PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis

T23GUY · 03-04-2008, 03:17 PM

ok i didnt know where exactly to post this but about crysis...

i have enough ram, 2gb now. But in crysis, when i move arround i get stutters, and in these stutters the hdd light lights up for a bit, indicating that its reading from hdd. But it shouldnt be doing that during game play, it should load everything to ram. How could i fix this stuttering caused by the game reading from the hdd?

Thanks

T23GUY · 03-05-2008, 08:24 AM

bump....

**emosun** · 03-05-2008, 09:14 AM

Mine loads during game play too, everyones does. I'll be walking along the beaches and rocks will pop up right next to me. The reason why is because the textures and other things take up so much ram that it only loads the map as you go rather then loading the whole thing right away. Try turning the textures down to low and see if that helps, or just turn your graphics down until the game plays smooth.

dai · 03-05-2008, 10:26 AM

check your tempretures
put a quality psu in it

T23GUY · 03-05-2008, 03:06 PM

my psu is doing fine, voltages are great during gaming, no change from idle to load, 12v rail does not drop below 12.03. Low temps (C), cpu 31, mobo 30, hdd 28, gpu at load 69.

But thinking about the hdd loading...there is one weak link in my system, my 80gb seagate hdd (7200) is IDE.

Think upgrading to sata II would make a big difference?

Thanks

dai · 03-05-2008, 03:09 PM

not so you would notice

T23GUY · 03-05-2008, 03:49 PM

I thought there myt be? what do you think emosun?

**emosun** · 03-05-2008, 04:04 PM

No there won't be any difference , sata is more of a convenience then it is a real performance increase. The real factor would be the cpu or video card in your system. Or what tasks your running during the game.

**koala** · 03-07-2008, 08:16 AM

SATA and IDE performance is very similar. The only advantge of SATA is the shape of the data cable, which improves airflow inside the case, leading to slightly reduced temperatures.

How much free space is left on the 80gb hard drive? Do you defrag regularly? What are your swap file settings? Have you tried reducing the graphics options and resolution in Crysis? Have you tried the optimized Crysis config file in the Games forum? Anything in your msconfig startup list that can be safely disabled?

Press ctrl-alt-del before starting Crysis to bring up the Task Manager. When you start to notice HD activity during the game, alt-tab back to the Task Manager and check the CPU and RAM/Swap File usage in the Performance tab, and the CPU usage in the Processes tab to see which other programs are running in the background.

T23GUY · 03-08-2008, 04:48 AM

Hmm, i see, Well when I play crysis my PF usage is 1.22 GB :O, and i have 670MB of ram free, How could I make it so crysis loads what ever it can into every last ounce of ram, before it starts to page?

Thanks

**warlordfmike** · 03-08-2008, 06:18 AM

sorry to butin but i play crysis under vista basic and my temps and voltages are fine

3/8/2008 7:11:26 AM 53 °C / 128 °F 0 °C / 32 °F 24 °C / 76 °F 9 °C / 49 °F 1.50 V 3.26 V 5.07 V 12.60 V -12.20 V 3.12 V 5.07 V 40 °C / 104 °F

thats with my ever setting set to medium

but my sound is very very choppy

**emosun** · 03-08-2008, 08:38 AM

I know what your means t23 but I don't think theres a way to do it.

**koala** · 03-08-2008, 08:54 AM

If Crysis needs to make use of the swap file rather than using RAM (for whatever strange reason) then to get the best out of the situation, increase the size of the swap file and move it to a second hard drive if you have one. This will allow the game to run from drive C: and the virtual memory can be accessed from drive D: without slowing down the game. Also, defrag.

**emosun** · 03-08-2008, 09:51 AM

I tried the swap file thing, didn't really work. What if you eliminate the swapfile forcing the computer to use only the ram , I would imagine the ram is faster then the hdd's?

**koala** · 03-08-2008, 09:59 AM

@emosun: The game appears to be using the swap file in conjunction with RAM, which is the usual way things work. Disabling the swap file would cause all kinds of problems, not only for the game but also for Windows. I was just suggesting increasing its size and moving it to another drive to minimize disk activity on the game's drive.

T23GUY · 03-08-2008, 10:31 AM

Guys i found something on astalavist.ms:

"Tweak The Swap File

For Users with 256 MB RAM or more this tweak will boost their Windows-
and Game-Performance.
What it does: It tells Windows not to use any Swap File until there is
really no more free RAM left.

Open the System Configuration Utility by typing msconfig.exe in the RUN
command. There in your System.ini you have to add "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1"
under the 386enh section.

Restart your Windows and enjoy better Game performance"

Im going to try it now, il let you know if it makes a difference

**koala** · 03-08-2008, 10:39 AM

Good find, T23Guy! I use "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" after seeing it in a system tweaking app a few years ago, and it seems to help.

Do you have a second hard drive?

T23GUY · 03-08-2008, 10:52 AM

Thanks. No ive only got 1 hdd, otherwise i probably would have tried paging on a second hdd.

About the conservetaveswapfile=1, it doesnt seem to work on my system, i still have the same amount of ram free when playing crysis, and the same amount of pagefile in use?

I should have more ram in use and less pagefile in use

**koala** · 03-08-2008, 11:02 AM

Apparently, this tweak doesn't have any effect in XP. I must have used it in 98.

From http://home.comcast.net/~SupportCD/XPMyths.html

Quote:

Myth - "Adding ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 to the System.ini file improves performance."

Reality - "The System.ini and Win.ini files are provided in Windows XP for backward compatibility with 16-bit applications. They have no effect on the Windows XP paging file settings which are stored in the Registry. This setting only effects Windows 95/98 operating systems. The default setting for ConservativeSwapfileUsage is 1 for Windows 95, and 0 (zero) for Windows 98. On Windows 98 systems you can set ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 under the [386Enh] heading of the System.ini file causing the system to behave as Windows 95 does, at some cost in overall system performance."

EDIT: I'm busy at the moment, but I'll post back later tonight with my CPU, RAM and swap file usage during Crysis to give you an idea of typical values.

T23GUY · 03-08-2008, 11:06 AM

Hmm thought so

03-04-2008, 03:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
T23GUY Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 214 OS: Windows XP SP3 My System	PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis ok i didnt know where exactly to post this but about crysis... i have enough ram, 2gb now. But in crysis, when i move arround i get stutters, and in these stutters the hdd light lights up for a bit, indicating that its reading from hdd. But it shouldnt be doing that during game play, it should load everything to ram. How could i fix this stuttering caused by the game reading from the hdd? Thanks

03-05-2008, 08:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
T23GUY Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 214 OS: Windows XP SP3 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis bump....

03-05-2008, 09:14 AM	#3 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,087 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis Mine loads during game play too, everyones does. I'll be walking along the beaches and rocks will pop up right next to me. The reason why is because the textures and other things take up so much ram that it only loads the map as you go rather then loading the whole thing right away. Try turning the textures down to low and see if that helps, or just turn your graphics down until the game plays smooth. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

03-05-2008, 10:26 AM	#4 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,784 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis check your tempretures put a quality psu in it __________________

03-05-2008, 03:06 PM	#5 (permalink)
T23GUY Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 214 OS: Windows XP SP3 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis my psu is doing fine, voltages are great during gaming, no change from idle to load, 12v rail does not drop below 12.03. Low temps (C), cpu 31, mobo 30, hdd 28, gpu at load 69. But thinking about the hdd loading...there is one weak link in my system, my 80gb seagate hdd (7200) is IDE. Think upgrading to sata II would make a big difference? Thanks

03-05-2008, 03:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,784 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis not so you would notice __________________

03-05-2008, 03:49 PM	#7 (permalink)
T23GUY Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 214 OS: Windows XP SP3 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis I thought there myt be? what do you think emosun?

03-05-2008, 04:04 PM	#8 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,087 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis No there won't be any difference , sata is more of a convenience then it is a real performance increase. The real factor would be the cpu or video card in your system. Or what tasks your running during the game. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

03-07-2008, 08:16 AM	#9 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,449 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis SATA and IDE performance is very similar. The only advantge of SATA is the shape of the data cable, which improves airflow inside the case, leading to slightly reduced temperatures. How much free space is left on the 80gb hard drive? Do you defrag regularly? What are your swap file settings? Have you tried reducing the graphics options and resolution in Crysis? Have you tried the optimized Crysis config file in the Games forum? Anything in your msconfig startup list that can be safely disabled? Press ctrl-alt-del before starting Crysis to bring up the Task Manager. When you start to notice HD activity during the game, alt-tab back to the Task Manager and check the CPU and RAM/Swap File usage in the Performance tab, and the CPU usage in the Processes tab to see which other programs are running in the background. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

03-08-2008, 04:48 AM	#10 (permalink)
T23GUY Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 214 OS: Windows XP SP3 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis Hmm, i see, Well when I play crysis my PF usage is 1.22 GB :O, and i have 670MB of ram free, How could I make it so crysis loads what ever it can into every last ounce of ram, before it starts to page? Thanks

03-08-2008, 06:18 AM	#11 (permalink)
warlordfmike TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: huntington tx east texas Posts: 665 OS: microsoft® Vista home Basic™ Sp1 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis sorry to butin but i play crysis under vista basic and my temps and voltages are fine 3/8/2008 7:11:26 AM 53 °C / 128 °F 0 °C / 32 °F 24 °C / 76 °F 9 °C / 49 °F 1.50 V 3.26 V 5.07 V 12.60 V -12.20 V 3.12 V 5.07 V 40 °C / 104 °F thats with my ever setting set to medium but my sound is very very choppy __________________ "im a dude that lives in the middle of nowhere. i live on a road that the address has fm in it. the fm means FROM somewhere to the MIDDLE of nowhere lolololol" Warlordfmike of TSF SensorsView . WinRaR . Belarc . Windows Performance Tool . Belarc Advisor . DriverMax . Advanced Task Manager . Driver Detective . AutoRuns Last edited by warlordfmike; 03-08-2008 at 06:23 AM.

03-08-2008, 08:38 AM	#12 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,087 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis I know what your means t23 but I don't think theres a way to do it. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

03-08-2008, 08:54 AM	#13 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,449 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis If Crysis needs to make use of the swap file rather than using RAM (for whatever strange reason) then to get the best out of the situation, increase the size of the swap file and move it to a second hard drive if you have one. This will allow the game to run from drive C: and the virtual memory can be accessed from drive D: without slowing down the game. Also, defrag. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

03-08-2008, 09:51 AM	#14 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,087 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis I tried the swap file thing, didn't really work. What if you eliminate the swapfile forcing the computer to use only the ram , I would imagine the ram is faster then the hdd's? __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

03-08-2008, 09:59 AM	#15 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,449 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis @emosun: The game appears to be using the swap file in conjunction with RAM, which is the usual way things work. Disabling the swap file would cause all kinds of problems, not only for the game but also for Windows. I was just suggesting increasing its size and moving it to another drive to minimize disk activity on the game's drive. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

03-08-2008, 10:31 AM	#16 (permalink)
T23GUY Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 214 OS: Windows XP SP3 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis Guys i found something on astalavist.ms: "Tweak The Swap File For Users with 256 MB RAM or more this tweak will boost their Windows- and Game-Performance. What it does: It tells Windows not to use any Swap File until there is really no more free RAM left. Open the System Configuration Utility by typing msconfig.exe in the RUN command. There in your System.ini you have to add "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" under the 386enh section. Restart your Windows and enjoy better Game performance" Im going to try it now, il let you know if it makes a difference

03-08-2008, 10:39 AM	#17 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,449 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis Good find, T23Guy! I use "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" after seeing it in a system tweaking app a few years ago, and it seems to help. Do you have a second hard drive? __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

03-08-2008, 10:52 AM	#18 (permalink)
T23GUY Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 214 OS: Windows XP SP3 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis Thanks. No ive only got 1 hdd, otherwise i probably would have tried paging on a second hdd. About the conservetaveswapfile=1, it doesnt seem to work on my system, i still have the same amount of ram free when playing crysis, and the same amount of pagefile in use? I should have more ram in use and less pagefile in use

03-08-2008, 11:06 AM	#20 (permalink)
T23GUY Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 214 OS: Windows XP SP3 My System	Re: PC is stuttering & Reading from hdd while playing crysis Hmm thought so