Choppy Speeds with ATI 9500 PRO radeon card...WHY?!?!

Sleepy · Post by **Sleepy** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 4:54 am

HP pavilion
Windows XP Home edition
AMD athlon processor 3000+
RAM 768
Direct X 9.c
BIOS date 8/31/2004

zsnes 1.36 (windows) doesnt like my 128MB ATI 9500/9700 PRO... it runs choppy as hell, yet it says that the game is running at 60/60 frames per second. Things dont seem to be adding up here.

2 nights ago i was forced to install this amazing ATI card to play doom 3 at full speed, something my crappy 256MB Nvidia Geforce 5200FX couldnt do. Yet that crappy Nvidia card ran 1.36 Zsnes (windows) at full speed.

-And yes i have the latest drivers from the ATI website.

-And no im not running anything else in the background when i load zsnes

- Ive tried using the DOS version of 1.36 with my ATI card, and it ran shitty, not as bad, but it wasnt good (secondly, in the DOS version, my controller just doesnt seem to work [SaiTEK p2500 Rumble])

- i even tried the latest WIP from zsnes (windows version), and the interface had lots more options, but thats about it, it ran just as choppy on the default release of 1.36 windows

please... can someone here tell me whats the deal?

snkcube · Post by **snkcube** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 5:03 am

I don't know why you're getting choppyness when you're getting 60 fps. Could you explain it a bit more?

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 5:10 am

First of all, don't use Dos programs on Windows Xp.

If you are experimenting a "cascade effect" (that's what was happening to me) try toggling vsync.

Use the latest WIP.

Sleepy · Post by **Sleepy** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 5:52 am

explain alittle more huh, lol... hmm its almost as if zsnes is lagging... whether triple buffering is toggled on/off, or in combination with Vsync, or with Vsync by itself, theirs still this terrible, choppy horizontal lagg to the games that i play (mega Man x2, FF6 (3 in america) etc...)

I even played around toggling on/off the NEW graphics engine, and theirs no difference (with the new Gfx engine off in ff6, the game runs EVEN WORSE).

Ive played around with the resolutions, and still, no difference crappy lag all the way. toggling between 800x 600, 1024 x 768 (my destop resolution or my optimal resolution i used for my nvidia 640x 480. Still it runs laggy on ALL...

Sleepy · Post by **Sleepy** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 5:54 am

and yes, ive messed around with the buffering, Vsync and the resolutions on BOTH the latest windows version default 1.36 and the latest WIP of 1.36... choppyness all the way...

Ive tried using other emulators, such as the new Kega fusion 1.4d, or even MAME, and those emulators run perfectly, minimizing the problem to the Zsnes emulator alone... Maybe theirs some kind of compatability problem, not yet solved in the latest WIP?

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 6:11 am

Vysnc worked for me... Maybe it doesn't have something to do... But is your desktop color 16-bit or 32-bit? try changing that... I have a Rady 9000 Pro and I don't experience that problem.

Sleepy · Post by **Sleepy** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 6:23 am

I just toggled between 16 and 32b...no difference, choppy speeds still

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 6:37 am

I'm Using:

Video:
512x448 DR Win
Vsync On

Options:
Auto Frame Rate
Max Frame Rate 9
New Gfx Engine
MMx Support

Sleepy · Post by **Sleepy** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 6:53 am

hmm...without an auto frame rate...the game's speed is just to fast, unless i set it to Zero (but its still just too fast). There's no choppyness whatsoever at zero or any of the other values which is an improvement. However, this doesnt do me any good though... Unless i could somehow literally jump into the source code and control the speedy frame rate in zsnes to fit my optimal super computer needs lol...

Dmog · Post by **Dmog** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:06 am

Sleepy wrote:HP pavilion
Windows XP Home edition
AMD athlon processor 3000+
RAM 768
Direct X 9.c
BIOS date 8/31/2004

zsnes 1.36 (windows) doesnt like my 128MB ATI 9500/9700 PRO... it runs choppy as hell, yet it says that the game is running at 60/60 frames per second. Things dont seem to be adding up here.

2 nights ago i was forced to install this amazing ATI card to play doom 3 at full speed, something my crappy 256MB Nvidia Geforce 5200FX couldnt do. Yet that crappy Nvidia card ran 1.36 Zsnes (windows) at full speed.

-And yes i have the latest drivers from the ATI website.

-And no im not running anything else in the background when i load zsnes

- Ive tried using the DOS version of 1.36 with my ATI card, and it ran shitty, not as bad, but it wasnt good (secondly, in the DOS version, my controller just doesnt seem to work [SaiTEK p2500 Rumble])

- i even tried the latest WIP from zsnes (windows version), and the interface had lots more options, but thats about it, it ran just as choppy on the default release of 1.36 windows

please... can someone here tell me whats the deal?

Seems to point to a monitor refresh rate issue. Not sure if that's the problem though. If you run an ntsc game (60fps) and your monitor is running at, say, 100hz,or worse, something like 73hz or 61hz or, well..anything that's not precisely 60hz..things WILL get ugly. Even if Zsnes is running 60/60.

Maybe when you enter fullscreen in zsnes the refresh rate is switched to something other than 60Hz, whereas this does not happen in Mame and Kega.

On some monitors, you can obtain information about the current refresh rate by using the monitor's adjustment buttons.

Try this to begin: In zsnes, use a non-full-screen mode. (aside from that,use autoframerate - maxframeskip9 -vsync on)
Exit zsnes. Under display properties > monitor: Set the refresh rate to 60hz 16bit color. See if the problem persist.

Post by **Agozer** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 12:52 pm

I'd say don't change your monitor's refresh from the Control Panel, but start ZSNES with the -6 switch.

Dmog · Post by **Dmog** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 12:57 pm

Agozer wrote:I'd say don't change your monitors refresh from the Control Panel, but start ZSNES with the -6 switch.

Even better.

Sleepy · Post by **Sleepy** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 1:14 pm

-6 switch...? this option is in the zsnes config file for sure right?!

Sleepy · Post by **Sleepy** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 1:22 pm

Haaaa...changing my refresh rate from 75, to 60 hertz solved my problem... its not longer choppy, and i can play in full screen or window on any resolution with NO CHOPPYNESS...but...changing my refresh rate from 75 to 60...will this hurt me in the end..>?...

-by the way im still im 32 bit, never had to change my desktop to 16 bit...

Post by **Agozer** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 1:47 pm

You don't need to change your refresh rate from Control Panel. Just make a shortcut to the Zsnesw.exe and then edit it so that the target command is "x:\something\something\zsnesw.exe -6"

This way as Zsnes starts, it forces your refresh rate to 60 Hz but reverts back when you exit the emulator. So keep your desktop at 75Hz or whatever it was.

Changing refresh rates doesn't damage your monitor as long as those rfresh rates are supported by your monitor. Low refresh rates can be straining to the eyes though.

Dmog · Post by **Dmog** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 2:04 pm

This should be included in the zsnes faq imo as this gets posted once in a while:

Q:"Help! Zsnes is choppy but it's running 60/60fps!"

A: Make sure your monitor is set to 60khz (or 50 for pal games) Run zsnes with the -6 switch

blackmyst · Post by **blackmyst** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 2:32 pm

Does anybody know if the Kitchensync actually works? When I try to enable it, Zsnes simply will not start, but it might be my obsolete hardware.

(to anybody who doesn't know what I mean, it enables 120 hz which is supposed to run just as smooth as 60 hz but obviously doesn't flicker half as much. Use the -K switch to enable it)

illegal eagle · Post by **illegal eagle** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 2:35 pm

Didn't someone say that it was disabled because it doesn't work correctly?

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 2:55 pm

Dmog wrote:This should be included in the zsnes faq imo as this gets posted once in a while:

Q:"Help! Zsnes is choppy but it's running 60/60fps!"

A: Make sure your monitor is set to 60khz (or 50 for pal games) Run zsnes with the -6 switch

Isn't that supposed to be just 60Hz? 60kHz is.... too unreal.

Post by **Agozer** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 3:02 pm

adventure_of_link wrote:
Dmog wrote:This should be included in the zsnes faq imo as this gets posted once in a while:

Q:"Help! Zsnes is choppy but it's running 60/60fps!"

A: Make sure your monitor is set to 60khz (or 50 for pal games) Run zsnes with the -6 switch
Isn't that supposed to be just 60Hz? 60kHz is.... too unreal.

I'm sure that was just an honest typo... But man, 60,000Hz is really fast.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 3:07 pm

Yeah, I agree,

Sleepy · Post by **Sleepy** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 3:10 pm

hmm...i tried editing my shortcut to target:

"C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\VIDEO GAMES\Super Nintendo\ZSNESW.EXE -6"

but it obviously didnt work, since the actual ZSNESW.exe doesnt have an -6 at the end... How would i add that -6 to the executable file? i tried renaming it and it didnt work that way... it keeps saying "the name specified in the target box is not valid"

Post by **Agozer** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 3:15 pm

It works exactly as you did it (editing the shortcut).

Switches are extensions to the actual program executable.

I'll give you an example: Without the shortcut I created, I would have to goto Start -> Run and type "d:\games\zsnes\zsnesw.exe -6" to start Zsnes and force the monitor to 60hz refresh.

Post by **Nach** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 3:26 pm

blackmyst wrote:Does anybody know if the Kitchensync actually works? When I try to enable it, Zsnes simply will not start, but it might be my obsolete hardware.

Yes it works, but very few monitor/video card setups support it.

Sleepy · Post by **Sleepy** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 3:27 pm

yea, i see, lol... still cant get it to work (also tried through the start--> menu and hit run) thanks though...its all good...my monitor will live in 60 hertz