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Low FPS, formatting not an option, is it possible to reoptimize?

P

parkbench

Senior member
I recently upgraded from a XP 2500+, 512MB PC2700, and Asus A7n8X Deluxe. I have 15 years worth of software and important files and documents and unfortunately I don't have the money to get a new hard drive at the moment.

I'm getting low performance in games, Specifically, CS: Source at 1280x1024 0xAA, 8xAF, w/ everything high I often hit as low as 20fps in crowded firefights. UT2004 seems to run fine. Far Cry seems to run great.

I've already followed the tweakguides at tweakguides.com. I've used driver cleaner for motherboard and nvidia graphics as far as I can tell. I want to hunt down the problem. What can I do?

Socket 939 A64 3000+
XP Pro
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (nForce 6.14 Beta drivers)
1GB (512x2) DDR3200 Kingston HyperX (in Slots 1&2)
eVGA AGP 6800GT 256MB, Forceware 67.03
Maxtor 80GB 7200, WD 40 7200 (1GB perma Swapfile)
Built-in Realtek, Altec Lansing 4.1

If you've come here to tell me I have to format and there's no other option, I'm not interested in hearing from you. I'll only entertain the idea when other options have exhausted. I use my computer for much more than gaming. I would however, entertain the idea of how to prevent this problem in the future and find a way to set things up so important documents and programs can be easily transferred.
 
You know there is such a thing as backing up your software and documents.

I'm also very curious about what 15year old software you have running on XP. You must have other issues than the low fps in one game if your system is unstable. What other problems are you having and how unstable is the system?
 
old games, old versions of programs that were in beta and are now either borked or nonworking, software that i've since lost the keys for, and tons of documents that i actually treasure.

I'm not having any other problems and the system is stable actually. Let me edit the title, my apologies. The fps is the only thing giving me any sort of issues really. Since everything else is running so damn smoothly, formatting is absolute last resort. There's a danger in formatting, but there's only frustration in framerate.
 
old games, old versions of programs that were in beta and are now either borked or nonworking, software that i've since lost the keys for, and tons of documents that i actually treasure.
Click to expand...

Even if you aren't going to format, you should still have that stuff backed up. Or else you will be a very unhappy person when your drive fails.
 
Even if you aren't going to format, you should still have that stuff backed up. Or else you will be a very unhappy person when your drive fails.
Click to expand...

When someone tells me how to backup installed programs that lack the original installation files, I'll be elated to do it!
 
So it's obviously quickly gone off topic. Look, I quite simply don't believe that everybody here formats hourly. Installation bad? Format! Change 1 piece of hardware? Format. Plug a pair of headphones in? Blow up your computer. I am willing to bet $100 that there are at least 2 people on anandtech that actually keep their software and use their computers for more than gaming, internet, and pirating mp3s and video.

So if you guys are out there, can you tell me about some transfer programs, Windows reinstallation methods, software settings transfers, or even easier than that... just setting up the drivers/directx/whatever to work right with my hardware. The system is already very fast it would seem, it's faster than the 2500+. However it seems to not be in line with what others are getting on similar rigs. Even just a simple link would be fine. Maybe point me to a few common benchmarks so I can compare them to my system and see what's normal and what's slow?
 
If you have XP Pro, you can do an Automated System Recovery backup and it will back up your programs. I haven't gotten around to trying it on WinXP Pro, but I've done it on WinServer2003 as a test. It did a bare-metal restore of an Active Directory domain on a completely alien computer... the backup was done on an Intel system with a VIA chipset and an ATA hard drive, and was restored on an AthlonXP system with an nForce220D chipset and a SCSI hard drive. After installing mobo/NIC drivers, the domain was running just as before.

So you might think of that as an option. I would put the ASR backup on a dedicated hard drive that has no other role whatsoever. Yeah, I know, you don't have money for a new $65 drive, despite having money for the rest of that loot. Well you're one Maxtor away from learning a lesson the hard way, looks like 😉 Can you sell off your old mobo and CPU to raise some cash, perhaps?

Getting back to the FPS issue:

1) are you sure that's abnormal for a system with your specs, running that level of resolution & eyecandy?

2) did you reinstall the nForce Unified Driver Package (mobo drivers, including for the AGP port) after swapping mobos from nF2 to nF3?

3) if you go Start > Run > dxdiag, does it look like everything's ok?

4) (thought of a fourth suggestion) since your new mobo does not have nVidia SoundStorm audio, whereas your old one did, make sure to uninstall the nVidia SS-related stuff and install your new mobo's audio driver. When you run the nVidia chipset-driver package, I'd uncheck the nVidia audio box for that reason... in fact, I do, on my K8N-E Deluxe.
 
Yeah, I know, you don't have money for a new $65 drive, despite having money for the rest of that loot. Well you're one Maxtor away from learning a lesson the hard way, looks like Can you sell off your old mobo and CPU to raise some cash, perhaps?
Click to expand...

Christmas, gifts, holiday, family, driving, leaving work early, school, finals, etc. The RAM was a gift. The motherboard/CPU were a major stretch. The GT was purchased back in August. Rebates suck. Money is lacking. When I'm not eating holiday leftovers, I'm eating Ramen noodles to compensate. I'll have money again in 2 months but I figure it's worth a little elbow grease to get the performance now. Hopefully that's enough of a qualifier.

Getting back to the FPS issue:

1) are you sure that's abnormal for a system with your specs, running that level of resolution & eyecandy?
Click to expand...

it seems to be. most a64 based systems seem to hit 1600x1200 w/ 2x or 4xAA and get the same framerates.

2) did you reinstall the nForce Unified Driver Package (mobo drivers, including for the AGP port) after swapping mobos from nF2 to nF3?
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yes. I used driver cleaner 3 then uninstalled nforce UDP and 6800gt driver. I then reinstalled UDP followed by 6800GT. Didn't seem to make much of a difference but it got rid of a question mark on the device manager. After installing I ended up with an Nforce audio control panel. What is GART driver? Is that AGP? There was no AGP driver to install.

3) if you go Start > Run > dxdiag, does it look like everything's ok?
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yes

4) (thought of a fourth suggestion) since your new mobo does not have nVidia SoundStorm audio, whereas your old one did, make sure to uninstall the nVidia SS-related stuff and install your new mobo's audio driver. When you run the nVidia chipset-driver package, I'd uncheck the nVidia audio box for that reason... in fact, I do, on my K8N-E Deluxe.
Click to expand...

I think I did this when I uninstalled the old Mobo drivers. There was no SS specific software except for the nforce audio control panel which, as stated before, gave me an nforce audio control panel. I decided to install the software on my mobo's cd to see if it would make a difference but it doesn't seem to. So I now have a mix of 6.14beta mb drivers and the new MSI/realtek audio panel. Again, it doesn't seem to make any difference. Maybe I should start over once more with all the drivers??

I posted on Guru3d and they all say my system is slow and that "it's a no-brainer, reformat" without any sort of detailed answer (same thing I got here until mechBgon kindly gave suggestions. It could just be CS, but steampowered.com doesn't seem to have anyone with a brain in it so that might be a dead end.

Where can I find a site benching systems and games similar to mine?
 
CS benchmark:

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6105370/

And remember; these test were run on a clean install. Your fps look about right for a old install of Windows. You may be able to tweak out a little more but if you really want higher fps, lower your settings in the game.

Take this with a gain of salt because I am no CS expert but looking at those benchmarks the conclusion looks pretty clear. Especially after what others have told you.
 
Jolt2, thanks for the benchmarks! That's exactly what I needed confirmation for/of.

After doing a little housecleaning (defrag, regcleaner, etc) i'm right about at that level, I didn't see <30fps at all this morning on those levels.

You'd think a highly modified dx7 looking game would run a little better than that. Valve needs to optimize their engine or those damn shaders 😛

It's playable at high levels I suppose so that's as far as I'll get until I get a new HD.

Thanks all!
 
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