Need some help running some games.

[Hongfire]

I tried asking these questions on another forum, but diddnt get much help at all, the members were replying to my post as if I was a complete-techie, so a friend of mine directed me here.



I've recieved my own computer about a year ago last summer. It runs fine for the most part, but I have 3 concerns now when it comes to games. I'm not very computer-literate at all, so try to bear with me.

I had just recently purchased Battlefield 2, but the game runs seriously bad. The load times are really long and my gameplay is pretty choppy. My other games run average(Doom 3, Rise Of Nations/ EverQuest 2) to just fine (WoW, UT2004, HL2). Is there any way I can get this game to perform better? I had to purchase a new video card to even boot it up.

My second issue is with running older software. I found my old games in a box last week, and I was pretty surprised Windows XP(SP2) and run DOS based games or older Windows based games(Prince Of Persia, Redneck Rampage). Is there an easy solution around this?

One of the members at the other forum mentioned that "opening the pipes" on my video card would help out alot, but he diddnt bother to mention how to do that, and found it hilarious that I diddnt know. What is that exactly?


My specs:
Athlon XP 3000+
nVIDIA GeForce 6800 LE(Recently upgraded from an ATi Radeon 9200)
1GB RAM
160GB HD(80 Internal, 80 External)

[PC TECH250]

Atholon XP3200+ here with 2gb of ram resolved issues with HL2 real fast after faults with
a pair of Corsair performance dimms were tore up. Battlefield 2 is another one that chews
memory according to some problems others are having with it on this forum. Keep the video
card updated regularly with HL2. A periodic run of Memtest on your dimms can help prevent
problems if you start seeing errors. Are you using onboard or a pci sound card?

(memtest-86 found at: http://www.memtest86.com requires a preformatted floppy to boot
the system with to run 8 extensive stress tests. Option #9 allows the tests to run repeated
until the esc key is pressed. Memtest works with nothing else loaded into memory to be let
run for several hours to be effective in tests for faults. Highly recommended for experienced
users for hardware analysis.)
Do you have a hardware monitor to measure system temps? When running some of the pc
games now out, the load on the cpu generates more cpu heat. What is the brand of board
you currently run? Often the cd by some brands will have a temperature probe software in
a utility folder. You can compare temps to those seen with a hardware monitor found in the
system bios if your board is equipped with that feature.

[vikeor]

tone down the settings in BF2... i have an X1800XT and i play on mostly medium settings and its still choppy at times...

u should have most of them on low and a resolution of no more than 1024x768

[Hongfire]

Originally Posted by PC TECH250

Atholon XP3200+ here with 2gb of ram resolved issues with HL2 real fast after faults with
a pair of Corsair performance dimms were tore up. Battlefield 2 is another one that chews
memory according to some problems others are having with it on this forum. Keep the video
card updated regularly with HL2. A periodic run of Memtest on your dimms can help prevent
problems if you start seeing errors. Are you using onboard or a pci sound card?

(memtest-86 found at: http://www.memtest86.com requires a preformatted floppy to boot
the system with to run 8 extensive stress tests. Option #9 allows the tests to run repeated
until the esc key is pressed. Memtest works with nothing else loaded into memory to be let
run for several hours to be effective in tests for faults. Highly recommended for experienced
users for hardware analysis.)
Do you have a hardware monitor to measure system temps? When running some of the pc
games now out, the load on the cpu generates more cpu heat. What is the brand of board
you currently run? Often the cd by some brands will have a temperature probe software in
a utility folder. You can compare temps to those seen with a hardware monitor found in the
system bios if your board is equipped with that feature.

Thanks for your awnser, but I'm having a hard time comprehending some of your reply(what I highlighted). Like I said, I'm not very computer-literate, but I'll try to awnser what I can.

My sound card is onboard.
My motherboad is a ASUS A7N8X-X

[GroundZero3]

did you clean out the old drivers properly when you installed the new video card?

For example did you unistall and then run driver cleaner after you removed the ATI drivers?

Do you have the latest video and chipset drivers?

Your card should be able to handle BF2 pretty well (even for an LE verison)

Prince of Perisa shouldnt have any problems running. (i used to play it on xp all the time) For DOS games look into a program called DOSbox

[Hongfire]

Originally Posted by GroundZero3

did you clean out the old drivers properly when you installed the new video card?

For example did you unistall and then run driver cleaner after you removed the ATI drivers?

Do you have the latest video and chipset drivers?

Your card should be able to handle BF2 pretty well (even for an LE verison)

Prince of Perisa shouldnt have any problems running. (i used to play it on xp all the time) For DOS games look into a program called DOSbox

Yup, I uninstalled everything that had to do with the ATi card.

Yup, I have the current drivers from nVIDIA and Leadtek.

I'll look into DOSBox, thanks.

[GroundZero3]

Well BF2 is a game that has some issues and can take a while to load. Do you have the latest BF2 patches?

What settings are you running the game at?

I have the same motherboard, 2600 xp+ 1 gig of ram and the game runs fine for me



Also winxp has a semi decent compatibilty mode you can try out. Its a hit and a miss.

[PC TECH250]

hardware monitor to measure system temps? That's an onboard feature to see what temps
both the board and cpu are at on any trip into the system board's bios menu. Generally the
last section in the bios before the exit is where the temps are shown if the board has that
feature included. The board's own manual gives instruction on how to enter the bios when
the system is first powered on. Usually press and hold the "DEL" or "F6" key depending on
make and model to open up a new screen. There you will find several different sections. The
F10 key or exit found at the far right in the bios exits and restarts the system.

The earlier mention of memory being tore up is in regards to a pair of dimms that were to
have been tested together prior to being shipped for perfomance with each other. That was
not the case when they failed to run well together on the same board. When tested on the
board together with a memory stress tester they failed. Yet they had no faults found when
they were tested separately. Having working memory that works well together can make a
big difference when running some of the newer games out.

The compatabilty mode referred to by GruondZero3 has do with right clicking a shortcut on
the desktop to then select the compatabilty tab on the right to check off different items like
the "run in 95/98" mode. A game like BF2 generally is updated where that usually isn't even
needed. Hardware can often be the issue at times if not background applications. Care has
to be taken if you decide to disable any of the essential Windows services. That can stall a
system if you disable the wrong ones.

[stepcutie]

im stuck in dosbox right now, im not very computer literate either so i try to do the whole directory thing and the mounting thing but i just get the response that it doesnt exist. whats goin on?