No way to get decent performance!

[poochie2]

Hi all,

I recently installed GameEx on my HTPC ([email protected], 1GB, Geforce 4 MX 440 64 MB) with both .net frameworks 2.0 and 3.0. With versions 7.09 and the latest 7.52, there is no way I can get a decent performance in the main menu of GameEx. I tried everything posted in the performance topic but it won't help, I get between 4 and 10 FPS and never more@ 100% CPU or less (if I set some sleep). On my main PC (Ath64 [email protected]) it works like a charm but I don't understand why it's not running on the first computer... any hint?

Thanks!

[Will]

Yep I had the same problem and that is that GameEx requires a graphics card that supports DirectX 8 (I think). In any case, your and my Geforce4 don't cut it. I switched from my old GeForce to my onboard IntelGMA and it flies. GameEx and most emus don't need much graphical powe, but they do require a newer card. I went through a lot of trouble to find this out! If you don't have onboard or another card, pick up a $30 video card from your local computer store that is relatively new and you'll be fine.

[poochie2]

Yep I had the same problem and that is that GameEx requires a graphics card that supports DirectX 8 (I think). In any case, your and my Geforce4 don't cut it. I switched from my old GeForce to my onboard IntelGMA and it flies. GameEx and most emus don't need much graphical powe, but they do require a newer card. I went through a lot of trouble to find this out! If you don't have onboard or another card, pick up a $30 video card from your local computer store that is relatively new and you'll be fine.

OK, time to go for a cheap passive DX9 card to get 100% MCE compatibility

[HooPZ]

OK, time to go for a cheap passive DX9 card to get 100% MCE compatibility

Do you know what version of the drivers you are using? There is a known issue with certain Nvidia drivers. Check the FAQ if you haven't already.

I am using a GeForce 3 TI 200 and I don't have any issues with GameEx. It's been awhile since I bought this card so I don't remember if its any better than the Geforce 4, but I didn't think it is. I would try checking on that before you go buy a new card.

[Will]

Well that certainly could be the issue then, cause my problems were happening while using a Geforce3 Ti200 as well. I also tried a Geforce4 MX as well with the same problem so it definitely could be a driver issue. My guess though is the onboard ATI chip my MB uses is about as good as my five year old Geforce3 Let me know how it goes!

[poochie2]

Do you know what version of the drivers you are using? There is a known issue with certain Nvidia drivers. Check the FAQ if you haven't already.

I am using a GeForce 3 TI 200 and I don't have any issues with GameEx. It's been awhile since I bought this card so I don't remember if its any better than the Geforce 4, but I didn't think it is. I would try checking on that before you go buy a new card.

I'm using the latest 91.9x (?) MCE driver from NVidia (I was previously using the XP version with the same consequences), the FAQ talked about other versions and the same driver (XP Version) works nicely with my 6600 GT. From a feature point of view my cheap GeForce 4 should be no worse than your GeForce 3, so this is puzzling me a bit. If I could keep this card I'd be quite happy as re recent drivers added MCE compatibility which was not there before with the same drivers and with the same version for standard XP (full screen random glitches due to dx9 calls in fullscreen mode).

This problem is really bothering me, at first I was quite sure that GameEx had some kind of very basic and light interface that would not result in being anywhere near heavy but unfortunately it's not like that! :'(

[Will]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that older cards don't work well with the newer drivers even though they are SUPPOSED to be unified. So maybe they broke some functionality of older cards. All I know is my onboard ATI works fine and MAME and most all the others don't use ANY 3D video card specifics. The only ones that do are the PSX emus. Luckily decent cards are really cheap these days if you actually do need some 3D.

[Tom Speirs]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that older cards don't work well with the newer drivers even though they are SUPPOSED to be unified. So maybe they broke some functionality of older cards. All I know is my onboard ATI works fine and MAME and most all the others don't use ANY 3D video card specifics. The only ones that do are the PSX emus. Luckily decent cards are really cheap these days if you actually do need some 3D.

Yes, you still need the older NVidia drivers on older cards. I thought I mentioned this in the FAQ and performance thread. I did provodie a direct download to the older drivers too the other day, as NVidia hid them a little on there site. Basically use the older drivers as it suggests. I also read that the newer drivers dont in fact include updated drivers for the older cards, they basically use an older version slightly after the bug was introduced by them.

[poochie2]

Yes, you still need the older NVidia drivers on older cards. I thought I mentioned this in the FAQ and performance thread. I did provodie a direct download to the older drivers too the other day, as NVidia hid them a little on there site. Basically use the older drivers as it suggests. I also read that the newer drivers dont in fact include updated drivers for the older cards, they basically use an older version slightly after the bug was introduced by them.

The FAQ says you need the old drivers for cards up to GeForce 3. I'll try them anyway, but I shall lose MCE Certified Drivers which, in my case (GeForce 4), resolve a graphical tearing issue on non DX9 cards. I will eventually report if those drivers worked for me, so maybe this can complete the FAQ.

[Tom Speirs]

The FAQ says you need the old drivers for cards up to GeForce 3. I'll try them anyway, but I shall lose MCE Certified Drivers which, in my case (GeForce 4) resolve a graphical tearing issue on non DX9 cards. I will eventually report if those drivers worked for me, so maybe this can complete the FAQ.

It should say "such as" GeForce3 at least that's what I meant . I honestly dont know what cards require them. I'm pretty sure thats the issue the though.

[poochie2]

It should say "such as" GeForce3 at least that's what I meant . I honestly dont know what cards require them. I'm pretty sure thats the issue the though.

I can confirm that it works ok with the old 66.XY drivers. I really hope they can fix the bug in the 90 series drivers!