PIT Perfect

by **Kaminari** » 2003-4-04 @ 02:14

Paul,

The second pollpipe.dll makes the sound stutter again. Moreover, it slows down the game (TR, TRUB, Redguard) to a crawl after a while -- much like one of the previous test dlls you posted on the forum a while back.

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-04 @ 08:06

Kaminari wrote:Paul,

The second pollpipe.dll makes the sound stutter again. Moreover, it slows down the game (TR, TRUB, Redguard) to a crawl after a while -- much like one of the previous test dlls you posted on the forum a while back.

That's strange; and that's with ControlJudderFix set back to 1?
It shouldn't be possible for the game to slow down with that setting.

I remember a previous report of games slowing down after about ten minutes, but that was only if a game pad was used, and was traced to a screensaver becoming active. Could you have something running in the background that wakes up after a few minutes?

by **Nicht Sehr Gut** » 2003-4-04 @ 08:13

Originally posted by Glidos [B]I'm a bit worried about nVidia now. I heard the GeforceFX sounds like a vacuum cleaner and can be heard in the next city

Well, what did you expect? That card puts out a ton of heat and plopping a high-powered fan on it is about the only way to keep it from burning up. You want cutting-edge? Sometimes the price you pay isn't measured only in dollars. Besides, its the one card that NVidia fully credits 3dfx/Voodoo tech as being a major part of it (which explains why it kind of reminds me of the Voodoo 5 6000).

Once they are able to go a smaller die, you can expect the cooling requirements to go down as well...

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-04 @ 09:22

I look forward to the smaller die. I couldn't handle the noise: I sit next to my computer most of the day.

by **CraigG** » 2003-4-04 @ 12:07

As far as I'm aware, the Geforce FX is a completely different beast altogether.
Hugely programmable, and extremely different architechture from previous tech.
Hence, a lot of today's games run about on par with a 9700 Pro.

But a lot of people are banging on about AA + AF, a feature that not everyone uses. And it's here that the 9700 shines, but the FX doesn't. And thats where it's getting slated, which is a shame.

A lot people don't understand technology, and because today's games aren't running well, they jump on the NVidia bashing wagon without fully understanding just what they are on about.

Personally, I see it as a step for the future where NVidia will dominate, as they have been brave and done something very different.
The cooling is loud, but not the levels that some have reported.

Ever heard a CPU Delta fan spinning at around 5 - 6000 rpm ?
Then you'll get the picture. It's fairly loud, but not too distracting.

The NV35, is NVidia's fight against ATI. This has better cooling, a 256 bit memory bus, better AA, and so far is about 2x the speed of the FX.

Perhaps the FX was Nvidia's 'Test', to try out the .13 move from .15 to see if it was mature enough (not enough for the FX, hence the shortage). And to see how this new tech runs.

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-04 @ 13:15

Yeh, besides the noise it does sound good, but the noise rules it out for me. I have a flower cooler strapped to my CPU cos ordinary fans drive me mad. I'm considering getting a quieter fan for my GF3 and a quiter PSU too. I guess it matters to some and not others.

Mind you when I have my surround sound system going, I don't care so much about fans (or even jack hammers for that matter).

by **Snover** » 2003-4-05 @ 00:39

Yeah, I need money. So I can get new fans. Because right now my computer runs at about 55-60dBA. Not acceptible. I get my information here.

SeaSonic SS-300 for my PSU (though I might get a PS-400 for the extra wattage, although according to SPCR it only gives it on the 12V line), Thermalright SLK-900U for my heatsink (though I might get the 800/800U for two reasons -- one, according to SPCR, you might need to bend things on the motherboard to fit it in; two, it's WAY over AMD's recommended maximum heatsink weight), and 4 80mm Panaflo fans. (SPCR's site just decided to conspicuously go down so I can't get a link for you on those, but they use them on all their systems as the end-all of quiet fan cooling).

I just bought 3 Zalman fans, which are rated at 28CPM at 20dBA versus 24CPM at 21dBA for the Panaflos, the Thermaltake SLK-800A and a 3g tube of Arctic Silver 3. According to the site the Zalman fans are actually only 20CPM at 20dBA but that shouldn't be a problem, especially considering without transistor they run 39CFM at 34.4dBA. (Quieter than what I've got now, that's for sure.)

by **CraigG** » 2003-4-05 @ 19:11

Yep, I'm with you guys on the noise level.

I'm actually going to a local computer fair tommorow to find out, and possibly get, some silent cooling methods.

At this show, they actually have some Zalman reps there, demoing and selling their latest cooling solutions for the PC.

I'm looking at one of their heat sinks + huge fans that you bracket in the AGP/PCI slot, and it silently blows air over the heat sink. It spins at a near silent 2000 rpm, but because of it's size it manages to shift a fair amount of air around.

by **Snover** » 2003-4-05 @ 20:13

Yeah, they use those for the flower cooling heatsinks (which actually don't work as well as the one I've referenced). They also sell fans that blow over your PCI/AGP components. Or at least, if you've got space.

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-06 @ 10:52

I'm really pleased you are all looking into this. I will probably wait until you've sorted out what's best and then do my machines.

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-06 @ 11:15

Kaminari and DosFreak, would you mind testing Glidos v1.21 with the two files included in the attached archive? I think its a test that you have already done, but I just want to make sure of the results.

by **Kaminari** » 2003-4-06 @ 17:15

Hi Paul,

Sorry for not responding earlier, I've been in a pretty bad shape this week-end... These are the results of my tests with the three pollpipe libraries you posted in this thread:

- The first one works great, the sound is perfect in TR, TRUB and Redguard.

- The second and third versions don't work correctly for me, the sound stuttering reappears in the aforementioned games (like with the dll provided with Glidos 1.21).

by **DosFreak** » 2003-4-06 @ 18:07

I'll take a look tonight. My superefast XP 2800 should do better.

Paul, You should poll your customers to see who has what. Would probably make it easier to develop for them.

Of course it's probably better just to tell 'em to upgrade...especially in the case of emulation.

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-06 @ 18:09

Okay, thanks. I'll have to keep the priority increment in, then. Shame because that stops Descent II working on my system, although only if I have software loaded that communicates with a Symbian OS based mobile phone.

Its games that sit waiting for a key press while not updating any graphics. When the priority is increased, they eat all the CPU and stop the key press messages getting from the Glide window to the DOS windoe - at least I think that's what it going on.

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-06 @ 18:11

Kaminari wrote:Sorry for not responding earlier, I've been in a pretty bad shape this week-end...

Nothing nasty I hope. Hopefully something self inflicted with the aid of alcohol.

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-06 @ 18:14

DosFreak wrote:Paul, You should poll your customers to see who has what. Would probably make it easier to develop for them.

Of course it's probably better just to tell 'em to upgrade...especially in the case of emulation.

Yeh, I should. And maybe poll them for problems they run into.
I don't always get to hear of the non-fatal ones.

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-07 @ 19:21

Think I've got it this time. Please can you do one more test with the attached PollPipe.dll, as usual using v1.21 of Glidos, and a ControlJudderFix value of 1?

by **Kaminari** » 2003-4-08 @ 03:26

Good news: the sound stuttering is gone (again)!

Bad news: I've got a strange side effect in TR/TRUB... Mmm, well - put simply, there's no lighting anymore. The world has turned dark as in a coal mine, except for the immediate surroundings of Lara. Creepy!

Using the old timing method (ControlJudderFix = 2) turns the light on again. I can take a snapshot if you need one. But as far as the sound is concerned, it works like a charm for me (and Redguard is not affected by the 'lighting bug').

PS: I think it was alcohol, but I'm not so sure after a couple of days. Thanks for caring

by **Glidos** » 2003-4-08 @ 06:34

Kaminari wrote:Good news: the sound stuttering is gone (again)!

At last. At last. THis version works for Descent II too.

[B]
Bad news: I've got a strange side effect in TR/TRUB... Mmm, well - put simply, there's no lighting anymore. The world has turned dark as in a coal mine, except for the immediate surroundings of Lara. Creepy!

There is an effect like that you can get from playing two different games without shutting down Glidos in between. Would you mind trying once more, making sure it is from a freshly started Glidos?

[B]
Using the old timing method (ControlJudderFix = 2) turns the light on again. I can take a snapshot if you need one. But as far as the sound is concerned, it works like a charm for me (and Redguard is not affected by the 'lighting bug').

I'm hoping that is because you would have had to restart Glidos after editing Glidos.ini

[B]
PS: I think it was alcohol, but I'm not so sure after a couple of days. Thanks for caring

I did the same Saturday night. I usually catch that point of no return and stop myself, but not this time. I'll never drink again.

by **Nicht Sehr Gut** » 2003-4-08 @ 07:20

Originally posted by Glidos [B]I'll never drink again.

...and this time, he means it. *heh*

PIT Perfect

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