what am i doing wrong? (graphics driver issues)

Reaper 392 · 11 Apr 2011 at 12:37

posted this problem in the games section, but this is obviously not a problem with the game, so maybe someone over here can help.

ive been getting incredibly low framerates on far cry (1). the section i am using to test the framerate is the bit where you can see the volcano for the first time.

this is exactly what happened:

- turn PC on, play far cry, get 10-20FPS at best
- use windows automatic driver update thing, play far cry, get 200-300FPS.
- finish playing, turn off PC

- turn on PC, play far cry, get 10-20FPS
- roll back driver, then install Nvidia official driver from nvidia site (not the beta one), play far cry, get 200-300FPS
- finish playing far cry, turn off PC

- turn on PC, play far cry, get 10-20FPS
- get annoyed, ask for help here

anyone know what on earth is going on, because i know full well im out of my depth here

*edit*
just so you know, it could be a VERY basic problem, like not installing the driver properly or something, because i really dont know what im doing with them. i just follow the on screen instructions, then get on with playing far cry

Reaper 392 · 11 Apr 2011 at 13:36

Sleepless said:
from a completely non-techincal point of view - it seems your drivers not sticking after you switch off. Have you tried driver remover tools before reinstalling? I cant imagine that hasnt already been suggested on the GPU section. To be honest i would use this as an excuse to completely wipe my OS and start from scratch but thats a bit extreme. Another possibility - your card has 768mb and far cry eats that up i believe. Is something taking up that memory that disappears after you quit out to reinstall the drivers? Anyway, doubtless someone along who will be more useful, good luck.

havent tried a driver removal. i assume you hit the big button that says uninstall driver. would this mean i have to use the onboard graphics while i reinstall the graphics, because i dont have a lead for that

ps, didnt post in the GPU section. first i posted in the PC games section thinking it was a problem with the game, now i posted in general. would have been more sensible to post there though

Reaper 392 · 11 Apr 2011 at 15:05

just uninstalled the driver because i remembered that the graphics worked through the graphics card when i put the computer together

however, i cant seem to install a new driver. i have tried the driver CD and it refuses to run (i click on the DVD in my computer, say that i would like to run the DVD when the message pops up, but nothing happens after that)

i have also tried using the driver software i downloaded from Nvidia and it says it cannot find a suitable device for it.

i am now stuck at some stupidly low resolution, so any help would be much apreciated

Reaper 392 · 11 Apr 2011 at 15:13

thanks. i have already uninstalled the drivers as you probably guessed from my last post. probably went the long way about it, but i uninstalled it from the advanced graphics card properties in the drivers tab and clicked uninstall. will this be ok?

i already have the driver i need downloaded (used it before), so i guess i wont need to download it again

Reaper 392 · 11 Apr 2011 at 15:48

ok, i did all of what you said, except for removing the root files (forgot)
no joy

tried again with the clean install, and now i have a more serious version of the problem i had with my DVD drive before:
- any time a disk is in there, it will spin it up, but not recognise a DVD is there (no change in information in the screen on my computer, just says DVD drive D
- when the disk is spinning up, the computer is almost completely unresponsive. mouse works, occasionally start menu works, opening any computer makes the computer hang
- DVD drive itself is very unresponsive to pressing the eject button on the case. it will completely ignore the presses and i had to revert to tapping the button as fast as i could to get it to open.

im going to see if updating the DVD firmware will help, and also start a thread in the technical queries section

*edit*
well, despite what someone told me there is no firmware update on the samsung site. either that, or they have hidden it very well

Reaper 392 · 11 Apr 2011 at 16:02

ok, i think i see the problem.

my DVD drive has just cracked its 2nd DVD in a week.

RMA time

*edit*
look what my DVD drive did:

Reaper 392 · 11 Apr 2011 at 19:25

gug54321 said:
blimey never seen that before!

its happened to me once with an xbox 360 game, forza 2, which actually got cracked in two places in a very similar fashion to that disk, meaning a whole section of the disk was wobbly. however, that had seen hundreds of hours of play, and hadnt exactly been treated the greatest. far cry has seen a maximum of 30 hours play i would say, and has been treated like it was made out of glass

after the forza 2 disk problem, i made sure i kept my disks in a CD holder or CD tray at all times