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nvidia driver changes - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: nvidia driver changes (/showthread.php?tid=69205)

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nvidia driver changes - VC-81_BOLTER - 15.03.2010

Some of you know me, I am an old hand at this sim and have flown for some 8 years in the Il-2 world and about two years in CFS2. I have been using the same computer for that entire time with the exception of upgrading the video card when Pacific Fighters came out so I could enjoy the water views. I have consistently had frame rates in the 40-60 fps range no mater what the circumstances unless there was a lag issue on a particular server.

I have an older machine yes but it works well with this older programing. Yes I have made significant upgrades to it over the years. Except for the motherboard and case its all replacement parts. Here are my specs:

Windows XP Pro
ASUS MoBo 100 Mhz FSB
SiS chipset
Pentium 4 @ 2.8 Ghz
2 Gb RAM
2 IDE hard drives, each with 80 Gb of storage.
on board sound AND a Soundblaster Live PCI sound card. (one on the MoBo for TeamSpeak, the other for the speakers)
nvidia GeForce 7300GT graphics card running driver version 196.21 WHQL

Now here's the issue:
I launch a flight and get fine frame rates for two minutes or so. Then my second monitor where TS and my bomb sight table are flashes a second and the frame rates drop to 9-12 fps!

I know its not my config.ini since I had fine fps before and I haven't changed it. Yes I double checked that as well. I have upgraded the drivers over several revisions. I checked and rechecked the system services, even reinstalled windows, and nothing seems to clear up this problem! I am left to think that the hardware may be damaged? Temperatures are in the normal range, power levels are still normal as well when I use ASUS Probe to monitor those parameters. What do I do here? I haven't been flying for months now and I am sooo depressed about it.

Thanks guys.

- US_GRANT - 15.03.2010

I found that when I updated my NVIDIA drivers to the current ones, I too had FPS issues. Very bad, so I had to back them off to an older set of drivers and my problems went away.

I have an 8600 GT and the driver verasion installed right now is 6.14.11.6921.

- VC-81_BOLTER - 15.03.2010

Can you recommend a particular version? I have versions from:
169.21
175.19
190.58
191.07
195.62
196.21 current

I have no idea which one to go with. The issues began with the 190's versions. I guess 175.19?

- 68Gulf - 16.03.2010

Yes that's what I would do...go back to where this all started....
Good rule of thumb....if it works don't mess with it... Smile

I heard of people having to dl older drivers to get games to work again....

good luck m8

- US_GRANT - 16.03.2010

I currently use 162.21, but if you were successful with 175 then go with that one.

- MudMarine - 16.03.2010

a good place to go for older nvidia drivers is guru3d.com. They usually have links to older drivers available.

- Fireskull - 16.03.2010

Hi, BOLTER

The NVIDIA site has a graphics driver update and upgrade wizard.

The application checks your computer and gives you the absolute best driver possible with your hardware. Obviously, a later model driver than what you need will do more bad than good. You need an exact match and the driver wizard gives you that.

The below link leads you to the NVIDIA Driver Downloads. I recommend Option 2 Automatic graphics card detection and driver match for most people.

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index5.aspx?lang=en-us

- VC-81_BOLTER - 16.03.2010

I used the tool and here is what the results were:

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 196.21 Your PC currently has the latest driver installed for your GPU. No driver update is necessary at this time.

No luck yet...

- Fireskull - 16.03.2010

You might want to try manually downloading the driver, scan the download for malware, test the thing for corrupt files, then open the installation wizard. If that does not work, then back to the previous driver number. If that doesn't work, then try the one before that, but be careful not to go too far back.

Just as a footnote, a bunch of ATI users have had to install a previous driver.

- VC-81_BOLTER - 17.03.2010

Skull, I tried that and not a change at all. I had tried disabling the mods entirely in case it was a conflict and that didn't help either. I am doing a reversal to the oldest drivers I have to see if it will return to that state. Will report back.

- Fireskull - 20.03.2010

Good Day,

Are you flying Online or Offline, or both? Is the problem the same for online and offline?

Some online server specific missions are overloaded with objects, planes, and live players. When this is the case, your IL-2 will run fine for a while. The RAM will get full, and then your FPS will drop.

Let us know, okay?

- VC-81_BOLTER - 20.03.2010

If the RAM fills up what would be the solution? I have a dedicated drive for Page File and I can increase it's size if need be. I have two Gb of RAM so I don't see the memory filling up but I am not an expert.

- Fireskull - 21.03.2010

VC-81_BOLTER Wrote:If the RAM fills up what would be the solution? I have a dedicated drive for Page File and I can increase it's size if need be. I have two Gb of RAM so I don't see the memory filling up but I am not an expert.

The 2 GB is fine for almost all situations, but yours is not a typical one, obviously. I increased my Page File Size and the issue with FPS dropping almost entirely disappeared. I say almost because some online mission builders have still no clue as to about what is the limit to the amount of stuff that one can put in a mission. Some online flyers need to acknowledge the situation and populate other servers when FPS drops. By that, I mean temporarily. The great servers are very popular and usually there is no issue, but more talk about the solutions would help everybody, and perhaps guys like you.

Bottom line: What would it hurt? I suggest increasing the Page File Size by 1 or 2 GB total for all disks, including any external hard drive ( Some run IL-2 in an external ).

Please let everybody know here if this fixes it, okay?

- VC-81_BOLTER - 23.03.2010

OK here's what I did: I have two internal drives. A pair of WD 80Gb IDE drives. Windows is on drive 0 and the page file is on drive 1. I had already been at 4Gb of page file size but I added a small 1Gb page file to the partition where windows is.

It hasn't helped. I still get great frame rates until about a minute into the simulation. I followed Skull's tutorial and played with a lot of settings but it hasn't helped at all. Once the frame rates drop into the unplayable range it will stay that way no matter whether I restart the sim or even restarting Il-2. If I restart the computer then I can get the high frame rates again but only for that one minute.

I suspect there is a driver conflict or corruption issue because restarting windows helps if only briefly. I have tried every version I have and the problem remains. Is there a way to flush the memory of the video card that could help? Is simply buying a new card the only answer left?

- Fireskull - 24.03.2010

BOLTER,

Okay, you increased Page File Size and no change. There is one possiblity eliminated. The 2 GB RAM still seems small to me. Also, the dedicated memory of the graphics card seems small to me.

If you are experiencing this on any mission, then this is about your computer entirely. I also have a GeForce 7000 series driver in my laptop which I use for IL-2: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150m.

You wrote that you followed my tutorial. In it is a bunch of ways to reduce RAM usage. You applied all these techniques? I mention this because I still think that this is RAM related. I have a less capable GPU than you and I have no problems. I have exactly the same amount of system RAM - 2GB. What I am saying is that it must be how you are managing your system. Even my IL-2 version that is without nHancer runs just fine.

Take another look at my tech help Sticky topic. Meanwhile, I will ask several experts about this personally. I'll get back with you in a day or two, okay?