Strange Issue with Vsync

[sixfoot6]

Hello again.

Does this game somehow handle VSYNC differently than most?

My wife's computer is finally playable with a number of tweaks/updates, but VSYNC is completely bugged out. I tested it on several other games, and it behaves as expected (holds up FPS to display the entire screen at once, thus eliminatiing tearing).

However, in TQ, enabling VSYNC, while eliminating tearing, adds a very strange SKIPPING to the animations. Everything moves in BURSTS, followed by a jitter or skip.

For example, just at the loading screen, the birds fly by smoothly several inches, then skip ahead an inch, then smootly again. The flag billows softly, then skips a beat, then billows again. Etc Etc.

Disabling VSYNC eliminates this SKIPPING, however then you're subjected to pretty significant tearing. I still think there's an underlying graphic engine issue to be addressed, because my wife's computer's performance is much worse, though similarly specced, to mine beside it.

I just thought I'd raise this flag to the developers trying to figure out fixes to the problems people are having. VSYNC, whether engaged in game or through the video card control panel, is not behaving properly on some systems (I have vsync enabled on *my* system, and all is fine).

SPECS:
Dual Core 2.8 Pentium (ran the game w/ 1 core disabled, same issue)
945P chipset
1gig RAM
stock 6800 256meg card
Onboard SigmaTel Sound

[Polemidas]

so what exactly did you do to get her game running? i know that mine and your wifes computers have been close in problems. any help would be great.

[n8iLLiES]

During the "skipping" are you having a high amount of HDD access activity? There is a slight possibility that you needs to set your pagefile to a larger size plus a good defrag. Also, which drivers are you running? Finally, do you use nHancer to enable VSYNC, nVIDIA's ForceWare control panel, or the game option?

[buzzin]

i noticed this same issue. geforce 7800 256MB. i will try increase swap file.

[sixfoot6]

Ok, couple things then.

Please keep in mind that I have TQ running on *my* machine flawlessly. I get a bit of a FPS drop around fires, and a bit at night, but basically it's pretty damn good. My wife's computer is the one with the issues. Her specs are above.

I downloaded Intel's newest chipset drivers. I grabbed the newest SigmaTel Audio drivers I could find. I disabled Vsync. All settings on Medium, otherwise. I settled on 1280x800 resolution on her 2005 Dell Widescreen Monitor. Performance is still less than I'd expect (based on my performance on my other system) but is playable. The screen tearing due to no Vsync is pretty disturbing though (but we were able to have a fun night of COOP last night).

I'm running the latest WQL drivers for her 6800 off the Nvidia site. She gets the baloon, so maybe I'll grab the betas?

I don't run Nhancer, but it sounds pretty interesting. What sorts of things do you tweak between games though? She mostly plays TQ, WoW, and Oblivion.

I tried setting VSYNC on/off through the Nvidia diplay panel and the game itself (in all combinations) and recieved the same skipping results regardless of which was forcing it.

Her page file is pretty huge, though the number escapes me. I checked it to make sure at one point. I think it was in the 2gig range. I didn't notice any HD thrashing during the skipping, but keep in mind this skipping occurs once or twice a second even at the load screen, even after 5 minutes (where no new information should be swapping on and off the HD anyways).

I have the Coolbits tweak running, and tried the Read Ahead from 0-3 (default) with no luck. I also ran it with the tweak disabled.

There are certainly two issues going on, and they are probably related. One is the strangely low performance from a "recommended" machine (playable, now), and the second is the skipping that shows up when Vysnc is enabled (not playable).

I'm sure both could stem from some sort of onboard sound issue (although I did load and play the game with the onboard sound completely disabled, and had the same skipping), or perhaps the 945P chipset, or something else altogether different. I was suspicious at first that it was a dual core issue (since that's what differs most from her computer and mine), but I played the game with a core disabled, and had the same issue. So unless its a setting placed during setup (when the computer was in dual core mode) that carries over even if you disable a core... I dunno.

Thanks for the input. If you have anything to add, please do. If I can help, please ask.

[n8iLLiES]

Hmm. I tried disabling VSYNC myself but the game looked horrible so I left it on. I would definately give nHancer a shot, WoW, I'm sure, runs just fine on that setup but you could more than likely pull some extra FPS in Oblivion. As for the freezing issue, it may be related to the BIOS settings or mixture of the chipset and the video card/sound card. What are your chipset settings in relation to your video card and on-board sound?

[sixfoot6]

N8, I'd love to be more specific, but we might be getting over my head here. I've grabbbed the newest Intel 945P chipset drivers, but I haven't managed any setting on it. The BIOS is set up very generally (its a DELL). Where are the chipset settings/options located?

Also keep in mind that Vsync does not cause this SKIPPING in WoW or Oblivion (or NWN or Sims2 or any other game she's been playing), so it would seem strange to me that the problem was specific to my hardware settings, but I'm always open to poking around.