= drivers
password=all

[Ravens Nest]

Yeah the 4.09 drivers are the same as the ones on windows update oh well, worth mentioning i suppose

Perhaps you need to do a clean install of your Nforce drivers?, go in safe mode and remove the 2.45 drivers from there, then run a program called 'Driver cleaner' and pick Nforce drivers from it's menu and it will delete all traces of the nforce drivers from windows.

http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/...C2Setup_27.zip

Now install the 3.13 drivers again, if this does not work stil or you have tried this already then try installing them again but saying 'NO' when asked to install the SW IDE driver and it will install Microsft's IDE drivers instead of nvidia's as that might be causing the crashing in HALO, and the sound problems might be caused by this as well.

[Ravens Nest]

Daz uk, you might want to take a look at my Nforce2 motherboard guide, i wrote it after fixing a lot of stuttering problems with my 8RDA+ mb, perhaps there is some setting's i use that you have not?

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.p...t=nforce+guide

[daz_uk]

Hmmm, thats interesting actually. I assumed that they had sorted out that problem. I remember when I used to install the 2.03 drivers I used to say NO to the IDE driver cos it was problematic to say the least! But I thought all that would have gone away with the latest stuff. You may be right on that one mate. cheers, i'll give it a go later.

Oh, When you say say NO to it and install the microsoft ones, is ther a specific place for this or you mean the ones that Win XP defaults to?
Cheers, you've been helpful

Yeah the 4.09 drivers are the same as the ones on windows update oh well, worth mentioning i suppose

Perhaps you need to do a clean install of your Nforce drivers?, go in safe mode and remove the 2.45 drivers from there, then run a program called 'Driver cleaner' and pick Nforce drivers from it's menu and it will delete all traces of the nforce drivers from windows.

http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/...C2Setup_27.zip

Now install the 3.13 drivers again, if this does not work stil or you have tried this already then try installing them again but saying 'NO' when asked to install the SW IDE driver and it will install Microsft's IDE drivers instead of nvidia's as that might be causing the crashing in HALO, and the sound problems might be caused by this as well.

[Ravens Nest]

I mean it's the WINXP default IDE driver, and when you say 'NO' the drivers automatically install the MS driver instead of the nforce 2 IDE driver.

You are correct when saying the Nforce IDE drivers problems are sorted out (For most people anyway), just you know you might be an unlucky one as some people still have problems with the IDE drivers

[daz_uk]

excellent guide by the way!
I will try these things later on when I come back from work and ive been shopping etc etc (grrrr) then i'll have to have a hug and a kiss with her indoors etc etc....MAN what a bummer! hehe

Thanks mate, i'll let u know later

I mean it's the WINXP default IDE driver, and when you say 'NO' the drivers automatically install the MS driver instead of the nforce 2 IDE driver.

You are correct when saying the Nforce IDE drivers problems are sorted out (For most people anyway), just you know you might be an unlucky one as some people still have problems with the IDE drivers

[daz_uk]

Ok, here's the deal.
Last night I tried everything! I disabled sound altogether - same.
I installed a soundblaster live 1024 value PCI - same
I replaced all drivers for video card and sound card - same
I replaced Nforce drivers with 3.13, 2.03 and 2.45 - same
I disabled all other apps - same
I cleared my registry - same
I optimised HDD's - same
I set my system to default (non-overclocked g.card and cpu + ram)

So, my question is: what the hell is causing these stutterings? It pops and stutters in halo but in between these stutters it is smooth as ****.
Other games show signs of stuttering too but not as bad as Halo. I get the feeling this is gonna be one of those problems that pisses me off for weeks!
I've spent too much time lately fixing machines and optimising so I'll probably burn all my saves and stuff and format - cos its gettin a bit clogged. I mean I have had Nvidia cards on here and even though I've used Detonator RIP , therte may be some stuff left over? Or maybe its the RAM being underclocked? (doubt it). Maybe because the TwinMOS on TwinMOS is not listed as compatible with Nforce2 boards unless I underclock it, that is causing the problem? hmmmm

Someone tell me you are having the same problem, PLEAAASE!

[Ravens Nest]

Maybe because the TwinMOS on TwinMOS is not listed as compatible with Nforce2 boards unless I underclock it, that is causing the problem? hmmmm
Good point you might be on to something, maybe not underclocking the memory i.e. from 166 to 133 but by lowering timings.

So nothing you tried from your exhaustive list of stuff you did yesterday helped at all, lowered stuttering

Have you tried altering the AGP size, i find stuttering really gets reduced and in some cases eliminated by changing that.

64MB is the size im most happy with, the best way to test it i found was with 3Dmarks2003.

Run the test and you know the second test with the spaceship (Strangely seems a rip-off of halo )watch the stuttering, and the quit the test and restart and try a different size, as i've already said 64MB seems to be the sweet spot.

If no one can help you here then try Rage3d's forum as they specialise in helping people with ATI video cards.

p.s. thanks for the compliment on my guide

[Ravens Nest]

There's a new patch for HALO out daz uk, it fixes sound pauses when firing weapons, perhaps it might fix the stuttering and/or popping who knows..
http://www.3dgamers.com/news/more/1076555667/

[daz_uk]

thanks Raven!

Well, thought I'd update you. The stuttering has now gone completely and my machine runs great! The way I solved it is I clocked back to 166 fsb and Ram and it eradicated the probem. Before all this fiasco with building my brothers computer etc i WAS running my 2700+ @ 175fsb with my 2x256 Kingston 2700 RAM @ 175 too with no problems. Now I put this TwinMOS on TwinMOS 2x512 3200 RAM in it, I have to run at 166 fsb and ram.

So I would conclude that because the TwinMOS 512 3200 Module isn't properly compatible with the Nforce2 chipset, that when I underclock the ram to 166 it is fine and stable, but upping the speed a little causes lots of problems and seeing as to get th best performance I have to run the fsb and ram in sync, I get best results lowering my fsb to 166 too.

Oh well, with the Radeon 9800XT inside, it is fast enough anyway! Don't think i'll bother upgrading now until we're onto the next gen of stuff and see how the lay of the land is.....

Cheers for your help!

Daz

[Ravens Nest]

No problem Daz, amazing how such a small change can make such a difference isn't it?