Gaming issues with 8600m GT 512mb

My computer:
Sager 2090(Compal IFL90)
Vist Home Premium 64bit
Intel core 2 duo 2.0ghz (Santa Rosa)
1gb ram
8600m GT 512mb (158.45 drivers)
120gb 5400rpm Harddrive

Whenever I play a game (BF2, FEAR) and such I heard I would be able to play at max, or near max settings. This is simply not true. Not only do I generaly have to tone down the settings in various areas, but when playing BF2, and especially FEAR, I get constant stuttering. After around 10-20 minues of playing the 1-2 seconds stutter usually begin to stop. What is wrong? This graphics card should easily be able to handle the game.

On another note, load times for both BF2 and FEAR are insane. Were talking 5 minutes here on just waiting for the load time. And even after that, the time from when the game loads to when it actually starts is yet another minute.

Please help.

Thanks,
Michael

 

hi drivers are ok??? is every space for fan opened?? Wich system you use??? vista or xp?

 

Are you using Vista? Cause 1 GB of RAM, especially if you are using Vista, usually wont cut it these days.

 

Yeah, I get that stuttering in F.E.A.R. from time to time, but it only last a few seconds....and it loads VERY fast. It might be something else that is causing your problems.

I actually just finished F.E.A.R. and I didn't notice any areas of slowdown except when I looked at water heh

 

whoa... deja vu; i just posted in another thread about this problem.

Does this sound like what you might be experiencing?

Its a common problem with 512MB cards that piggy-back off of system RAM

 

what can be done with it?

 

hmm... just found this out. looks like i'll have to correct myself in another thread...

 

Using Vista 64bit, graphics card has 158.45 drivers. I know I have only a gb of ram and I plan to get more, but I didn't realise it would be THIS bad. theTorch, what can I do to fix this? Also, what about the load times?

 

More RAM would greatly help, if not fix your problem. You are running Vista at its minimum requirement of 1gb of RAM.

 

See my post above about fixing this. I'm probably not the one to ask about the tech details on that, since I haven't personally had this problem or had to deal with it.

As to load times, that is purely your hard drive. If its really bothering you, it can easily be replaced. 7200 RPM is a very nice speed, and I would recommend a brand like Seagate, Hitachi, or Western Digital.

 

You're running vista-64 on 1gb, and wondering why things are a bit slow?!?

FEAR runs great on my ifl-90, with the 163.15 drivers, and 2GB of ram -- got another 2gb coming in the mail tomorrow. I do gotta say, however, that the ending of FEAR was mighty lame-o.

 

I dont think it is as much his HD as it is his RAM.

 

I saw the post , dont really see how it talks about fixing it considering all new graphics cards these days are PCIe. Also, I have my doubts that the load times are as bad as they are just cause I have a 5400rpm hard drive. I've never seen load times take as long as they do with my computer. I have a feeling that the issue with the stuttering and the load times are related. My only reason for believing this is even after loading is done and I start to play the game the hard drive is still spinning at full. Maybe its running at a lower rpm than its max? I'm not sure, just a guess...

Thanks for helping so far!

 

He asked about load times. That IS the hard drive, no question.

You are right, Vista won't run smoothly if he doesn't have 2GB of RAM, but he said he is going to upgrade himself, so I didn't bother answering that.

I was trying to explain the in game stuttering. Its possible that its purely a RAM problem, I guess, but the 512MB stuttering is a relatively common issue.

@buddy: there's a simple solution to this. Upgrade your RAM, which you should be doing no matter what, and tell us if it fixes the problem.

 

The operating system is lightning fast, everything is fast EXCEPT anything that takes graphic power.

 

When Windows runs out of actual RAM, it fakes it, and uses the hard-disk. And if you're really low on RAM, Windows is going to be constantly shuffling chunks of memory in and out of the disk.

 

Hypotheticly, what if it doesnt?

 

would it be worth trying sticking in a 1gb usb stick and setting it all to ready boost?.. if you've got one it's got to be worth a try for nothing.. I know it's not really the answer but it might help short term? It is supposed to help on systems with less than 2gb RAM.

 

Did you play any of it's expansions? Extraction Point or Perseus Mandate?

It will.

 

@sasanac I have the intel robson memory, I should of mentioned that. Apparently it doesnt help at all!

@illmatic: No just the standard FEAR with latest 1.08 patch. Something interesting, when I test performance settings on auto detect settings I get great framerates, like an average of 60fps(though not all settings are set to max with auto detect. Yet when I play with those settings, it does the extreme stuttering thing.

 

That is VERY weird. Now you're confusing me, lol.

It has to the be the RAM then. or maybe you got some virus..do other games stutter as well besides the ones you mentioned?

 

That would explain your really slow load times. This seems more and more like a RAM problem, although I'm still reasonably convinced that the 512MB graphics card is the cause of your in-game 'stuttering.'

 

I havent tried other games. BF2 and FEAR have been doign this ever since I got my computer not long ago, so I extremely doubt its a virus.

 

Well, isn't BF 2142 more graphics intensive than BF2? I tried BF 2142 and it was very smooth. Boring game though......

Just get 2GB (1GBx2) of ram from www.newegg.com

 

the 8600M GT can't max out FEAR at certain resolutions. The desktop 8600GT gets about 33-35fps average on 1280*1024 resolution with FEAR with every setting to maximum.
A 8600M GT is about 20% weaker than the desktop variant and if you game at a pretty high resolution on your laptop, I can easily see the FPS drop below 20.

 

Well I have 1GB on one card, so I just need to buy another 1GB card. Im using BF2, I mean these are not exactly the most graphic intensive games anymore playing on a fairly powerfull modern day graphics card.

 

I'm talking about playng it at the default resolution.

 

It's your RAM. I'd almost guarantee it. Like someone said, once you run out of RAM your system starts using your hard drive. The 5400 rpm is making the stuttering even worse.

 

Without a complaint here about my G1S (2GB RAM), I get pauses in F.E.A.R whenever there is a checkpoint save or (clearly) the game loads the next batch of enemies/section of the level. If you see a little stuttering here, that might not be so abnormal. For it to affect your gameplay when stuff is happening however, that's not so great.

And I think you can get quite a boost in framerates and smoothness if you turn off a single setting - soft shadows. From what I gather this setting on any game is really taxing to any graphics card, even desktop ones.

 

I figured with the intel robson memory, it should be using that instead no? And if its ram, why does no stuttering occur with 3dmark benchmarks or with the FEAR test settings demo.

 

oh you DEFINITELY need more ram. your system is choking up with 1 GB and vista. vista is taking about half of that for itself, which leaves you with about 500 MB for a game that really wants maybe 800 MB all for itself...

 

I have that setting set off, and many downed from maximum or turned off completely(i have no AA and it still stutters). And no, the stuttering occurs when simply moving the mouse or peering in an area that you couldnt see before. When shooting the gun, for example, the first time it stutters and lags, the second time it lags less, by the 5-10th time there is no longer any stutterig when shooting a gun.

 

I forgot to install my 2gig stick in my Sager when I first loaded up Vista, and there was a huge difference just in Vista itself when I went from 1 to 3gig. I think (and its been stated many times already) that 2gig is a must for Vista.

 

You know....instead of buying more ram....you could always just UPgrade to XP. haha

XP is going to be better for you if you are a gamer, which it seems. If there is nothing in Vista that you need to have, which I doubt there is, then get XP. See if it chokes up then.

 

Robson is garbage... at least for now.

Just get some more RAM and get back to us.

 

Ok I wil get more ram, but untill then I want to try to discuss other possibilities just incase, ya know? I'm wondering if there is a better driver for vista than the 158.45 since I dont need to overclock. I dont have a windows xp disk offhand right now, but I can get one to try it out later on. I dont need Vista, but if I could I'd rather have it because in the future as people move and upgrade to 64 bit operating systems I want to be ready. Again about the performance in Vista, I dont think it could be faster. Programs open instantly, there is no lag, load times are fast when booting up.

One other thing, I just ran 3dmark06 and got ~2900-3000 and noticed that my harddrive LED was not on for pretty much all of the demos. If that is any indicater again as when BF2 or FEAR is played the hard drive icon is constantly on untill 10-20 minutes after playing. The stuttering gets progressively less the longer u play. Again also the loading time for the games does not accurately reflect the fast loading system of other things (such as Vista, the operating system itself).

 

I think the 162.22 drivers from laptop2go.com are better, but that may just be me...

 

need more ram for sure!! Especially with Vista

 

I understand I need more ram, I'm just not sure its THAT that is causing the stuttering.

 

I think the rest of us are, and I've already given you the only other possible cause of stuttering that I could think of. In any case, upgrading your RAM is something that will improve your notebooks performance no matter what, and its a common post-purchase upgrade that isn't too expensive.

Give it a try!:smile:

 

I will, I will , probably gonna order some today. I just like to know all possible sollutions/causes.

 

Run task manager, then get into one of these games, let it fully load, then exit. Look at the memory graph in task manager... how much memory was used while the game was on?

 

its ram probably

 

Zoyx by fully load do u mean play the game?

 

Yeah, start the game, then join a game or play single player. Then close the game down and look at the Graph to see how high it went.

 

Just run taskmanager while playing the game then in the middle pause then Alt-Tab into the task manager and see.

 

uh.

you only have 1gb of ram.

 

Ok, after waiting for FEAR to load I played for around 30 seconds enduring all the constant stuttering (my harddrive led was solid for most of the time, though it did flicker once and awhile). I alt tabbed and it took around 3-5 seconds to go back to the task manager. The task manager showed it using around 530mb of ram.

 

Seriously man. You have two options. Don't stall.

Option A If you have 1GB(1xGB) right now, then buy one more 1GB stick and you'll be fine. If you have 1GB (2x512MB), buy 2GB(2x1GB).

Option B If you have a copy of XP, install XP. If you are a gamer, and don't mind losing the aesthetics of Vista, it will be better for you. For me, on my XP desktop, I actually skinned it to look basically like Vista, anyway.

 

Ok, just curious what drivers do u guys use?

I need something that definitly supports opengl as well as directx10.
I dont need it to overclock though.