Frame problems with 1964

[Red XIII]

I've listed my specs below. I should have no problem running N64 games smoothly on my setup.. or so I thought. I've tried just about everything to get them running right, but it's beginning to seem impossible. So far, I've tried every available video plugin, and Rice's modified 5.2.0 has worked best for me. With it and with the resolution on any setting, games run at about 20-25 frames/sec. With most video plugins, I get a very bad clipping problem and very choppy framerate.

My sound also glitches out a lot. I discovered that with Azimer's .40 beta it took care of my sound glitches but dropped the frame rate about 5-10/s. I've also tried the RSP plugin, and it's helped in a very minor way.

Does anyone know where my problem lies? The only success I've really had at speeding up the frame rate happened after I lowered the AGP settings on my Radeon from 8x to 4x. It made the games run a little smoother.. say about 5-8 f/s.

Is my computer and card just running at too fast a setting for these games?

 

[jollyrancher]

So far, I've tried every available video plugin, and Rice's modified 5.2.0 has worked best for me. With it and with the resolution on any setting, games run at about 20-25 frames/sec.

Either your're running games with known slowdown, not running the plugins on the default settings, or your computer is seriously jacked.... I mean I can run most games faster than that on a cheap 5 year old laptop with a Rage Pro video card.... I don't even know what to say... something's terribly wrong, but you can start by uninstalling 1964 and reinstalling it with the default settings. Start with Mario64 or something simple and work your way up. If Mario gives you trouble on the default settings then I would check your computer for problems.

 

[Trotterwatch]

Also go to http://www.intel.com see if there are chipset drivers you can install (AGP, IDE etc).

Do you have any benchmarks you could post too? To see whether this is indeed effecting PC games without you knowing it.

 

[Nighty0]

Trotter: Intel don't have and don't need AGP drivers (since my P2's i440DLX chipset)

Red XIII: but i sure too that is a driver problem, verify your driver instalation (i hate dell in this point), download new radeon drivers and install, download new sound card drivers, and verify your directx installation, etc.....

I sure that's not a big problem, but you need a experienced person to see what exactly problem your computer have.

Test with some bench programs like 3Dmark, aquamark, PCmark....

 

[zman]

I wish I had that machine for myself. There is nothing to fast until you have to stop. Really, put the agp to the max man, 8x is good. Here's how to test the emulator. Drop in F-Zero or Super Mario 64 with the azimer's audio and Jabo's Direct3D6 1.5.1 and for configuration make sure it's on Direct3d HaL and basic options. Switch off speed limit with "F9" and also make sure the compiler is on the Default (Dynamic Compiler) and not interpreter as interpreter slow things down a lot. Let the Cpu burn. The Vi's should pop around any from below 60 to 60 (Normal) to in the 100's to 220 which is the max. This will indicate the amount of traffic (instruction code) you cpu is covering. If it likes to stay stable around 60 vi when at rest. There is nothing wrong with the computer. If the vi's hang below 60 vi, something is holding the cpu back, perhaps another program which is constantly running.

 

[Red XIII]

Thanks for the responses.

First off, my computer isn't "jacked." I can run new PC games like Beyond Good and Evil and Return of the King flawlessly. Also, I've tried running the 1964 on another computer identical to mine and had the same problems. On top of that, I've observed another member here with a Radeon 9800 that is having similar problems to me. I'm thinking right now that there must just be some setting on the graphics card that it doesn't like, because I've tried basically everything you guys have suggested so far.

With default settings on the 1964, games didn't run as well. Only after I started using Rice's modified radeon plugin(5.2.0) did I start to notice the clipping problem going away and the frame rate smoothing out a little.

So far...

I've downloaded the new catalyst driver for the Radeon.
I've uninstalled and re-installed the emulators.
I've double checked the rom to make sure it's not a bad rom.
I've tried the Rice's, Jabo's, glN64 video plugins.
I've tried Schibo's, Azimer's, and the RSP plugin.

It's not just the 1964, however. Project 64 has even worse problems.

The game I'm trying to run smooth is Banjo Kazooie. It ran at about 15 frames/second on the Project 64 with default settings and about 20-25 frames/second on the 1964 with default settings. I'm thinking it should be up around 60 with my setup.

I wish I had that machine for myself. There is nothing to fast until you have to stop. Really, put the agp to the max man, 8x is good. Here's how to test the emulator. Drop in F-Zero or Super Mario 64 with the azimer's audio and Jabo's Direct3D6 1.5.1 and for configuration make sure it's on Direct3d HaL and basic options. Switch off speed limit with "F9" and also make sure the compiler is on the Default (Dynamic Compiler) and not interpreter as interpreter slow things down a lot. Let the Cpu burn. The Vi's should pop around any from below 60 to 60 (Normal) to in the 100's to 220 which is the max. This will indicate the amount of traffic (instruction code) you cpu is covering. If it likes to stay stable around 60 vi when at rest. There is nothing wrong with the computer. If the vi's hang below 60 vi, something is holding the cpu back, perhaps another program which is constantly running.

I'll try that, thanks.

 

[Red XIII]

Do you have any benchmarks you could post too? To see whether this is indeed effecting PC games without you knowing it.

I don't understand what you mean here. Can you elaborate? Thanks.

Red XIII: but i sure too that is a driver problem, verify your driver instalation (i hate dell in this point), download new radeon drivers and install, download new sound card drivers, and verify your directx installation, etc.....

So far, I've downloaded the new graphics driver through ATI--the Catalyst 3.10. I haven't downloaded new sound drivers yet.

I really don't think there's a problem with my computer, mechanically. Up to the point I tried to start emulating N64, it had ran everything else perfect. Brand new computer games run flawlessly on my PC. Return of the King looks astounding. I can turn every effect all the way up and run it on high res and it'll play as smooth as you could dream. The same with Beyond Good and Evil and Gothic II, and all these games dwarf the N64 graphically. So, going on that, I've never thought I had a problem with my graphics drivers or directx.

To me, it just seems like my card is too fast for these games and I need to tweak the settings--I'm just not sure what. If I turn off the "limit frames/second" feature on my emulator, the game moves at light speed. On Majora's mask, it went from day to night in like 2 seconds. :happy:

Test with some bench programs like 3Dmark, aquamark, PCmark....

Once again, I'm not sure what this is. I'm not familiar with benchmarks. Can you explain? Thanks.

 

[Trotterwatch]

Try using Jabos Audio and select sync game to audio (remember in 1964 you will need to select an RSP plugin for this to work).

After you've done that, turn the limiter off.

 

[Nighty0]

Emulators are very sensitive softwares, you need a very well configurated computer.
You can use Sisoft Sandra and make some burn-in tests, i use this program when i mount new computers, i have discovered 1 AMD defective processor, 2 ASUS defective mobos, and 1 Intel defective mobo with this program (transport badly made)...

My friend have a SBLive! 5.1 (SB0220), and he had some problems with some old drivers, in emulators too.....
You can test your sound card with Command & Conquer generals (or C&C Tiberian Sun), this game have some known issues with some SB cards, that are solved with new Creative Drivers.......
You can use some Tom Clancy's games, coz you can configure them to use only sound card hardware acceleration (enable EAX, HTRF effects and see if they work).....
You can use Midnight Club 2 too, this game have an advanced sound config (you can choose hardware only, EAX, DX7 software, HTRF, Miles Sound System, etc).......
Try to disable all sound acceleration.......
Try to use opengl mode in rice to test your videocard or use GLN64 0.41....

And PC games running in your system is not a guarantee that your system is very well configurated.....

i hope this is not an emu problem....... lain:

 

[Nighty0]

Once again, I'm not sure what this is. I'm not familiar with benchmarks. Can you explain? Thanks.

With this programs you can test your system performance........
3Dmark 2001SE - you can test DX6, 7, 8.1 performance
3Dmark 2003 - you can test DX7, 8, 9 performance
Aquamark 2003 - an advanced gaming benchmark
Sisoft Sandra - you can diagnose some hardware problems (Memory, CPU, Mobo related)

Use dxdiag command to test your DirectX installation......

 

[Red XIII]

If I had a badly configured computer or defective processor or card or whatever, then could I run graphic-intensive games like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Beyond Good and Evil, and Gothic II flawlessly with every graphic option turned up all the way?

Really. This is what doesn't make sense to me. I've used this cpu for a number of jobs so far. I've played games that looked worse than N64(The Gens emulator runs perfect with the 2x anti-aliasing), and I've played games that blew it off the map in terms of graphics, flawlessly. It doesn't make sense to me that I would have a defective computer if I can do all this. The only thing my cpu doesn't like so far are these two N64 emulators.

On top of that, I already said that my buddy who has a new Dell with a 3.0 hyper thread pentium 4, 1.5Gig of memory, and a Radeon 9800 pro cannot run these N64 games smoothly either.

 

[jollyrancher]

Most PC games have lower CPU requirements than 1964/PJ64 to run games full speed. And Gens also has vasly lower requirements (the antialiasing only increases the graphics card load, not the CPU load). I'm not sure what OS you're using, but go to the task manager and see what background tasks/services are running that might be slowing the computer down. When you're not running any games/applications, what is the CPU % load?

 

[gandalf]

Maybe a virus?

 

[Red XIII]

CPU usage ranges from 20-30 percent with Banjo running, and I have no other programs running in my background right now except for the internet.

On my emulator:
idle= +/-50%.
core= +/-45%,
video= +/-4%,
audio= +/-1%
compiler= 0%

How's this sound? This is with Banjo running 1280x960 res, Rice's modified radeon plugin(5[1].2.0), and Schibo's default sound plugin.

I don't have any viruses. I have System Works on this thing, and it's more sterile than a doctor's office. I check it constantly.

I checked my sound drivers last night on Creative's website(I have Sound Blaster), and it told me I had the most recent driver already.

Thanks.

 

[Red XIII]

Something else. I notice that when I'm walking straight ahead, the game runs very smoothly most of the time. It's mostly when I turn the camera or walk from side to side that there's lag and the frame rate is choppy.

Schibo's default sound plugin doesn't work well for me at all. Besides lots of crackling and popping, sometimes the tracks just freeze and it makes the whole game freeze up. Azimer's beta .40 along with the RSP plugin takes care of this problem, though.

Also, I'm using Windows XP. See my tagline for all my specs.

 

[4real]

Something else. I notice that when I'm walking straight ahead, the game runs very smoothly most of the time. It's mostly when I turn the camera or walk from side to side that there's lag and the frame rate is choppy.

Schibo's default sound plugin doesn't work well for me at all. Besides lots of crackling and popping, sometimes the tracks just freeze and it makes the whole game freeze up. Azimer's beta .40 along with the RSP plugin takes care of this problem, though.

Also, I'm using Windows XP. See my tagline for all my specs.

I only run a intel 1.3 laptop with 128mb and sis graphics and sound and most games run at full speed using Jabo's 1.5 plugin's.

Only have a slight slow down at the start off banjo game's and a few others but not bad. (only 50 fps)

You could get a reg cleaning program and make sure its out off the reg and start again or try a diffrent emulator.



----------------------------------------------------------------------
4real

 

[shadow77]

OS: Windows XP Pro w/All Updates
CPU: Intel P4 HT/3.0GHz
Video: 128MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
Sound: Creative SB Live!
Memory: 1024MB Dual-Channel RAM
System: Dell Dimension 8300

Using Jabo's Direct 3D6 1.5.1 for video, schibo's for audio, and Jabo's DirectInput7 for the input plugin. ROM is GoodN64 verified.

I think you have a driver problem.. Banjo runs at 60FPS for me.. here is a screenshot..

 

[Red XIII]

shadow--

How are you running Jabo's video plugin? Are you using a certain RSP with it? Every time I've tried to run Jabo's my emu freezes.

The game is running pretty good right now after I turned down the anti-aliasing on my Radeon and run it full-screen with the emu window open. I was trying to go fullscreen without the window before, and it slows the game down 10-15 f/s. Does it do the same on yours?

You have pretty much the same setup that I do except for more memory, so I should be able to run it similar to you. Are you getting any glitches in the game at all? Even though it's running better, I still get the occasional freeze of both graphics and sound that lasts a second. It happens every couple of minutes. I'm using Rice's modified plugin for Radeons(5[1].2.0), Schibo's, and an RSP plugin.

Which drivers do you have? I have the new Catalyst v.3.10 from ATI. I upgraded from a slightly older version because I was having similar problems. Thanks.

OS: Windows XP Pro w/All Updates
CPU: Intel P4 HT/3.0GHz
Video: 128MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
Sound: Creative SB Live!
Memory: 1024MB Dual-Channel RAM
System: Dell Dimension 8300

Using Jabo's Direct 3D6 1.5.1 for video, schibo's for audio, and Jabo's DirectInput7 for the input plugin. ROM is GoodN64 verified.

I think you have a driver problem.. Banjo runs at 60FPS for me.. here is a screenshot..

 

[revl8er]

Are you sure something isn't using up your processor? Also like jollyrancher said, n64 emus need higher systems to run at full speed. I really can't see the problem with your system since most people get decent speed on way slower systems.

 

[IM0001]

crap.

THats the same thing that happened to me. It seams to have started with me upgrading to the 4.2 ATI drivers... I droped back down to 4.1 but the problem still exists.. It seams to be an ATI glitch. Ill see what i can do with these drivers to get it working again. Pisses me off.