problem with Galaxy 250 gts sli and freespace 2

[jcdoherty]

Hi everyone, I have what I think is a graphics card problem and I'm hoping I can get some direction.

I just bought a copy of Freespace 2 (20th anniversary edition).

The game loads and runs fine but I get so much flickering (like a strobe light)
I can't play the game.

I've tried chaging the in game settings, I fiddled with disabling sli, forcing Vsync on and off. AA on and off and various screen resolutions and refresh rates.

I can go from a strobe like effect to wide slow bands moving up the screen by changing the above variables but can't get rid of the flickering.

I have a dual core processor and I disabled one of the cores but could tell no difference.

I can play the 1st Freespace just fine, I don't have to use compatibility mode. This is the reason I'm assuming it's a video card problem.

Any suggestion or would buying an older pci video card fix the problem?

Computer specs: OS XP, E8400 processor, 780i motherboard, 2gig mem,
(2) Galaxy 250 GTS sli, 550 watt Corsair.


Thanks, Jim

 

[borisvodofsky]

Hi everyone, I have what I think is a graphics card problem and I'm hoping I can get some direction.

I just bought a copy of Freespace 2 (20th anniversary edition).

The game loads and runs fine but I get so much flickering (like a strobe light)
I can't play the game.

I've tried chaging the in game settings, I fiddled with disabling sli, forcing Vsync on and off. AA on and off and various screen resolutions and refresh rates.

I can go from a strobe like effect to wide slow bands moving up the screen by changing the above variables but can't get rid of the flickering.

I have a dual core processor and I disabled one of the cores but could tell no difference.

I can play the 1st Freespace just fine, I don't have to use compatibility mode. This is the reason I'm assuming it's a video card problem.

Any suggestion or would buying an older pci video card fix the problem?

Computer specs: OS XP, E8400 processor, 780i motherboard, 2gig mem,
(2) Galaxy 250 GTS sli, 550 watt Corsair.


Thanks, Jim

Update your drivers. Or reformat. Makesure you don't have bloatware that hooks onto the display adapter.

I don't think freespace 2 alone justifies a new graphics card purchase.

You could get one if you plan to play some of the newer games though.

 

[jcdoherty]

Thanks Boris, I think even one of my cards is too powerful/advanced for the game that is why I'm wondering if buying an older pci graphics card might allow me to play the game.

I already have my drivers updated.

I reformatted my computer about 2 weeks ago.

I have attempted to uninstall and reinstall the game, same flickering.

How would I check for bloatware on my display adapter? I use avast to keep the computer protected, scans show nothing.

I'm open to any suggestions, I'd really like to play this game.

Thanks, Jim

 

[ViRGE]

Honestly I don't know anyone who still plays the stock version. The FreeSpace 2 Source Code Project has greatly upgraded the engine and I know for a fact that it works just fine (I was playing it last night).

Grab the latest SCP version, and then if you like eyecandy grab the upgraded assets. You'll have a blast.

 

[jcdoherty]

Thanks ViRGE, I looked at the that but I'm not a computer person and I have trouble following all that, it's like trying to read leagalese.

I don't play online games or modify files and only download files essential to the computer. I'm a computer novice.

I was hoping someone could let me know if an older video card would work or a setting that I didn't know about or understand that would allow me to get rid of the flickering allowing me to play the game off the discs.

Thanks, Jim

 

[Don Karnage]

GTS 250 = 9800GTX+

Time for an Upgrade

 

[jcdoherty]

Thanks Don, I knew they were rebadged 9800gtx's but shouldn't these cards which were new about 5yrs ago be of sufficient power to run a game that is 13yrs old?

I am under the assumption that the cards are too advanced to be compatible with the old game. That is the reason for my contemplating buying and older pci or pci-e video card to allow the game to run without flickering.

Thanks, Jim

 

[Cerb]

Thanks ViRGE, I looked at the that but I'm not a computer person and I have trouble following all that, it's like trying to read leagalese.

I don't play online games or modify files and only download files essential to the computer. I'm a computer novice.

I was hoping someone could let me know if an older video card would work or a setting that I didn't know about or understand that would allow me to get rid of the flickering allowing me to play the game off the discs.

Thanks, Jim

You could always ditch the SLI, and see how it goes. Even the new modded up FSO ran fine for me when I had an underclocked 7800GT.

I've run FSO in Windows 7 64-bit, with a 7300GT, 7800GT, and GTX 460, and all did just fine (except the 7300GT was slow). W/o FSO, I couldn't even get the resolution set correctly, so I'm not sure how well it runs.

As for the modding, start here:
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Getting_started
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=78710.0

It's not hard to set up. ViRGE's linked post was a release announcement, not an install guide.

 

[Via]

Old games often don't support SLI or crossfire. I have the same problem with infinity engine games, and even games like Dungeon Siege.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Yeah, disable SLI and try it with one card.

And I actually only replaced my GTS250 a few weeks ago. They're okay cards still, in the ballpark with GTS 450s and x6xx Radeons, and way more powerful than any of the low end or HTPC cards. For modest single-screen gaming at 720p or lower, they're fine.

They just run too damn hot and loud.

 

[jcdoherty]

Thanks Cerb, Via and Dave. I have already tried disabling sli and removing a card but had no effect.

I'll have to pass on FSO, I'm just not computer savvy enough to get it to work.

In lieu of any more suggestions I'll have to buy an older graphics card and give that a shot.

Thanks, Jim

 

[WT]

In lieu of any more suggestions I'll have to buy an older graphics card and give that a shot.

I can honestly say that in my 20+ years working on PCs, I have never heard this statement !! Now I can say I did.

Via pointed out what the issue is, but it does no good in this case, as its just not designed to fully support SLI.

 

[ViRGE]

Thanks Cerb, Via and Dave. I have already tried disabling sli and removing a card but had no effect.

I'll have to pass on FSO, I'm just not computer savvy enough to get it to work.

In lieu of any more suggestions I'll have to buy an older graphics card and give that a shot.

Thanks, Jim

Thankfully you don't need to be computer savvy to install FSO. There's an installer that will do all the hard work for you.

1) Install FS2 (you've already done this)
2) Install FSO 3.6.12 http://www.mediafire.com/?aydv28vkcngc8qx
3) Install the FSO settings patch http://www.mediafire.com/?a0m9t66gl16u7lc
4) Play game

The above will install FSO and the upgraded assets. All you'll need to do is pick your video settings and your joystick, and you should be set.

It may seem like some extra effort, but vanilla FS2 is very old and this is a much better solution than trying to find old hardware to make it work. Not to mention the upgraded graphics are more than worth it.

 

[jcdoherty]

Thanks for the links ViRGE.

I'd still like to play the stock version as I have the 20th anniversary edition.

I'm going to try an older card first. If that doesn't work I'll give FSO a try.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I really appreciate you all trying to help.

Jim

 

[ViRGE]

Thanks for the links ViRGE.

I'd still like to play the stock version as I have the 20th anniversary edition.

I'm going to try an older card first. If that doesn't work I'll give FSO a try.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I really appreciate you all trying to help.

Jim

To be clear, that's stock as far as gameplay goes. The only difference is that it's using a newer engine that works better with modern graphics cards.

 

[nenforcer]

That game came out in 1999 for Windows 98 and requires a DirectX 6 (non-T&L) class video card for proper 3D acceleration.

I'd consider either a 32MB Matrox G450 / G400 PCI, a 32MB Radeon 7000 PCI or a nVidia 16MB TNT2 M64 PCI, all of which have drivers readily available for Windows XP and are actually already built in to the OS.

It's a PITA you have to uninstall your existing graphics card to play these old games which is why I like to keep my older PC's around like the one in my sig.

 

[jcdoherty]

I should have checked back sooner, Thanks ViRGE, I didn't realize the downloaded version was the stock game.

Thank you nForcer, I really appreciate the recommendations for cards that would work with the game. I was having some trouble figuring out what to get.

I'm sure I'll get to play the game now, one way or another.

Thanks again, this is a great forum with a lot of nice helpful people.

Have a good one, Jim