[Bugs/my GPU is crap] Help

[SlaughterALL]

** oops, just saw the bugs forum. Any mod want to move this for me? Thanks and sorry.

Hi guys! While I just registered myself in this forum, I've been playing Glest for years now (so I didn't make some noobish mistake,etc). Here's the bug:

My computer broke last summer and I got it fixed. I had some free time on my hands recently so I decided to re-download and reinstall Glest (or MegaGlest - it looks like a lot of fun =) ) Now this is the same computer I used to play on, with absolutely NO problems whatsoever. Unfortunately, the cause of my (computer) problem was an overheated GPU (see below for details about my system). It overheated. This is central to the Glest/MegaGlest problem I am experiencing:

In Glest, (home screen/in-game/everywhere) I cannot drag my mouse over the bottom third and rightmost third of my screen! This severely inhibits my gameplay (cannot scroll down/right in game, cannot spawn workers,etc). Unfortunately, there is no resolution adjustment in-game (and I'm not sure how to do it otherwise, though I ran the game in XP SP2 conpatibility mode as well as 640*800 (another option in properties, why not try it? --- neither helped resolve the problem).

In MegaGlest, the problem is even more severe: Immediately when the game loads the main screen (with all the menu options; new game,etc) my mouse races to the top-left corner of my screen without my help. When I try to move it somewhere else, it does move, but is sucked back into the top-left corner very quickly as if by gravity.... As you can imagine, I can barely click on a menu option - it took me 3 minutes of rapidly dragging my mouse to the lower right corner and then gradually moving it (each time the mouse moves it gravitates to the top-left) to access the options menu. It was off-centre (seemed to be shifted up and left from normal).

Extra info: I got my friend to DL and play MegaGlest today and it worked fine for him, so it's probably my computer - specifically my GPU.
Can you guys shed any light on the matter? I'm looking for newer video drivers right now. (By the way, I'm almost positive Dell underclocked my GPU when I sent it into repairs last summer - I googled it, it's a model prone to overheating, though when it worked it was excellent - I used to run Battlefield Heroes on high without a problem - now I lag on low  :'( --- I also think they installed a custom driver - It makes playing any game a huge b1tch....
Yes, my computer's GPU used to overheat and BFH crashed, but rarely lol; otherwise I was able to play very easily).

My system:

Dell Inspiron 1720 (2nd Gen) 17"
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 (lol, yes I use Vista, runs fine, mostly because of my beast of a CPU)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 @ 2.5GHz ----> this thing is awesome, = a friend's i5
RAM: 3 GB (@ 866 MHz I think =/)
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT
220GB HDD
Resolution: 1920*1200 ----- one of the main reasons I am reluctant to get a new laptop (other one is $ lol)

This computer was great at the time of purchase. Not like now when the Inspiron series is joke....

Anyway, any help/advice is appreciated =)

[tomreyn]

Hi and welcome, I'm not moving your post to the bugs forum since it is most likely not a bug in MegaGlest. As far as I can remember, what you're describing has not been descibed by anyone else before (and there are a bunch of players these days), i.e. it is very unique, which is usually an indication for either a hardware or driver bug. I suggest you try to upgrade to newer drivers and possibly upgrade the operating system, too. I don't know where to get patched video drivers for Nvidia chips but I bet they exist and you can find them. Good luck!

Update: Actually Nvidia provides and still maintains reference drivers for this GPU. A modified (not sure how, best try without first) .INF file for this one is available, too. Before using any of these, you should ensure that you have the latest BIOS update installed.

[-Archmage-]

I recommend a download of Drivermax. You can only freely download 2 drivers per day, but it does provide pretty good/up-to-date driver scans, which may be useful.

[SlaughterALL]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Yea, I figured it was my PC and not the game (hence the subject I choose). I'll look into the driver thing when I have some time. I'm hesitant though - my GPU crashed on me, breaking my computer, and I bet it was a bad driver. I'm worried any "regular" driver wouldn't work as my GPU has a tendancy to overheat. I'll eventually try I guess (and back up my current driver just in case). Do you guys think an external GPU would do the trick?(not enough $ for a full PC at the moment,

[tomreyn]

Personally I have zero experience with external GPUs myself but the concept doesn't entirely convince me. It's a bit like suggesting to use flash drives to stack up your main memory, or, for a less PC related image, mounting an additional door to the roof of your car just in case the other doors are jammed. It just doesn't seem right architecturally.

Regarding your worries of breaking the GPU: as long as you use the reference drivers (those are unmodified drivers by the maker of your GPU) I guess there should be no need to be too worried (most people are not in this lucky situation and need to resort to (third party) patched drivers in hopes these will make their legacy mobile video chips work on Windows). There are also some utiilities available which may allow you to monitor and possibly control fan rotation speed and GPU temperature, so you can tell when things are heading in a bad direction. In many or most cases the board will trigger a power off in case of out of spec situations such as an overheating onboard GPU, though, so that's another safeguard.

[-Archmage-]

External GPUs: Nonono. Bad. They will have no-where near the performance required to game. I read they are used to support multiple monitors, because a simple desktop environment is not hard to run.

Temperature: Get the latest drivers from the website, preferably use the automatic detector(to make sure you get the right driver). Drivermax also supplies accurate drivers. Next, make sure your computer is well ventilated. If any vents are blocked or it is sitting on a blanket that will increase heat dramatically. Also, check on your Nvidia control panel for ways to underclock your card. That will also bring the temps down.

If you need links to anything or want more advice on temps just ask, I spent a lot of time overclocking my own computer, and temperature is critical in that area.

[Omega]

By the way, if worried that installing a new driver could cause system problems, in the case that it does, simply boot in safe mode and rollback the driver (Device Manager > Choose your device > Right click properties > Driver tab > Rollback driver), and there shouldn't be any problems. Do note that laptops often use modified drivers; check your manufacturer's site first.

[SlaughterALL]

Sorry for the slow reply. Tomreyn, ironically, I've considered the flash/extra RAM option. I decided it wasn't worth it. AHA! That's exactly what happened to my laptop last summer. I guess the GPU overheated (or was close) and the whole laptop shut off.... =(

Archmage, thanks for the advice. I believe the guys at Dell underclocked my card themselves. I get no where near the same performace as before. In Battlefield Heroes, this laptop used to easily, smoothly play on maxed, now it stutters on low! The GPU does emit less heat though.

Thanks Omega, I'll try that too!

(My god, I cannot wait until I can afford to buy a new PC. It's definitely going to be a desktop this time! And I'll make SURE its running really cool. )

[Coldfusionstorm]

you pc should not have that much trouble with running simple Megaglest scenes.

i would say at least somewhere between 20-35 dps. Your graphic chip is a paticulary strong one, i have the 8800GTX and it eat games for breakfast, and while your chip is a lower tier AND a mobile one, it should be able to play megaglest at a comfortable resolution and fps.

I would defently call and complain if my PC had been to the repair service and came back performing worse.