I know there are many posts re: this same topic however, they don't seem to quite fit and I can't seem to get any change with any of the suggestions posted. Here is my configuration:


Pent4 3.0 (recommended)
2GB (recommended)
GeForce 8400GS 512Mb (only 256 recommended)
onboard sound (DirX 9 compatible)
Win Xp
9.5G remaining hard drive space
all drivers and bios are latest avail.
defraged


fps in the main menu fluctuates very fast 2-3 digits. As soon as I enter the office with the map on the wall the fps speed drops to 4-7 fps. I have turned off the sound in the options menu, and lowered all settings in graphics and modulated them back and forth to try to find a resonable setting.

If I play only the single mission games the fps stays at least bearable to say the least. If I enter a career, I'm done and back to 2-4 fps.

HELP PLEASE!

Oh, yeah. video card settings:
AA and AF (?? what they do) set to lowest settings and forced vertSync. Also, went into bios/ system setup and turned hd up to performance.

I hope this helps.

Hello gmckay66,

Welcome to the SH4 Forum.

It is my guess that lag is caused by your graphic card. SH4 is a very demanding graphic game.

Hey gmckay66

There may be one or more processes running in the background that could be conflicting with the game trying to run properly on the system. You can try putting your system into a selective startup.

1. Go into your start menu and select Run.
2. Type in the field msconfig and click OK.
3. While in the Generel tab choose selective Startup.
4. Uncheck the option for Load Startup Items.
5. Click Apply and then Ok/Close to let the system reboot.

quote:

Originally posted by gmckay66:
I know there are many posts re: this same topic however, they don't seem to quite fit and I can't seem to get any change with any of the suggestions posted. Here is my configuration:


Pent4 3.0 (recommended)
2GB (recommended)
GeForce 8400GS 512Mb (only 256 recommended)
onboard sound (DirX 9 compatible)
Win Xp
9.5G remaining hard drive space
all drivers and bios are latest avail.
defraged


fps in the main menu fluctuates very fast 2-3 digits. As soon as I enter the office with the map on the wall the fps speed drops to 4-7 fps. I have turned off the sound in the options menu, and lowered all settings in graphics and modulated them back and forth to try to find a resonable setting.

If I play only the single mission games the fps stays at least bearable to say the least. If I enter a career, I'm done and back to 2-4 fps.

HELP PLEASE!

Oh, yeah. video card settings:
AA and AF (?? what they do) set to lowest settings and forced vertSync. Also, went into bios/ system setup and turned hd up to performance.

I hope this helps.

Hello and welcome to the forum. I think I am in agreement with Yooperbacker here and will probably have to go with the issue being the Graphics card but am concerned as to the low frame rate whilst you are just in the office. I would have expected you to get a better frame rate than you are getting despite the card.

With it being your first post I have to ask if you have recently aquired the game and if so is it at Version 1.4 or if older you will need to patch it to version 1.4.

If it were me I would take the game off and re-install it just to ensure that the install has worked properly, probably has but at least then it's one base covered.

Then try running it with all the basic services running and see if the frame rate is any better.

If not, and personally I don't think it would make that much difference you could try going to your Control panel and turning you computer to 'performance settings' as opposed to 'let windows decide.'. I had an old X1550 card and struggled and did get about an extra 10 percent in all the different views.

I dont know if your card has the Nvidia control panel feature which also allows you to set your 3D settings to performance.

I am unsure as to the Vertical sync as mine is off. you could consider turning off all the extras in the graphics control panel in the game, ie those that have 'ticks' in them, they are essentially the processes that make the ingame graphics look so good but also put further demands on the graphics card. If an improvement is noticed switch them back on one at a time. (I know its laborious and time consuming but I did it got to a good frame rate and managed to play the game until I got my new system)

I don't honestly believe that these will make a massive difference but may make things better. It could be that a new card is needed.

It would be interesting if anyone with the same card could post their frame rates here so you could compare.

Maverick

Yes there are a couple people who have made an x400 card work, whether it be a 6400, 7400, 8400 or 9400, but it is really dicey and you'll have to give up significant display quality to make it work.

The minimum card that will give performance you would look forward to playing the game with is an x600 GT card, 6600, 7600, 8600, 9600 GT.

So, you can make your card work, not well, with help from someone successfully running such a card. Your best bet is to upgrade.