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**OZZIE_NO_GOOD** · 10 August 2002, 16:53

well i dont have fraps but i know one think that mu fps is a bit higher what is your s=ystemm specs ?/

**albatorsk** · 11 August 2002, 03:57

ASUS A7M266-D w/ C-Media 8738 sound chip
2 AthlonMP 1800+
512MB PC2100 DDR
NEC USB 2.0 controller
Matrox Parhelia 512 (retail)
Tekram DC-390U3D
Pinnacle PCTV pro
3Com 905C-TX
Seagate Cheetah 36GB 10k RPM SCSI U160
Fujitsu MAN3367 36GB 15k RPM SCSI U160
Plextor Ultraplex 40Max CD-ROM SCSI
LiteOn LTD-163D DVD-ROM IDE

and some other USB peripherals that I rarely connect. And ofcourse a keyboard, mouse and a monitor.

**CaineTanathos** · 11 August 2002, 04:27

I runned it with my GF3 ti200 at 1024x768x32 and trail enabled it always went smootly

but I heard alot of other stories were it didn't, so its not really parhelia's fault if you get low fps

**bingo13** · 11 August 2002, 06:16

albatorsk,

What audio setting are you using? What C-Media drivers are you using? Most people I know including myself have not had very good luck with the C-Media chipset in SMP systems.
I have a MSI K7D-L with the MP2100+ along with a retail Parhelia. I am getting a constant 20~25 fps with trails disabled at 1024x768x32. I see a constant 18~23 fps at 1280x1024x32. I have a Terratec DMX 6 Fire with the audio settings at Miles 2d or DS3D settings. My Ti4600 setup with an Audigy using EAX3 is getting a constant 30 fps at 1024x768x32 on a similiar setup. The gameplay is still very smooth to me with the Parhelia. I honestly have not been able to tell the difference between the cards in gameplay. I have draw distance set at 75% also.
Are you using the 1.1 patch? What are your other settings? Have you tried 800x600 to see what your fps is? The game was designed to run at this resolution.

**Formant** · 11 August 2002, 08:49

Just recently started playing GTA 3.

I play at 1024 x 768 x 32 with everything on except widescreen. I dont have FRAPS installed but my framerates are usually around 80-100fps in uncrowded areas and down to about 20-40 in busy areas (especially on the 2nd city).

Only major problem I have is that my system blue screens everytime I exit the game. There is some sort of reference to mxparhd file or something.

I tried reinstalling the game but that didnt help. It did help reinstalling with SOF2 as that did the same thing on exit.

**albatorsk** · 11 August 2002, 10:44

Originally posted by bingo13
What audio setting are you using? What C-Media drivers are you using? Most people I know including myself have not had very good luck with the C-Media chipset in SMP systems.

I'm using the latest driver available from MS Windows Update.

I have a MSI K7D-L with the MP2100+ along with a retail Parhelia. I am getting a constant 20~25 fps with trails disabled at 1024x768x32. I see a constant 18~23 fps at 1280x1024x32.

I get from 10 to 30 FPS depending on where I go/drive. It never goes beyond 30 FPS, so I'm guessing it's a limitiation in the game engine.

I have a Terratec DMX 6 Fire with the audio settings at Miles 2d or DS3D settings. My Ti4600 setup with an Audigy using EAX3 is getting a constant 30 fps at 1024x768x32 on a similiar setup.

No doubt. I got similar results with my system when using a GeForce3 Ti 200. I very much doubt it's the C-Media fault that the FPS dropped when I switched to Parhelia.

The gameplay is still very smooth to me with the Parhelia. I honestly have not been able to tell the difference between the cards in gameplay.

For me it's unplayble. Unfortunately.

I have draw distance set at 75% also.

I have mine set to 6 of 16. Anything higher makes the game stand still.

Are you using the 1.1 patch?

You just made me aware of the 1.1 patch, but as I'm using a 56k modem thish month I'm not going to bother downloading any patches, yet.

What are your other settings? Have you tried 800x600 to see what your fps is? The game was designed to run at this resolution.

The other settings are at their default mode. And seriously, 800x600? On a 21" monitor? I don't want the pixels to be one square-inch wide.

**bingo13** · 12 August 2002, 07:09

The other settings are at their default mode. And seriously, 800x600? On a 21" monitor? I don't want the pixels to be one square-inch wide.

I agree. The first thing RockStar will tell you is to run the game in 800x600.

I get from 10 to 30 FPS depending on where I go/drive. It never goes beyond 30 FPS, so I'm guessing it's a limitiation in the game engine.

With frame limiter turned on the game will max at 30fps. I tried your settings and still had a higher fps range.

I'm using the latest driver available from MS Windows Update.

I tried the C-Media 6.39 drivers with a Muse 5.1 card and still got the same framerates with the Terratec except when EAX was enabled. The game did slowdown in busy areas.

Are you using the 5.33 AMD AGP driver? Do you have Gigacolor and 16xFAA turned off? I wish I could help further.

**albatorsk** · 12 August 2002, 12:13

Originally posted by bingo13 Are you using the 5.33 AMD AGP driver? Do you have Gigacolor and 16xFAA turned off? I wish I could help further.

Hmmmm.. Didn't think of checking the AMD AGP driver. I'm using 5.1.2600, but I will try 5.33 tonight! Ofcourse, all types of AA and gigacolor is turned off. I still want to be able to use the machine

**bingo13** · 12 August 2002, 13:20

AMD 5.33 AGP and 1.43s IDE drivers are here-

Link

**albatorsk** · 12 August 2002, 13:26

Thanks, but the difference was not even measurable. And even in 800x600, GTA3 feels "stuttery" (if there is such a word). Definately not as smooth as I was lead to believe before I got the Parhelia.

**UberLord** · 12 August 2002, 15:16

Originally posted by albatorsk
Thanks, but the difference was not even measurable. And even in 800x600, GTA3 feels "stuttery" (if there is such a word). Definately not as smooth as I was lead to believe before I got the Parhelia.

I wouldn't be so fast to blame any stuttering on the P.

The P. ain't as fast as my old 8500 granted, but its minimum fps is much higher - even with FAAx16 on.

Also, many more games/demos suttered with the 8500 (mainly OpenGL ones) compared to the P. Only Neverwinter Nights has a slight stutter - but on the NWN support forums it happens on a wide variety of hardware.

Now, if Matrox (might be a NWN bug - not too sure) could sort out that crash every 15 mins bug I'd be very happy

**R0M** · 12 August 2002, 20:26

Uberlord,
We are aware of this 15 minutes bug, however it's very hard to reproduce since it happens randomly. However, rest assured that we're on top of it and hopefully we will be able to resolve it very soon so stay tuned,
Regards,

**Marshmallowman** · 12 August 2002, 20:38

never seen GTA3 run smooth on anything.

I have to keep at 800x600 on my 8500.
With 1024x768 it will run smoothish for a bit , then it will start getting funky.

I think the game itself has problems, a very fast CPU might help(1 CPU duals are not to good for games)

**Supernaut** · 12 August 2002, 20:58

GTA 3

I have a 1.4 TBird with 512 megs of ram on an Abit KG7
I am ran GTA3 with a geforce 3 at 1600x1024 with trails off with the maximum draw distance and all details on, well except the trails. I cannot tell u how many frames i got since I finished playing it but I can tell you that the game was very very with some stuttering. I hope the sound chip was the problem cause I am looking to ditch my gayforce3 for the P but if you get frames like that then i am not even gonna bother

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