Please Help - DirectX 9.0b and TNT2M64 - now my UT direct3d is choppy
 

I have a TNT2M64 that came with my Dell Dimension 4100. Still using
original drivers (tried updating to detonator back a couple years ago
and got BSOD's, so I went back to original). Was on Directx 8.1 for
several months and all has been PEACHY with drivers and directx.
Now the "fun" begins...

Microsoft Windows Update informed me that my version of Directx 8.1
had "security gaps" and advised me to update to 9.0b. So, in
stupidity, I listened to Microsoft. Everything appears ok, except
UNREAL TOURNAMENT. In UT, my frame rates are now dropping everywhere
(in some cases to 9 fps). Even when playing with no bots on my pc in
practice mode, standard maps in direct3d are choppy.

I used "directx eradicator" to take off directx then subsequently
reinstalled the Microsoft versions of directx from dx7, dx8, dx8.1,
dx9.0b and each time all were still choppy and dropping frames.
dxdiag says all is fine!

Should I reinstall UT? Should I install nvidia's newest detonator FX
driver - or should I install the nvidia 30.82 WHQL driver - or should
I install the 3 year old driver in the support.dell.com downloads?

Please help/advise. Thank you.



-BobNoxious
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dimension 4100 Series,Pentium III at 733 MHz,
MS Windows 98 SE,
128MB RAM-512MB crucial RAM,
NVIDIA TNT2 M64 (32MB) AGP,
20.4GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive
8x/4x/32x CD-RW,
DVD ROM with Software Decoding,
SB LIVE! Value Digital,
NIC Card w/ RoadRunner Cable Modem,
HP Deskjet 970cse,
HP Laserjet 6.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Update your motherboard chipset drivers. You probably have an Intel
chipset, but check the documentation that came with your PC or check the
Dell site to be sure.

Joe

"[___]BobNoxious" wrote in message
m...
I have a TNT2M64 that came with my Dell Dimension 4100. Still using
original drivers (tried updating to detonator back a couple years ago
and got BSOD's, so I went back to original). Was on Directx 8.1 for
several months and all has been PEACHY with drivers and directx.
Now the "fun" begins...

Microsoft Windows Update informed me that my version of Directx 8.1
had "security gaps" and advised me to update to 9.0b. So, in
stupidity, I listened to Microsoft. Everything appears ok, except
UNREAL TOURNAMENT. In UT, my frame rates are now dropping everywhere
(in some cases to 9 fps). Even when playing with no bots on my pc in
practice mode, standard maps in direct3d are choppy.

I used "directx eradicator" to take off directx then subsequently
reinstalled the Microsoft versions of directx from dx7, dx8, dx8.1,
dx9.0b and each time all were still choppy and dropping frames.
dxdiag says all is fine!

Should I reinstall UT? Should I install nvidia's newest detonator FX
driver - or should I install the nvidia 30.82 WHQL driver - or should
I install the 3 year old driver in the support.dell.com downloads?

Please help/advise. Thank you.



-BobNoxious
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dimension 4100 Series,Pentium III at 733 MHz,
MS Windows 98 SE,
128MB RAM-512MB crucial RAM,
NVIDIA TNT2 M64 (32MB) AGP,
20.4GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive
8x/4x/32x CD-RW,
DVD ROM with Software Decoding,
SB LIVE! Value Digital,
NIC Card w/ RoadRunner Cable Modem,
HP Deskjet 970cse,
HP Laserjet 6.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Also noticed one more symptom last night: When I am loading web
pages (cable modem), the mouse movement is laggy/ not 100% responsive
/ until the page and images are completely loaded.



-BobNoxious
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dimension 4100 Series,Pentium III at 733 MHz,
MS Windows 98 SE,
128MB RAM-512MB crucial RAM,
NVIDIA TNT2 M64 (32MB) AGP,
20.4GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive
8x/4x/32x CD-RW,
DVD ROM with Software Decoding,
SB LIVE! Value Digital,
NIC Card w/ RoadRunner Cable Modem,
HP Deskjet 970cse,
HP Laserjet 6.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Did you update your motherboard chipset drivers?

It seems like most of your computer's resources are being used. What
programs are being run in the background?

Do you have a firewall like Zone Alarm installed?

Joe

"[___]BobNoxious" wrote in message
om...
Also noticed one more symptom last night: When I am loading web
pages (cable modem), the mouse movement is laggy/ not 100% responsive
/ until the page and images are completely loaded.



-BobNoxious
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dimension 4100 Series,Pentium III at 733 MHz,
MS Windows 98 SE,
128MB RAM-512MB crucial RAM,
NVIDIA TNT2 M64 (32MB) AGP,
20.4GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive
8x/4x/32x CD-RW,
DVD ROM with Software Decoding,
SB LIVE! Value Digital,
NIC Card w/ RoadRunner Cable Modem,
HP Deskjet 970cse,
HP Laserjet 6.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

The NAV was set to scan all downloaded files - that was the delay.
Now I am back to my directx issue.

Lets deal with the chipset first. I am a bit unclear - did you install the
latest chipset driver you got from Dell.

Now to the firewall - if you are not accessing the internet through a
router, which has a built-in firewall, then your internet connection is
wide-open to hackers who can easily access your PC. I have a small network
connected to a router, but both PCs also have Zone Alarm installed as well.
There is a free version of Zone Alarm. I strongly suggest you download and
install it.

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/conten...eeDownload.jsp

Having an anti-virus is a must, but with an always on internet connection so
is a firewall.

Since your internet connection has been wide-open, you might have a load of
Spyware on your PC. SpyBot will get rid of it. It's also free. Spybot
also has an immunize feature that will block a lot of Spyware once your PC
is Spyware free.

http://www.safer-networking.org/

There's one more program - Empty Temp Folders. It's another freebie:

http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/emptemp/

Joe

"[___]BobNoxious" wrote in message
om...
I don't have a firewall, but did a re-install of Norton Antivirus 2000
this weekend too. Perhaps it is scanning everything when stuff is
downloaded from the web? Or - could it be related to the mouse-busy
icon. The busy icon is the waving windows flags(animated) perhaps
this animation is slow due to the directx/video issue. UGHGHGH.

Chipsets... I have Intel Integrated chipset, and I believe with
the A06 bios for the 4100, i have gottent the latest that dell
offered.
Intel 800 Series Integrated Chipset, v. 2.30.021, A04

Lets deal with the chipset first. I am a bit unclear - did you install the
latest chipset driver you got from Dell.

Now to the firewall - if you are not accessing the internet through a
router, which has a built-in firewall, then your internet connection is
wide-open to hackers who can easily access your PC. I have a small network
connected to a router, but both PCs also have Zone Alarm installed as well.
There is a free version of Zone Alarm. I strongly suggest you download and
install it.

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/conten...eeDownload.jsp

Having an anti-virus is a must, but with an always on internet connection so
is a firewall.

Since your internet connection has been wide-open, you might have a load of
Spyware on your PC. SpyBot will get rid of it. It's also free. Spybot
also has an immunize feature that will block a lot of Spyware once your PC
is Spyware free.

http://www.safer-networking.org/

There's one more program - Empty Temp Folders. It's another freebie:

http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/emptemp/

Joe

"[___]BobNoxious" wrote in message
m...
The NAV was set to scan all downloaded files - that was the delay.
Now I am back to my directx issue.

Joe - thank you for your tips. Please see notes below - NAV and video
drivers were the culprits. However I still have some questions
chipset and zonealarm

Chipset
I don't think I updated that -unless it came with a BIOS flash. I was
advised that whether or not I need the chipset drivers depends on
which version of Windows I am running. The chipset drivers are built
in to Windows ME and Windows XP, but not in other versions. Iwould
only need to update the chipset drivers if I have recently reinstalled
one of these other versions and did not install the chipset drivers
when you reinstalled. Please note: this appeared to not be the
problem (see below).

Zone Alarm
Wont that slow down my surfing the web substantially?

The Norton AntiVirus (NAV) re-install had set the system to SCAN all
files downloaded/created from the web. Since IE caches everything,
everything was being scanned - thus the lag with mouse movement during
downloading. I changed my Norton Antivirus setting to not scan
everything - just documents I open or execute. (as well as scan the
tar out of all my email). Now pages are back to loading fine!

With the directx - I went to Nvidia and downloaded the WHQL certified
driver 30.82. Then, I went to my game (UT) and removed the ini files
for the game and my user settings. UT recognized the new drivers -
and does not lag anymore with d3d drawing of walls/textures. I still
don't have the respectable 46fps I had before in utbench (down to
36fps) in medium 800x600 settings - but it is playable. The mouse,
cablemodem, display, audio, all seem to be in order. And - best
thing - it still lets me shutdown/startup/restart with no problems and
no BSOD (my initial fear of not installing new 30.82 driver for
TNT2M64).

So - for now - I wait and see. I am leaning toward a small vid-card
upgrade of that Gainward GF3 ti200. Who knows what new trouble that
will bring - but I think it will let me keep the same driver I am
using (30.82 nvidia)?
-BobNoxious
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dimension 4100 Series,Pentium III at 733 MHz,
MS Windows 98 SE,
128MB RAM-512MB crucial RAM,
NVIDIA TNT2 M64 (32MB) AGP,
Driver: Nvidia 30.82,
DirectX 9.0b,
20.4GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive,
8x/4x/32x CD-RW,
DVD ROM with Software Decoding,
SB LIVE! Value Digital,
MS Optical WheelMouse w/Intellipoint,
NAV 2001,
NIC Card w/ RoadRunner Cable Modem,
HP Deskjet 970cse,
HP Laserjet 6.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are going to upgrade your video card skip the Geforce 3.
Don't buy an mx card.These Geforce 4mx cards are are just hopped up
Geforce2's.
A Geforce 3 is faster than ANY Geforce 4mx and has hardware support for
Directx 8. A geforce4mx supports some Directx 8 features through
software.Get a Geforce 4Ti 4200 or a Geforce 5600, skip the 5200 the ti4200
is faster.