Updated to a new system - experiencing choppiness!

[J3sseM]

Hey guys,
This is really, really annoying!

I've been working with my game with my older computer which was decent but getting old, it had:
Radeon HD 6870
Phenom 3X 720
4gig DDR3

So, nothing fancy but it got the job done.

Anyway, I wanted to update my computer to maximize development speed so I got me:
i5 4670k
GTX 780
8gig DDR3

This new machine is beast! Can't believe how quickly it loads everything from SSD. Working is so much quicker now, but then, when I run my game it has weird choppiness at times. My older system run game no less than perfectly.
I'm using HWA DX9, have vsync on. I have scrolling and big background images <- But, then again everything worked perfectly with my older computer so it's bit confusing and troubling.

I have latests drivers installed for my graphics cards, I did not install directX manually, but I played CS: Global Offensive through steam so I'm pretty sure it installed directx.

I really need help with this, what could be the cause? I'm happy to provide more info to get this solved.

Thanks!

- Jesse

[J3sseM]

Okey, after playing around I'm even more confused.

I made simple frame (3500x720), play resolution is 1280x720. I added a background image and created a red box that always sets it's X position to it's X + 7.
When it's position is greater than 3500 it jumps back to 0 and loops. And yeah scrolling to red box obviously.

Now I have HWA on dx9, vsync on. I use Ultimate Fullscreen to get "windowed fullscreen".
My old computer smooothly plays this over and over. Heck my wifes powerless netbook plays it smoothly. My new computer, not so! Same random choppiness here and there.

Then it goes weird, if I allow player to hit ALT+ENTER to go fullscreen, it changes my resolution to 1280x800 and plays smoothly!

The heck is going on? I'm really desperate now, so any help would be more than welcome!

EDIT: To cut it short: Windowed = Lag | ALT+ENTER Fullscreen (not ultimate fullscreen) = Smooth

- Jesse

[happygreenfrog]

I think the problem here is Vsync, since it will make the game wait for the screen to fully update (and, with a big resolution in your game like that, it will surely have to wait a little while occasionally). Full screen fixes it since it makes it so that the resolution is technically the same size as your game instead of being bigger than it. Also, what resolution is your monitor on your new computer, and what resolution is your monitor on your old computer/computers? That also might be affecting things.

[J3sseM]

Hello mr. Frog!

I appreciate your help. I'm still having the same monitor, I run at 1920x1080. (Bit a overkill card for that resolution thou).
The craziest thing is that my old computer was able to run it smoothly, also my wife's notebook which is performance wise awful. The only difference I can think of is that now I have Nvidia card, and my older computer has ATI card like my wife's Netbook.

It's all very confusing, I also have tried to use nvidia panel with various settings to force vsync, not force it etc. Only way it is smooth as it is supposed to be is fullscreen which is out of question cause I want to keep native resolution of 1280x720.

[happygreenfrog]

How about you see what happens if you turn off Vsync in your MMF2 game directly instead of letting the driver set it? Does it fix the issue, or does it not change anything? Also, what extensions are you using? Are you using any huge objects?

[J3sseM]

If I turn off vsync from MMF2 it's very, very choppy.
As for extensions, ultimate fullscreen. But that is not where the problem lies since I tried creating a new application: 3500x720 -> bg image -> one scrollable active flying around. HWA D9, vsync and go. = Random choppiness, really random. If I allow users to go fullscreen with alt+enter it's all good.

[happygreenfrog]

Vsync being off makes it worse? That's a surprise. How big is the background image? If it's as big as the screen, then that might be a part of the problem, since, despite the size you gave it, it will actually be stored in the nearest power of 2 in size (and it isn't because of MMF2), meaning it will actually be stored as 4096x1024. Other than that, I'm clueless on what the problem could be, since, as you've said, your computer has a really good graphics card. I guess I've helped as much as I can, maybe someone who actually has that graphics card could be more helpful.

[J3sseM]

Yeah I'm using big images for background cause I'm developing for pc only. It should not be too heavy even with older computers.
And as said even my wifes laptop runs it.. heck that can barely run internet.

I can't understand where the problem lies, but it is really, really driving me insane.
But big thanks for trying mr. Frog!

- Jesse