| Can you allocate more resources to 32bit apps on windows ME? [message #82256] |
Wed, 21 April 2004 18:23  |
flyingfox
Messages: 1612
Registered: February 2003
Location: scotland, uk
Karma: 0
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General (1 Star) |
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^^ It's in the title. I'm having trouble running 32bit games on windows millenium. Performance trouble. I know that the problem is either the fact that I'm using windows millenium, or the radeon 9200 SE.
I heard someone talking about allocating more resources to 16bit applications on windows XP, so I was thinking windows millenium (older than XP) prefers 16bit applications over 32bit apps, since that was probably the colour depth favoured in 2000. I need to know if I can increase performance specifically for 32bit games. Americas army and Halo get FPS hits bad.
The latest games don't seem to allow 16bit mode, except call of duty (from what I've seen so far). On that note, is there a way to "force 16bit" on an application? Tried searching google, nothing doing.
It may be it's just a problem with graphics drivers.
Relevant spec:
1.8 ghz athlon
640mb SD
Windows ME
128mb Radeon 9200 SE
Direct memory access (or DMA) enabled on main drive.
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| Can you allocate more resources to 32bit apps on windows ME? [message #82265] |
Wed, 21 April 2004 18:51  |
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liberator
Messages: 246
Registered: May 2003
Location: Classified, Level Phi cle...
Karma: 0
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Recruit |
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WinME is a 32-Bit OS, but it's crippled compared to either 98se or XP so it's likely the problem.
Could we have some more specifics as to the problem, you systems specs, and such, you were a little vague.
BTW, Halo has horrible memory management.
After reflection, try this:
Go into the Advanced tab in your display properties and set the color depth to 16bit. This will help with Windows performance, but most games, including Halo have separate color depth controls, usually related to the screen resolution. Get the info I asked for above and I'll try to provide a better diagnosis.
2nd Edit:
The problem might be the SD RAM, you've got plenty, but the speed might holding things up or one of the sticks may be going bad. Before you do anything drastic try either updating or rolling back your video drivers and see if that has any effect. I remember when Nvidia releast the 45.23 Detonators I had to keep the 44.03s until very recently because the performance of my GF4MX was lousy with newer versions and ATI doesn't have as good a rep as far as drivers go so that might be the problem.
There was a time when people were impressed that I have the firepower to decimate a planet in under 10 minutes.
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| Can you allocate more resources to 32bit apps on windows ME? [message #82426] |
Thu, 22 April 2004 12:20 |
flyingfox
Messages: 1612
Registered: February 2003
Location: scotland, uk
Karma: 0
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General (1 Star) |
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What further system specs are actually relevant to performance problems in games?
I know what you mean about setting windows to use 16bit depth. But I can tell Halo isn't using 16bit too, because when you are running windows in 16 bit, and alt + tab to minimise Halo, the screen blanks for a moment to switch back to 16bit. So I'm pretty sure it's running in either 24bit or 32bit color depth.
I might try backdating the drivers, but updating ATI drivers can be a pain sometimes. The last time I tried to install the latest drivers straight from atitech.com instead of the CD that comes with the card (after re-inserting the chipset), there was a whole host of problems.
Thanks for trying to help. If you can tell me what other system information you need that's cool. The game actually ran okay last night in safe mode. It could always be a problem with a certain asset, for example shading or lighting. This Radeon 9200 SE seems to have trouble rendering flames/smoke up close without performance drops.
Also, someone on another forum told me windows ME was designed for a maximum of 512mb ram and runs better with that amount. I'm pretty sure it's an OS problem as suspected. The RAM sticks aren't very old, but anything's a possibility.
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| Can you allocate more resources to 32bit apps on windows ME? [message #82535] |
Thu, 22 April 2004 17:58 |
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liberator
Messages: 246
Registered: May 2003
Location: Classified, Level Phi cle...
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Well, mine gets bogged down if I get in an intense firefight with lots of explosions or when I'm repairing a Harvester and the beam hit's the tire.
There was a time when people were impressed that I have the firepower to decimate a planet in under 10 minutes.
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| Can you allocate more resources to 32bit apps on windows ME? [message #83049] |
Sat, 24 April 2004 17:41 |
flyingfox
Messages: 1612
Registered: February 2003
Location: scotland, uk
Karma: 0
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General (1 Star) |
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On that note, I've seen people in 20 v 20 games say they're getting 70 FPS. Seems a big far fetched, even for a 9800. Well maybe not.
(Thanks, oldtnt, did you manage to find the problem with not being able to save? If you can't find it out in a few hours, I'll just use the "copy to folder" option and hope it's the same.)
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