Stev0

I am a new useer to the kx drivers and have recently figured out the basics of getting them going,however.
when i go into battlefield 2 it all goes well until the announcer says something and then his voice stutters like hell,all other sounds are as clear as I would ever want but this damn announcer is like max headroom .
Has anyone else found and cured this or is it just me so far,or is it that I have overlooked somthing in the setup options.
Thanks in advance.

JoshuasGirl

If the game supports it, try disabling EAX and/or hardware acceleration and see if that helps anything.

Stev0

Yeah I did desable eax and also tried lowering the hardware acceleration and it did nothing for the stutter.
Just weired how its only the announcers voice and not the ingame sounds affected.

jiiteepee

If AGP card, ... PCI Latency Tool

--> lower the graphics latency to 64-128.

jiitee

Stev0

I have never used this before,is it likely to mess up other things and how would lowering that on my agp port inprove sound stutter?

JoshuasGirl

Normally, the AGP/PCI card itself or your BIOS sets the PCI latency.
With the tool, you can input a different PCI latency value, but this value will be reset to the card/BIOS value once you restart your computer.

There's not much harm the tool can do In theory, it can lock up your computer, but after a restart you should be fine.

Example of why it might be useful: if your AGP card uses a latency setting of say 256 and the rest of your PCI cards use a setting of say 32, simply put the AGP card can use the bus longer (continuous) than other cards. When you lower that value, other cards on the bus will get a little bit more time to do their job.

(although in theory it might hurt for example the 3D gaming performance of your AGP card a little)

Stev0

Cool thanks,would it be worth changing any of the others as I did notice that my agp to pci bridge was running at 16 but the rest are set at 32 and now my card I have at 64 which was 248 or there abouts.
Wont have time to retest till tomorow but thought I better ask 1st.
Thanks so far.

JoshuasGirl

In general values of 16 to 64 are fine for a lot of devices.

The two PCI latencies that are your best bet:
- AGP/PCI graphics card. A value of 248 could be too high and make sound stutter (or in theory other problems)

- Soundcard. Some soundcards work perfectly on most of the values, while others (SB Live) in some systems work better on specific values for example 32 or 64 (but try other values as well !)

I would suggest playing with those two and leaving the rest of the latencies alone at first

There is an option in the tool to run it at Windows startup which is useful if you've found some working settings and wish to apply them every time Windows starts.

* Also be aware that the KX drivers are not intended for gaming and it might just be a problem between KX and your game. You could try Google or searching the Driverheaven forums for other people and info using KX and this game.

Stev0

Well thanks so far,I have done a search just before posting this (so not to waste forum time and space) but couldnt find anything that matched.
What you have quoted so far may have helped other things as well as sound so thank you all and I will let you know my results as soon as I have had time to try them properly.
thanks
Stev0

jiiteepee

Maybe a registry tweak is a better way set PCI Latency (PCI Latency tool is loadad as a service when you set something w/ it).

Here is the tweak:

- set all DisableProgPCILatency -key values found on registry to 1 (HEX or DEC) ' (normally defaulted to 0 => i.e. programs can make changes)

- boot to BIOS (pressing del or what ever when it is on startup)
- set PCI latency timer value to 32 or 64 (BIOS) ' this is the global latency setting - 32 gives the best overall performance (read from your motherboard user's manual if there is some other suggestions)

- reboot

When you BOOT #1 time after changes, your PC may freeze or start very slowly. If it does, just BOOT once into windows safe -mode (no changes need to be made). This is maybe related into too low timer value set for graphics --> gets automatically fixed.

Above tweaks sets your global PCI Latency value and prevents the graphics/other card s (drivers/software) to make any changes. Some devices like HD controlles can still have higher values (you can check this w/ PCI latency tool mentioned here).

jiitee

jiiteepee

W/ free PCI Latency Tool you can set latency values "stay permanent" by saving made settings and applying tool at startup (PCI Latency Tool is running as service then).

There is also another utility called Double-Dawg w/ some deeper explanation what for the utility is made/needed for. You need to purchase a license to get settings stay permanent.

jiitee

Stev0

Where can I find the DisableProgPCILatency key in the registry or can I just make one using notepad and double click it to apply it,also what will default the agp to?

jiiteepee

Start "regedit" and search the key (there maybe are more than one instance so after modifying the one press F3 key to search the next ... until no more is found.

AGP should default to the same value you have set as default on bios.

You can "Roll back" by changing those key values back to 0.

jiitee

Stev0

I did a total search and only found this one - DisableProgPCILatency
Is that the one and if so how do I change it becaus the 000 is greyed out.

jiiteepee

Normally you just need to mouse_right_click the item, select "Modify" and then enter the new value in opening dialog window.

jiitee

Stev0

Yes I would normaly agree but this time it appears to be locked somehow

JoshuasGirl

Why not ditch direct registry editting and go for the tools

PCI Latency tool v3.xx gives installs as a service
PCI Latency tool v2.xx doesn't.

I'm just using v2.xx to test values and apply them at startup, and i think it's a much easier and handier way of dealing with the PCI latencies.

Stev0

just an idea but would it just be easier for me just to make a reg key in note pad to change that setting or does the grey out mean something else is controlling it,maybe pci tool?

Stev0

So it doesnt use much resourses then when left running istead of doing the regedit method?

jiiteepee

Are other key values grayed too --> If you have some security options activated on XP ... other wise, you can test if the Latency tool holds it 'locked' by disabling the tool.

Also, the service won't consume much resources from your system ("autoruns" tells it's taking 5kB only and "process explorer" don't show it hitting CPU at all).


jiitee

JoshuasGirl

Running the tool v2.x won't take a lot of resources, the latency settings are applied at Windows startup and the program exits.

The v3.x is a small service which also doesn't do anything except set the latencies you defined. Ofcourse it will take a few KB mem but who cares, as long as it's not eating CPU time

Stev0

ok thanks.

jiiteepee

Tuo joosuan tyttöhän näyttää olevan oikea papukaija. Varmaan niin iloinen kun saa uutta tietoa käyttöönsä ...

jiitee

Stev0

Sorry for my ignorance but I only speak english,and bad english at that.

JoshuasGirl

Lol :P

Stev0

So can anyone translate or was that ment for someone else?

jiiteepee

It was not necessary information on this matter. I just mentioned JoshuasGal posting you 'bout same I do.

BTW, did you get rid of stuttering yet?

jiitee

Stev0

Still testing,I think it might just be a glitch between the drivers and the game,bugger.
New challenge has arrived along with this stuttering,just recently I have replaced my ageing athlon 3000 venice with a sandiego 4000+ and ever since then I have not been able to play swat4 properly without crashing,however all other games run sweet as.
For some reason it appears to have only affected swat4, i have done most of the usuall stuff like a reainstall of the game and directx check and reinstall and driver checks and changes,but it always ends the same way,high pitch screetch and a total lockup leaving me with no option but to reset.
Sorry to go off topic but thought I would try and kill two birds with one stone.
Thanks in advance.
Stev0

JoshuasGirl

Why r u talking to me in ?Swedish?Finnish?

I don't understand any of it either

jiiteepee

I do understand both of those languages very well (both are official languages here).

BTW, don't take my finnish words serious --> no insulting there.

jiitee