Frame Rates Dropping in game

[Takata]

quote:Originally posted by Coastie:
Tokata, Thats all fine and dandy, But how can you explain that when we disable TIR, the game returns to normal fps with no problems?

It sounds to me like you are having the probs with the Nvidea drivers that many are reporting with major spikes in fps. Maybe even an overheating issue with the card. Have you tried underclocking the card? This has worked for a few people.

I am not saying there is no problem with PF. I believe there may be. But, I do believe this particular problem is directly related to the TIR somehow.TrackIR is using RAM. If you disable TrackIR, you release some ressources. What's the cause of this memory leak, TrackIR or something else (PF code)?

My system is running very well without any overclocking, temp is low for CPU and GPU.

I agree this could be another problem with my hardware/drivers. But the question is why just now, after PF release, with a lot of people describing the same problem after playing 30-40 mn of online play?

[Takata]

I'll add that I've got something in common with TrackIR users:
it's my conf.ini where:

[rts]
trackIRUse=1

Mouse emulation is managed inside FB code and if something is wrong here, it will affect Newview users as well as TrackIR users.

I suspected Newview myself to be at the origin of this problem and was thinking of buying a TIR3 pro unit to fix that.

I'm 99% sure today it will be the same with it until something is fixed somewhere.

... Then I'll get my TIR (because my hat-switch is dead anyway!)

[nealg]

Hey all!! I've been reading up on the issue again, and thought I would post my own update. I do tend to think takata may be on to something also.

If you see my previous posts, I was having similar problems, and had been since TIR 1 and the 2.10+ driver sets and FB ver 1.22 through TIR 2 and 3.10 and AEP 2.04.

Recently, I was lucky enough to get PF, and installed it merged with FB/AEP. And..I no longer have the problem with the TIR 'drops'. I am still using TIR 2 and 3.10.

I DO have frame drops - sometimes severe - but they are 'view angle' related. I also get the 'bomb explosion' drop, but it comes right back. And, the longer I play, there is a definite relation to decreasing frame rates. I will add that this is all offline. My point of this is, though, that disabling TIR has no effect on frames for me any longer. If I notice a drop, and disable the TIR, the frames do not go back 'up'....they remain.

One thing I have checked - on several sessions, I have started play with a Single Mission ( pick any ) and noted the frame rates in the first 2 minutes of the mission. Then I have gone on to play campaigns. Then, before shutting the game down, I run the same Single Mission. And....the frames in the first 2 minutes are definitely lower than when I started. The amount of decrease seems directly related to what camapigns I have played on how many different maps....the more different maps, the lower the eventual frames. The most difference I have seen was about 4-5 less. TIR on or off made no difference at all.

I haven't done any 'real' testing, since I no longer seem to have the problem....whatever they did with PF seems to have alleviated my issue. Plus, I do not have - nor will I be able to get - TIR 3, so my input may not even apply to this continuation.

Just thought perhaps the information might help Naturalpoint in their search for a solution. Hope I put the info clearly enough. Good luck all of you...I know it is frustrating, as I put up with it for a long time myself.

[Voxman]

Just to add to this post, I really noticed the low fps stutters ,for the past two nights, approximately 45 min. into a mission map. I'm flying predominantly on Greatergreen, btw. So last night I used the onboard FPS meter and noticed when I started to have this "memory leak" that my frames cut approximately in half. My frame rate when its busy (about 32 players) was running around 35 or so. This dropped to 17, and on a desert map. As soon as the mission time limit was over, or the mission ended due to one of the teams winning and the map cycled my frame rates went back up. Also, when I turned off the trackIR and went into mouse emulation the frame rate went up. I really started noticing this ever since the new PF merged patch 3.03 came out.

TIR2 setup running 3.13 drivers. Here are my specs:
AMD64+ 3000 CPU
Asus KN8-E Nforce 3 mobo
1Gig of Crucial memory
Maxtor 80Gig HD as well as Seagate 200G HD.
ATI 9800 Pro 128mb memory vidcard.
I'm using onboard sound but set with Hardware acceleration one tick down.

[ericd]

I've been trying to reproduce this here and haven't been able to. I leave the game running all night and never see this problem. There are two differences for me:

1. I'm not playing online
2. I'm not really doing much but sitting in a cockpit.

I need your help to narrow down the problem. If you are having the FPS issue, please follow these steps and let me know your results.

1. Start the TrackIR software.
2. Open the Task Manager.
3. Go to the view menu, and choose select columns.
4. Make sure that Virtual Memory Size and Handle Count are selected.
5. Note the memory usage (both mem and VM) and handle counts for TrackIR.exe.
6. Also take note of the average CPU usage while idle.
7. Start PF and play until the frame rate decreases.
8. Alt tab to the task manager and note the memory usage, handle
count and CPU usage.

You can also do the same for the pf.exe (or whatever its called) process to see if the problem potentially lies with PF.

Thanks for your help!

Eric

[VFS-22_SPaRX]

Eric,

I did this test and here are my results.

At Trackir Startup:
Mem : 8088 VM: 6044 Handles: 37

At FrameDrop:
Mem: 8088 VM: 6044 Handles: 37

Idle Trackir CPU usages at startup no game running: 0-5%

Trackir CPU usages during Framedrop: 0-10%

I have ran a memory loggin program already to monitor memory and virtual memory usage while playing IL2 FB/AEP/PF. I did not see any dramtic increases in 2 hours of playing.

SPaRX

PS. In my email to Wayne, i gave him some more information i think i forgot to relay to him. When i get to this point where my FPS drop, i wil switch to mouse mode and finish out the map that way. One day after flying in mouse mode due to my FPS loss, i decided to see what happened if i went back to ehanced mode after 10-15 minutes of being in mouse mode. When i did this, my FPS stayed normal. It stayed that way for another 10-15 minutes, then my FPS dropped again. This goin back the enhanced mode trick only works 50% of the time i would say.

[ January 03, 2005, 08:55 PM: Message edited by: VFS-22_SPaRX ]

[ericd]

Based on the numbers you've provided, it doesn't look as if there is a memory leak in the TrackIR software. The only thing noticable is a small jump in CPU usage, but I don't think that would cause the frame rate drops.

It would be interesting if you could run the same test and monitor the IL-2 PF (or whatever mod you're running) process to see if there is anything abnormal there.

I'm still trying to understand why switching to mouse emulation mode would cause the problem to go away. It is a slightly different code path in the TrackIR software and a much different path on how the game recieves the information from the app.

Have you tried this with both the 3.13 and 4.0 software? Is there any difference?

Thanks,
Eric

[VFS-22_SPaRX]

Eric,

It does not really seem that there is a Memory issue to me with either Trackir or IL2. I never really thought it was. It almost seems to me like the "hook" you guys have into IL2 is getting interrupted somehow and either IL2 or Trackir is not recovering from it.

I have monitored IL2 (i have a merged PF install btw, ie: FB/AEP/PF), and i have yet to see anything out of the ordinary in regards to its memory usage.

I have had both Trackir1 and Trackir 3 Pro. For me this all started with the AEP expansion. With Trackir1, I tried every 2.xx version and up to version 3.10 in the 3.xx series. With Trackir 3 pro, i have tried every 3.xx series as well as the new 4.xx series and have the exact same problem.

I am scratching my head as much as you i am sure.

SPaRX

[ericd]

I'll get a copy of AEP and see if the behaves any differently. I only have the standalone version of FB.

Also, please let me know what patches you have applied so I can try to recreate the exact same situation.

Thanks,
Eric

[Voxman]

Here's the numbers I got tonight:

At Trackir Startup:
Mem : 8088 VM: 6044 Handles: 38

At FrameDrop:
Mem: 1084 VM: 6041 Handles: 38

I looked at FB's usage at that point and it had:
Mem:85,980VM: 556,788 Handles:457

Idle Trackir CPU usages at startup no game running: 0-5%

Trackir CPU usages during Framedrop: 0-10%

I'm using FB+AEP+PF patched to the latest rev. 3.03m.

[ January 04, 2005, 12:44 AM: Message edited by: Voxman ]