Dussander on 5/6/2008 at 11:30
Hola
I recently changed my graphics card as my old 9800 Pro was dying of a graphical glitch. I decided to get a low-end card temporarily as I will be upgrading everything at the end of the year. I chose the ATI HD 2400 Pro because of the price and the reviews said it can run games before 2005 well. I love my old games so running those was top priority. After a lot of driver problems in the beginning, I got the 8.5 latest driver installed and due to the huge hassle I've had with drivers (the 7.x range in particular, seemingly incompatible with an AGP card like mine), I'm not really prepared to change drivers again until I get my new system. My motherboard drivers are up to date. I have XP with service pack 2.
I tested the following games once the driver was installed:
GTA San Andreas (worked well, minimum lag)
GTA Vice City (worked perfectly, large graphical improvements)
Thief Deadly Shadows (worked well, some minor glitches possibly due to version 1.1, which I haven't played yet)
Worms 2 (ran perfectly)
Discworld Noir (ran OK)
Caesar IV (ran OK)
Thief 2 / Thief 2x / Thief 2 fan missions:
I tested 3 original missions, 1 T2X mission and 1 small FM. The result was heavy lagging and low frame rates. As a measure: starting Framed and getting to the first metal door took me about 35-40 seconds instead of >5. I'm counting 1-3 frames per second. However, some places are better than others. In Framed if I faced the floor on the outside my framerate was back to normal, if I poked my head up it slowed right down again. In the same mission, in the cafe, behind the bar facing the back my framerate was OK, but facing the other way was crawls-ville. Same story in other parts of the mission, some rooms I had normal or OK frame rates & facing the floor got me normal frame rates. The whole sewer system in Framed was lag free, until I got to that big machine.
The cursor in the menus flashes a lot & sometimes lags. Level loading is unaffected.
I have tried:
Lowering resolution (no effect)
Turning off weather (no effect)
Turning off fog (no effect)
Adjusted gamma (no effect)
Installed the latest version of ddfix (no effect)
Removed EP texture pack (no effect)
Closed all other non-essential applications (no effect)
Changed thief2.exe's compatibility mode to '98 (crashed) and 2000 (no effect)
Haven't tried: reinstalling T2, as there are so many scripts and customised files I don't want to do it unless I have to...
In summary, nothing seems to work, and I need some help :(
Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do? I don't think I can last 6-12 months without my favourite game :tsktsk:
Hiatus on 5/6/2008 at 13:02
here we go...
(some) older DX games (like Thief or Gothic 2) lagginess on HD2xxx/HD3xxx series is a known issue (see a few links in this thread: (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121554) - for example: (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121487) and (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121344) ). It's ATI driver bug most likely (only present on 2xxx/3xxx series, presumably). I know it's a bit too late, but buying X1xxx series card would have been *much* better choice re older games compatibility (I got one and have no probs).
A few things to suggest for you to try/do:
- get Fraps and measure/report here exactly how many fps you got in there places in
Framed you described (esp. at the start of mission). Also check your fps in
Shipping ... and Receiving mission, near/facing the ship (and check/report if using ddfix 1.1.1 helps with lag/fps here (and how much) - see below).
- search for Catalyst 8.5 hotfix driver and install it (it's for AGP cards like yours). Problems you describe (lag) might be connected to AGP (texturing) not working correctly with normal Cat 8.5 (does not hurt to try). You can install it over normal Cat 8.5 (no need to uninstall)
- please check/report if you got same/similar lag/low fps issues in vanilla T2 (without ddfix applied). Vanilla T2 will look awfully on your card but test lag/fps issue there anyway (just to confirm it's not ddfix but drivers related)
- download ddfix 1.1.1 from Timeslip website (this particular version!) and try it if it helps with lag/low fps (ddfix 1.0/1.1 uses DX9 instead of DX6 with which ATI has driver problems). Report back if using this version helps with lag/low fps (it should but be aware that it has a few known issues like broken fog and some pixelation etc)
- please list the rest of your rig, esp. CPU type/speed, mainboard chipset and amount of RAM.
242 on 7/6/2008 at 12:56
Dussander, to sum up what Hiatus wrote:
Slowness of T1/2 on HD2xx0/3xx0 is a known problem, but don't worry ;)
Presumably it's a certain general Catalyst problem with DX6 and maybe DX7 applications.
Here is a great solution.
Use DDFix 1.1.1 (DX9) for Thief2
1.1.1 uses DX9 while newer versions use DX6.
With 1.1.1, T2 as well as T2 FMs work great, speed is normal, no fog though (that's one of the reasons TimeSlip reverted to older DX in later versions of DDfix).
Use any later DDFix (DX6) for Thief1/G .
The reason is that with 1.1.1 there is a major problem with lightgem rendering in T1/G. The problem is absent with DX6 ddfixes and in the same time the speed is satisfactory, unlike DX6 ddfix & T2 case.
Dussander on 7/6/2008 at 17:24
Thanks for the advice...
I downloaded 1.1.1 but I noticed there isn't a GUI version. I don't really feel confident in installing the manual one. Would it be possible if I gave my thief2.exe to someone that they could make the changes?
Thanks again
242 on 7/6/2008 at 19:56
Quote Posted by Dussander
Thanks for the advice...
I downloaded 1.1.1 but I noticed there isn't a GUI version. I don't really feel confident in installing the manual one. Would it be possible if I gave my thief2.exe to someone that they could make the changes?
Thanks again
PM me your email and I'll send the GUI version.
bikerdude on 9/6/2008 at 12:37
If this has been mentioned already, apologies..
The HD2400 is a low end card, and I would take an educated guess and say its slower than your 9800 pro(hi-end at the time) in all but the newest games..
biker
Dussander on 9/6/2008 at 16:19
Nah, it's about the same as the Pro 9800, in some cases better. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a card I'd only use for 6 months.
Dussander on 14/6/2008 at 12:33
Quote Posted by 242
PM me your email and I'll send the GUI version.
I'm afraid I never received that email, could you send it again?
242 on 14/6/2008 at 13:13
Quote Posted by Dussander
I'm afraid I never received that email, could you send it again?
I sent you the email with archived (zip) attachment from gmail account. Maybe your mail server considered it spam or virus? Other people receive my emails with attachments without probs, so I know gmail server works properly.
