Codemasters "DiRT, and severe Jerkiness on "GTX8800"

Antx777

Antx777

Antx777

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Hello,

I had a GTX 8800 768MB for a very short period of time (running with [email protected]), but had time to "try" some games out. "DiRT" by codemasters was one of them. I have a Samsung 226bw, and cranked up all the settings to Ultra (1680x1050), and looked great. I ran the rally mode, and got an average of about 25-30 frames "ok, not bad". However, in multicar races, it was a different story altogether. 12-15 frames in buggy races (max. dropping to 7, 8 frames) and also other multi car races (CORR etc)

I was told that this was a sound issue, and onboard sound didn't suit it (realtek), and disabling and enabling the sound would increase frames. Well, it did (got into the 20's in buggy races). But no sound of course. I am wondering if it is a CPU/RAM issue though?,(2 Gig ddr400) as my CPU is 100% *ALL* the time during this game. Also, at lower resolutions, it didn't really get better at all. Same too with COD4, 150+ frames in doors, but in the "TEEENS" outdoors, sometimes hitting single figures. as for Crysis (27 frames avg):rolleyes:

I'm wondering if anyone else has the same issue with GTX8800 on DiRT etc, or perhaps my system is "lagging" a bit?


-Ant
 
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That cpu is bottlencking the card.
It's quite slow for todays standards.
My framerate in games and 3dmark sm2.0 and sm3.0 scores increased by 20-25% by oc-ing my old E6400 from 2.13 to 3.2 ghz.
This was even with a slower card, an asus 8800GT 512 mb @ stock.

You'd need a 3.5 ghz or more dual core amd to get the max out of your gpu or at least a 3 ghz c2d.
The sound thing even confirms this, onboard rubbish eats 10-15% of your cpu power... ( bout 7% on ''modern high oc-ed c2d's'', according to toca race driver sound test). Because my cpu was so slow ( 4 ghz p4 at that time) toca on the highest sound quality and onboard sound used to eat 17% of my cpu usage.


If you can't upgrade your cpu you can try:
Oc-ing it more
Get a deticated hardware sound card to offload your cpu.
Try to reduce the sound quality ingame to a minimum if possible.
Closing all unneeded apps for gaming, this includes AV's, whatever iexlorers/firefoxes you have open, mail apps, etcetc, you need to reduce you cpu usage of windows to a minimum, best to make a .bat for windows and make it close processes down to the bare 18 essential processes. Open the .bat b4 gaming and it'll do it all. Perhaps if you can be arsed ( you can just log off and relog on) make a 2nd bat to restart all those apps again, eg an AV or some kind of tools for temps or whatever.
 
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I use the same settings at the same resolution and I'm getting 25-40 with my setup in sig. Think a single core chip just won't cut it anymore. If you don't want to ditch the skt939 platform yet then I'd suggest a cheap dual core X2 upgrade and OC it to about 2.6-2.8Ghz if you can.
 
I dont think that'll be enough I'm afraid, you might get back 5-10 % of your cpu time back by closing stuff but afaik not more :(.

I used to use this batch code to close down stuff in 1 go to get more ram for BF2 ( only had 1 gb at the time), although you might win back cpu power too with it as some apps ( eg. everest, but offcourse this is just an app I voulentarely installed, you might have other apps doing whatever they do and take some processing power for it) might constantly do something :
Code: 
taskkill /F /IM DkService.exe
taskkill /F /IM iexplore.exe
taskkill /F /IM imapp.exe
taskkill /F /IM msnmsgr.exe
taskkill /F /IM msgplus.exe
taskkill /F /IM nod32krn.exe
taskkill /F /IM nod32kui.exe
taskkill /F /IM probe2.exe
taskkill /F /IM realsched.exe
taskkill /F /IM richvideo.exe
taskkill /F /IM alg.exe
taskkill /F /IM nvsvc32.exe
taskkill /F /IM mdm.exe
taskkill /F /IM jusched.exe
taskkill /F /IM googletoolbarnotifier.exe
taskkill /F /IM everest.bin
taskkill /F /IM nvsvc32.exe
taskkill /F /IM notepad.exe
taskkill /F /IM deamon.exe
 
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Thanks hangtime, may upgrade my PC this month anyway (to Q6600 or similar) plus a GTX 8800 (I heard on Codemasters forum (by a poster) http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=261276 that the ATI 3870x2 won't run DiRT at all, as it can't do "crossfire" or "multi GPU (though he gets it to run when disabling the extra GPU for some reason), which is why i *MAY* still go for that One+ year old GTX8800 card:)

Thanks for the Nod on the Virus HT:cool:



~Ant
 
helmutcheese said:
I thought it was a bad console port, try Sega Rally Revo instead (not called Revo in EU version AFAIK but same game) :)
Click to expand...

Really? I'm currently enjoying it to be honest, graphics are pretty good, interface is relatively initiative (although it does get a bit irritating after a while), and the driving model is quite good, but each to their own, and the last rally driving game I had was Colin McRae 2, so I'm not an expert ;)
 
i would 2nd sega rally...great fun to play and graphics are pretty good too.
dirt was just ...well its name says it all.

its a shame as the previous toca games have been nothing short of brilliant
 
Dirt is highly CPU limited - the dynamic mesh deformations take quite a lot of processing power.

If you want good framerates with the game, consider upgrading to a core2 system. A core 2 duo clocked to 3.6Ghz or so would see your framerate double in the slowest areas.
 
worth checking for overheating on the cpu and northbridge as this can really slow things down on my x2 setup

once i sorted it eg:better cooling less volts

the difference is night and day smoothness wise
 
DiRT is great IMO. What`s not to like. Can be had for less than £20. Great visuals and a solid racer. It does have issues though.

On my setup, (see sig), I can get 60fps easily at 1650x1080 on high during single car races. But you do have to manipulate some of the advanced settings. Particles and shadows have a large effect, and can be turned down with very little loss of visual quality. There is also a hack to reduce "bloom" which works very well and eeks out a few more fps.

However, In the multicar races on the short circuits, especially at the start, I have always suffered some jerkiness/slowdown whatever I have the settings on. Once the race is underway, things settle down though. I have learnt to live with it. The game is so much better control wise if you can get above 40fps. Anything less than that and the controls really suffer IMO.

Its a PC hog. No getting away from that. Read any of the reviews and they all say the same.

How anyone can compare DiRT to Sega Rally is beyond me. 2 completely different games. I own both and Sega Rally is a good, entertaining game, but comparing it to DiRT is un-justified IMO. DiRT has so much more depth.

For those that want to try Sega Rally, a well known gaming store currently has it in the 2 for £15 section.:eek: A bargain. Possibly an error, but they had plenty at the weekend. ;)

Oh, and considering its a driving game, explain to me who at Sega decided not to offer steering wheel support? :D
 
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Strange, quite playable on mine even with other cars (4400x2@ 2.7ghz, 8800GT @ 700mhz) There's a util you can use to disable HDR, I find it OTT.

Wheel sensitivity seems a bit much, any recommendations what to set it to with G25?
 
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