RAM upgrade: My experience...and thanks | Forums

[XyZspineZyX]

Just a quick thanks to everybody who posts here. Reading the threads prepared me for LOMAC before it arrived (I'm in the UK).

So here's my tupence worth.

Running LOMAC after it's initial install was painful due to micro-stutters. Tweeking the settings didn't stop them at all so this is what I did

1) upgraded to 1024mb of RAM from 512mb.
2) changed the image aperture in the bios to 255
3) installed the medium res clouds and the new sea textures
4) compressed the LOMAC folder
5) installed latest nvidia drivers
6) turned off sound accelleration
7) turned of AF
8) turned down AA to 4
9) set bitmap to Blend

After upgrading the RAM the microstutters stopped instantly and the game was playable. The other settings gave me something like a 8-10fps boost - so for example the A10 missions now run somewhere between 25 to 45 fps.

Most of my graphics settings in the game are medium with heatblur off and water low.

Thanks again to everybody who "taught" me how to tune my rig by posting their experiences on this forum. Without you all I'd be stuck with a jumpy sim. As it is this baby runs smooth and slick and will only get better and better.

P4 2.3ghz
nvidia Ti4600 (128mb)
1024mb RAM
WinXP Pro

Thanks all.





Yeehah...
---------------------------------------
Si vis pacem, para bellum
---------------------------------------

[XyZspineZyX]

Just a quick thanks to everybody who posts here. Reading the threads prepared me for LOMAC before it arrived (I'm in the UK).

So here's my tupence worth.

Running LOMAC after it's initial install was painful due to micro-stutters. Tweeking the settings didn't stop them at all so this is what I did

1) upgraded to 1024mb of RAM from 512mb.
2) changed the image aperture in the bios to 255
3) installed the medium res clouds and the new sea textures
4) compressed the LOMAC folder
5) installed latest nvidia drivers
6) turned off sound accelleration
7) turned of AF
8) turned down AA to 4
9) set bitmap to Blend

After upgrading the RAM the microstutters stopped instantly and the game was playable. The other settings gave me something like a 8-10fps boost - so for example the A10 missions now run somewhere between 25 to 45 fps.

Most of my graphics settings in the game are medium with heatblur off and water low.

Thanks again to everybody who "taught" me how to tune my rig by posting their experiences on this forum. Without you all I'd be stuck with a jumpy sim. As it is this baby runs smooth and slick and will only get better and better.

P4 2.3ghz
nvidia Ti4600 (128mb)
1024mb RAM
WinXP Pro

Thanks all.





Yeehah...
---------------------------------------
Si vis pacem, para bellum
---------------------------------------

[XyZspineZyX]

> compressed the LOMAC folder
---

Thanks for the tips.

Q: What does compressing the folder do?
Is it just a case of zipping it up?

Ta,

T.

[XyZspineZyX]

Right-click on the LOMAC folder and in the properties select the compress option.

According to one thread I read (can't find it now) this reduces the time that the programme takes to access data held on the disc and MAY increase performance.



Yeehah...
---------------------------------------
Si vis pacem, para bellum
---------------------------------------

[XyZspineZyX]

Interesting

Do I have to decompress it everytime I want to add new textures or so?

<font size=1[img]/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-mad.gif[/img] : Athlon XP 2000+ o/c to 2600+ (1.6 - 2.1GHz) | VIA KT400A | 512 MB RAM 333 MHz | Radeon 9800 128 MB (391/344MHz) | Maxtor 40GB 7200rpm | Win XP Pro SP1 (DX9b, Catalyst 3.9) | Saitek X-45 ::</font>

[XyZspineZyX]

- Acording to what i know about compression, it would
- slow things down. I could be wrong but this is how i
- understand it to work:
-
- You compress files and folders to make them use less
- hard drive space. When they are compress they are
- run though a compression algorythm to make them
- smaller. Then when the file/files are accessed they
- are run through the algorythm again to expand them
- back. Kind of like Winzip but on a lower level at
- the file allocation tables. If you are making the
- operating system run this on the files before Lomac
- can read them, it seems logical that it would take
- more time.
-
- If I'm wrong on this, please let me know, cause If
- compressing them makes it faster I'd like to do it.
-
-
-
- Message Edited on 12/15/03 11:40AM by yungblood


Compressing the folder and gaining performance

Only on a computer with a 'slow' HD and Fast CPU/Memory

The question that has to be answered.

Will the time it takes to load the uncompressed data be longer then the time it takes to load the compressed datea and decompress it.

Answer: Only on a computer that has a very fast CPU/Memory combined with a 'slow' HD. If you have a high speed HD, you can load the uncompressed data very quickly. PLUS, the decompression routine takes CPU cycles away from lomac.
yungblood wrote:

[XyZspineZyX]

Hi Folks,

What are you referring to with "AF" and "AA"...?

7) turned of AF
8) turned down AA to 4

Cheers,
Rob



Athalon 3000+
Asus A7N8X-X nForce2Ultra 8xAGP Audio Lab
1Gig DR333 RAM
MSI GeForce4 TI4200 (Driver 5.2.1.6)
Win XP (with SP1)

[XyZspineZyX]

He is referring to his Ansiotropic Filtering and Anti-Aliasing settings for his video card.

Doctor_Rob wrote:
- Hi Folks,
-
- What are you referring to with "AF" and "AA"...?
-
- 7) turned of AF
- 8) turned down AA to 4
-
- Cheers,
- Rob
-
-
-
-
- Athalon 3000+
- Asus A7N8X-X nForce2Ultra 8xAGP Audio Lab
- 1Gig DR333 RAM
- MSI GeForce4 TI4200 (Driver 5.2.1.6)
- Win XP (with SP1)



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[XyZspineZyX]

Thanks Valcor07! I shall check my card's settings.

Rob

Athalon 3000+
Asus A7N8X-X nForce2Ultra 8xAGP Audio Lab
1Gig DR333 RAM
MSI GeForce4 TI4200 (Driver 5.2.1.6)
Win XP (with SP1)

[lindy01]

Acording to what i know about compression, it would slow things down. I could be wrong but this is how i understand it to work:

You compress files and folders to make them use less hard drive space. When they are compress they are run though a compression algorythm to make them smaller. Then when the file/files are accessed they are run through the algorythm again to expand them back. Kind of like Winzip but on a lower level at the file allocation tables. If you are making the operating system run this on the files before Lomac can read them, it seems logical that it would take more time.

__________________________________________________ _______

Everything I have been taught, read or seen backs up your statement. It should if anything slow it down. The step of the uncompression...is all CPU bound. This game is very CPU heavy.

ATI 9700 Pro
P4 2.4C 800FSB
Intel D865BLACK_PERL DualChannel DDR
1Gig of Crucial DDR400
Western Digital Special Edition 120gig
Audigy 2
Winddows XP Pro
Viewsonic VX900 19" LCD