SC2: 3 Technical Questions

[Thor_Odinson]

1. How can one tell if the gameplay hiccups in a multiplayer setting are system-based or connection-based? I play on HIGH settings but with lighting, shadows, effects, particles, etc (except models, 3d portraits, and movies) on either OFF or LOW. My specs are:

Athlon II X2 250 (3.0ghz) (2mb cache)
MSI NF520T-C35 Mobo
1gb Inno3d GT 250 GDDR3
3gb DDR2 800mhz RAM
(2) 500gb SATA Seagate Barracudas
Creative Audigy 2 Value
Coolermaster Silent Pro M600 600W PSU
(4) 120mm Coolermaster 90CFM Green LED Case Fans (2000 rpm)

Anyway, my main reason for popping this question is that my friend, who, sad to say is using a cracked copy of the game, has no lag whatsoever on single player and he is using a P4 3ghz and a GF 9600GT.

2. What is SC2's default refresh rate when default is selected? Is it tied up to the monitor's refresh rate or is it 60hz? When I upgraded my card, I now notice a slight flicker in the menu and game screens. My Windows/NVIDIA settings are at 75hz though. So, should I just manually change the rr in-game to 75hz?

3. I've only recently learned of the 30-day reuthentication thing (I was always under the impression that it was a one-time affair). Naturally, I am disappointed at yet another inconsiderate move by Blizzard against the loyal, paying fans ... but that is a topic for a different thread. Anyway, I just wanted to know if SC2's single player feature would be rendered ineffective should the servers go offline permanently.

 

[Schfifty Five]

1. How can one tell if the gameplay hiccups in a multiplayer setting are system-based or connection-based? I play on HIGH settings but with lighting, shadows, effects, particles, etc (except models, 3d portraits, and movies) on either OFF or LOW. My specs are:

Athlon II X2 250 (3.0ghz) (2mb cache)
MSI NF520T-C35 Mobo
1gb Inno3d GT 250 GDDR3
3gb DDR2 800mhz RAM
(2) 500gb SATA Seagate Barracudas
Creative Audigy 2 Value
Coolermaster Silent Pro M600 600W PSU
(4) 120mm Coolermaster 90CFM Green LED Case Fans (2000 rpm)

Anyway, my main reason for popping this question is that my friend, who, sad to say is using a cracked copy of the game, has no lag whatsoever on single player and he is using a P4 3ghz and a GF 9600GT.

2. What is SC2's default refresh rate when default is selected? Is it tied up to the monitor's refresh rate or is it 60hz? When I upgraded my card, I now notice a slight flicker in the menu and game screens. My Windows/NVIDIA settings are at 75hz though. So, should I just manually change the rr in-game to 75hz?

3. I've only recently learned of the 30-day reuthentication thing (I was always under the impression that it was a one-time affair). Naturally, I am disappointed at yet another inconsiderate move by Blizzard against the loyal, paying fans ... but that is a topic for a different thread. Anyway, I just wanted to know if SC2's single player feature would be rendered ineffective should the servers go offline permanently.

1. What kind of "lag" are you talking about? Latency or FPS lag?

2. Umm...why don't you just try it out?

3. Not sure what you are referring to with the 30-day reauthentication, but you can play single player offline.

 

[Dumac]

Play singleplayer. Singleplayer games are locally based, so no connection lag.

 

[Thor_Odinson]

1. What kind of "lag" are you talking about? Latency or FPS lag?

2. Umm...why don't you just try it out?

3. Not sure what you are referring to with the 30-day reauthentication, but you can play single player offline.

1. I can't tell actually. If it is the major kind of lag, I either get a window regarding my connection status (latency prob) or a smaller one telling me to lower my settings to increase performance (fps lag). With the little hiccups, it's impossible to determine. I'll try to narrow down the problem by playing offline, as Dumac stated.

BTW, do you think my spec can handle the settings I listed and am on?


2. Changing the refresh rate in-game won't have any bearing on my settings outside the game, right?


3. Yeah, it can be played offline, but after 30-days of non-logging (no internet access, etc), the account would be temporarily inaccessible.

 

[soccerballtux]

I've turned all graphics on the game down.

 

[NYHoustonman]

BTW, do you think my spec can handle the settings I listed and am on?

Should be fine. Try turning down terrain detail; I've noticed on my laptop that the performance hit between medium and high is pretty drastic, even when there's no action. And, as others have said, try watching a replay or playing a single player game to isolate the problem.

 

[digitaldurandal]

1. If you get the hiccups during single player as well as multiplayer it is your system, if not it is your connection.

2. Changing a setting for the game should not effect your entire system except when the game is running.

3. You are offline sometimes? Wow.

 

[Thor_Odinson]

Should be fine. Try turning down terrain detail; I've noticed on my laptop that the performance hit between medium and high is pretty drastic, even when there's no action. And, as others have said, try watching a replay or playing a single player game to isolate the problem.

The only time I've experienced serious lag on high was when I was with 7 other Zerg on insane AI. I'll try to replicate that scenario again on sp.

BTW, thanks for the replay tip. I always thought that replays were slightly less taxing to the machine.

 

[Thor_Odinson]

1. If you get the hiccups during single player as well as multiplayer it is your system, if not it is your connection.

2. Changing a setting for the game should not effect your entire system except when the game is running.

3. You are offline sometimes? Wow.

1. My ISP just told me that they have been undergoing certain
"maintenance procedures" which would persist for another 2 weeks. "A series of connection highs and lows is normal at this point in time." Problem solved, I guess.

2. Thanks. Will make the necessary changes when I get home from work.

3. Not really. I just want to be comfortable in the knowledge that I can still play SC2 some 15 years into the future even if Blizzard decides to pack up and go (or fold up and die).

 

[NYHoustonman]

BTW, thanks for the replay tip. I always thought that replays were slightly less taxing to the machine.

Technically, yes, as far as CPU usage. GPU-related performance should be the same, though, so it'd help you isolate that.

 

[Thor_Odinson]

I changed the refresh rate to 75hz in-game. Apparently, the faint continuous flicker is still there. The odd thing about this is the flicker only happened when I upgraded my gpu. I was able to eliminate the flicker by enabling v-sync.

Can anyone enlighten me on this? I thought v-sync only eliminated tearing. And this type of flickering is akin to what is seen when one who is used to a refresh rate of 75hz++ suddenly transfers to an old 60hz CRT monitor.

 

[Qbah]

1. I have noticed that people don't see a game runs bad until they actually see how it should run in the first place ("ignorance is a bliss" as they say). I have seen people claim their games run fine and smooth and when visiting and seeing it first hand, the game was unbearably slow and choppy for me. Hence I'm guessing your friend doesn't know better, that's all. In his mind the game runs fine. There is no way a P4 and a 9600GT can run the game smoothly at decent settings, unless he's maybe running 1024x768 or something and medium. I get noticeable slowdowns at times in SP on my rig... Nothing that even comes close to being unplayable (game drops to ~30), but it is easily noticeable.

2. As has been said, setting the refresh rate in-game won't affect general system settings. Maybe there are problems detecting max refresh by the game. Also, you might want to read up a bit about how "refresh" works on an LCD As it's nothing similar to a CRT. I have seen screen flickering on LCDs that are about to die or when my HDTV was forcing 24Hz (in the second one it was more of my eyes being in pain than what a 60Hz CRT felt in the past - though yes, the end result is quite similar). Perhaps there's something wrong in your system that makes the screen only run at proper 75Hz when you select v-sync on? And otherwise it defaults to some low number? Also, no idea if the in-game v-sync is triple buffered. If not, you may want to use D3D Overrider to force triple buffering.

3. Yes, you have to login every 30 days otherwise you won't be able to login on your profile in game if you don't re-authenticate. As for Blizzard stopping their servers in 15 years. If that will happen, they will release a patch to remove this need. But based on their history, have a look at the games they still support. Diablo 2 - 10 years. Starcraft - 12 years. I think even Diablo 1 is still playable over Battle.net (13 years). Warcraft 2 is for sure (15 years). So I'm sure you're safe

 

[Thor_Odinson]

2. As has been said, setting the refresh rate in-game won't affect general system settings. Maybe there are problems detecting max refresh by the game. Also, you might want to read up a bit about how "refresh" works on an LCD As it's nothing similar to a CRT. I have seen screen flickering on LCDs that are about to die or when my HDTV was forcing 24Hz (in the second one it was more of my eyes being in pain than what a 60Hz CRT felt in the past - though yes, the end result is quite similar). Perhaps there's something wrong in your system that makes the screen only run at proper 75Hz when you select v-sync on? And otherwise it defaults to some low number? Also, no idea if the in-game v-sync is triple buffered. If not, you may want to use D3D Overrider to force triple buffering.

I've been using this 17" CRT for 2 years now. I'm buying a new LED monitor to coincide with my new GPU as soon as my paycheck arrives. Anyway, the flicker only occurs in-game (WoW and SC2) and not anywhere else (video playback, regular tasks, etc). Is there such a thing as a card being too fast for a monitor? Will my getting an LED monitor fix the problem?

Also, this sort of flicker doesn't point to a bad card?

 

[Schfifty Five]

Do you have the latest drivers for your vid card? If not, try using those first.

If you do need to change drivers, do it this way:

1. Download Guru3D's driver sweeper and install it.
2. Uninstall your current video card drivers (through add/remove or program and features in control panel)
3. Reboot into safe mode and run the driver sweeper program to remove any remaining nvidia video driver files.
4. Reboot back into normal windows and install the newest nvidia drivers and reboot once more to complete the installation.

If it's not a driver issue, are you OCing the vid card? Do you know if the temps on the card ok?

Other than that, I think the only thing left is to try another video card and compare.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Also, would you happen to know of a video or have one that shows what this flickering looks like?

 

[Thor_Odinson]

I'm using the latest NVIDIA drivers and my video card isn't oc'ed. I ran GPUZ on it while gaming for an hour and the highest temp was 57C. There was a time before when it reached 75C, but it wasn't sustained.

As for the flicker, I can't find a video but it's reminiscent of filming a monitor/tv using a camera. But in this case, make the horizontal lines finer and transparent. They are barely noticable -- only when the background is of a lighter shade (light brown to white) and if ones eye is sensitive to flicker. There aren't any artifacts, solid-colored bars, or any disruptive screen glitches btw.

So this isn't a monitor issue?

* measured fps in SC2 (Ctrl+Alt+F)
148 - with flicker
60 - with vsync on and no flicker