PSU PC: Screen flickers, resizes, and then wobbles constant

[Super_Joe]

Hey all. Sorry my first post has to be a problem, but that's the way it goes http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

Specs
Processor: P4 2.4 gigs
RAM: 1 gig
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce FX 5600 256 vram
Running Windows XP SP2, most current drivers and DirectX.

So basically after messing with options forever, I found that the best balance of performance and quality is when I play on 800x600 with normal graphics (frame skip 1, most things maxed). The wierd thing is everytime I play in this resolution it gimps out after about a minute or two. Suddenly the screen will flicker and resize like it's changing resolution. Then it will settle but the screen will be constantly wobbling, with occasional resizes. Another wierd thing is that it goes back to normal when i logout and return to the main screen.

I don't get this problem with 640x480 or 1024x768, but the lower one looks worse and the higher one gives me undesireable slowdown at times.

So my question is, why is it only that one resolution? Is it my craptastic video card? Or is there some simple fix that will allow me to play in 800x600 and enjoy the graphics a bit more. This isn't the most urgent request since I can play in 640x480 just fine in the meantime. Would just be nice to have better graphics till I upgrade http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif Thanks in advance for any help.

edit~ p.s. I'm playing fullscreen and offline if that helps.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Super_Joe on 2006-10-25 18:54 ]</font>

[Wickerman]

You have to stop shaking your monitor and set it back on the desk.

[Super_Joe]

Guess I forgot to mention I had my monitor hanging from bungie cords huh http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Wickerman]

On 2006-10-25 19:08, Super_Joe wrote:
Guess I forgot to mention I had my monitor hanging from bungie cords huh http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif



Heheh. I don't know, I'm not having that problem, but I used to have the Gforce 5600 and if I were still using it I would download and install the latest reference driver from here (http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_91.47.html)

Oh, by the way, I'd set a system restore point first just in case the latest driver makes things even worse, it happened to me on FFXI

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Wickerman on 2006-10-25 19:18 ]</font>

[Super_Joe]

Yeah, that's actually the same driver I have currently. I did try completely removing it and installing it again, but still the same wierdness. Who knows.... So on a lighter note, what card are you using now? I've considered doing a minor upgrade recently. Can't really spare enough for a new motherboard, dual core processor and pci-e card. So I'm considering droppin a couple hundred on a better processor and AGP card. What do you think of the Radeon X800 GTO?

[coomdoom]

do you have wait v-sync enabled, if you do then it should stop the shaking and if tearing occurs then it should stop as well.

[Wickerman]

On 2006-10-25 21:16, Super_Joe wrote:
Yeah, that's actually the same driver I have currently. I did try completely removing it and installing it again, but still the same wierdness. Who knows.... So on a lighter note, what card are you using now? I've considered doing a minor upgrade recently. Can't really spare enough for a new motherboard, dual core processor and pci-e card. So I'm considering droppin a couple hundred on a better processor and AGP card. What do you think of the Radeon X800 GTO?



I'm using the BFG Geforce4 OC7600 with 256MB of VRAM. Everything is maxxed and running great. It's a PCI Express card. With my video card you would have to make sure your motherboard supports PCI Express x16

I don't really have an opinion of any ATI cards, but I hear they're in the lead on their top end card (which costs about $600).

By the way, even if you had a dual core CPU, the game wouldn't use both cores.

[Ichy]

Actually that may not necessarily be true... Remember KOTOR2 had problems with dual core processors. Most people thought it was a video card issue because of the flickering and choppiness, even geting stuck halfway across a zone within seconds. In reality the game wasn't designed for dual core support and you had to manually disable one in the kotor2.exe from your task managers' processes tab.

Anyhow, I know that doesn't solve your problem. I can't say for sure what will, I have yet to get the game this afternoon and deal with my own share of potential issues, but if I run into anything similar and find a way around it I'll come back and share http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Ichy on 2006-10-26 05:38 ]</font>

[Super_Joe]

@coomdoom: Yeah, I've actuallly tried with vsync on and off, same wierdness. Oh well, I'm enjoying the game in 640x480 for now so I'll live.

@Wickerman: Yeah, the reason I mentioned the dual core was the fact that most motherboards that have PCI-E slots are dual core motherboards. At least that I've seen. Basically saying that if I really want to upgrade with future upgrades in mind I'll end up having to do that anyway.

Thanks for the comments guys. Hopefully it will get figured out eventually. If not, I'll live http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[uhawww]

I believe it's your actual card.
If i remember correctly, the FX5500 has some mad drama running games that make any moderate use of complex or multilayer texturing. I owned one for about 5 minutes. Tried to play FFXI with settings up and any time anyone "Boost"ed, cast a spell, or summoned anything, the same thing you are describing happens...it starts jumping like crazy and running at 5 FPS for those brief moments.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: uhawww on 2006-10-26 10:54 ]</font>

[Super_Joe]

Yeah, I'm thinkin it's just the card. It's a 5600 btw, but I doubt that makes much difference. The thing that still gets me is that I can play through an entire mission on 1024x768 without it doing that, just get alot of slowdown when there's too much on the screen or stuff like trees and water. Anyway, lookin like I'll just have to live with it till I decide on an upgrade.

UPDATE!
I finally tried it in windowed mode and it runs perfectly, lol. Only reason I didn't try that before is cause I honestly thought the performance would go way down. Considering alt-tabbing out of fullscreen kills the game anyway, I'll stick with windowed for now. Maybe it's sega's crappy fullscreen mode, or a combination of that and my card. Anyway, thanks again guys and enjoy the game!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Super_Joe on 2006-10-26 12:41 ]</font>