Lagging and poor framrate.

[Cyrus the Virus]

This is an issue I have encountered with both RTW (!) and M2TW with my PC built in May.

Tried Broken Crescent again with the result of lag and drops in FPS no matter what settings, and regardless if I had 2 vs 2 regiments (wtf) or full armies fighting.
I can't fathom that Roma Surrectum would lag as well. The game is old as ancient by now.
Both behaves pretty inconsistently and random when occurring.

Heard that the CPU might be the partner in crime here due to several cores.


W7 Home 64-bit
i5 750, 2.66GHz 8MB (4 cores)
4GB DDR3 1600MHz
ATI HD5870 PCS+ 1GB
Samsung F3

[irishron]

Medieval2 only usues one core of your cpu.
Being Win 7, have you installed directx 9.0c manually? How about .Net 4?
Do you have CCC set to application controlled and set your graphics settings in game?

[Cyrus the Virus]

According to Windows update history I can't see I have .Net 4 per se.
I can notice some security updates for 3.5 and 4 on the other hand.

Regarding directx, I think I did some month ago.

CCC I tried both application controlled and not.
Low settings and high. Disabling vsync.
It's all the same more or less.

[irishron]

Some things you have to do yourself. The game is too old to and Microsoft isn't going to because there is no money incentive.
If you are talking about lagging over mountains, cities, and dense forests, it's going to.
The last version of this game is older than igb graphics cards so you will have to play with the settings to get the right mix.
There is one plying with 5850's croddfire on 2500 x ? resolution so it can be done.

[Cyrus the Virus]

Some things you have to do yourself. The game is too old to and Microsoft isn't going to because there is no money incentive.
If you are talking about lagging over mountains, cities, and dense forests, it's going to.

Went with desert maps in Med2, so having lag there is weird.

The last version of this game is older than igb graphics cards so you will have to play with the settings to get the right mix.
There is one plying with 5850's croddfire on 2500 x ? resolution so it can be done.

Have any preferences?

[irishron]

My 512mb 9800GT maxes out my 19" 1280 x 1024 very well and it still lags when mousing over large cities, Alps, Black Forest, etc. It's the game's engine.

[Freddie]

if you fighting with huge armies then your cpu is the bottleneck, as previously said MTW and RTW only use 1 core so a lot of potential cpu processing power is wasted. Runs FRAPS and see what frame rate you get, 12 fps is playable IMO if you need more performance look at overclocking the cpu to 4ghz.

Sorry for the crappy reply but this is being sent on my Andriod G1 which has a small keyboard.

[Cyrus the Virus]

My 512mb 9800GT maxes out my 19" 1280 x 1024 very well and it still lags when mousing over large cities, Alps, Black Forest, etc. It's the game's engine.

Well my previous PC performed better on said games.
Irritating logic.

if you fighting with huge armies then your cpu is the bottleneck, as previously said MTW and RTW only use 1 core so a lot of potential cpu processing power is wasted. Runs FRAPS and see what frame rate you get, 12 fps is playable IMO if you need more performance look at overclocking the cpu to 4ghz.

Sorry for the crappy reply but this is being sent on my Andriod G1 which has a small keyboard.

Freddie, I don't have constant low fps (and I already use Fraps).
It's the level of inconsistency, never maintaining the level I wish instead I get the random drops.

I haven't been keen on overclocking at all with my PC's.
Could give it a try, but 4 GHz sounds much in my ears.

So, either in the Bios or I think I ought to have some program for Gigabyte boards with OC feature.

The latter sounds simple otherwise I must adjust voltage in Bios myself for RAM? Excuse the ignorant.

[Freddie]

Well my previous PC performed better on said games.
Irritating logic.



Freddie, I don't have constant low fps (and I already use Fraps).
It's the level of inconsistency, never maintaining the level I wish instead I get the random drops.

I haven't been keen on overclocking at all with my PC's.
Could give it a try, but 4 GHz sounds much in my ears.

So, either in the Bios or I think I ought to have some program for Gigabyte boards with OC feature.

The latter sounds simple otherwise I must adjust voltage in Bios myself for RAM? Excuse the ignorant.

What were the specs of the last PC BTW? The inconsistency of the frame rates is to be expected with a game like Total War at various points during the game there is going to be different amount of loads being placed on the video card and CPU depending on what is happening, what needs to drawn, calculated etc. What I would say though is constantly zooming in and out of a battle will massively effect the frame rate.

I don't know much about overclocking your CPU I'm still holding out on a Q6700 on LGA775 but from what I've read your CPU is capable of that kind of speed with the right cooler. Play it sage though try for 3.2Ghz if you have the stock Intel cooler and then work your way up, but for a cool and quiet and quick CPU you will need a decent 3rd party heatsink.

[karamazovmm]

the i5 760 is capable of more than a mere 4ghz oc. but go slowly and always play safe.

I would vouch for the obvious is there any programs that might be stealing some precious cpu cicles?

[Cyrus the Virus]

What were the specs of the last PC BTW? The inconsistency of the frame rates is to be expected with a game like Total War at various points during the game there is going to be different amount of loads being placed on the video card and CPU depending on what is happening, what needs to drawn, calculated etc. What I would say though is constantly zooming in and out of a battle will massively effect the frame rate.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 2.8GHz
8800GTS 320MB
3 GB RAM
XP x86

As I said, being unstable with 1 one 1 soldiers fighting is ridiculous.

I don't know much about overclocking your CPU I'm still holding out on a Q6700 on LGA775 but from what I've read your CPU is capable of that kind of speed with the right cooler. Play it sage though try for 3.2Ghz if you have the stock Intel cooler and then work your way up, but for a cool and quiet and quick CPU you will need a decent 3rd party heatsink.

Well neither do I friend. Someone kind care to lay it out for best result?
Good thing I don't have stock. Corsair Cooling Hydro H50.
In case anyone ask why I have H50 without OC'ing at this point...well the hell do I know. Low temps maybe?

the i5 760 is capable of more than a mere 4ghz oc. but go slowly and always play safe.

I would vouch for the obvious is there any programs that might be stealing some precious cpu cicles?

750, not 760!
My cpu usage is below 5 % when idle. RAM is usually at between 25 to 30 % which I think is strange.
Shutting off most background processes would not affect it too much in percentage. Guess it some part of Windows eating it up.

[mrcrusty]

I don't think it's necessarily a CPU problem. I mean, it's silly to think that he needs to overclock to get full performance from something like Roma Surrectum. Sure, they benefit from higher clocks, but the IPS on the Core i5 architecture is more than enough to fulfill the game's needs.

True, it's not multithreaded, but unless he's at a resolution of 1280x1024 or under, he won't be bottlenecked by the CPU unless it's architecturally inferior. I bet my Athlon 64 x2 6000 wouldn't be overly bottle necked to the level Cyrus is describing. In fact, according to him, his old Athlon 64 x2 was good for it.

Have you tried updating your graphics card drivers or reinstalling the games, Cyrus?

Have you tried playing other games and gotten the same results?

Also, try run a chkdsk on your computer. Maybe your problem is hard drive related. (Start > type chkdsk.exe in the search bar)

The problem imo is either with the graphics card, the hard drive, the drivers, or the game. I don't think it's CPU related myself.

[29 days later]

Well neither do I friend. Someone kind care to lay it out for best result?
Good thing I don't have stock. Corsair Cooling Hydro H50.
In case anyone ask why I have H50 without OC'ing at this point...well the hell do I know. Low temps maybe?

Good job I actually read your 3rd sentence because I was so gob smacked when I read the 2nd I was ready to hit the reply button and broadcast my dismay! Honestly though Core I5 750 + H50 = No overclocking? Gee, there ought to be a law against that or something because my brain is really struggling to comprehend such a situation.

750, not 760!
My cpu usage is below 5 % when idle. RAM is usually at between 25 to 30 % which I think is strange.
Shutting off most background processes would not affect it too much in percentage. Guess it some part of Windows eating it up.

Don't worry about your ram, it's probably been taken up by a Windows process that reads what apps you use the most and loads them to ram for quicker access.

If you really want to increase performance get overclocking, record what frame rate you currently getting with FRAPS, overclock to 3.2Ghz then measure it again and see the difference.

[Cyrus the Virus]

Drivers are up to date - yes. Reinstalling...I don't see the point.
Chkdsk yielded nothing.

And yes, I have had problems with one other game. The Witcher. Basically same there.

Tried endlessly with settings, never got perfect.
Having day 'n night cycle in the game proved to be a pain to adjust to. With the various locations also added to misery.

I was also under the impression for that game where the problem was the game's engine.
Which also is mentioned by irishron regarding Medieval 2.



Unless it's because I betrayed Nvidia and went with ATI......seems far fetched?
I'm both serious and not at the same time. ATI can have trouble with some games.
Nothing odd about that.

[mrcrusty]

Drivers are up to date - yes. Reinstalling...I don't see the point.
Chkdsk yielded nothing.

And yes, I have had problems with one other game. The Witcher. Basically same there.

Tried endlessly with settings, never got perfect.
Having day 'n night cycle in the game proved to be a pain to adjust to. With the various locations also added to misery.

I was also under the impression for that game where the problem was the game's engine.
Which also is mentioned by irishron regarding Medieval 2.

Unless it's because I betrayed Nvidia and went with ATI......seems far fetched?
I'm both serious and not at the same time. ATI can have trouble with some games.
Nothing odd about that.

I would still recommend reinstalling the games, but since you've got problems with The Witcher too, I suspect it may be a GPU issue.

See, when running in idle or desktop use (2d), the graphics card downclocks in order to save on power. It also reduces temperatures and reduces wear on the components.

Sometimes, ATI cards have issues with this and the card will downclock to 2d levels if it thinks that you are running a 3d application. It's very rare, and usually it will artifact and crash. It was also fixed months ago. Since that's not happening to you though, I don't think that is the problem.

However, I still would recommend downloading this program.

It's called MSI Afterburner and is much better for controlling and monitoring your graphics card than CCC.

Create two profiles (tutorial should be in the link), one for 2d and another for 3d (keep it at the default clocks), and try run the games again to see whether there is any abnormal lag.

[Big Boss]

There is absolutely no way its caused by the CPU. Try installing the game into a different location.

[Ishan]

And i can vouch for HD5870 for playing this old game. M2TW doesn't gives me trouble with it.
And I have 2 in crossfire but it works well on a single card also.

Also there is one more SS player here on TWC that owns it and record vids while playing it etc and he has a single HD5870.

[karamazovmm]

What about a psu issue?

[Cyrus the Virus]

And i can vouch for HD5870 for playing this old game. M2TW doesn't gives me trouble with it.
And I have 2 in crossfire but it works well on a single card also.

Also there is one more SS player here on TWC that owns it and record vids while playing it etc and he has a single HD5870.

Good for them.

I would still recommend reinstalling the games, but since you've got problems with The Witcher too, I suspect it may be a GPU issue.

Guess I could...later. Just installed it M2TW last week.

See, when running in idle or desktop use (2d), the graphics card downclocks in order to save on power. It also reduces temperatures and reduces wear on the components.

Sometimes, ATI cards have issues with this and the card will downclock to 2d levels if it thinks that you are running a 3d application. It's very rare, and usually it will artifact and crash. It was also fixed months ago. Since that's not happening to you though, I don't think that is the problem.

All right.
Don't think my GPU temp has passed 60 C even, if that's relevant. Now it's at 34 C when writing this.
AFAIK it's usually around 50 C with games.

However, I still would recommend downloading this program.

It's called MSI Afterburner and is much better for controlling and monitoring your graphics card than CCC.

Create two profiles (tutorial should be in the link), one for 2d and another for 3d (keep it at the default clocks), and try run the games again to see whether there is any abnormal lag.

Suppose it's similar to ATI tray tools?
Don't really like those programs but can at least try it to see how it works.

What about a psu issue?

What about it?

[karamazovmm]

the psu not providing necessary output or the output fluctuates too much, outside the standards?

you could install Hwmonitor for some basic input on this,