Upgrade that cured one problem but started another

[bwfeldsee]

Hi

I would be grateful for a bit of guidance but, before I start, an apology that I am clueless when it comes to understanding computer hardware jargon.

I have an HP 3070 (dated 2005) and bought Trainz 2006 about 16 months ago, having run MSTS on this computer very well for several years. I was impressed apart from the poor frame rates and stuttering. I was advised to upgrade my graphics card and increase the memory. I took the computer to my local computer shop - the guy there knows a lot about computers but nothing about Trainz. He did the upgrade and now the frame rate problem and stuttering has completely gone. Unfortunately Trainz now crashes regularly - the usual symptom is that it simply freezes with a noise that sounds like an old radio set with interference on the station. Everything else on the computer including MSTS works perfectly so I guess the chap at the shop can be forgiven for saying that he tested it and it works!

What might we have done wrong?

Spec:
Windows XP Home
HP 3070
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.20 GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory 2048 MB (originally 1024 MB until the upgrade)
DirectX 9.0c (all features enabled)
Display: NVIDIA GeForce GT520 Driver nv4_disp.dll (WHQL Logo'd)
Sound: Realtek HD
Driver: RtkHDAud.sys (WHQL Logo'd)

As far as I am aware, only the graphics card and memory were changed at the upgrade.- and Trainz never crashed before the upgrade.


Any help or advice very gratefully received. I'd like to go back to my computer man and tell him where to look (politely of course).


Regards
Alan

 

[shaneturner12]

Hi Alan,

The first thing I would suggest is to check if there are any updates for both DirectX (see my thread in General Trainz) or your graphics card (see http://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/Scan.aspx?lang=en-uk - you will need to install an ActiveX control or similar to use the site (ActiveX controls are used by Internet Explorer to add features).

Shane

 

[tomurban]

I don't remember if TS06 included Trainzdiag.exe or not, but if it does, run the program and it will indicate your problem area.

 

[bwfeldsee]

Thanks Shane and Tom. I'm not much further at the moment. The DirectX update feature told me that I was already up to date whilst nvdia said it was unable to scan my system and "please try later". As far as I can see TS06 doesn't have Trainzdiag.exe - I did a search on the computer's files and couldn't find it.

I then had a thought that I should disable my virus detection and disconnect from the internet so that my computer would have less to cope with but sadly that didn't work either. About 10 minutes into my Trainz journey when I was beginning to think I'd cracked it, the crash came.

My next job is to email the computer guy and ask him to explain exactly what he did to solve one problem and cause another. This step might be tricky. He usually replies "lots of things" in a tone of voice that means "you wouldn't understand!!!"

I'll keep you posted but, meanwhile, thanks for your interest.

Alan

 

[shaneturner12]

TrainzDiag is in the <trainz install folder>/Bin folder.

You need to use the redistributable version of the DirectX updater if using Windows Vista or 7.

As for the graphics card update issue, I'm suprised on that.

Shane

 

[NickieFoenshauge]

... the usual symptom is that it simply freezes with a noise that sounds like an old radio set with interference on the station. ...

Happens to me occasionally (not very often). Seems to be caused by Windows paging due to not enough free RAM. But, of course, I could be wrong. Your 2 GB RAM might be a bit (!) on the low side.

 

[bwfeldsee]

Thanks again. I found the Trainzdiag and ran it but everything received a tick. I had a reply from the computer shop and he said he had updated all the drivers and reassigned IRQs (I had to look up in Wikipedia what he meant by that!). I too had wondered about the RAM (Nickie's point) but, in that case, wonder why it didn't crash when it only had 1024 MB avaialable. Is there a way of increasing the virtual memory in Trainz which is the equivalent of the MSTS512 option. That made a huge difference when I tried it.
Anyway, I do appreciate your interest and comments.
Alan

 

[bwfeldsee]

We've made some progress since we last corresponded. Nickie's comment about memory set me thinking and then I noticed that the computer was failing in applications other than Trainz when asked to do too much! So finally I decided to have a new computer built as mine is now seven years old and not capable of further upgrade.

After some discussion whilst I tried to convince the man at the computer shop that Trainz neede more "umph" than he thought it did, we ended up with the folowing spec, largely dreived from reading dozens of threads on this forum. I'd now like to run it past you to see if you approve before I place the order.

ACER tower
Intel Core i5-2320 quad core 4 x 3.0ghz (2nd generation)
Graphics: Nvidia 560ti 448
4 GB RAM
1 TB hard drive
DirectX 9.0c

It will run on XP as now because I also have a stack of MSTS routes that I really don't want to throw away.

All views welcome. it will be a costly mistake if I get it wrong.

Thanks
Alan

 

[fran1]

I run a quad @3 ghz with a GTX560Ti without issues, can run trainz (2010), download using CM, use the internet etc at the same time.
If you stick with xp the ram will be fine as the o/s only uses 512mb.