Pathetic PIII-800 D2 performance

[FoxBat]

PIII-1GHz, 512 PC 133 memory, d2 software mode = 80 fps, always smooth, stutters slightly only for loading new graphcis

PIII-800, 256 Rambus, d2 software mode = 35 fps, dips into 5-10 with lots of players/graphics.

Why is the 800 performing so poorly? This is supposed to be an *upgrade* from 400, this is hardly any better!

 

[Ion-Silverbolt]

Well you're using Rambus with a Pentium 3. If it's the slower cheaper Rambus memory, that makes it even worse.

Maybe it will run better in direct3D. Don't know your full specs so I can't tell. I assume you did all the perofrmance tips on Blizzards page?

 

[t'kron]

Most likely your video card and or the Drivers for your video card. You did not mention which Video card you have.

I have a Dell PIII 866 mhz, with 256 Meg of Rambus 800. I have a GeForce MX400 64 meg video card with the 23.11 drivers

I get as much as 121 fps in Diablo 2 in D3D mode perspective off, mini map off and if I run around with lots of mobs I may dip to the 80s

Turning on perspective costs about an additional constant 7 fps.

turning on the mini map cuts whatever frame rate I am getting in half.

 

[Rapmaster]

the game runs best under Glide with an "obsolete for everything but Diablo 2" 3dfx voodoo card

 

[Rapmaster]

may be of interest:
http://www.battle.net/forums/opensupport/posts/jz/49331.shtml

 

[t'kron]

Try this

Edit you system.ini file
under the 386[enh] section add the following line
ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1

I think with this you can go back to letting windows manage your swap file. with that setting I get a constant swap 1/1791.

 

[The Helper]

Actually the game can run with Nvidia cards but you have to have the right driver combination. Latest drivers from your manufacturer and Nvidia. Motherboard drivers installed - all latest versions.

BTW, what operating system are you using on both PCs?

 

[FoxBat]

The reason I used 2D mode is that I didn't want any of that different 3d card peculiarities interfering in the comparison of two processors. The 800's performance is similar on 2d mode with two different 3d cards so the card isn't interfering.

800x600, D2 software mode, hosting a TCP/IP game

Standing in town

800: 45 fps
1000: 60 fps

Average in-game
800: 35 fps
1000: 50 fps

High-stress (20 skeletons + 20 skeleton magi in frigid highlands)
800: 15-25 fps
1000: 27-35 fps

I think the 1000's cache is double the speed of the 800, the 800 being an "older" PIII. Bottom line is that the 1000 is smooth everywhere, while the 800 is insufficient for large games with lots of spell effects/monsters. I've never seen a card in D2's D3D preform above 25 fps when the same situation would cause 2D to fall below 25 fps, in fact usually the D3D mode is worse in trouble spots. So it seems some sort of "processor capping" goes on in D3D mode, which is why I directly compared processors.

 

[Ion-Silverbolt]

Well on the hardware side, the 1Ghz is running with PC-133 SDRAM. Which means it's going to have a lot better memory performance. Not to mention you''re 200Mhz higher in processor speed.

Rambus is hailed for its memory bandwidth but it can't compete with SDRAM when it comes to the Pentium 3. The latencies it has are a huge drawback. Especially with a Pentium 3. Rambus performs a lot better on a Pentium 4 since it was designed around it.

It gets even worse if you're not using the fastest rated RIMMS too. If you're using RIMMS rated 700Mhz or 600Mhz, they are even slower. The highest available is the 800Mhz RIMMs.

Diablo 2 is notorious for its swapfile usage too. Constant writing to the hard drive is a common place where memory latency will be detramental.