FPS Deteroitation

[coldflaym]

FPS Deterioation

Ok..heres my situation...

I've had tremulous (and my computer) for about a year and a half now. When i first started playing i used to get a lovely constant 90fps everywhere. Slowly i noticed the fps dropping on more complex areas ie.stairwell in nexus, near transparent objects, when loads of  are in the in the room(u get the idea). At first it was ok... just droping to about 50fps..barely noticble, but mroe recently it has got worse (the last 5 months or so), dropping ot 20-30 fps (which is really annoying when dretching ). I still 90 fps in the less complex areas but now the fps fluctuates a lot.
I havent changed any settings(that i know of(almost all settings on high)).
I dont thinhk i have a virus in my pc. Loading times just take a second longer (barely).
here's my system specs:

Basic
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Video Card : RADEON 9550 (256mb)
RAM : 1.00GB
HDD: 70GB out of 97GB used


Detailed


   Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: Rev 1.00
          Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
             Memory: 1024MB RAM
          Page File: 501MB used, 1963MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

Card name: RADEON 9550
     Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
        Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor AGP (0x4153)
         DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4153&SUBSYS_00021002&REV_00
   Display Memory: 256.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
  Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
      Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6727 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 9/29/2007 02:06:18, 268800 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: Yes
  WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 9/29/2007 02:06:00, 2456064 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-0213-11CF-F569-0820A1C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x1002
        Device ID: 0x4153
        SubSys ID: 0x00021002
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV8_B ModeWMV8_A ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A

       Registry: OK
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: All tests were successful.
 D3D7 Test Result: All tests were successful.
 D3D8 Test Result: All tests were successful.
 D3D9 Test Result: All tests were successful.


I defragged a few weeks ago but didnt really seem to affect performance.

Any help on how ot get my FPS back to a reasonable standard would be much appreciated!
If u need any more information about my PC then just tell me.
Computer Experience: Average

[Taiyo.uk]

Has this only happened in Tremulous? Do other games exhibit a similar performance deterioration?

[Bomb]

Kudos to you for the wealth of information you provided.

Have you changed the settings for your monitor or video card as of late?

[kevlarman]

Kudos to you for the wealth of information you provided.

Have you changed the settings for your monitor or video card as of late?

tremulous can't max out that video card under normal (and probably not so normal) circumstances.

[Lava Croft]

It might if he has set some ridiculously high FSAA and Aniso.

[Odin]

Actually Tremulous might not slow down if you use FSAA or AF, due to the fact that Tremulous is highly CPU-bound. The GPU should handle these easily when the CPU is doing most of the work...

[Lava Croft]

Setting some ridiculously high FSAA and Transparecy AA is a good way of making Tremulous run slower. But, before we get into some discussion about this, let's wait and see what the OP has to say.

[coldflaym]

Thanks

imma bit of a noob  so can someone plz explain to me what FSAA and Aniso is? Or at least what they stand for (i might know what they are.) is aniso anisotropic filtering?

Also other games have deteriorated since i first bought my pc but not significantly. I had a demo 3dmark benchmarking utility on my pc but it screwed up after i done a sys restore and now i cant open it. I might dload the same version again (i still remember what some of the tests got) but since im on a 256k broadband connection i might not .
I tried urban terror again and the fps seems the sameish, but then again i only got urban terror halfway thru last year.
Also when i first used to play tremulous, maps like uncreation used to give me about 50-60fps ( i think)

thanx =]

[Lava Croft]

after i done a sys restore

Try formatting and reinstalling Windows. System Restore is a healthy way of breaking your computer.

[coldflaym]

im on xp... didn't they stop assistance for xp? if so how will i reactivate xp after reinstall?

i done all the cleaning utilities and stuff... didn't really seem to help...

[Lava Croft]

That does not matter, you can still activate it.

[coldflaym]

If i partition my hdd, install a linux os on the partition, and install tremulous on the linux will it have the same affect as formatting whole hdd?
This would mean i have a dual boot pc right?

[Taiyo.uk]

Yes, you can create a dual-boot machine in this way. The installers of the major Linux distros allow you to configure dual booting.

As for Windows, the effect will be the same as formatting the entire disc provided that you format the windows partition and crate a fresh install there.

It is recommended that you create a fresh install of Windows using a whole-disc partition then resize it using the Linux installer.

[Archangel]

I previously had the same card and had the same issues, turns out it was heat-related. Got a new fan on that card and it worked like a charm..?

[tyranis]

I had a similar problem and there are two possible ways of fixing it that I came across:
A. run a driver cleaner, restart, and then install the latest drives
B. reformat your hard drive and install windows from scratch