My graphics.

[Sel94]

That's odd, it doesn't seem to save nomatter what I do. I'm doing the same things as the options.lua. Oh well...

[EtherealN]

Try copying the file to another directory (or the desktop - regular right-click copy and then right-click paste), then open the copy and do the edits, then copy it back the same way. Make sure to also make a backup copy so you can put the original back again if something breaks.

[Sel94]

Yeah, that what I had to do with the .lua but now it doesn't work. I'll just leave it I guess and try something later mabye....so anything else?

[EtherealN]

Actually, one thought:

 

Do you have FC2 installed into Program Files?

 

If so, do this:

Find Notepad++ in the list of programs, right-click, select "Run as Administrator".

 

Then open the files from within Notepad++. You are probably being blocked from editing the files by Windows, which always tries to protect that folder as part of the UAC security measure. I personally always install games outside of Program Files for this reason.

[Sel94]

I think that's the problem. I'm not good with those kind of big files. Would it be safe to move the Eagle Dynamics folder into another folder I will make, then mod. it?

[EtherealN]

If done right, and then moved back, yeah. If done wrong you might end up with a broken install and have to reinstall.

 

Another option would be to go into the windows Control Panel, find the security features thing and turn off User Authentication Control (UAC). You can turn it back on later, of course.

 

Third option would be to save copies of the files you want to keep, then uninstall and install into a different folder (like C:\Games\ ) and then re-apply the edits there. Should save you the trouble.

 

But I do think that the best option would be to test running editors as administrator. See picture. After this, the easiest way to open the file would be click-hold-drag: that is, you left-click the file you want to open and keep the button pressed, then drag the mouse over towards the open editor.

[Sel94]

O.K. Thanks, I know that admin. thing is going to get annoying...anyway, I changed it and same results, bad campaign, slightly better everything else. It's probably just because of my graphics card, but noticed it gets slightly worse when I am near the ground. But anyway, thanks for the help. Mabye a few hundred more of these and campagn will see improvement. :]

[EtherealN]

Yeah, what I think is a possible reason for the issues is that when you load a bigger mission, like in the campaigns, there's a lot of units and therefore a lot of textures and such that has to be loaded into video memory. The issue with integrated cards is that they are sometimes very quick to start using more than their "dedicated" (that is, in place on the video card itself) memory. So the mission loads up textures and resources, runs out of vRAM and starts using regular RAM as vRAM. This introduces a complex transport route for information every time the GPU needs to do pretty much anything since it needs to constantly send what's in vRAM to RAM and then collect stuff from RAM to vRAM and then all over again...

 

Definitely try the Fusion thing if possible to see if it can help clear out any leeching done by windows itself on the vRAM. Preferably we want the graphics card to only use it's "dedicated" memory.

 

Oh, and doublecheck that AA and AF, if you ever used them, hasn't been turned back on accidently.

 

You could also see if a newer driver for the graphics card introduces any optimisations that help you.

[Sel94]

Yeah, sounds good.

Except, AA and AF?

And I might need a little help with my last question here

Other than that, thanks for all your amazing help EtherealN and the rest of the community! <3

Oh, also, this computer has 6 GB of ram. Could I convert some to vRAM(or wait, isn't it DDR2 or 3?)

Or would a stick of Ram help at all?

Edited June 9, 2010 by Sel94

[EtherealN]

Oh, if you don't know what AA and AF is, then you probably don't have it. (AntiAlias and Anisotropic Filtering, graphical effects that in FC2 you have to force through the driver.)

 

Unfortunately there's no way to convert RAM to vRAM. They're technically speaking the same type of thing, but sitting on different places on the computer. So adding RAM won't do anything to solve a vRAM problem - replacing video card is again the only option there. :(

 

Also, I've never used an ATi hotfix release. My suggestion would be to use the regular update and not use hotfixes for now, since the last thing you want is the bother of driver fragmentation on your system if things were to go wrong.

Edited June 9, 2010 by EtherealN

[Sel94]

Got it thanks.....

They wouldn't happen to sell vRam sticks, do they? :]

[EtherealN]

Nah, the vRAM is soldered in place on the graphics card.

[Sel94]

Yep, just got hold out 'till I get a new graphics card. Feel free to answer any of my seemingly-endless questions on other topics!

Thanks again.:D

Edited June 9, 2010 by Sel94

[EtherealN]

I'll have a look at them tomorrow, going to turn in soon I think - sun is already up. >.<

[Wolf Rider]

one thing to look at, especially with Windows 7, is to check that the root port drivers (and a few others) have updated correctly... for some reason (at least with Intel boards) the Microsoft root port drivers (2006) stay installed and the Intel drivers don't get updated in automatically. (They can be updated manually though)

[Sel94]

Don't know if anyone still reads this thread, but thanks for all of you're help. I am using this thread and other sources to find a new graphics card and it looks like the Nivida GT 240 wins until I get a PSU that can handle a better card. Thanks again!

[revalence]

I used a 9800 GT renovated by EVGA and I get around 40-60 fps in cities and 80-90 in high alt. I also have Core 2 Quad Extreme so...

My friend had a Core 2 Duo and Nvidia 9500 GT with 3 GB RAM DDR2, and 300 GB HD and ran at 30-45 fps in cities and 50-60 in high alt.

Good luck on the perfect combination for your needs!

 

-Andrew (Revalence)

Edited July 12, 2010 by revalence

[Sel94]

Never mind, I'm going to get the Radeon 5670. And thanks for the info.

[rattler]

Never mind, I'm going to get the Radeon 5670. And thanks for the info.

 

Just a note: I do believe the ATI cards run hotter than Nvidia. So if 5670 is your card of choice make sure you have good ventilation in you case and on your PSU. You may have to get a GPU cooler or install larger case fans. Anyway just thought I would mention it just in case. I had an ATI card a while back and had to cool it down. Went back to Nvidia. Newer ATI cards may not suffer the same fate but my personal choice is Nvidia. Hope things get sorted out for you.:thumbup:

[Sel94]

Okay, thanks for the tip. I'll just throw it in my freezer if it gets hot.

Also, I never thought about this before but would I have to consider how big the card is? I've never done this before and I actually have no idea where I put the card. To save time here is my computer. Pretty good, huh?:)

Oh, and here is the card. here!

Actually, looking at that it says it needs a 400 watt power supply but I only have 300. Although I have heard if it uses a PCIE slot, you don't need that.

Edited July 12, 2010 by Sel94

[rattler]

Okay, thanks for the tip. I'll just throw it in my freezer if it gets hot.

Also, I never thought about this before but would I have to consider how big the card is? I've never done this before and I actually have no idea where I put the card. To save time here is my computer. Pretty good, huh?:)

Oh, and here is the card. here!

Actually, looking at that it says it needs a 400 watt power supply but I only have 300. Although I have heard if it uses a PCIE slot, you don't need that.

 

you should have a good PSU around 500 to 800 watts and a good quality one

at that. It takes power to run your hardware and you should have plenty of it. Helps keep things cool also.:smilewink:

[EtherealN]

Rattler, you are incorrent. Later-generation nVidia cards are much hotter than ATi cards. The difference in features is negligible for DCS and FC2, but the difference in heat is significant. Also note that it's not only a question of ventilation: an equally performing nVidia card can eat 50% more electricity than the ATi cards (in the 5xxx series at least), raising the operating costs of the computer dramatically since the graphics cards is typically dominant in a computer's electricity draw.

 

And I cannot tell you how much it hurt to say that, since I'm an nVidia fanbuy, but the lesser TDP of ATi cards is one major argument in making me look at ATi as my choice for my next computer.

[EtherealN]

Actually, looking at that it says it needs a 400 watt power supply but I only have 300. Although I have heard if it uses a PCIE slot, you don't need that.

 

This is unfortunately incorrect. The thing with PCIe slots and wattage is that cards that use very limited power do not need a separate electricity feed from the PSU (the PCIe slot being able to supply enough). Most performance cards are however using several times more than the PCIe slot itself can supply.

 

It gets more complex in that the "400 watt PSU" recommendation is for the "whole system". This is a guideline only and I don't know how they calculate them, but I always completely ignore those numbers and rather opt to check the power draw of all components to find out what I need. Obviously that's not quite applicable for a non-enthusiast (read: non-meganerd :P ) and since you have a reasonable standardized computer it might apply.

 

But bottom line: you'd still need a more powerful PSU. Ideally you also want margins since PSU's "grow old" with time and lose capacity - problem is that there's no way to know for sure if they included some of those margins when deciding on the 400 watt recommendation. What I can say is that the one time I used a "400-watt-recommendation" card with a 300 watt PSU, the PSU literally burned up. :P

 

(It was a waaaay too cheap PSU and quite that level of drama should be unusual, but please do consider your PSU as one of the most important parts of your computer.)

[winz]

My personal note.. I would hang some computer builders by the b**** in draught. They build a powerfull machine and use a cheap 300W PSU to throw the price down. A perfect plan to let the computer burn down just after the warranty period.

but please do consider your PSU as one of the most important parts of your computer.

This. A million times.

A single overvoltage can fry half your components in a second. An instable voltage will stress your components much harder, lowering their lifespan.

Also a quality higher power PSU will have lower current usage than a low-level, because PSU are anything but efficient when they are running near, or over, their limits. They will also be cooler.

[Sel94]

So......I can still get the 5670 before a new PSU, correct? Or maybe I should just get a new PSU first. But I'm stuck in 2004 gaming(with settings set to low)! And thanks for coming back with all your supersmartness.:)

Edited July 13, 2010 by Sel94