Performance trouble

[knucklesnvector]

I don't know whether this is the right place to post this sort of thing, but here goes nothing...

I first got my current laptop back in August 2010 and it ran programs perfectly. Trainz 2009 ran absolutely fine without any troubles to begin with. however, as time went on, Trainz and other programs began to run slower.

Believing it was due to downloading too much, I uninstalled trainz and reinstalled it around september-ish last year. But that didn't work either.

It seems that what happens is that when I run a program (Trainz and Railworks being used the most often) it will run smoothly for a short while before something triggers it to lag. It's not even just directX programs, Windows Media Player does it too. Here are the things I have tried in attempt to sort it out:

Defragging- a few weeks ago, I defragged both hard drives several times, but all that happened was that it ran smoothly for a few minutes before returning to its lagacious self. (Note: I'm using defraggler. Is this program known to be bad at defragging?)

Trying to locate what's causing it- one day recently I took a note of all programs that were running prior to the lag being triggered. Once the lag was triggered I went straight back to the task manager, but alas, no other program had been started, unless it was too quick for me and had just exited.

Letting windows find the problem: It said there were too many programs opening when the computer starts up, so I let it fix itself, but just caused the same effect as defragging the computer did.

Turned on things like Data Execution Prevention, when getting really desperate. did nothing

I tried doing a system restore long ago, but the stupid laptop didn't make any restore points automatically.

I've tried turning on triple buffering, but my catalyst control centre is a dud, as are all versions of D3D override.

GameBooster also doesn't work; once the lag is triggered, it loses all effect entirely.

If it helps, here are the system components of my PC:

Model: Acer Aspire 6920
GFX card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 (Default LCD)
OS: Vista home premium SP2 32 bit (No, I'm not upgrading to 7, if it worked 16 months ago it can work now.)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
Ram: 3GB

And the settings I commonly use for Trainz:

DirectX
Resolution: 1280x768
Bit Depth: 32
Full Screen
Resource Cache Size: 128
Hardware TL: Disabled
Shadows: Disabled

Basically, I'd be very grateful to know if someone else has experienced a similar problem, whether they've managed to resolve it and, if so, how they resolved it.

 

[Euphod]

It seems to be a problem that is progressive in nature, such as running out of room on the HD, or a large cache filling up. I don't understand why it keeps happening. Well, take heart, Shane Turner will be along shortly to fix it for you!

Just a thought, do you periodically clean out your old files? I use CCleaner occasionally for just such a purpose.

 

[shaneturner12]

I'm here now.

First thing I've noticed is that you have disabled Hardware TL. Normally, this only needs to be done with Intel graphics cards, or very old graphics cards, any other time it should be enabled.

Have you checked if there are any newer drivers for your graphics card? Newer drivers normally fix issues like that.

Also, it's worth checking if your DirectX is up to date. I have a thread in the General Trainz forum that details how to update it.

I've also had trouble with Triple Buffering as it does not work in low memory situations.

Can I check which version of Trainz this is affecting as you have two registered.

Shane

P.S. I am the Shane Turner that Euphod was referring to.

 

[Euphod]

P.S. I am the Shane Turner that Euphod was referring to.

As if there were another! You do a fine job of sharing your knowledge with those in need. Good on ya!

 

[shaneturner12]

There could well be, I haven't come across any others yet though.

Shane

 

[clam1952]

May possibly be an overheating problem, some laptops have tendency to fill up with dust and fluff over time and it needs cleaning out. However disabling Hardware TL will kill performance so I'd reinstate that first.

 

[SuperFudd]

Since it was a progresive failure (right?) I will go with over heating. I expect some laptops intentionally slow down when overheated. It may be dust choked.

 

[shaneturner12]

I know with Windows 7 (and possibly Vista as well) that the power management settings can be set for the cooling policy (either to 'Active' or 'Passive' - Active increases fan speed before slowing the processor, and Passive slows the processor before increasing fan speed.

It may be that the OP has Passive set in the power management settings.

Shane

 

[knucklesnvector]

May possibly be an overheating problem, some laptops have tendency to fill up with dust and fluff over time and it needs cleaning out. However disabling Hardware TL will kill performance so I'd reinstate that first.

That's probably the main reason. I often run out of space to put my laptop (my main 'desk', a chest of drawers, is being used by an Xbox 360 and a TV at the moment, so recently I've put my laptop on a wooden staircase (without carpet) which has made it heat so much it's often turned off unexpected.) I should learn that it's wise to put it on a large, hard surface like a desk or tray, because I accidentally fried a laptop by overheating it a few years ago. I think I'll look for somewhere to keep the laptop for a while that's hard and flat.

The performance of Trainz, and the computer as a whole, also increased slightly when I got rid of lots of excess that Acer decided to fill the computer with.

 

[tomurban]

That's probably the main reason. I often run out of space to put my laptop (my main 'desk', a chest of drawers, is being used by an Xbox 360 and a TV at the moment, so recently I've put my laptop on a wooden staircase (without carpet) which has made it heat so much it's often turned off unexpected.) I should learn that it's wise to put it on a large, hard surface like a desk or tray, because I accidentally fried a laptop by overheating it a few years ago. I think I'll look for somewhere to keep the laptop for a while that's hard and flat.

The performance of Trainz, and the computer as a whole, also increased slightly when I got rid of lots of excess that Acer decided to fill the computer with.

In general, laptops have a hard time running newer versions of TRAINZ. This gets compounded with the larger, graphics intensive routes.

tomurban