Help with San Andreas and Dual Core Problem

[klebs89]

I have a problem with San Andreas that I believe may be caused by incompatibility with dual core processors. It runs very choppily on a system where that should not be happening. The system specs are Windows Vista with latest updates and newest drivers (doesn't seem to be a driver issue), t7500 core 2 duo (2.2GHz), 8600m gt with 512 mb, 2Gb ram. All other games (HL2, Far Cry, Doom3 etc.) run as expected, and it is not a malware or other program issue. I believe it is a dual core issue as San Andreas has issues with other dual cores. It is updated to v 2.0 (new disc, so can't install unpatched). I have tried the processor affinity fix, as well as all the Vista compatibility stuff (btw, it runs fine on my other vista machine, which is not a dual-core). What may be an important detail is that it almost runs normal if the mouse is not being moved, but begins chugging as soon as I scroll the view. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get my favorite game to run as it should?

[Simon.]

I think I have the same problem as you. The frame rate appears to be fine at full settings, but when I spin around or more objects are onscreen it seems to lag.

 

Windows Vista Home Premium

Nvidia GeForce 8600GT 256MB

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800+ (2.51 GHz)

2GB RAM

 

I've tried setting the compatability modes to Windows XP and Windows 98 / ME, running GTA San Andreas in Administrator mode, updated drivers + hotfixes from the Nvidia website, installed all Windows Updates and tried doing the "Set Affinity" while GTA San Andreas is runninng.

 

Help would be greatly appreciated.

 

(If I come across any fixes, I'll make sure to post back here )

Edited November 6, 2007 by Simon.

[Ring_of_Fire]

 

I have a problem with San Andreas that I believe may be caused by incompatibility with dual core processors. It runs very choppily on a system where that should not be happening. The system specs are Windows Vista with latest updates and newest drivers (doesn't seem to be a driver issue), t7500 core 2 duo (2.2GHz), 8600m gt with 512 mb, 2Gb ram. All other games (HL2, Far Cry, Doom3 etc.) run as expected, and it is not a malware or other program issue. I believe it is a dual core issue as San Andreas has issues with other dual cores. It is updated to v 2.0 (new disc, so can't install unpatched). I have tried the processor affinity fix, as well as all the Vista compatibility stuff (btw, it runs fine on my other vista machine, which is not a dual-core). What may be an important detail is that it almost runs normal if the mouse is not being moved, but begins chugging as soon as I scroll the view. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get my favorite game to run as it should?

The 8600GT is not a powerful graphics card and trying to max out the resolution higher than 1280x1024 32-bit will cause it to be the bottleneck of everything inside your computer. Also, maxing out the settings can cause CPU and hard drive stress especially when this game was meant to be played on one core. You should try setting the affinity of the "gta_sa.exe" process in Task Manager to 1 CPU core if it was set to 2 already, and then experiment with Set Priority options.

 

Typical Vista fixes include updating your drivers, running the game in Windows 98 compatibility mode, and deleting [.set] file.

 

 

I think I have the same problem as you. The frame rate appears to be fine at full settings, but when I spin around or more objects are onscreen it seems to lag.

 

Windows Vista Home Premium

Nvidia GeForce 8600GT 256MB

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800+ (2.51 GHz)

2GB RAM

 

I've tried setting the compatability modes to Windows XP and Windows 98 / ME, running GTA San Andreas in Administrator mode, updated drivers + hotfixes from the Nvidia website, installed all Windows Updates and tried doing the "Set Affinity" while GTA San Andreas is runninng

Try to download the Optimizer (not the processor driver): http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Techni...1_13118,00.html, delete [.set] file, and try as well to experiment with the Set Priority in Task Manager. Also, make sure that everything in NVIDIA ForceWare Control Panel are to the factory defaults and that it is not being optimized for quality by the gamer trying to max out the AA/AF settings. What display settings do you normally use to play San Andreas by the way?

Edited November 6, 2007 by Ring_of_Fire

[klebs89]

I doubt you have had much experience with the 8600gt, as it makes out far cry in 1440x900, therefore it should max out san andreas at the same res. Additionally, through experience I know that it is more powerful than the 6800 gt in my other rig, which does max out san andreas with room to spare. Thanks for the other tips, but I tried all of them. Hopefully someone can fix this rather annoying issue. (It still lags in 800x600 btw.)

[Simon.]

PC 1 (GeForce 8600GT):

• Resolution: 1600x1050
• Draw Distance: Full
• Visual FX: Very High
• Anti Aliasing: 3

Getting ~47.5 FPS when nothing is loading and frame limiter is off.

 

PC 2 (GeForce 6200):

• Resolution: 1280x1024
• Draw Distance: Full
• Visual FX: Low
• Anti-Aliasing: 0

Getting ~30 FPS when nothing is loading and frame limiter is off, the specs for PC 2 are:

• Windows XP
• nVidia GeForce 6200 128 MB
• AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.01GHz
• 512 MB RAM

If I knock PC 1 down to the same settings as PC 2 then it still lags, with that much difference in specs it should be flying .

 

I've tried all your advice but sadly I still don't have a good result. The AMD Dual Core optimizer doesn't even want to start after installing it.

 

edit: I've solved my problem (I should have tried it earlier). I disabled my antivirus, which was Trend Micro PC-cillin and it worked fine, I then installed Norton 360 and it works fine also.

Edited November 7, 2007 by Simon.

[Ring_of_Fire]

Your GeForce 8600GT is a powerful graphics card than my Radeon X1950 PRO, but not by much. http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=513&card2=466 The Radeon X1950 XT can beat your 8600GT in some games.

 

Anyway, are you guys overdoing the settings in ForceWare Control Panel then? That can cause tremendous conflicts with San Andreas' Display settings and possibly downgraded performance.

 

 

(It still lags in 800x600 btw.)

Try to only delete the [.set] file (this will give you 640x480 and other lower graphics settings) and play the game immediately! If it lags if you move around, etc. then it's your hard drive bottlenecking everything. I recommend a WD Raptor X 10000 RPM SATA. EDIT: Simon came up with a surprising fix!

 

 

edit: I've solved my problem (I should have tried it earlier). I disabled my antivirus, which was Trend Micro PC-cillin and it worked fine, I then installed Norton 360 and it works fine also.

The forums here always recommend closing down non-essential processes by the way. What happen is that when it is checking for updates or scanning, this puts a lot of stress on the hard drive and/or CPU.

 

 

I disabled my antivirus, which was Trend Micro PC-cillin and it worked fine

Disabling wasn't necessary. Only disable the features for the antivirus except the real-time antivirus blocker. Things like automatic updating and scanning.

 

 

 

It's very easy to tell if something is causing lag in the background:

 

1. Excessive hard drive flashing and/or noise.

2. The framerate in FRAPS shows ridiculous drops in the FPS for no reason.

3. Press Alt+Tab, CTRL+Alt+Del, or on the Windows key to go back to the desktop to check what's happening.

Edited November 7, 2007 by Ring_of_Fire

[klebs89]

Alright, heres what else I did.

Tried disabling the antivirus, as well as every other running program, no go.

It does not lag in 640x480. I also doubt its a hard drive issue as there's no reason why san andreas would bottleneck a 7200rpm sata hardrive. (Almost no hard drive flashing btw).

Finally my forceware settings for san andreas are all global defaults.

If anyone has any more ideas, I'd be happy to hear them, and thanks in advance.

[Ring_of_Fire]

 

It runs very choppily on a system where that should not be happening.

What do you call choppy? I hope you don't call 25fps choppy when the frame limiter is enabled. You can turn it off but it shouldn't make a difference if your computer cannot maintain 25-30fps or above. If you think 25 fps is choppy, then disable frame limiter.

 

 

It does not lag in 640x480.

Try using a resolution of 1280x1024 and do not turn on antialiasing! Reduce draw distance and the texture fx quality. If it is not choppy at 1280x1024, then slightly max out the AA, draw distance, and the texture fx quality.

 

 

What does antialiasing mean ?

Go research that on Google, and take at look at your SA Display Settings.

Edited November 7, 2007 by Ring_of_Fire

[Bad~Boy#17]

Try using a resolution of 1280x1024 and do not turn on antialiasing!

What does antialiasing mean ?

[Girish]

Try using a resolution of 1280x1024 and do not turn on antialiasing!

What does antialiasing mean ?

Read this to understand anti aliasing.

[Ring_of_Fire]

 

I believe it is a dual core issue as San Andreas has issues with other dual cores.

It's not a dual-core issue. I'd think the game would run much faster that way. People on this forum complain that dual-cored processors cause the game to run at lightning speeds!

 

 

btw, it runs fine on my other vista machine, which is not a dual-core

What's the specs of your other machine - is it much weaker than your current one? If it is, what settings are being used? I'd try to use the same settings like on the weaker machine.

 

I am having lag issues too and I think it is just how the way the game's engine was created. You have like 2GBs of RAM and a very good CPU at the same time. So this is definitely a hard drive and display settings problem. WD Raptor X 10000RPM is sweet because sometimes the game doesn't use up all the RAM! But please don't try and overdo the settings as your 8600GT cannot handle all the stress, and remember you're running this game on Vista and not XP so you'll need more processing power.

 

 

Read this to understand anti aliasing

This explains it better: http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_11.html

Edited November 8, 2007 by Ring_of_Fire