Game moving VERY VERY slow. .

by OneSide70 on 07/26/2007 04:09, 28 messages, last message: 08/07/2007 23:44, 11105 views, last view: 05/18/2024 20:39

I just trashed my XP system and set up a Linux system using the 2007 Mandriva KDE 3.5.4 version.

I\\\'m kinda new to Linux and am still learning. A co-worker recommended I download this game as it would be great to test the new system. I got it unzipped, compiled and installed, but it runs very very slow and choppy.

Here are my system stats:

AMD Sempron 3100+
1.8 GHZ
256 KB L2 cache
768 DDR RAM
S3 Unichrome 3-D graphics (AGP slot available)

I\\\'m just wondering what I have to do to get this game to run smoothly and quickly on my system. Do I need to re-do the refresh rates on the game, get a better vidoe card, get more RAM - what?

This game looks awesome and I\\\'m just trying to solve this problem. Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.

Thanks,


DS

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#1: ..

by eihrul on 07/26/2007 04:17

Well, this seems to be one of those few circumstances where your card really is not meant for Sauer.

An S3 Unichrome does not give any appreciable hardware acceleration at all, especially with the very sad Linux drivers that are available for it.

Go to a computer store, and pick up an Nvidia GeForce 6600 at least (which can be had for about $60). Or if you want to splurge, get something in the GeForce 7000 or 8000 series.

Just don't get anything less than a GeForce 6600, and also do not buy a Radeon or anything ATI (ATI's Linux support royally sucks).

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#2: Message censored by administrator

by Titanic12ship on 07/26/2007 04:19

#3: FX5200

by jfkldsjflksdjflsdjflksdjfConorKirkpatrick on 07/26/2007 07:23

Well, if you are *really* short on cash, I have an FX5200 (nVidia) and it seems okay.


640x480 with Bloom (any amount) gets me 30Fps


Although, if you can afford a 6600 or something better, then by all means, go for that, as the FX5200 is just in case you BARELY have any money to spend :D

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#4: Re: FX5200

by Passa on 07/26/2007 10:07, refers to #3

The FX5200 was poor value when it was released in 2002. eihrul is right about the 6600, you'll be hard pressed to find a FX5200 in the shops anyway.

7600GS if you can manage it on a low budget as well. If you've managed this long with a S3 Unichrome then a 6600/7600GS will be more than enough for you for a while. And they'll both be dirt cheap (possibly in the same price region, in which case go for the 7600GS obviously).

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#5: ..

by ATIRULE on 07/26/2007 15:30

have u turn off the shaders and other fps eating stuff ?

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#6: ..

by djGentoo on 07/26/2007 16:52

Try running it like this:
sauerbraten -a0 -f0 -w 800 -h 600
@#3: I tried it on a 5200FX at 1024x768, with -a0 and -f0, and it got an easy 40-50 FPS. And that was on WinXP. :O

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#7: Re: ..

by MeatROme on 07/26/2007 21:11, refers to #6

-a0 -f -w1024 -h768

but select other w/h values if your GFX has some other "favourite mode"

try toggling "maxfps" too (in-game)
from 200, to 30 and maybe your vert.sync. setting

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#8: Re: ..

by eihrul on 07/26/2007 21:30, refers to #7

Umm, what use is setting maxfps when he is getting very little fps to begin with?

And note, 1024x768, fixed-function, and no-antialiasing is DEFAULT on his card, so setting those on the command-line will do absolutely nothing.

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#9: Re: ..

by rancor on 07/26/2007 21:41, refers to #7

You could play with these performance settings, but it's probably not going to do much good, since fundamentally the Unichrome is DX7 class hardware. This thread on Via's forums provides some insight into how bad things are: http://forums.viaarena.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=74681
This search on newegg might be a good starting point:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=2010380048&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&PropertyCodeValue=696%3A9640&PropertyCodeValue=696%3A9639&PropertyCodeValue=3055%3A20548&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A23220&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A20129&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A20130&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A23289&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A10550&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A9573&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A18817&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A18816&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A20619&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A20131&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A19571&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A17485&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A16838&PropertyCodeValue=683%3A9611&PropertyCodeValue=683%3A24927&PropertyCodeValue=683%3A27613&PropertyCodeValue=683%3A20729&PropertyCodeValue=683%3A10557&PropertyCodeValue=683%3A14597
To give you a general idea of the performance you can expect, I got 80-150 FPS with a 6800XT with settings pretty much maxed out. Also, these cards will allow you to enable every shiny piece of Compiz Fusion driven eye candy that you could possibly desire, as demonstrated in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Fbk52Mk1w

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#10: Re: ..

by rancor on 07/26/2007 21:42, refers to #9

OMG, I had no idea that link was so long... sorry!

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#11: Re: ..

by MeatROme on 07/26/2007 21:43, refers to #8

heh. guess I wasn't following this thread - #6 had spaces at the -w and -h params ... actually I only wanted to fix that part.

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#12: Re: ..

by OneSide70 on 07/28/2007 03:18, refers to #1

I kinda figured I would need to upgrade my video card. When I started this whole mess, I knew that would be the achilles heel of the system.

Thankfully, I've already budgeted out about $80 for a new card.

I did find a MSI NX8500GT-T2D256E GeForce 8500 GT 256MB PCI Express Video Card w/DVI for about $75.00 online.

If you have any recommendations, let me know.

Thanks again for all of your help,


DS

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#13: ..

by Drakas on 07/28/2007 08:51

the 8500 is just a bit weaker than 6600 in some specs, but might be a good choice.
I'd go for a 8600, and have bought a 8600GTS ... just can't wait for it ;)

I think 8600GT would do just fine.

Don't look at MSI! :P

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#14: Re: ..

by rancor on 07/28/2007 09:40, refers to #12

Actually, although still quite solid, the 8x00 series apparently has some performance issues on Linux right now. Though I'm sure nVidia will fix this, the absolute best on Linux at the moment is a 7900, if I recall correctly. Have a look at http://phoronix.com, they have really good write ups on Linux gaming issues.

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#15: ..

by Passa on 07/28/2007 15:19

7600GT if you can find one cheap. Avoid the 8500GT at all costs, its terrible value. 8600GTS over the 8600GT as well, the 7600GT outperforms the 8600GT in some benchmarks, they are equal on most and the 7600GT is cheaper.

I know what you mean about the issues rancor, but its because the delay between the Linux driver version and the Windows one. The equivalent version on Windows of the Linux Forcewares (100.xx?) has the same problems, but Windows is so damn far ahead (they released 162.18 today and they are damn fast indeed).

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#16: Re: ..

by demosthenes on 07/28/2007 17:46, refers to #15

The difference between 7600GT and 8600GT cards on newegg seems to be about 10-20 dollars and DX9 and DX10. For Vista users, I'd say go with a 8600GT, for everbody else, use a 7600GT, if those are your two options.

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#17: Re: ..

by rancor on 07/28/2007 21:59, refers to #15

I see... that makes sense, I'd bet on seeing Linux Forceware 162 once the Vista issues are hammered out. At that rate it might be best to get the 8600, which is still about as fast as a 7900, even with the current Linux drivers. And then you get a nice performance bonus in a few months!

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#18: Re: ..

by Passa on 07/29/2007 01:48, refers to #17

Well.. the 8600GTS is as fast as the 7900GT. 8600GT is tripe in my opinion. The 8XXX series removes backwards compatibility with older DX versions. That means for example, you can't run games in lower DX modes to get a performance boost.

7600GT > 8600GT, the 7600GT can be set to DX7 or whatever and you'll be able to play certain games at acceptable speeds (playing FEAR and CoD2 in DX8 is a good example, or Source engine games in DX7).

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#19: Re: ..

by rancor on 07/29/2007 02:06, refers to #18

Hadn't factored that into my consideration, since I was only evaluating in terms of using it on Linux.

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#20: Re: ..

by Passa on 07/29/2007 02:55, refers to #19

"Hadn't factored that into my consideration, since I was only evaluating in terms of using it on Linux."

Can't confirm this but perhaps it works the same way with OpenGL versions?

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