Game Skips Real BAD - HELP!!

[Sladek]

I have the following setup:

AMD T-bird 1.33 Ghz
Thermalright SLK-800 + Tornado 80 mm Fan
Hercules GeForce 3 Regular
Abit KG7 Motherboard
512 Crucial DDr Ram PC2100
Western Digital 7200 60 Gig
Windows 2000

Every time I try to run Counter-strike, it skips ever like 5 to 7 seconds like an FPS spat. I've tried different detonators, different bios settings, and all sorts of things and still cannot stop it. What can I do to fix this?!?

[JBELL]

have you gotten new via drivers? for chipset

[Sladek]

yes, i just formatted and have the 4.37s

[stoopid]

Check IRQ assignments, maybe even disable ACPI and set the computer type to standard in device manager.

[Sladek]

It is already set to Standard PC. I did that when I first formatted.

[Neptune5k]

Okay, I've seen this happen with KG7 users in the past and it ususally boils down to a driver issue.

You have to realize that the KG7 is a hybrid board which utilizes an AMD northbridge and VIA Southbridge. Because of this, you can't just use the VIA 4-in-1 drivers. You have to install the AMD AGP driver pack, for the northbridge, and then you have to install the 4-in-1's excluding the AGP driver, for the southbridge.

Hope this helps.

[sysfailur]

Reinstall Half-life and CS. Also perhaps a nice defrag would help. I've had LOTS of problems w/ HL over the years, and a nice clean install always fixes it :)

[Sladek]

So Neptune:

I download the AMD AGP Driver from amd.com as well as that via 4.37s. Run the install for the AGP Driver, then run the 4in1s but uncheck the AGP Driver that is included with it?

Is this corrrect?

Also, do I need to format again to do this properly or can i just overwrite it?

Thanks

[Sladek]

Also, any recommendations on bios settings for my AGP?

Right now I am sure that I need AGP 4x.

But what about:
Video BIOS Shadow, AGP Fast Writes, AGP Aperature Size, AGP ISA Aliasing, AGP Always Compensate.

Not too sure about those settings. Which would give me the best performance?

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Sladek
I download the AMD AGP Driver from amd.com as well as that via 4.37s. Run the install for the AGP Driver, then run the 4in1s but uncheck the AGP Driver that is included with it?


Correct. You can download the WIN 2k AGP driver from HERE (http://www.viahardware.com/faq/kg7kr7/downloads.htm) .


Also, do I need to format again to do this properly or can i just overwrite it?

Just unistall the current 4in1's first (by running the 4in1 install and choosing "uninstall"). Then install the AMD AGP and 4in1 again.

Hope you don't mind me steppin in to help:)

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Sladek
Also, any recommendations on bios settings for my AGP?

Right now I am sure that I need AGP 4x.

But what about:
Video BIOS Shadow, AGP Fast Writes, AGP Aperature Size, AGP ISA Aliasing, AGP Always Compensate.

Not too sure about those settings. Which would give me the best performance?

I like these settings:

video bios shadow disabled

Starting with AGP Secondary Lat Timer-
Secondary Lat Timer : 20h
Fast Writes : enabled
4X
Enabled
Disabled
Enabled
2
0

And some good mem settings:
Manual
16
8
8
2
6
2
1
2
2
2

And these AGP Driving Valuessettings under Advanced Chipset Features can help-
manual
D8
slow
slow
FF
Fast
Fast

Most of these settings are tried and true by various overclockers.

These will help:)

[Sladek]

Ok, well I uninstaleld the 4in1s then installing the AGP Driver followed by the 4.37s without the agp driver. I also did all of those bios tweaks, and after all that, it STILL does it. I even moved my computer out of the cubby it was in in my desk to give it some more air, but that obviously did not help. I am so frustrated. : (

[mdzcpa]

If it's only happening in CS, I'd try a fresh install of CS (as someone above suggested).

[Sladek]

I just formatted yesterday, and sometimes I can feel it in my IRC, so I don't think its only in CS.

[mdzcpa]

If you had a KG7 RAID I'd suspect a bad Highpoint driver/BIOS combination which can cause stuttering and skipping...but I guess it can't be that.

Are you running anything else in the backgound?
Using a video tweak proggy (NVMax, riva tuner, etc)?

[Sladek]

No, RivaTuner wouldnt work for me & I already ran CS with & without NVMax, and it still does it.

And whats wierd is now sometimes it skips, then other times it doesnt. REALLY wierd

[Neptune5k]

Originally posted by Sladek
So Neptune:

I download the AMD AGP Driver from amd.com as well as that via 4.37s. Run the install for the AGP Driver, then run the 4in1s but uncheck the AGP Driver that is included with it?

Is this corrrect?

Also, do I need to format again to do this properly or can i just overwrite it?

Thanks

You got it :) You shouldn't have to reformat, just run the VIA 4-in-1 install and use the Uninstall function. Then reinstall the drivers accordingly.

[septimus]

Are you running the Hercules drivers or are you running the nvidia reference drivers? I found that I got alot of stuttering, especially in neverwinter nights, with the ref drivers but it cleared away when I installed the hercules-made dets. go to www.hercules.com and have a look...

[Sladek]

Well, I tried the whole Hercules thing and that didnt work.

Someone told me I should remount my CPU to the socket. Could it be possible that I have too much thermal compund on there & that be messing something up? I just recently installed a fan so thats why im wondering.

[mdzcpa]

Doubtful but possible I suppose. What are your CPU temps?

[septimus]

Just curious, but what sort of activity do you see on your HDD just before, during, and after the freeze/stutter-ings of your games?

[Sladek]

CPU Temps are nothing out of the ordinary.

Like 35 deg. Celsius for CPU & System.

And no, I don't notice any HDD activicty when the skipping occurs, so I don't think its the HDD.

Another wierd thing that was when I was at this lan, it didn't do it, but when I get home, it does it. :mad:

[MrEman]

Ethernet controller problem? Josh, go try it in the game by hosting a game.. so that its a lan connection.. buy a gun.. and run around and shoot it and so forth .. see if it skips...

let me know

Jere

[septimus]

Well, I asked about the HDD activity since, pre-hercules drivers, in neverwinter nights the HDD would start to access and the HDD would go solid for a full 3 seconds or more and at this time the game does not respond.

Since you say that it works fine in another physical location (the LAN) I am thinking you might have some kind of power problem in your house... Is your computer on the same circuit as say a motor or heating element?

[Sladek]

Well, I created a LAN game, and it still did it. :mad:

I have my comp sharing on a surge protector with other :banana::banana::banana::banana:, like monitor, speakers, etc. Dunno if that could be the problem.

[DisposableHero]

are there any programs running in background? i know if i have kazaa open it'll take 100% cpu away from everything every minute or so

[IFMU]

Ok Im going to throw in my 2 coppers here.
Youve tested drivers, even variable ones. Nothing there. You said that you took it elsewhere to a LAN and it didnt happen the entire time you were there, right? If so Im going to start thinking something in your house is doing something wrong. Like someone else stated.
First thing Id try is move the entire system to a different outlet in the house, I mean entirly, from one room on this side to another on the other side. It could be something like air conditioning is kicking in and causing your system to fluctuate or something.
Another thought here. What are you doing in the game when it seems to happen the most? What are the sounds? It could be something to do with the game having probs with the video at a certain spot, or mixture of effects.
just a few thoughts.

[Sladek]

Well, the whole power issue might work.

No specific sounds are occurring. Its all the time sound or no sound, and it does not fail. :(

[Sladek]

I'm getting so fed up with this skipping, I'm just about to go out and get new :banana::banana::banana::banana:. :mad:

[Sladek]

Ok, well, here's an update:

I tried out all optimized defaults with my GeForce3 and I even borrowed a GeForce2 GTS, and it STILL did it. Friends have told me that it is probably my motherboard. I'm debating on if I should just buy a new mobo/cpu. But then a friend said that it might be the RAM. Can RAM cause this sort of problem? I don't think it could :x I have Crucial PC2100 DDR. HELP!! :mad:

[mdzcpa]

Hmmm...still sounds more driver related then anything. RAM causeing "skipping" seems very odd.

Does the system do this with any other game?

[Sladek]

Oh yeah, I forget to include that.

I tried Quake3 in OpenGL & I also tried Direct3D in HL and it STILL did it. So...?

[mdzcpa]

Hmmm...so I understand correctly...would you describe the skipping to be like "chugging" or jerky frames?

That kind of behavior is rarely hardware related. Usually chipset or graphics drivers. Or a program running in the background consuming the CPU utilization. Even sometimes hard drive related.

To go over it, I assumes you have:
Fresh installed the OS
Installed all Service Packs
Used the appopriate AMD AGP driver
Used only the IDE and INF portions of the latest 4in1
Have fastwrites and sidebanding disabled
Checked to make sure your HD was working with DMA
Turned DMA mode of of the ATAPI devices

Hmmm...what sound card do you have?
What PCI slot is it in?

[Sladek]

I have a Soundblaster Live 5.1 X-gamer, and it is in PC slot 3 I believe.

Also, I even notice that when I'm typing in IRC, it does the jerky thing there too, so hmmm...

[mdzcpa]

Can you check what modes your HDs and ATAPI devices are running? (DMA, PIO, etc)?

Is PCI slot 2 empty ? (it shares with PCI slot 3)

[Sladek]

no but pci slot 1 is empty

[mdzcpa]

What do you have in PCI slot 2?....the SBLive card is famous for not sharing the PCI bus very well and can cuase trouble.

What's you PCI layout?

[Sladek]

here is the order of my PCI layout:
1. empty - a fan i have on the vid card above it is in the way
2. nic
3. sblive
4. dvd encoder
5. empty
6. empty

Also, when I close IRC and go play a game, it doesn't do it...

A friend also recommended to me that I set, under Performance Options, for Win2k to be Optimized with Background Services. I was told that was a benchmark trick.

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Sladek
here is the order of my PCI layout:
1. empty - a fan i have on the vid card above it is in the way
2. nic
3. sblive
4. dvd encoder
5. empty
6. empty

Also, when I close IRC and go play a game, it doesn't do it...

A friend also recommended to me that I set, under Performance Options, for Win2k to be Optimized with Background Services. I was told that was a benchmark trick.

Well...it sounds like an IRC conflict then. Why don't you just leave IRC closed when you play?

Anyway, another suggestion that I may make, which may or may not have anything to do with your problem, is to definitley move your NIC to PCI 5. NICs also share resources poorly and you don't want to have the SBLive and NIC sharing the interrupt.

FYI:
AGP and PCI 1 share
PCI 2 and 3 share
PCI 4 and 6 share (with USB too)
PCI 5 shares with the Highpoint Controller (which you do not have on a non RAID KG7).

So your PCI 5 is free and clear...so use it:)