Ania on 11/11/2006 at 21:03
Hello,
I do hope someone will be able to help me. I actually got a whole new computer so that I could play Oblivion- that was back in June. The old computer was getting rather elderly- last time I upgraded it was so I could play Morrowind! Anyway, it was a lovely shiny new 64 bit system, custom built by my very-experienced-in-these-matters mate, and Oblivion worked like a dream. The only thing I turned down was shadows on grass, because it made things lag when fighting outdoors. Everything else ran happily on 1024x760 res and on max or nearly max settings.
Then in August the hard drive (a Maxtor) died. After months of hassle (I kid you not!) they finally sent a replacement (another Maxtor) which promptly broke as soon as Win XP was installed. It was a mechanical fault- it made a horrid clicking noise, too. I was by then so pissed off that I ordered a new HDD from another retailer, and this time went for a Western Digital one with comparable specs and same speed.
Now Oblivion has become slow. Actually, the gameplay is not much slower most of the time, but loading times have become unacceptably long, both when loading saves and when loading interiors/exteriors/the next screen. I can wonder off, put the kettle on, go to the loo... When I get back, it might have loaded. Then it freezes when I look around. Then it sorts itself out and plays fine until next time the screen changes. Argh!
Yesterday I loaded a demo of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and the loading times were even longer! I can't think why this is happening. But then I am not an expert.
My system has an AMD 64 bit 3800 processor, 512 mb XFX graphics card and a gig of RAM. The OS is a legal and updated copy of Win XP. It has no viruses- it isn't even comnnected to the internet- I disabled everything running in the background (that I knew I could- basically Norton AV and Internet Security)- I defragged it, which helped a little with DMoM&M loading times, but not with Oblivion.
Any ideas, anyone?
Thanks
Ania
Renzatic on 12/11/2006 at 02:57
When you bought your new harddrive, did you look at the specs beyond brand name and disk size? Though they're hard as hell to find for desktops nowadays, it's possible you could've picked up a cheapie 5400 RPM drive.
Ania on 12/11/2006 at 12:04
It was supposed to be the same speed (7200) as the old one so unless they sent me a wrong one it's not that. This is what I paid for: (
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=253981)
Actually, I was playing yesterday and the loading times were not quite as long to begin with but then got longer as I kept playing. Maybe the answer is to switch off and back on every so often. Unsatisfactory but practical.
I have a few mods, but only the ones from the official Bethesda site at the mo.
Anyway, I'll report on my progress or lack of it.
Ania
Rogue Keeper on 14/11/2006 at 07:50
Your virtual memory settings are the same as with your previous XP installation?
Not that it would be a big deal with 1GB ram, but it's always good to have enough VM space.
Slither on 15/11/2006 at 20:13
Right-click on My Computer, choose the Hardware tab, then the Device Manager. Expand the IDE controller and double-click on whichever channel points to the harddrive in question (primary, secondary, whatever). Go to the Advanced Settings tab and make sure the transfer mode is DMA. Sometimes XP will default back to PIO, which is much slower.
