Video acceleration

[Lindsay]

I recently changed my video card but am having problems. Nothing is really
noticable in Windows but I get sound problems when playing games. When I
play games, the sound stutters. This did not happen with the old video card.
If I reduce the video acceleration by one notch, all is fine. Why would this
happen, and does reducing the acceleration affect anything?

 

[Malke]

I recently changed my video card but am having problems. Nothing is
really noticable in Windows but I get sound problems when playing
games. When I play games, the sound stutters. This did not happen with
the old video card. If I reduce the video acceleration by one notch,
all is fine. Why would this happen, and does reducing the acceleration
affect anything?

Hi, Lindsay. You will need to give us more information about your
computer before you can get a specific answer. What is your processor
speed, amount of RAM, power supply, and what is the make/model of your
new video card? Also, have you installed the most current drivers for
the card from the card mftr.'s website (not from Windows Update or from
the cd that came with the card)?

Post back with details for more help.

Malke

 

[Lindsay]

I have a Pentium III 1.0Ghz, 256Mb RAM and a nVidia Geforce 2 (32Mb). I am
using the latest drivers. The previous video card was an ATI Rage 128 (8Mb).
The sound card is an ESS Maestro 3i.

 

[Malke]

I have a Pentium III 1.0Ghz, 256Mb RAM and a nVidia Geforce 2 (32Mb).
I am using the latest drivers. The previous video card was an ATI Rage
128 (8Mb). The sound card is an ESS Maestro 3i.

Thanks for the good post, Lindsay. First, are you sure you completely
uninstalled the ATI drivers? Second, what games are you trying to play?
You have older hardware, and the "new" Geforce2 isn't a very beefy
card, either. You may be asking more of your computer than it can
deliver. For instance, I have a similar video card on one of the
testbed boxen and it won't play some newer games well at all.

You can try reinstalling the sound card drivers, but a lot will depend
on what games you're trying to play, as I said above. As additional
help, here are some generic tips for playing games:

1) Be sure you have a fast processor with plenty of RAM - at least 256MB
but 512MB is better. 2)Test the RAM with Memtest86 if your computer is
randomly freezing. 3)Be sure you have updated video drivers and that
your video card is adequate for 3D gameplay. 4) Be sure you have
applied the latest patches for the game - get them from the game's
website or a place like FilePlanet. 5) If you continue to have problems
with one specific game (as opposed to all games), see if there are user
forums where you can post for help. 6) When you play a
processor-intensive game, don't have other applications running in the
background - keep extraneous programs/services to a minimum.

Malke

 

[Lindsay]

The ATI driver was still there, so I had to put the old card in to
uninstall. I have re-installed the sound driver and tried different sound
drivers too to no avail. Perhaps I am asking too much of my machine. One
game is Halo. I meet minimum requirements but perhaps it isn't enough.

 

[Microsoft Video Driver OCA Triage]

Halo will not play very well at all on that card...
Halo is an extreamly graphics intensive game...
Thanks,
Aaron C. Smith
Microsoft Video Driver OCA Triage
(e-mail address removed)
* This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.

 

[Malke]

Halo will not play very well at all on that card...
Halo is an extreamly graphics intensive game...
Thanks,
Aaron C. Smith
Microsoft Video Driver OCA Triage
(e-mail address removed)
* This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.

Yeah, Lindsay - as Aaron said above, you're not going to be able to play
"Halo" on that box. I'm sorry. That level of gaming requires a lot of
hardware power. It's probably time to either think about a new pc or
buy an Xbox for "Halo" console version.

Malke