Intel Dual Core Speed problem fix?

[Gouki]

Howdy all.

I'm experiencing the speed problem (first hyper fast, and now super slow) a lot of the people with dual AMD processors have been reporting, but I run an Intel Core Duo (Mac running Windows XP Pro via Bootcamp), and changing the affinity to only one processor manually didn't help.

Obviously the AMD related downloads to fix this won't help me, and I've been unable to find any Intel equivalents so I've posted here to see if anyone else has some ideas.

[PeTjA]

Some weeks ago there was a user with a pentium notebook haveing the same issue. Maybe what worked for him will help U too.

Read post Nr.5 and Nr.9 here: http://dreamcatcherinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php?p=212150#post212150

[Gouki]

Thanks for the reply, but I already checked that thread, and the fixes there didn't help. My processor doesn't have speedstep so that isn't an issue.

I'm still pretty certain the issue has to do with my dual processor, but changing the affinity doesn't help so I'm betting I need some obscure tool to tweak the settings.

Right now if I run Painkiller on both processors I get a weird stutter step in the movement, but the framerate is fine, and adjusting video properties has no effect so I'm certain it isn't just a video issue.

If I run the game on just one processor I get the super slow motion.

Originally I got the hyperspeed problem from running it on both processors.:confused:

Something else that might, or might not be relevant is the fact I bought, and downloaded my version of Painkiller (Black) from Steam. I don't know if this would cause any special issues, but I don't have any problems running any other Steam-based games.

[PeTjA]

Wich hardware have U?
Wich drivers are U using?
Wich OS?
(Overclocking?)

[Blaise]

If you're getting weird stuttering, I'd be pointing towards a graphic driver problem. Not all drivers are created the same, you could try upgrading (or downgrading) your video driver - nVidia or ATI? But to be sure, try winding back the settings to say 800x600 no AA/AF, turn off bloom and other graphic affects and see how things go. If the stuttering goes away, you can be sure it's related to the graphics subsystem and you can start experimenting with settings and/or drivers.

On a second take (which may negate the whole of my first paragraph), you're running XP on a MAC. Yes, I know it's got an Intel chip inside and you're running XP via Boot Camp BUT maybe it isn't working as expected under the hood. Do other PC based games work as intended or is this the first non-MAC game you've tried? Sometimes (well commonly in the old days), game developers used exploits in the architecture to gain performance on a platform. As this game was developed for the PC there's a slim chance that this may be occurring here be-it that your machine isn't a true x86 based machine.

[Gouki]

Specs:
Windows XP Pro SP2
2 GHz Intel Core Duo
1GB DDR RAM
ATI Radeon x1600 256MB Video Card

I've tried turning down the graphics settings all the way in terms of resolution, and turning off all the effects, but the stutter remains. By stutter I only mean the speed of movement. Mouse movement, and frame rates are smooth. It is almost like back when third party controllers for console systems had a slow motion feature that was simply an auto-fire for the pause button.

I run plenty of other games on my Mac via Windows, and bootcamp just fine. Half Life 2, FEAR, Command and Conquer 3, Supreme Commander, Counterstrike Source, Oblivion, and plenty of other games I can't think of off the top of my head run with no problems. Painkiller is the first game to give me any problems.

I'll give updating the drivers a shot, but I'm not entirely certain the normal ATI drivers will work. I tried it once before, and it didn't take. I'm not sure if any special circumstances apply to the Mac hardware even though it is an ATI card.

[Gouki]

Minor update. I neglected to mention my video card is the Mobility Radeon X1600. The Mac isn't a notebook, but uses that to stay thin I suppose.

Also when I try to install the latest driver directly from ATI the setup tells me it is not compatible with my hardware so that is out. I expected that, however, as it has happened once before. Driver updates are usually done through bootcamp, but they don't happen often.

[Gouki]

Another update. I updated all of my drivers through bootcamp including video drivers, and am still having the problem even if I set the resolution to 320x200, and turn off all of the video options.

So I'm still pretty certain it is processor related. If I change the affinity to one processor I get super slow motion, and on two I get the stuttering of slow motion, and regular speed going back, and forth.

Maybe I'll just play through the game in slow motion, and pretend it's bullet time.:rolleyes:

[Varus77]

...and the CPU runs on stable tact or do you use any "silent" feature?
(stable tact-rate is recommended)

[Gouki]

I'm afraid you lost me there, Varus.

[Varus77]

My processor doesn't have speedstep so that isn't an issue.
...
Nope...maybe my fault...
I'm not really familiar with MAC-stuff but you're sure that there isn't any feature to "save" energy?

..and read this:
http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-241494.html

but what was going on between this:

...(first hyper fast, and now super slow)...
^^^ did you anything?

[Gouki]

There aren't any energy saving features on my Mac that I know of, but I'll certainly check. It's not a laptop so it wouldn't make much sense, but it doesn't mean they aren't there.

The change from super fast to super slow came after playing through the game for a while, and dying in one of the levels. It has played slow since then. I didn't change anything until after it started running slow.

[Gouki]

I may have found a solution. My Mac has a ridiculously large wide screen, and the odd aspect ratio of 16:10 rather than the more common 16:9 for widescreen displays.

As Painkiller can be set to my Mac's native resolution I didn't think this was a problem. I run many other games at the native 1680x1050 resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio.

My ATI video settings within Windows allow me to maintain the original aspect ratio of games when I stretch them to my screen size, which is handy for really old games that run at 800x600. Otherwise everyone looks very strange. When I did this for Painkiller it began to run super fast once again.

Then I set the affinity for Painkiller to one processor, and now it runs at something approaching normal speed.

So I guess it was a combination of two processors running it too quickly, and it didn't like the 16:10 aspect ratio.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback, and suggestions. I'll post some more if this problem rears its ugly head again, but for now it seems to be working correctly.

[PeTjA]

Thanks for the feedback AND: happy fragging! :)

[Varus77]

...and from me too ! :D