Game is laggy...but why??

I've recently bought the pc game Far Cry and I am having problems with game being extremely laggy. I don't mean laggy like it's a little jumpy, (though it is) but the main problem is that it seems to almost freeze up for 30 seconds or so at a time. This seems to happen when other characters are on the screen such as "bad guys". The only other game that I play is Call of Duty: United Offensive and I put the video settings on high and it runs just fine. If you ask me the graphics are better with CoD:UO than with Far Cry. I also have all of the video settings turned down to the lowest settings. So the question is, why does the game behave this way? Here are my specs.


http://img83.exs.cx/img83/9416/z4of.jpg

http://img83.exs.cx/img83/2622/z12ed.jpg

COD:UO is based on a 5 year old engine. Far Cry isn't even a year old.

A Radeon 8500, I don't think, has full DirectX 9 capabilities. If it does, the card is still pretty damn old, and 2 generations behind now.

You need a new videocard, really.

holy crap... your way behind!! you got a radeon in the 8000's.. dear god... get a at least 9200 or something!!! i reccomend a 9800PRO!

FarCry works fine with my 9200se
just dont get too brave with the texture settings

also playing with 256 RAM is a nightmare
but 30 second lag is evil

Seriously dude , get a new Video Card , thats why the game lags ....

I played Far Cry on lowest settings with a radeon 9000se card on lowest settings and it seemed to work good...

Radeon 9600 is a good video card , and its only around 100$-150$ if you go to websites like newegg.com ....

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Originally Posted by Fiber

FarCry works fine with my 9200se
just dont get too brave with the texture settings

also playing with 256 RAM is a nightmare
but 30 second lag is evil

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Ok, I didn't think I was that far behind but, I guess so. Only problem is, my pc is in a Shuttle enclosure and I'm not sure it can handle the heat of a 9800 pro. :( . Also the Radeon 8500 does come with DirectX 9C. :)

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also playing with 256 RAM is a nightmare

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You or me? :blink:
I have 512

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Originally Posted by Skizo

Ok, I didn't think I was that far behind but, I guess so. Only problem is, my pc is in a Shuttle enclosure and I'm not sure it can handle the heat of a 9800 pro. :( . Also the Radeon 8500 does come with DirectX 9C. :)

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It should work with a 9800 pro, tho' I don't think you'll have much room for a pci card.

The ideal thing, heatwise, might be a 9600xt or a nvidia 6600gt, though.

EDit: what kind of processor is that you are using btw?

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Originally Posted by Skizo

You or me? :blink:
I have 512

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i used to play it with 256
then i got extra ram

i was just mentioning from experience

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Originally Posted by Skizo

Also the Radeon 8500 does come with DirectX 9C. :)

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he means hardware directx9 support.

Only the radeon 9500-x800(or whatever the newest card is). the 9200 doesn't do it.

and for nvidia all of the fx cards (5200-6800) have directx9 support.

i think the only card that does directx9.0c is the geforce fx 6800.(maybe the 6600).

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what kind of processor is that you are using btw?

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AMD Athlon xp 2100+ 1.7 ghz

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Originally Posted by Skizo

AMD Athlon xp 2100+ 1.7 ghz

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Have you looked into whther there's something a little bit faster that might fit your budget? I realise that shuttle won't let you kick up the fsb that much but..

Later shuttle models let you adjust your multiplier, maybe that's true with yours, and with say, a mobile 2500, you could get a bit more speed out of that machine without altering your fsb.

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Originally Posted by SnnY

Have you looked into whther there's something a little bit faster that might fit your budget? I realise that shuttle won't let you kick up the fsb that much but..

Later shuttle models let you adjust your multiplier, maybe that's true with yours, and with say, a mobile 2500, you could get a bit more speed out of that machine without altering your fsb.

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Your gettin past my knowledge base now.

I looked up fsb.

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Stands for Front Side Bus, which denotes the speed at which your processor interacts with the components on the motherboard

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What's a mobile 2500? Is that as in, mobile 2500 processor instead of the xp 2100 that I currently have?

Sorry, I'm just not a hardware guy. :ermm:

Oh dear.

You've got the fsb right. I see on the msinfo specs you just posted that you have a via 266 chip which may or may not work with a higher than 266 fsb, the fsb on your 2100 should be 266 (or rather 133*2) by default which means that that's the clockspeed of the interface between your processor and your motherboard.

FSB*Multiplier=clockspeed

The mobile xp2500 comes with an unlocked multiplier, unlike the desktop 2100 you currently own, i think, which means that if you have the option to change the multiplier in your bios you can set the clockspeed a bit higher than your current processor by altering the multiplier.

And it also runs at a lower voltage I think. Meaning it may run colder

The speed gain with a mobile might be worthwhile, assuming you don't go overboard and mess it up, and assuming it works with that model shuttle (requires that it's possible to change the multiplier in your bios).

Since you appear to be something of a beginner, however, you'd probably need the help of someone with a bit more experience to mount and configure a new processor setup.

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Originally Posted by Skizo

What's a mobile 2500? Is that as in, mobile 2500 processor instead of the xp 2100 that I currently have?

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he means a laptop processor, yeah. often referred to as a "mobile" model. laptop and desktop processors have not always been totally interchangeable, but sometimes they are... and the possible benefits are that some mobile processors are slightly souped-up versions of older desktop processors, they don't generate as much heat as their desktop equivalents (which gives 'em more potential for overclocking when you slap a standard desktop heatsink/fan unit onto them), etc.

Mine and a mate's PCs both experienced the same long lag problem with Far Cry.
Both of us have Radeon 9200SE gfx cards.

Updated video drivers to Catalyst 04.9 - lag = gone.

Hope that helps.

Ill look into replacing the video card some more, maybe posting on Shuttles message board as well. Thx for the help though. I needed some other opinions. I post again if I do it soon.

http://forums.sudhian.com/default.as...0Form%20Factor

This board is really good for sff, ie shuttle problems, you might benefit from having a look there.