Baaaad frame rates

[butcherbird]

Alright, I am hoping that someone has a good idea.
Defcon is unplayable on my machine. The FPS display in game ranges from 1 to 4 FPS. This is with every graphics option turned off, or down. Audio settings turned down, and with the resolution set as low as it will go.
Here are my system stats:

AMD Opteron 2.2GHz Dual Core Proc
2 gig RAM
ASUS NForce 4 Mobo
ASUS 8800GTS w/320Mb VRAM
Directx 9.0c

I have already changed the affinity to use only one core for the defcon process, as well as changing the priority. These things were suggested in other forum posts. Unfortunately, they didn't help in the least.
I also updated my video drivers. Updated them to 169.74, and then in complete frustration I am now running beta Forceware drivers from 3DGuru, so they are Forceware 171.23. Mind you, I ran multiple driver cleaning apps to completely purge my machine of old drivers.

I have the most updated mobo drivers (manufacturers website) and the lasted audio drivers (Realtek website).

Nothing has worked. Pretty much the only thing that I have not done is update the BIOS. I have the latest BIOS version that is not a Beta, and I will be damned if flash my BIOS with a beta.

I have searched these forums for anything relating to frame rates, and tried the suggestions therein. No dice.

I really hope that someone has an idea about this. I really want to play this game, but it is getting to point where I am ready to set it on fire and call it even.

Thanks.

[frenchfrog]

Have you tried any other OpenGl games?

In which resolution do you play Defcon?

[butcherbird]

Good question, and to answer it, Doom 3 bombs on me. Get this error:
ERROR: The current video card / driver combination does not support the necessary features.

I had suspected that it may have been OpenGL, but that pretty much confirms it. That totally pisses me off though.

Just to be on the safe side, I removed the beta drivers, and went back to the FW 169.21 set, and get the same error message. I am about to give the 163.44 drivers a spin and see what the does for me.

Hopefully that will fix the issue. Will drop a post with what I find out.

Oh, and I tried a slew of resolutions. Native for my monitor is 1680x1050 (20in widescreen), but I must have tried 3 or 4 different ones, to include 800x600, and I think my FPS may have jumped to 5

[butcherbird]

Nope, installing the 163.44 drivers didn't work either.
Just on a whim I reinstalled DirectX as well.

Defcon stills runs like garbage, and Doom3 still refuses to start. Same error message.

Not sure what to do next.

[NeoThermic]

Sounds *very* much like it thinks software rendering is running. Try this quick application:
http://www.neothermic.com/darwinia/Open ... ngDump.zip

paste the resulting text file here, lets see what is up

NeoThermic

[butcherbird]

"Failed to get address of glBindBufferARB function
Failed to find GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object support


Supported Extensions:
GL_WIN_swap_hint GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_paletted_texture
Renderer:
GDI Generic
Version:
1.1.0
Vender:
Microsoft Corporation"

[NeoThermic]

Code: Select all

Failed to get address of glBindBufferARB function
Failed to find GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object support


Supported Extensions:
GL_WIN_swap_hint GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_paletted_texture
Renderer:
GDI Generic
Version:
1.1.0
Vender:
Microsoft Corporation

I can honestly say that was expected, but I was hoping not

Anyway, looks like your graphics card driver isn't installed correctly. I know this can be a pain if you've already done it, but this time we need to nuke it fully.
Follow the removal guide here, including the removal of the registry keys. Re-install the newest drivers, and then see if OpenGL games run fast (or run my little app again and see if it reports something other than GDI Generic as the renderer).

NeoThermic

[butcherbird]

Same deal my friend.
Here is what I did.

1. Add/Remove Programs -> Removed Nvidia display drivers.
2. Restarted machine -> Searched for and deleted all instances of nv4_disp.dll.
3. Ran RegCleaner, and there were no entries for for NVidia, besides the ones relating to my NForce motherboard. Removed entries for PNY (maker of video card. I was wrong above )
4. Ran regedit, and checked the key mentioned in the guide your provided, and there was no string for Global. Searched rest of registry for entries for video drivers, and could not find anything.
5. Restarted computer
6. Ran Driver Sweeper, and removed all NVidia video drivers
7. Restarted computer.
8. Ran install for ForceWare 169.21 drivers.
9. Restarted computer.
10. Ran your utility, and it produced the same log.
11. Tried to start Doom 3, and it produced the same error.
12. Ran Defcon; had same kind of frame rate issues.
13. Write this post, and start whining

You seem to be the Man (or Woman) on these forums NeoThermic. Hoping you have another idea.
Thanks for the help so far.

[butcherbird]

(Queue Rocky music)

Alright, it works now! I am so damn excited. Here is how I fixed it:

After posting my last message, I started searching the intrawebs for OpenGL errors, and found this on a 3D Realms forum:

"...drivers for my motherboard were conflicting with my Video card drivers. so i unistalled the Asus Enhanced display Drivers and my Nvidia drivers..."

And of course I have an Asus motherboard, so I checked and sure enough I had the Asus Enhanced Display Drivers. Uninstalled them, and then uninstalled the display drivers, and then restarted. Re-installed the FW 169.21 drivers, and then restarted my machine.

After it booted, ran your (Neothermic) OpenGL tool, and the renderer showed up as my video card. Ran Doom 3 and it ran. Ran Defcon, and it was as smooth as butter at max resolution, with all graphics options turned on.

Sweet

So if anyone else gets on here with an Asus mobo and crappy frame rates, tell them to uninstall the Asus Enhanced Display Driver since it borks OpenGL.

Thanks everyone for your help!!