VOGONS

Common searches


First post, by dudulinek

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Hello there. Built windows 98 machine and iam getting around 20 FPS in Halo Combat evolved. Is this normal for this machine or iam doin something wrong?
Win 98SE, Pentium 4 2.4GHz, 1GB RAM, Inno3D FX 5500 256MB, DX 9.0b and nvidia drivers 81.98. Halo is first game running very bad on this machine. Tried many other games without problems.
Dont understand why halo run so bad this is minimum system req:

Halo: Combat Evolved System Requirements (Minimum)

CPU: Pentium II or Athlon equivalent
CPU SPEED: 733 MHz
RAM: 128 MB
OS: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP (95 & NT not supported)
VIDEO CARD: 32 MB Video Card, T&L Capable
TOTAL VIDEO RAM: 32 MB
3D: Yes
HARDWARE T&L: Yes
DIRECTX VERSION: 8.1
SOUND CARD: Yes
FREE DISK SPACE: 1.2 GB
CD-ROM: 8x speed or faster CD-ROM drive

Halo: Combat Evolved Recommended Requirements

CPU: Pentium 4 or Athlon XP
CPU SPEED: 1.5 GHz
RAM: 512 MB
OS: Windows 2000/XP
VIDEO CARD: 64 MB DirectX 9.0 compliant Video Card with Hardware T&L
TOTAL VIDEO RAM: 64 MB
3D: Yes
HARDWARE T&L: Yes
PIXEL SHADER: 2.0
VERTEX SHADER: 2.0
DIRECTX VERSION: 9.0
SOUND CARD: Yes
FREE DISK SPACE: 2 GB
CD-ROM: 8x speed or faster CD-ROM drive

Reply 2 of 12, by auron

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

have you installed the proper .inf update for your chipset?

even then, i think there's an issue of expectations here; halo on PC didn't run great back in the day. you also didn't mention what resolution you are trying to run at, i think 640x480 with at least 30fps should be doable on that card.

Reply 3 of 12, by dudulinek

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
auron wrote on 2021-02-03, 22:31:

have you installed the proper .inf update for your chipset?

even then, i think there's an issue of expectations here; halo on PC didn't run great back in the day. you also didn't mention what resolution you are trying to run at, i think 640x480 with at least 30fps should be doable on that card.

yes chipset already installed. Ill try 640x480 what happen ... i thing better use my windows xp machine Athlon 64 4GB RAM, 1GB radeon card...

UPDATE: 640x480 is also bad 😁 is same fps like 800x600

MrEWhite wrote on 2021-02-03, 22:29:

oh! hmmm maybe too low card and old system

but still ... dont understand system requirements 😁

Last edited by dudulinek on 2021-02-03, 23:18. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 4 of 12, by auron

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

the minimum requirements just mirror the xbox specs, expect for the 128 mb ram requirement, which is due to windows OS overhead.

game runs at 640x480 pretty much locked 30fps on xbox i believe. it is probably better optimized for the hardware than on PC though which is why you might be getting worse results than that with faster hardware on paper.

Reply 5 of 12, by DosFreak

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Halo was poorly optimized. Sounds about right for an FX. Lower the res and details and should be playable depending on what playable is for you.

In Feb 2003 I owned the following and don't remember having any issues when the game came out later that year but the game was forgettable anyway heh.

Monitor =Sony E500 21"
Speakers =Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 THX Certified 6 piece Personal Audio System
Mouse =Microsoft Intellimouse Optical SE (PS2)
Joystick =Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback 2 (USB1)
Gamepad =Logitech Wingman Rumplepad (USB1)
Keyboard =Microsoft Office Keyboard USB & PS/2 v1.0a (PS2)
Case =Coolermaster ATCS-110 w/Enermax EG651P 550W PSU w/ Variable Fan
Motherboard=ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
Processor =AMD Athlon XP 2800+ @2.25ghz 2x166X13.5
Cooling =Alpha PAL8045
Memory =Corsair 512MB XMS3200 DDR CAS2 (2 512mb DIMMS=1GB)
Video =ATI Radeon 9700 Pro Retail Core=324mhz Memory=310.50Mhz
Floppy =3.5"

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Make your games work offline

Reply 6 of 12, by weldum

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

in a similar machine , with windows xp and a FX5200, i get around 7 fps with everything maxxed out at 640x480, while in my gf6200 i get over 30 fps
this game is known to use shader 2.0, the weak point of the fx series, even an gf4 series card will run it better simply because it uses an older shader 1.1, while it'll look like xbox´s original version

DT: R7-5800X3D/R5-3600/R3-1200/P-G5400/FX-6100/i3-3225/P-8400/D-900/K6-2_550
LT: C-N2840/A64-TK57/N2600/N455/N270/C-ULV353/PM-1.7/P4-2.6/P133
TC: Esther-1000/Esther-400/Vortex86-366
Others: Drean C64c/Czerweny Spectrum 48k/Talent MSX DPC200/M512K/MP475

Reply 7 of 12, by darry

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Maybe try it with the -use11 option to force shader version 1.1 use

1.1.2 How do I force the game to use a different rendering code path?

You force Halo to use a difference rendering code path by adding an argument to its command line. The arguments are -use20, -use14, -use11 and -useff. For example, to force Halo to run in PS1.4 mode, you would launch Halo by typing: “halo.exe -use14”. If you are using the shortcut installed on your desktop, follow these steps to add an argument to your shortcut:
Right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties.
In the target field, you will see “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe” (assuming you’ve installed in the default directory). Add -use14 at the end of it.

From http://halo.bungie.org/misc/halopcperformancefaq.html

Reply 8 of 12, by auron

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

actually i had forgotten about that PS 1.4/2.0 usage in halo, for whatever that does... there's also the issue of animations being capped at 30fps and missing effects, now i remember how how lackluster that port was.

someone tested PS 1.1 vs 2.0 on an fx5200 and there seems to be barely any difference.

Reply 9 of 12, by dudulinek

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
darry wrote on 2021-02-04, 01:32:
Maybe try it with the -use11 option to force shader version 1.1 use […]
Show full quote

Maybe try it with the -use11 option to force shader version 1.1 use

1.1.2 How do I force the game to use a different rendering code path?

You force Halo to use a difference rendering code path by adding an argument to its command line. The arguments are -use20, -use14, -use11 and -useff. For example, to force Halo to run in PS1.4 mode, you would launch Halo by typing: “halo.exe -use14”. If you are using the shortcut installed on your desktop, follow these steps to add an argument to your shortcut:
Right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties.
In the target field, you will see “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe” (assuming you’ve installed in the default directory). Add -use14 at the end of it.

From http://halo.bungie.org/misc/halopcperformancefaq.html

already tried command line options ... nothing work. Same result.

i just installed WXP SP2 to my other machine Athlon 64 3000+, MB Asrock 939N68PV-GLAN, 2GB DDR 400MHz and AMD Radeon HD6570 1G
Halo runing smooth 60FPS with vsync on with everything HIGH / ON. Happy now. For my W98 machine need older games 😁

it look fine 😀

Last edited by dudulinek on 2021-02-04, 04:47. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 10 of 12, by SPBHM

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

on the FX5900SE I could notice a performance gain by forcing shader 1.1 no doubt
actually in this game the FX is a little poor in general, I think it REALLY benefits from the next gen of cards (geforce 6)

P4 2.4Ghz is going to hold performance in some situations also.

the Xbox era games are very heavy for the lower end hardware of the time, you might look at official minimums and the Xbox hardware (GF3, p3 733) and think it's going to be OK, but for a constant performance you often need a huge amount more than that,

Reply 12 of 12, by gerry

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
dudulinek wrote on 2021-02-03, 23:08:

oh! hmmm maybe too low card and old system

but still ... dont understand system requirements 😁

minimum system requirements were always too low to actually play the game satisfactorily in my view - the game would indeed 'run' but only with lowest settings and an acceptance of total slow down if there was anything like an explosion or any 'many moving things on screen' situation

even on very powerful systems there are sometimes moments, such as the presence of 'smoke', in a game that grind it down

anyway, I always went with the idea that recommended specifications were the one that should be adhered to