Low Frame Rates on a New Computer

[btvboxer]

Hi

I get very low frame rates when I play Railworks. Low frame rates are only when I am driving a train but in Route editor frame rates are going normal.

Processor: AMD Athlon II X4
Intel Processor Star Rating: tbc
Processor model number: X4 640
Processor speed: 3.0 GHz
Processor bus: 2000 MHz
Processor cache: L2 2 MB
Memory (RAM): 4 GB
Storage Capacity (hard drive): 1 Tb
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium
Shared graphics: No
Dedicated graphics: Nvidea GFG405 1024 MB

Any advice on what should I do?

Thanks
btvboxer

[Kromaatikse]

Dedicated graphics: Nvidea GFG405 1024 MB

That could be your problem. The GeForce 405 is an extremely low-end card, and you will have a lot of trouble running Railworks with the settings turned up at all. Your CPU is okay though.

Have a look in the FAQ section for a guide to choosing your settings. Honestly though, you should also look at the Hardware Upgrades FAQ while you're there.

[btvboxer]

Thanks Kromaatikse.

btvboxer

[crazyfrogbro]

Yeah that 405 isn't too good. But the biggest problem is that TS2012 is extremely unoptimized, there is no other game that have bigger real requirements than ts2012. For me personally, GTA4 with shadows and revlections at medium-high graphics runs much better than ts12 with tsx without shadows...

[markwhale]

I bought my computer in March this year and it came with the GF405. It ran RW2 ok but was evident that it was going to struggle with RW3. I upgraded the graphic card to a GF GTX 560 OC 1024mb and it runs very well on high settings. Not sure if you mentioned who the manufacture of your pc is? Mine is a HP and found that the PSU was not man enough to run a mid to high end card, so I had to change the PSU as well. Check what power unit you have before you upgrade the GPU. Mine was a 300w PSU and upgraded to a 550 80plus.
The GF405 is a multimedia card, not really designed for gaming. That wonderful HP rep in that store, on that day, who talked me through my system and all its wonderful features and how it would run all the top spec games for at least the next five years was, lets say, pulling my string!!. But at the end of the day, its up to us to check and research before we buy and not be taken in by such twoddle!!!.
Hope you get sorted soon and running without any problems
Cheers
Mark.

[davejc64]

I'm slightly confused by all this talk about graphics cards and people dismissing certain graphics cards as no good for running RW3, I have a Nvidia GTX 260 and I manage to run RW3 perfectly well and have done since the launch day and I run it with TSX tuned on and the settings on high and the distance and bloom things turned on to.

[markwhale]

Morning Dave
There is a few issues regarding graphic cards and what runs well. Some of these threads indicate some being able to run on lower spec cards and those who have very high end spec systems and still running with certain issues. When we had RW and RW2, I had a GF 7600GS card which is much lower than the GF405 but run everything ok. I purchased my pc with the GF405, being led to believe it was a good, mid range card and looked forward to the benefits of running RW2 even better, and it ran ok. With the latest installment of RW3 however, the GF405 would not run in anything higher than very low settings and TSX, well, not a chance. I think we have to take into account, all the systems specs to determine how well, or how high we can run RW3. If you have a slow processor and minimal ram, putting a high spec GPU into your machine is not going to set things alight. I did find out, after researching the GF405, it is not a gaming card and had to upgrade the card and PSU.

To get the best out of RW3, you have to play around with the settings to get the best configuration for your pc and we need to take into account, you may have a very high end spec systems with loads of ram, top of the range processor, high end gaming card and a PSU that could run a small aircraft, there is still bugs within 2012 which need to be addressed and corrected which has nothing to do with how powerful your system runs.

Mark.

[bigvern]

HP are notorious for putting low wattage PSU's in their boxes. I bought one a few years back, it was something like a 200 watt PSU so when I plugged my Saitek X52 in, the blue lights kept going on and off as there wasn't enough power to drive it. The rest of the box wasn't much better and in the end (actually sooner, rather than later) it got stripped for useable parts, I bought a new PSU and other components and built my own system. That's how I've done it ever since.

[stephenholmes]

Good morning
I know I am straying slightly off topic here
But with ever increasing demands on the size of a PSU
Some are heavy consumers of electricity and I'm going to admit that running costs are always in my mind
It isn't just a case of Railworks as I use my computer for virtually everything and I couldn't manage without one
When you consider that the current standard electricity tariff is 30 pence per Killowatt hour then a 2KW PSU would soon run up a tidy electricity bill
I digress back to preparing a few unseen G Girls for upload
Kind regards Stephen

[markwhale]

I don't think HP have the niche on this, Dell do the same. That's not to say they are bad computers and both have good reviews, it may well be that they put the right or minimum required PSU into that spec of PC at the current level it is manufactured to. They do not seem to take into account the options for upgrading.
With the sysem I bought, yes, the processor was quite high, 6 gb of ram with a max of a possible 16gb, 1.5 tb HD and all the other odds and sods to play around with, but the card was the low end of its range and found this out within hours of unpacking and plugging in. I was so disappointed, I wanted to pack the whole thing back in the box and send it straight back. But, a gaming computer was going to set me back another £200 - £300. After taking some advise, I was told, I got what I paid for and learnt a lesson in doing my research before spending my money. Yes it has cost me another £200 to upgrade the card and PSU, which was what I had to invest to get the level of PC i wanted, and now I am happy but I still feel that, if I meet with that HP rep in the future, I may well tell him what I think of his sale pitch and be a little more truthful in what he is promoting.
Mark.

[markwhale]

Morning Stephen
By the way, downloaded your route a couple of days ago and I am very impressed. Well done and congratulations on some very fine work. Love the balloon!! caught me by surprise!
Back to PSU's, I was advised to get the brand with 80plus. I understand it runs more economic efficient? Not sure how, why or what. Maybe there will be someone out there to give us a clue on this. To be honest, I try not to think about how much power I am using when I am immersed in my hobby! if the bill is high, I blame my son on how long he is in the shower!!!.
Mark.

[stephenholmes]

Good morning Mark
Glad you like Candlewick and the balloon
My PSU is only 230 Watts which I know is very low indeed
I am amazed that I was able to build Candlewick on my computer let alone run Rail Simulator.
At the moment though I cannot afford to upgrade as I have repairs on my flat to pay for
I am contented with the things I have
For me I wouldn't like to be without any simulator that would drive me bonkers
I still need to fiddle about with the settings yet to see how TS2012 runs on my machine
I'm not expecting miracles though because the Tyrannosaurus Rex was still alive when I purchased this machine
Kind regards Stephen

[Wikkus]

Back to PSU's, I was advised to get the brand with 80plus. I understand it runs more economic efficient? Not sure how, why or what. Maybe there will be someone out there to give us a clue on this.

Simply put, PSUs waste some of the power during the conversion from 240V AC (mains supply) to 12V DC, most of this excess being turned into heat. The more efficient the PSU, the better. 80plus is a certification scheme with various gradings from bronze (lowest) to titanium (highest) which indicate how efficient they are. Definitely worth having and definitely worth investing in a decent PSU.

You can monitor the consumption at the plug socket with something like this to get an idea what your machine is using. A typical gaming machine will use ~400-500W with a modern CPU and graphics card. A high-end machine with multiple graphics cards can use ~750-1000+ W! That's like having a 1-bar electric heater on in the room (and generates a significant amount of heat, too).

Many people either over or under do it, but there's a very useful tool for calculating required PSU wattage here at Outervision's eXtreme Power Supply Calculator. Fill in the boxes with the right info and it'll give an accurate estimate on how big a PSU you'll need. Should avoid getting too weedy a PSU or paying for something you don't need thanks to sales-weasels that are economical with the truth.

If in doubt, ask.

Cheers, Rik.

[markwhale]

The one piece of advise given when wanting to purchase an upgraded PSU, is that the system only uses what it needs. If, for example, you have a 1000w PSU installed, your system draws off the power it needs to run it processes, so, based on that fact, would it be as costly to run in comparison to a lower wattage PSU? My thoughts would be no!, as you are using less wattage than the maximum the PSU would give out. However, if you have a low wattage PSU and you are running higher demand processes, such as a higher spec GPU, then you are not going to have enough power to meet the demand and imagine things are not going to run too clever.

Make you wonder what computers are going to be like in ten or twenty years from now?!!! You might have to consider taking down the garage to make way for a mini substation and power grid to keep things running!!! Or even, 200,000gb ram and laugh about those days when you only had 4 or 6 gb!!!! I remember my first computer I built which had a 500mb HD!! then went out and purchased a 6 gb drive and thought that I would never fill this up!!! Does not seem that long ago!

Mark.

[glowball]

Also, power supplies have an efficiency curve, that is they don't often attain their rated efficiency unless they are run at 2/3 to 3/4 of their rated capacity.
On energy assumption, my background energy usage is about 140W & whilst gaming that figure rises to about 500W - so my rig uses about 360W to give you some idea.
30 pence a KW/h? I'm guessing that includes a standing charge.