Problems with NFS:MW on Nvidia drivers?

[Wolfshanze]

Hey folks, was wondering if anyone else was having odd problems with Need for Speed: Most Wanted on NVidia rigs?

My wife's computer is a 2.4GHz P4, 533MHz FSB, 512MB DDRAM & BFG GeForce 6600GT OC.

Her system works well with other games and applications... never had any problems with video, graphics, locking up or anything. All problems seem to be just with NFS:MW... she's been running the game with mid to high settings, but certainly doesn't have all graphic settings set to max (she's not crazy).

She was initially using NVidia driver v81.98, and she noticed two problems with these drivers... she had some weird "green artifacts", and the game would occasionally freeze for a few seconds mid-play, then resume. Since v81.98 is the most current "official" driver by NVidia, I tried upgrading her system with the latest NVidia Beta drivers... I tried both 82.12 and 83.10 on her system. Both actually seemed to make things worse... the "green artifacts" were still there and instead of freezing mid-game, it would freeze then lock-up the system, or worse, freeze and reboot the system.

I have since rolled her back to the "official" 81.98 drivers and so she's back to her original problem. So my question(s) is/are this:

1) Are the problems with NFS:MW driver related?
2) Are the problems with NFS:MW system/hardware related?
3) Would differant drivers solve the problem?
4) Would more system memory solve the problem?

I know her system isn't top-notch, and she could probably stand to double her memory, but I'm not sure if this is a driver problem, a hardware problem or simply a lack of memory problem (or perhaps the game itself is poorly coded)... anyone with some good advice here?

 

[dug777]

Mine just hung totally with the demo once in a while, so i gave up playing it, NFS HP2 FTW!

 

[Wolfshanze]

Mine just hung totally with the demo once in a while, so i gave up playing it

Hey dug777, what is your system specs if you don't mind? Faster, slower, about the same? How much memory is in your system?

 

[gi0rgi0]

The demo also would lock up on me. Thought it was my pc at first but the other games ran fine so I guess its the game.

system specs:
a64 3500+
2x1 gigs of ram
7800gt

 

[Wolfshanze]

So we're not the only people the game locks-up on? So it locks-up on a 7800GT with a Gig or more of memory too?

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: Wolfshanze

Mine just hung totally with the demo once in a while, so i gave up playing it

Hey dug777, what is your system specs if you don't mind? Faster, slower, about the same? How much memory is in your system?

comparable i guess, but with twice the RAM. 2.1Ghz tbred-b/1gb RAM/6600GT@570/1145

Fine for every other game.

 

[Wolfshanze]

You know, I need to smack myself for this one... not even sure what I was thinking (or actually not thinking)... my wife is running the game straight out of the box... I just realized there is a v1.3 patch for NFS:MW (stupid me, why didn't I think of this before). I'm at work and can't access gaming sites, but does anybody know if a "patched" NFS:MW fixes the lock-up problems or is it mostly a do-nothing patch?

 

[amenx]

Yes, the 1.3 patch does seem to help somewhat (at least for me), but in other forums people with higher spec rigs than mine were still having trouble with the game. Also I didnt like the 81.98 drivers with this game, the 78.05's seem to work so much better with it (and for others with 6600gt's it seems).

Then theres a careful balance of in game settings that you have to keep in balance. Some settings take a heavy toll on FPS but seem to do little for image quality. After much experimenting I believe I found an optimum balance, if you want I can copy and paste the reg settings for you here for you to try on your wifes rig which is similar to mine.

 

[moonboy403]

the only time when it locked up on me with when i didn't provide enough power to my video cards

 

[Wolfshanze]

After much experimenting I believe I found an optimum balance, if you want I can copy and paste the reg settings for you here for you to try on your wifes rig which is similar to mine.

Yeah, that would be nice.

So you think the 78.05 drivers are better then 81.98 for the game? Should I roll back my wife's system that far?

 

[theMan]

i get lots of hiccups and short locks for no reason, even when the settings are turned way down and i have like 100 FPS. not really sure why, im using 81.95 drivers.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Lots of folks with equal or beefier systems having similar "hickup" or freezing problems, so I guess the problem really isn't with my wife's system.

Does anyone else notice those weird "green artifacts" in the game, or is that just my wife seeing things (I saw it too though)?

 

[zagood]

What settings is she running the game at? Might try lowering the resolution, AA, AF etc. Also try lowering the sound quality, if she has onboard sound that can really take a toll.

Increase virtual memory.

Turn off all background apps including virus scan.

-z

 

[Wolfshanze]

She has a dedicated sound card (SB Live! 5.1), no background programs running and she's toggled the in-game settings all over the place and still has freeze-up problems.

I'm beginning to think this game is just poorly coded (then again, I need to test the game with the v1.3 patch).

 

[KutterMax]

I am running the game with 81.98 drivers on a P4 3.2 with a 6800GT. I have tweaked the settings a fair bit to get the game running smooth. Overall it runs well but is definitely more resource heavy than NFS:Underground was.

I believe the hiccups that people are getting is the game loading from the harddrive. The game has huge environments that I think are loaded on the fly from the hd.

There may be other issues at hand but perhaps trying a defrag may help. More system memory would also likely help.

 

[Cinna696]

I run the game with all the settings maxed at 1280x1024, patch 1.3, but there is still this one part in the game, (a shortcut) where it will hickup for an every so brief moment of time(less then a second) but i notice it. Patching to 1.3 didn't alleviate the issue. I do have 2gb of memory but NFS:MW uses around 700 (34%) and i went into the registry and changed the cache size that the game allocates but there was no affect with this part of the game. If it is accessing the hd for files I do run the game off a WD raptor but there should be no reaosn its doing that with all the memory.

Perhaps you should try any patches for windows or the other hardware you have

Artifcats tend to happen due to o/c not driver issues, perhaps clock that 6600gt to its stock speeds of 500/1000PCIE or 500/900AGP

 

[amenx]

OK here are some things you can do aside from the reg settings below for the game which people in other forums say worked for them:

1- Theres a tool call PCI Latency Tool that can help with the occasional hiccups, set the VGA adapter latency from 32 to 64: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/PCI_Latency_Tool/1105467085/1

2- A tweak some swear by: Go to Device manager in System properties and under Sound, Video and Game contollers select Audio Codecs/Windows Media Audio, and set the priority from 7 to 1.

3- Big improvement (for me at least) are the 78.05 drivers and these in game settings (reg settings):

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA Games\Need for Speed Most Wanted]
"VERSION"=dword:00000001
"SIZE"=dword:00000084
"g_CarEnvironmentMapEnable"=dword:00000002
"g_CarEnvironmentMapUpdateData"=dword:00000001
"g_RoadReflectionEnable"=dword:00000001
"g_MotionBlurEnable"=dword:00000000
"g_ParticleSystemEnable"=dword:00000001
"g_WorldLodLevel"=dword:00000003
"g_CarLodLevel"=dword:00000001
"g_OverBrightEnable"=dword:00000000
"g_FSAALevel"=dword:00000001
"g_RainEnable"=dword:00000001
"g_TextureFiltering"=dword:00000002
"g_RacingResolution"=dword:00000003
"g_PerformanceLevel"=dword:00000005
"g_VSyncOn"=dword:00000000
"g_ShadowDetail"=dword:00000000
"g_VisualTreatment"=dword:00000000

You can experiment further with these, but what hurts FPS yet seems to do little for image quality are Shadow detail, Visual treatment, Overbright and Motion blur, Good luck.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Thanks amenx... I'll give those a try on my wife's system!

 

[CraigRT]

I use the 78.01's with NFSMW absolutely problem free on my 7800GT.

No problems in ANY game, no lockups or anomalies of any kind! No point in upgrading just yet me thinks

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

on my cheapie emachines 2.93ghz celeronD, 256mb ddr333, geforce4mx 440 64mb it runs at low settings, low resolution perfectly fine and doesnt crash at all.

However, on my brother's sempron 2800+, 512mb ram, 9800pro, it runs great for a bit then locks up and crashes, no matter how low settings are chosen.
we havn't figured out why...i thought it was a heat issue at first but now i'm not so sure. The same problem is present even with underclocking.

Perhaps the problem is with the DX8/DX9 coding, since i havn't found anyone with a dX7 card experiencing these problems.

 

[secretanchitman]

i only thought the 1.3 patch fixed LAN related issues...