Quake3 + Athlon64 X2 = Stuttering Problem

[mjrpes]

Okay, just got a new AMD Althon X2 system set up. Runs great and all.

HOWEVER,

Quake3 is a victim of the problem X2 processors have where games will stutter. Seem to have something to do with the way Windows manages processes with multiple CPUs.

There's an article about it here:

http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=m ... =0&thold=0

Here's what I've done so far:

1. In that article, someone posted the hotfix that Microsoft has released that supposedly fixes this problem. I installed it; quake3 still stutters.
2. There's also talk that if you disable Cool 'N Quiet in the BIOS, it will solve the problem. I tried that; quake3 still stutters.
3. There's also talk that if you set the 'affinity' of quake3 in Task Manager to one CPU, it will fix the problem. I tried that; quake3 still stutters.

So... has anyone dealt with this issue? Quake3 is pretty unplayable right now.

[SoM]

in that article it says that if you have the hotfix, your cool n quiet must be enabled..

Microsoft has released a hotfix to improve performance on dual core systems. It fixes a possible decrease in performance during demand based switching. Cool 'n Quiet must be enabled for the fix to work

have you done that also ?

[mjrpes]

in that article it says that if you have the hotfix, your cool n quiet should be enabled..

Microsoft has released a hotfix to improve performance on dual core systems. It fixes a possible decrease in performance during demand based switching. Cool 'n Quiet must be enabled for the fix to work

have you done that also ?

I did both. Seperately, and together.

[SoM]

you can always sell the x2 and get an Opteron 170

[mjrpes]

Dual procs are the wave of the future. If I don't buy one today, I'll have to buy one tomorrow. There's gotta be a fix for this somehow

[mjrpes]

Opteron 170

The Operton 165 was even more tempting

[Tormentius]

I believe you need to type r_smp 1 and then vid_restart into your console

[AmIdYfReAk]

start r_smp from the command line, it is the only way you are going to maintain a stable system..

it was explained a WILE ago ( when i was first around here ) that quake 3 needs to start up a little diffrently when you are enabling SMP support.

Thus changing it to SMP wile th eprocess is allready running kinda... fucks with it

Anyway, best of luck, i hope this helps.

[mjrpes]

r_smp 1 made no difference after restarting. I even did what you said amidy and put it in the command line.

However, I think I've found a workaround, as I can get it to stop stuttering if I lower the maxfps.

This is interesting, though. On a large map that takes more CPU per frame, I need to set the maxfps lower than on a smaller map.

So, I tested myself out on q3ctf4, and could get by silky smooth at 125 maxfps. However, I loaded up q3ctf2 and it would start stuttering in the middle water area. So I lowered the maxfps to 60, and the stuttering stop. Weird.

[mjrpes]

BTW, the X2 compiles maps very well

http://ciole.net/quake_bench/

[R00k]

Try downloading AMD's driver for the X2 processor. It corrects a problem with Windows CPU throttling.

I'll try to dig up the link where I found it, but you can find it on AMD's site or with Google.

It fixed the video jumping problems I had in SS2, if not the audio.

[mjrpes]

I already have that installed; it's version 1.2.2.2, the most recent version on AMD's website:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec ... 06,00.html

[mjrpes]

Oh, the fucking joy.

I've finally discovered the problem had nothing to do with having an Athlon64 X2 (at least directly).

It turns out the problem is with the latest nivida forceware drivers (81.85). The funny thing is, I had uninstalled/reinstalled to older forceware drivers (77.77), but had noticed no difference. If was after I tried an even older driver (77.72) that I reloaded windows and got a corrupt MFT, making that disk useless without a reformat. After doing a clean install of windows and using the 77.77 drivers, I noticed no stuttering (hooray!). And this is without the special windows hotfix or using 'r_smp 1' on startup. I then installed the 81.85 drivers and the problem came back, confirming that this is the cause.

[dzjepp]

Have you tried 81.94

Install everything again from a CLEAN format.

[Doombrain]

Did you try using the Xbox 360?

[mjrpes]

Have you tried 81.94

When I installed the 81.85, I was on a clean format. I'll probably swap in another harddrive and do a quick test with 81.94, but for the time being I'm happy with things working as they are.

[mjrpes]

Did you try using the Xbox 360?

That was the first thing I did; no dice.