Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

do you mean with 'freeze' it crashes to desktop? If yes, then I have the exact same problem as you http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

My friend got 100 fps. But he does 3D rendering as a job and bought a graphic card so that explains it. You should hear when he activates the card. It sounds like jet engine.

Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

I get no music, period. I'm not bothered, though. I've listened to the music(1) and I must say I prefer not having any - for me, its more immersive without any muzak twinkling in the background.

Setup :

P800EB. 384 ram. 60 gig (40+20) hd. Geforce 2 MX 400. Vibra 128 sound card(2). Win98SE, pruned and savagely brutalized to remove all offensive 'default' software and thus make it more reliable.

(1) Not impressed, sorry. Then again, I just played homeworld 2 so that could be a factor.

(2) Most likely culprit. Not gonna be codecs or whatever - I assure you there's nothing wrong with my windows A/V subsystems. Other than that damned sound card. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">A) Not '3D Rendering', though its okay. Preferable is 'Raytracing'. Mention that in conversation to him and he'll be quietly impressed.

B) Raytracing is processor intensive. It only uses the graphics card for previews and while you're working on it. Rendering the final scene is done in the background. Also, Starfury itself isn't graphics intensive either. I'm pretty sure my old S3 Virge could handle it with few or no problems(1).

C) The fan on your friend's graphics card is misaligned. I'd suggest to him to get it replaced ASAP if he has cooling problems where he lives.

(1) If you ignore the fact that no trully DX7, never mind 8 or 9, compliant drivers exist for it.

Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

Definately get the latest sound drivers. For a while Creative Live cards were causing crashes/no sound. Make sure its up to date. Same with video card drivers. Windows Update might not have your sound card's drivers, so make sure you get them from the manufacturer's site.

Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

Stone-D. I speak english as a second language and so I don't know all the terms. And since my friend is a finn, I speak finnish with him so I don't use words like raytracin or 3D rendering. I use finnish terms though they aren't much better than my english ones. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Besides I'm very dum when it comes to 3D so I try to avoid talking too much of it and make fool of myself. Doesn't work most of the time.

I guess the point is, prepare to tolerate strange and funny english on my behalf.

Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

Exan : Sorry if I may have sounded rude, I wasn't intending to be. It was a 'Oh, by the way' sort of thing. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Nobody starts off an expert... you gotta learn somewhere. In my opinion, internet forums are one of the best sources for learning, after Usenet.

Instar :

LOL, tried that. Latest drivers I've ever been able to find for this chipset is dated 2001, IIRC. (can't check, at work ATM).

Every other driver is up-to-date... well, sorta. Up-to-date does not equate 'better' when it comes to nVidia's Detonator drivers. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

yep, I had updated my drivers too, everything is up to date, I think. And it happens on the 2 pc's I have here http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

No problem Stone-D. Internet Boards are good. And the tutorials in 3D softwares. Though I haven't had much experience since my previous computer was 433MHz Celeron and prior to that 100MHz pentium. They aren't exactly the best for 3D.

By the way, if anyone is interested doing planet graphs,(portraits, pictures, whatever) here's a good program for it.
Terragen
Terragen is free in non-commercial use and a new Version just shipped out.

Re: Questions about speed and sound
 

Wow, thats pretty ancient. And I tend to agree about the detonators, sometimes they are a bit off. I usually end up reading the detailed readme PDF or whatever they post just to check it. Then again, every nVidia driver Ive ever used (including non-WHQL ones) have been very very good for my GF4 Ti. Definately better drivers than ATi for sure!