Abnormal CPU Use, Practically Impossible to Play

[coRuPT]

Which customized configs have you used to try and help with your issue?

[coRuPT]

So this has been happening since I came back, and it's really making the game nearly impossible to play. 

 

So I got a somewhat new computer from my previous old one (that couldn't do jack shit, this computer is temporary until the end of the month when I start building my brand new one), and I've been trying to play ET but I've been experiencing a constant stuttering that is really frustrating me. An image will be attached for proof. 

 

Here are my PC specs

 

Computer Brand: Dell Optiplex 960

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo @3.16 GHz

RAM: 8 GB 

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series (256 MB VRAM)

DirectX 11

 

What confuses me is the fact that my current PC is much faster than my older one, yet the older one was able to run the game more smoothly.

 

Any help would be great, I'd just be happy enough to run the game normally.

 

A quick note, the cpu usage is high even on the main menu, not only in game.

 

If you need anything else, just tell me.

 

Thanks for the help,

Weenie

I also know this game came out in 2000, but look at your specs of your machine as well.

 

You have to think the Intel Core Duo 2 is kind of outdated... I have an i7 and could render a video in 30 minutes.. would take you about 10 hours.

 

Only 8 GB RAM and still on Windows 7.

 

These are all factors why it's taking so much to run ET.

[Xernicus]

I see nothing too odd with ET's CPU usage. You could try setting core affinity so it only uses Core 0- it would stop Windows from tossing ET from core to core, as it only uses a single core anyway. Here's how to do that.
Check that your Chipset drivers are up-to-date, here's the link to your driver page: http://www.dell.com/support/home/ca/en/cabsdt1/product-support/product/optiplex-960/drivers
Install Chipset Driver "WIN_R257446.EXE" first, followed by the AMT HECI Driver.

To help figure out what is causing this stuttering, we will need a screenshot of your lagometer, but if you could provide a screenshot of the "Resource Monitor" under the Disk tab while ET is running that could help narrow things down. Since this is a "new" machine, another thing to check would be the hard disk health. It could be the HD in this machine has some weak sectors. I personally use HD Sentinel Professional, but a solid free option would be CrystalDiskInfo.

 

Between all of us, we'll get this solved!
PS Corrupt: 8GB of RAM is plenty, I can't think of anything that needs 16gigs unless you're editing HD video, batch processing photos in Photoshop, or playing the latest AAA titles with Ultra High Quality in 1080p+ res.

The Core2Duo is dated, but it's plenty powerful enough to run ET- I used to run this game on a P4 Prescott- perhaps the worst CPU platform ever.

[Lenovo]

Try searching on google "Smartclose"

 

http://bmproductions.fixnum.org/index.htm?http://bmproductions.fixnum.org/smartclose/

 

 

Add to the Et.exe connection, + set com_hunkmegs 256; + Set com_hunkmegs 64

 

 

Disable CPU Core Parking Utility

 

 

http://www.coderbag.com/programming-c/disable-cpu-core-parking-utility

[Xernicus]

Why use a utility to disable core parking when you can do it by switching the power plan to "High Performance" or change registry settings?

I found this on a DAW forum:

- Go to Regedit
- Find this key:-  " 0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583 "
- Within this key, there is a value called:  " ValueMax "
- This value represents the % number of cores the system will park - the default 100%  ie:  all Cores are potentially park-able
- Change the value from 64 to 0 so the " ValueMin "  and  " ValueMax " are both zero 
- You will have to find the key a few times and repeat the process for each time it is found - the number of instances will depend on the number of power profiles in your system
- Do a full shutdown and power-off and cold-re-start 

There's no need for more crap on your hard disk when you can do this manually with the right knowledge/help

 

Wienie, I would also check your BIOS to make sure Intel SpeedStep is disabled and it's the latest revision for your system (A18)

Edited June 20, 2017 by Xernicus

[FireWienie]

Why use a utility to disable core parking when you can do it by switching the power plan to "High Performance" or change registry settings?

I found this on a DAW forum:

- Go to Regedit
- Find this key:-  " 0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583 "
- Within this key, there is a value called:  " ValueMax "
- This value represents the % number of cores the system will park - the default 100%  ie:  all Cores are potentially park-able
- Change the value from 64 to 0 so the " ValueMin "  and  " ValueMax " are both zero 
- You will have to find the key a few times and repeat the process for each time it is found - the number of instances will depend on the number of power profiles in your system
- Do a full shutdown and power-off and cold-re-start 

There's no need for more crap on your hard disk when you can do this manually with the right knowledge/help

 

Wienie, I would also check your BIOS to make sure Intel SpeedStep is disabled and it's the latest revision for your system (A18)

 

Thanks a lot, but unfortunately...

 

I've had problems with my computer where it would not open at all, it was occasional but now it seems it's permanent. Probably something to do with the power supply. So unfortunately I cannot try any of these methods you guys have given to me as i no longer have a functioning computer that can play ET, but an old laptop that I'll be using temporarily. The reason why I'm not attempting to fix my computer is that I'm building one in a weeks time, and I'm not looking to play any games for now, just study for next year and maybe watch a few videos.

 

Thanks a lot for your help guy. Although I won't be able to try them and confirm if they work or not, the help I've received is phenomenal and I could not thank all of you enough.

[Flible]

Hello.

 

Technically, your computer has all the needs to run this game smoothly. I'll be attempting to assist you in trying to get it up and running like you were used to.

• ET was originally designed for operating systems that existed before windows 7. Please try launching ET after changing your compatibility mode to an earlier OS. Try different ones and see if there is one that fixes your problem. To do so, find your ET.exe, go to properties, compatibility and open the drop-down menu.
• Furthermore, please make sure that the FPS is not limited by in-game settings. In console, type: /com_maxfps 125 (60 is about the absolute minimum to play ET).
• Please try cleaning your etmain folder. You may have a corrupted file in there that slows down your in-game playing. I've had this problem myself and had to clean the folder every once in a while. In case a re-installation did not help your problem, note that this solution will probably not help you either. A reinstallation is likely to wipe your existing etmain folder.
• Please make sure that you run the game in administrator mode.
• Consider running Leatrix' Latency fix. It was originally meant for WoW, but this program also works for other games. To run Leatrix' Latency fix, visit http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info13581-LeatrixLatencyFix.html and follow the instructions. Be aware that this program is a one-time running application; you install it, restart your computer and the program should be running from then onwards. It's a passive program that requires practically no resources.
• Consider allocating one and only one processor to your ET. If the number of processors differs from your old computer, try and recreate the number of processors used by your ET.exe. It should run best with but one processor. To do so, when ET is opened, open your task bar. Go to details, find your ET.exe, right-click, and click on Set Affinity. While you're at it, it doesn't hurt to try and increase the priority of your program. "Higher than normal" is plenty. If you go any higher, it sometimes proves difficult to close the ET if it turns out that this isn't the solution that helped you.
• Please make sure that your video card has proper drivers and can thus be used as intended. I'm sure google can help you on how to do so. I'm a little less profound in drivers.
• Your ET may start up in a specific mod (i.e. No Quarter if you have a silly file that does that). When ET is launched, click Mods, click ET Pro (or anything, really) and see if this has any influence on how smooth (or non-smooth) your game runs.

 

Let me know if anything helped. If anything did help, please let me know which of these steps helped you. This will help me to help people with similar problems in the future.

If your situation remains unresolved, please let me know if anything at all had any influence on your situation. This may help pinpoint the cause of your problem.

 

 

Rik