GameEx Lagging

[GoTheBunnies]

Hi guys,

My GameEx install is lagging - the games don't play smoothly, but rather hesitate every second or two. When I play directly from the emulator front end they're fine.

My specs are Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz (motherboard ASUSTek Oxford), with 1gb RAM and an NVidia Geforce FX5200 128mb graphics card. Thinking I may need to upgrade the graphics card? If that's the case, what should I be looking for as a minimum?

Any other config settings I should be looking to adjust?

I'm using exactly the same config of GameEx on a Pentium Dual Core 3.2Ghz without any problems.

Thanks

[Draco1962]

Hi guys,

My GameEx install is lagging - the games don't play smoothly, but rather hesitate every second or two. When I play directly from the emulator front end they're fine.

My specs are Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz (motherboard ASUSTek Oxford), with 1gb RAM and an NVidia Geforce FX5200 128mb graphics card. Thinking I may need to upgrade the graphics card? If that's the case, what should I be looking for as a minimum?

Any other config settings I should be looking to adjust?

I'm using exactly the same config of GameEx on a Pentium Dual Core 3.2Ghz without any problems.

Thanks

Hey GTB,

A few questions:

1. Can you provide a copy of your log file or at least let us know what OS and service pack? If you can provide the log files from both machines, this will allow for a side-by-side comparison and possibly help to troubleshoot.

2. Has GameEx run smoothly for you on this PC before or is this a fresh install on another machine?

3. Have you tried updating/reinstalling the latest nVidia driver for your GPU?

Thanks!

[mesk]

Hi guys,

My GameEx install is lagging - the games don't play smoothly, but rather hesitate every second or two. When I play directly from the emulator front end they're fine.

My specs are Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz (motherboard ASUSTek Oxford), with 1gb RAM and an NVidia Geforce FX5200 128mb graphics card. Thinking I may need to upgrade the graphics card? If that's the case, what should I be looking for as a minimum?

Any other config settings I should be looking to adjust?

I'm using exactly the same config of GameEx on a Pentium Dual Core 3.2Ghz without any problems.

Thanks

BTW,what games arent running?mame or a console emu?

my emulation pc is almost the same as yours,my emu pc is a p4 3.2,3gb ram,fx5200 128mb.I found by turning off reduce cpu usage in the tweaks menu,turn off alpha blending for menu's,and to have gameex NOT wait for vsync.you just have to play with the options and tweaks.also,before you run gameex,bring up the task manager(ctrl + alt + delete)and check to see if there is anything running that is using cpu,and if so turn them off.now in my regular pc (intel i7 3.2)all those options are the opposite.hope you get it worked out.im sure you will let us know---M

[headkaze]

3. Have you tried updating/reinstalling the latest nVidia driver for your GPU?

- Definately but also go to your motherboard manufacturers website and download the latest inf and other drivers. In your case you will need to search the Asus website for them (Asus Oxford is not enough you need the actual type Eg. "P4SD-LA")

- Also download Process Explorer and check the CPU usage when running a game from GameEx.

- Download Scanner and delete any unnecessary files (be careful). Then do a disk defrag.

- Try disabling any anti-virus software. Quite often they check every file before you access it which can slow things substancially.

- Perhaps try upgrading to 2 gig's of RAM if you can find some old RAM modules that suit your motherboard. You need two matching modules to run them in dual mode. ie. You probably have two 512 MB modules now, try and get another two 512 MB. Make sure they are the same type and brand when running them in dual.

[GoTheBunnies]

Answers to a few questions -

- Operating system is Windows XP Pro SP3

- It's a fresh install on this PC - but like I said, the same config as the install on the other PC

- What games aren't running properly - all of them, both Mame and other emu's.

- I've confirmed that I'm using the latest drivers for the video card

- No anti virus software running.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll give them all a try. Mesk - I'm curious to know, were you having similar problems before you changed those settings?

I'm surprised nobody has suggested upgrading the video card - is ugrading the RAM a better option than upgrading the video card?

Thanks

[headkaze]

Video card may be worth upgrading too. But you did mention it runs fine without GameEx running in the background.

[mesk]

@GTB yes I was having trouble before I made those adjustments,games were lagging,especially mame but now I have no problem playing saturn,psx,n64,and some dreamcast.

[Draco1962]

On my old PC I found that I did better with no less than 256 MB on the GPU. On the older PCs, you will often do better with as much RAM as the mobo and the OS will support.

[GoTheBunnies]

On my old PC I found that I did better with no less than 256 MB on the GPU. On the older PCs, you will often do better with as much RAM as the mobo and the OS will support.

Frustratingly I'm still having a lag problem. I bought new RAM, so it now has 2gb. Games run fine in their respective emulators, but lag in GameEx. I've tried all the above tweaks. Are there any other suggestions as to how I might improve performance? (looking like I might have to use a crappier FE in this particular PC?)

[headkaze]

Frustratingly I'm still having a lag problem. I bought new RAM, so it now has 2gb. Games run fine in their respective emulators, but lag in GameEx. I've tried all the above tweaks. Are there any other suggestions as to how I might improve performance? (looking like I might have to use a crappier FE in this particular PC?)

What do you mean by the games lag in GameEx? Do you mean the videos? If so try the SD versions if you're currently using the HD ones and install Shark's codecs just to make sure you have a recent codec.

[GoTheBunnies]

What do you mean by the games lag in GameEx? Do you mean the videos? If so try the SD versions if you're currently using the HD ones and install Shark's codecs just to make sure you have a recent codec.

No, not the videos (I'm using Shark007's codecs) - the games themselves, and even scrolling through the menus for that matter. Take a game like Galaga for example - as the ship moves across the screen, it will stop for a fraction of a second, probably two or three times, before it gets all the way across. But play it in Mame, and it's fine. Scrolling through the menus there's a delay between moving to each menu item.

[Draco1962]

GTB - Do you have more specs regarding your Nvidia GeFource FX2500 128MB? I am thinking that since GameEx is now using Direct3D as opposed to DirectDraw that your graphics adapter is still suspect. If the games are fine outside of GameEx, yet do not when launced from within as well as the scrolling issues you are noting, then that would be my guess.

Even though you have upgraded the RAM of the PC, your graphics adapter processes most of its instructions through a separate pipe and has to go "the long way" around to benefit from the RAM increase. The PC RAM will mainly help expedite the CPU cycles by holding more temporary instructions available for use by whatever program is being run.

Have googled a few things about it and noted that the following was consistant across several sites: "GeForce FX is an architecture designed with DirectX 7, 8 and 9 software in mind. Its performance for DirectX 7 and 8 is excellent compared to its competition, but it is much less competitive for software that primarily uses DirectX 9 features." SInce the card was released in 2002, there isn't much you can probably do other than make sure you have the latest driver (Release 175.19 is the latest).

If this is an AGP video card, you may also need to look at your BIOS settings. Sometimes, if the video aperture settings are not correct, you can encounter video stuttering during games (and since you are going through a frontend, the demands on the video adapter are greater than when not - can also put a drain on PC RAM availability which can contribute to the stuttering or hesitation you are seeing).

[GoTheBunnies]

GTB - Do you have more specs regarding your Nvidia GeFource FX2500 128MB? I am thinking that since GameEx is now using Direct3D as opposed to DirectDraw that your graphics adapter is still suspect. If the games are fine outside of GameEx, yet do not when launced from within as well as the scrolling issues you are noting, then that would be my guess.

Even though you have upgraded the RAM of the PC, your graphics adapter processes most of its instructions through a separate pipe and has to go "the long way" around to benefit from the RAM increase. The PC RAM will mainly help expedite the CPU cycles by holding more temporary instructions available for use by whatever program is being run.

Have googled a few things about it and noted that the following was consistant across several sites: "GeForce FX is an architecture designed with DirectX 7, 8 and 9 software in mind. Its performance for DirectX 7 and 8 is excellent compared to its competition, but it is much less competitive for software that primarily uses DirectX 9 features." SInce the card was released in 2002, there isn't much you can probably do other than make sure you have the latest driver (Release 175.19 is the latest).

If this is an AGP video card, you may also need to look at your BIOS settings. Sometimes, if the video aperture settings are not correct, you can encounter video stuttering during games (and since you are going through a frontend, the demands on the video adapter are greater than when not - can also put a drain on PC RAM availability which can contribute to the stuttering or hesitation you are seeing).

Thanks Draco, and thanks for doing the research! I might try taking the video card out, and seeing if the results are any different.

Can you elaborate on the BIOS settings, and what you mean by the video aperture settings. How will I be able to tell if they're correct or not?

Thanks again.

[headkaze]

A few other things you can check

- Download and install Process Explorer and check out your CPU usage when running a game from GameEx.

- Check the "video" option in mame.ini (it can be gdi, d3d or ddraw)

[Draco1962]

Assuming your Video Card is an AGP card, there is a setting in your PC BIOS (You know, in that black screen on initial boot before the OS loads that you have to hit DEL or F2 to change the settings?). Most BIOS have a setting for the Video Aperture that wil reserve system (PC) memory (RAM) for use with the video card. Sometimes, if the aperture is set too high or ouside of the video card's recomendations, you can cause some of the symptoms you are experieincing. For a card your size, probably 64 to 128 MB is plenty. You may need to do a little research and play with these settings until you get the the deisred performance.

[GoTheBunnies]

A few other things you can check

- Download and install Process Explorer and check out your CPU usage when running a game from GameEx.

- Check the "video" option in mame.ini (it can be gdi, d3d or ddraw)

Thanks - and it should be set to d3d right??

[headkaze]

Thanks - and it should be set to d3d right??

d3d is "Direct 3D", ddraw is "Direct Draw" and "GDI" is, well GDI (Windows 2d graphics system) but depending on the version of MAME, the graphics card, CPU different settings might be better. The idea is to experiment and find what works best for you. d3d should be the best option but I would see what the others are like.

There is also a "Tweaks/Performance" section in the Setup Wizard. Try out some options in there. You can also try reading the I have performance issues FAQ question.

[GoTheBunnies]

d3d is "Direct 3D", ddraw is "Direct Draw" and "GDI" is, well GDI (Windows 2d graphics system) but depending on the version of MAME, the graphics card, CPU different settings might be better. The idea is to experiment and find what works best for you. d3d should be the best option but I would see what the others are like.

There is also a "Tweaks/Performance" section in the Setup Wizard. Try out some options in there. You can also try reading the I have performance issues FAQ question.

Thanks again Headkaze - that's a great FAQ - I hadn't seen that before.

By the way, did you see the question I sent you about your Donkey Kong theme?