Need FPS Help... REALLY BAD

[rewind]

hey guys.. this is .s.D.s. Ric0

 

Ok.. so over this past weekend... I purchased the following:

 

Gigabyte MoBo K8N-Pro-SLi

AMD 64 3800+ X2 (Dual Core)

eVGA 6800 GT 256 MB PCI-e

1 GB Kingston Hyper Dual Channel

Maxtor 120 MB HDD

 

I installed everything all excited because I upgraded from a Dell 2.0 gig Pentium...

 

then I logged on to Source and I only get less than 30 FPS... ?????

 

I'm running on DirectX 8.1 and ALL the settings ore on LOW and STILL no FPS

 

here's my config:

 

cl_interp 0.01

cl_interpolate 1.0

 

rate 25000

cl_cmdrate 100

cl_updaterate 100

cl_smooth 1

cl_rate 25000

cl_lagcompensation 1

cl_lagcomp_errorcheck 1

r_shadows 1

 

mat_dxlevel "81"

 

cl_downloadfilter nosounds

 

//cl_ragdoll_physics_enable 0

cl_phys_props_enable 0

mat_fastnobump 1

cl_show_splashes 0

mat_specular 0

mat_picmip 2

r_decals 0

r_shadows 0

budget_show_history 0

cl_phys_props_max 0

cl_pushaway_force 0

mat_bumpmap 0

 

cl_ragdoll_collide "1"

mat_bumpmap "0"

mp_decals "100"

r_decal_cullsize "1"

r_lod "-1"

r_propsmaxdist "0"

r_rainradius "0"

r_rainsimulate "0"

r_rainsplashpercentage "0"

fog_enable "0"

mat_clipz "0"

 

r_mmx 1

r_sse 1

r_sse2 1

r_3dnow 1

 

r_dopixelvisibility 0

 

snd_mixahead .2

soundscape_fadetime 9999

soundscape_flush

 

sv_forcepreload 1

cl_forcepreload 1

snd_async_fullyasync 1

cl_lagcomp_errorcheck 1

m_filter 0

 

can anyone help me? I'm desperate... this system cost me like $1200 and it doesn't even seem to work. All the drivers are current... as in, less than a week old... the BIOS of the MoBo is updated, the drivers of the vid card are updated... About the only thing I DONT have for speed is a RAID HDD set up... the PCI Latency on my vid card is 64, as was suggested by another forum... but that only got rid of the video tearing I was getting...

 

I'm desperate here... plz help.

[Norguard]

You didn't purchase a hard-drive, right?

 

First question I have is:

 

Did you totally format/partition and reinstall everything, or did you leave everything installed?

 

I'm not thinking quite as hard as a person who didn't just break their finger, and go without painkillers, but I'll do what I can...

 

...nevermind, you did have a new one. Again, proving that my mind is sufficienty blown.

 

How did you get the old stuff on to the new drive?

 

Was it cut/paste or did you reinstall?

Edited September 2, 2005 by Norguard

[rewind]

Everything on the PC is brand new... as in... it's a NEW HD... NEW mobo... new video card... new processor... nothing was copied and pasted over from my old PC other than my CS config because I didn't want to reconfigure all of that... plus, my clans site is where I originally posted the cvars above...

 

nothin on the new pc is used... I unboxed EVERYTHING on friday and it was a NEW INSTALL of the entire unit... from the OS on...

 

the case is new... the PS is new.. everything....

[Shazz]

did you check in console your fps_max? Set it to fps_max 300

 

also run a stress test. In your Counter Strike Source front menu page...click on the video stress test.

 

See what your FPS comes back as. Run the stress test

[stutters]

why are you running dx 8?

 

was the chipset driver the first thing you installed after a clean xp install?

[nut]

make sure OPEN GL is on to..

 

NuT-

[mookie]

I don't know a lot about CS configs, but I'd suggest putting Source back to all the default settings and see what happens there. I'd expect that when you switch from intel to AMD some of the settings would need to change, you might want to double-check that all your instruction sets are right (MMX, SSE, 3DNOW!, etc.). I'd imagine that with a high-end video card like you've got you can probably run DirectX at 9.0 instead of 8.1.

 

OK, now for the joking part:

Obviously you need a new HDD. HL2 is gonna take way more than 120MB, I think it installs well over 3GB .

[rewind]

OK, now for the joking part:

Obviously you need a new HDD. HL2 is gonna take way more than 120MB, I think it installs well over 3GB .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

hahaa... you know what I meant.... 120 GB...

 

anyway...

 

1) my fps_max IS set to 300... this I have verified.

 

2) after my stress test, which i have done multiple times, I've gotten anywhere from 38 fps to 44 fps... depending on the settings. But then, in game... it's like 20s... and when i'm in an outside map... it's in the LOW teens....

 

3) Im running at DX 8 because if I use 9, then the models are all shiny...like from Terminator 2.... and I don't know how to get rid of that. I believe when I did the new install... I upgraded the MoBo chipset driver at the outset.

 

4) I am in Open GL

 

5) I suppose I could completely delete my config, and let the game set it for me... but I don't see how that's going to make a difference since I'm nerfing it now to get it to work.

 

It's just sad because I stopped playin source for like 6 months because I needed to upgrade. And now that I did, i'm getting as bad or worse performance from this new set up as i was with a 2.0 gig Dell 1 GB RAM 30 GB HDD and geForce 5700 Ultra 128... it just makes no sense to me.

[shep48]

you have to start with stock config and stock settings for your card..

you are trying to put the wheels on a car without a frame

[Brillow_Head]

I'm also no expert on PCI-e, but do you have to modify a setting in the Bio's to set your vid card to run from PCI-e or AGP?

[Norguard]

1) my fps_max IS set to 300... this I have verified.

 

2) after my stress test, which i have done multiple times, I've gotten anywhere from 38 fps to 44 fps... depending on the settings.  But then, in game... it's like 20s... and when i'm in an outside map... it's in the LOW teens....

 

3) Im running at DX 8 because if I use 9, then the models are all shiny...like from Terminator 2.... and I don't know how to get rid of that.  I believe when I did the new install... I upgraded the MoBo chipset driver at the outset.

 

4) I am in Open GL

 

5) I suppose I could completely delete my config, and let the game set it for me... but I don't see how that's going to make a difference since I'm nerfing it now to get it to work.

 

It's just sad because I stopped playin source for like 6 months because I needed to upgrade.  And now that I did, i'm getting as bad or worse performance from this new set up as i was with a 2.0 gig Dell 1 GB RAM 30 GB HDD and geForce 5700 Ultra 128... it just makes no sense to me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Rico, there are some major problems here, and a lot of them have to do with your config.

 

First, I'd just like to say that there's no native OpenGL rendermode for the Source engine. It was compiled with a Direct3D API, so the only way you could do it is to hack one in.

 

The reason that things are shiny in DX9 mode is because you turned the bumpmapping off, but not the specular, so instead of just the helmets and the fingernails being shiny, the whole thing is... ...of course, now that you've tossed that config in there, I'm not totally sure how much it will have nerfed your setup. In the new game engine, I've noticed some bleed-through from custom configs to your standard config.cfg, through the autoexec. My friend needed to totally reinstall Steam, because he couldn't get some things back to default, when he got a new vid card.

 

People really don't pay attention to what they're adding in to those configs. Some of those things don't matter... ...the disappearing bodies/item gibs doesn't really affect anything, but then you get into submips and forced rate settings... ...and the person/people who created this .cfg don't have AMD chips, because they'd obviously add 3DNow! support. ...that's like turning off hyperthreading in a P4 PC... ...watch it cry.

 

Your fps are also partially tied to your rate/etc... by having rates that are too low or too high, you're actually hurting your fps, when choke/loss jump all over, as your PC has a dump trying to compensate.

 

Get rid of the config, or manually go through and re-edit it properly for your new rig... I'd suggest the first option. Then, run the test. If you set it back to DX90 and everything's still shiny, after you uninstall the config, you either need to go on a wild goose-chase to find all of the changes that were made to the standard config files, or you need to reinstall... ...I'm going to go with the latter, in that case.

 

At 1024x768, or 1280x1024, I'd expect most of the runthrough, with your rig to be in the 70s at least, on the stress test. Maybe a dip into the 40s here and there, but it should finish with an average around 110, 120, I'd imagine... ...maybe more. That's DX9, with everything full except AA.

Edited September 2, 2005 by Norguard

[Laz.e.rus]

His 3dnow IS enabled. Rates are 100..that wont slow him down unless he's getting ungodly choke and loss. ( type net_graph 3 in console to give you all these numbers. If choke and loss are high - loss >1 and choke >10 on avg, slowly reduce your cmdrate and updaterate by increments of 10)

 

What Id like to know...how do other games behave? With that system you should be doing pretty well. If other games are also having probs, its oblviously in the machine, not source or config for source.

 

For comparison: 1024x768 most setting around medium and aa off, af triliniar I stress-test about 90 fps with:

P4 2.8 NON HT

1 gig pc 2700 (333)

geforce 6600gt

vid card run in my agp 4x slot ( not 8x even)

[Guest zerodamage]

First, you need to get all of the windows updates including DX 9.

 

Then after that you will want to install Nvidia's latest drivers.

Your problem now is the drivers require DX9 and you have DX8.1 which is not good. I am thinking this may solve the prob.

[*BiGBonES**]

Hey I had the same shiney problems, and I thought it was terminator too!

 

How did I correct it?

 

I went through the config, and everything that had an alternative light setting I set it back to default. This also gave me my flash light back which I didnt have before.

[rewind]

1) afaik, there's no special tweaking for PCI-E because the slots wont accept AGP cards... only PCI-e.

 

2) @ Norguard are you meaning to delete the config and let it reset itself, and if that doesn't work, reinstall STEAM or Windows?

 

3) I will turn DX9 back on

 

4) I don't get any loss or choke on any server i've played on, so I know it's not that. As far as other games, Battlefield 2 has been messed up BIG TIME... I'm getting audio from the map (shooting, people dying, tanks, cars etc) when I'm the ONLY ONE in the server. I have NO IDEA where that's coming from. Plus the game movements are way choppy but that could be due to the corrupted audio lag. There are no issues with audio in anything else, like Source or my music.. or even windows .wav files... so I know the sound is functioning properly. I haven't tried DOOM3 again, so I don't know...and Far Cry isn't installed yet.

 

5) I have DX9 installed on my PC.. I'm just forcing the game to use 8.1 with the "mat_dxlevel 81" command... but I can remove that when I delete my config.

 

6) All of my drivers are the latetest ones.. I've even gone back thru to reinstall them again.

 

I guess I'll have to just keep popping in and out of the server later tonight when I delete this config stuff. I can redownload steam, that's not that big of an issue... I'll play San Andreas or something while I wait... I've got a really fast connection to the internet, my ping on your server stays in the teens and lower...

[Guest zerodamage]

Ok. I got the impression that you did not install dx9. Try reinstalling the drivers. I know often they do not install right and your performance suffers.

 

There are new beta's out for Nvidia today actually. Give these a try.

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/nVIDI...0XP/950852325/1

 

 

Also, Halflife sets the settings really really high by default in the advance tab. Turn off AA and AF in the game's advance section under "Video" and then turn them on in the drivers control panel. I use 4x AA and 8xAF as my normal with a resolution of 1280 x 960 and maintain 85fps (I have it capped here) with all details maxed out.

[mookie]

This may seem extreme but have you considered checking your hardware? The performance you say you're getting is way low considering you've got a modern system in all respects, but I'd imagine if one of your RAM sticks was bad or some other component that would cause serious performance problems. If you've got spare parts or can borrow some, I'd swap out each of the video card and the RAM sticks individually just to rule that out, and if you've got two RAM channels try putting your sticks into the other channel to make sure that's not the problem. I've seen hardware problems cause some wierd and sometimes subtle problems without ever reporting an error.

 

Otherwise you may want to see if you can copy the config from someone who has a similar set of hardware and software, or even better if possible (although unlikely) get someone with a near-identical hardware config to put their HDD in your machine and see if they have the same problem and vice-versa.

Edited September 2, 2005 by mookie

[rewind]

ok... so I completely uninstalled STEAM and then reinstalled it... same thing...

 

but the most peculiar part of the whole deal is... whenever I DID do that... it maintained my config, even though I completely deleted anything associated with steam.

 

I installed DX9 (it was already there), but now, when the game is running with it on, the models aren't shiny it's like it's not even registering that DX9 is enabled.

 

The stress tests I ran gave me 35-38 FPS and no more. I even switched my RAM sticks to the other slots.

 

on the PCI-e video card slot, there is another area that says (on the mobo) PCI-E 1 ... and there are ports... but there is nothing that came with the mother board or with the vid card that plug into those slots. everything is installed the way it came from the box.

 

I even overclocked my processor from 2.06 to 2.20, and nothing has changed....

 

I'm at a complete loss here.

[rewind]

oh... this is the screen cap from the PCI Latency Tool... i know from what I've read that you're supposed to set this to 64 for your video card. But i'm not sure I even set the right one...

 

http://img343.imageshack.us/img343/8784/latency9dh.jpg

[rewind]

Also, for the record... Doom3 runs fine with 1024x768, High Settings...

 

I just played the F.E.A.R. Demo with EVERYTHING (even water reflections) on MAXIMUM... and it ran as smooth as warm butter.

 

I don't understand why CS:S is so bad. It's obviously not my processor, RAM or vid card.

[Guest zerodamage]

After reinstalling DX9, make sure you reinstall the Nvidia drivers. Something isn't right obviously.

[random_n00b]

<drive>:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\<username>\counter-strike source

 

Dump the whole "counter-strike source" folder. This is where Steam keeps its configuration settings (among other things) for CS:S. If you dump that folder, Steam will regenerate it and provide you with a fresh config set. Only things you should lose from that is any screenshots you've taken, custom stuff you've downloaded (maps, skins, etc)... and perhaps a MB or two of bandwidth while Steam fetches what's gone missing. Feel free to back up your custom stuff, but don't move anything back until everything is running smooth.

 

If problems persist, then work from there. For the most part, though, the defaults are pretty good.

[rewind]

<drive>:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\<username>\counter-strike source

 

Dump the whole "counter-strike source" folder. This is where Steam keeps its configuration settings (among other things) for CS:S. If you dump that folder, Steam will regenerate it and provide you with a fresh config set. Only things you should lose from that is any screenshots you've taken, custom stuff you've downloaded (maps, skins, etc)... and perhaps a MB or two of bandwidth while Steam fetches what's gone missing. Feel free to back up your custom stuff, but don't move anything back until everything is running smooth.

 

If problems persist, then work from there. For the most part, though, the defaults are pretty good.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

trust me, I have... I unistalled STEAM 2 times... then I did a search and deleted the references to steam in the <drive>Window/Prefech folder... I did this 2 times... still... the same thing... I suppose I could reinstall DX9 and then reinstall the nVidia drivers... i haven't done that yet... I'll give that one a go...

 

so, uninstall DX9, nVidia stuff... then reinstall DX9 and nVidia stuff. Funny thing, I upgraded to the new nVidia driver, now I don't get those shiny models... but at least when I had the shiny models, I knew everything was back to the standard that STEAM gives upon install.

[Cujo]

just reformat and re-install/re-download steam. just use defaults and change 1 setting at a time. make sure you know what you're doing and don't just apply someone else's random config you found. cl_smooth shouldn't even be used anymore with one of the latest updates.

[Guest zerodamage]

Is this a fresh Windows install or did you just replace a vid card with your current and just toss it in there?