Can I improve my computer's performance, based on the Trainz Diagnostics?

A

alexl102

Learning... slowly!
I've got TS12 on a desktop running XP which I think is slightly below the recommended spec requirements, resulting in slower running than is desireable.

The Trainz Diagnostic Tool shows the following warnings (nothing failed the diagnostic tests):

Video Driver's Age: 64 Months (newer drivers are not available for XP, but are for Win 7)
AGP Memory: 0GB

Vertex Shaders : Version 1.1 (DirectX Failure)
Extra Information:
OpenGL Vertex Shader: Version 1.1
DirectX Vertex Shader Version 0.0

Spherical Environment Mapping (DirectX Failure)

Vertex Buffers (DirectX Failure)


So, considering everything else on the diagnostics passed, is there anything I can do to solve the problems listed? I know the video driver can only be solved by moving onto Windows 7, which may do eventually but not just yet, and I *think* the AGP requires the physical installation of a different card or something into the brains unit of the computer from what I remember.

Can I solve the vertex shaders, spherical environment mapping or vertex buffers issue? The diagnostic text on DirectX was a pass but then it fails on those components.

The thing is, even though DirectX fails on those, the game still runs better in DirectX mode rather than OpenGL, so I figured if I can solve these issues I might get it running better. Unfortunately I'm lacking the funds to buy a brand new gaming pc at present!

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks,

Alex
 
Do you have your dads Amex to hand?

amex_przod.jpg


Because it is recommended that you buy on these-

r4870-t2d1g.jpg
 
alexl102 said:
I've got TS12 on a desktop running XP which I think is slightly below the recommended spec requirements, resulting in slower running than is desireable.

The Trainz Diagnostic Tool shows the following warnings (nothing failed the diagnostic tests):

Video Driver's Age: 64 Months (newer drivers are not available for XP, but are for Win 7)
AGP Memory: 0GB

Vertex Shaders : Version 1.1 (DirectX Failure)
Extra Information:
OpenGL Vertex Shader: Version 1.1
DirectX Vertex Shader Version 0.0

Spherical Environment Mapping (DirectX Failure)

Vertex Buffers (DirectX Failure)


So, considering everything else on the diagnostics passed, is there anything I can do to solve the problems listed? I know the video driver can only be solved by moving onto Windows 7, which may do eventually but not just yet, and I *think* the AGP requires the physical installation of a different card or something into the brains unit of the computer from what I remember.

Can I solve the vertex shaders, spherical environment mapping or vertex buffers issue? The diagnostic text on DirectX was a pass but then it fails on those components.

The thing is, even though DirectX fails on those, the game still runs better in DirectX mode rather than OpenGL, so I figured if I can solve these issues I might get it running better. Unfortunately I'm lacking the funds to buy a brand new gaming pc at present!

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks,

Alex
Click to expand...

It would help if you posted basic specs of your PC - if its a store bought model "off the shelf" tell us what model it is or tell use roughly what components are inside it OR run the Belarc advisor http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html which give details of your specs.
 
It's a Dell Optiplex 755. It's got a 2.4GHz processor, 4GB RAM. Can't remember the rest off the top of my head; what else do you need to know?
 
If it's the one I think, then that 755 is an Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Processor (2.4GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB) with integrated graphics, so Alex you need to check if the PC has an additional dedicated graphics card installed. You can see this just by looking at the back of the machine and seeing if there is anything installed in any of the card slots (located at the bottom of the back) if they are not used they will have a metal cover. The other way to tell is to check where your screen plugs into the PC - if it's in the same "block" as most of the other connectors then you don't have a dedicated graphics card.

As others have said, getting a reasonable graphics card may improve performance although, given that that PC is a 5 year old model, it may be better to save the money towards a new PC with dedicated graphics and Windows 7...

Chris
 
itareus said:
If it's the one I think, then that 755 is an Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Processor (2.4GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB) with integrated graphics, so Alex you need to check if the PC has an additional dedicated graphics card installed. You can see this just by looking at the back of the machine and seeing if there is anything installed in any of the card slots (located at the bottom of the back) if they are not used they will have a metal cover. The other way to tell is to check where your screen plugs into the PC - if it's in the same "block" as most of the other connectors then you don't have a dedicated graphics card.

As others have said, getting a reasonable graphics card may improve performance although, given that that PC is a 5 year old model, it may be better to save the money towards a new PC with dedicated graphics and Windows 7...

Chris
Click to expand...

That's right, and the graphics card is an Intel Q35 chipset family one. There's no additional dedicated graphics card unfortunately. I know I'll never get it perfect, I was just wondering if there was some way to improve it a little bit. Never mind! Thanks anyway.
 
cascaderailroad said:
That's pretty funny ... But you need not go that far ... nor a $2500 - $5500 Alienware PC
Click to expand...

It was funny once I realised it was a joke ;) :P

I have seen a gaming pc for around £270 which has a spec much greater than the requirements of trainz so I'll just have to save up!
 
The Dell OptiPlex 755s are general office use computers. I used to support a gazillion of these while I was at Oracle. That model is now out of warranty as that is usually for a 3-year period and that expired for many machines last year or just before. They were our mainstay computers which were supplanted with newer D780s. All of these machines come with integrated graphics but do have a PCI-e slots and PCI slots to support other graphics cards in addition to the onboard Intel 3xxx series. For what we used them for, they were great machines and ran Windows XP perfectly.

The problem with these machines is two-fold. The power supply is under powered for a decent graphics card, and there may or may not be enough room inside the case depending upon the series. There were slim line and small desktop versions of the same machine as well as convertible tower/desktop models which we used. The latter machines were small to medium-sized towers that were easily worked on but were sometimes laid on their side (there were feet on both the bottom and one side) for people who wanted that configuration. The motherboards do have PCI-e slots and PCI slots on them, but then there maybe the space issue and of course the power supply. I can't recall if this was an off-the-shelf power supply which could easily be replaced. Dell did some funky things at some point with their motherboards which could cause the board to fail.

Alex,

I would go better than the lowest end machine. Keep in mind what you want to do and never cut yourself short which is the position you are in now. We can discuss this further at some point.

Here's one vendor in the UK that has some decent offerings. I quoted out a machine here for another user who absolutely loves his machine.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

Avoid the ALL-IN-ONEs though. They are no better than the OptiPlex and only a little better than a low end laptop in many cases due to their design.

John
 
That's what I did. Dell Inspiron 570, with AMD quad core CPU and 6 Gb of memory when I got it.

Switched it to a Cooler Master case, new Power Supply, nVidia GTX550 Ti Card, SB X-Fi sound card, and finally updated to Win7 64bit from WinXP 32bit.

All bought over time.

For the record, I'm not sure Win7 made any difference in TS12's performance, but other things certainly work better/faster/smoother - and of course I can now use all 6 gb of that memory.

Routes like Appalachian Coal are still a slide show (low FPS), but others run fine with the exception of the dreaded "hicups" whenever the game has to fetch things from the HDD.
 
Alex,

John is 100% right about the power supply (I should have checked that before I posted !). The 755's PSU varies between 220w and 305w depending on the form factor - smaller case smaller PSU. This is very low and I doubt there is much margin to add a decent dedicated graphics card. I know from personal experience that adding a lower end card won't get you much, if any, performance improvement.

You could change the PSU but I'm told that the Dell ones are less than easy to change and, of course, you are pushing the cost up.

If and when you decide to get a new PC and assuming you are in the UK I would echo John's recommendation of PC Specialist who are based near Holmfirth in Yorkshire. I have recently had a PC built by them (to my specifications) and I'm very pleased with the end product and their service along the way. Just a word of caution about the £270 "Gaming" PC, at that price I think you would be disappointed with the performance improvement. Take the "official" specifications given by N3V for Trainz with a pinch of salt, they are after all trying to sell people the game...

Chris
 
The problem with buying from a custom build firm is that you are not only paying them for the parts but the time and labour of the builder, so you are always going to pay more.
A quick search of "Gaming PC" "Buy It Now" on ebay turned up this example at £249 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fast-gami...t=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item35ccd703dc
Note that it includes an SSD, Windows 7 and a powerful GPU as well as a nice case.And it gets a massive 7.1 on WEI.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Can I redownload Trainz on Windows if I purchase the Mac version?
Replies
5
Views
1K
wreeder
W
W
New build, new questions, and new problems
Replies
3
Views
1K
meatloaf747
M
T
What would be a good inexpensive graphic cardx?
Replies
5
Views
2K
tmiller453
T
T
textures glitch
Replies
1
Views
3K
shaneturner12
S
2
TS12 Crashes Every Time I try starting it
2
Replies
21
Views
4K
21panthers
2
Back
Top