Halo 1 & 2 for PC
This topic has moved here: Subject: how can i make halo run faster?
  • Subject: how can i make halo run faster?
Subject: how can i make halo run faster?
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

i have a p4 2.8Ghz 512Mb RAM and a NVideaGeForceFX5200 256Mb and yet halo campaign still lags every now and then on the barest of minimum graphics. who can help me? PS ive defragmented already

  • 05.15.2004 9:14 PM PDT

Get an ATI graphics card. The GeForce FX supports 16- and 32-bit calculations, which means that it runs slower but can be more accurate. The Radeon, however, supports 24-bit calculations, which allow it to run faster but slightly less accurate.
It's a fact that earlier FX cards were a -blam!- when it came to DX9. I believe that the new versions of ForceWare run faster, so you could try that if you haven't already.

  • 05.16.2004 2:24 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Read the post : Little guide to the knowledge of pc on top of this forum

  • 05.17.2004 10:25 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Even with the radeon 9800, the most they can go is 1024x768 and I'm talking about the single player, not the multiplayer.

  • 05.18.2004 3:19 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

the pc game engine sucks. i've got an amd 3200 with a gig of ram and two wd 10,000 rpm drives with a 9800xt and it still shows lag every now and then, and thats at 1280 by 1024. but my other pc shows nothing but nice gaming, it is the same except the 3200 is a amd64 and the graphics card is the new x800 pro. its a bad mofo go but one if you got the cash you'll use your nvidia card for a drink coaster after you see the new ati 800 in action

  • 05.18.2004 5:18 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

256 ram? No wonder it's lagging.

Get 512 ram, if possible. A gig of ram is optimal. With a game like Halo, virtual memory is the OPTIMAL way to improve performance - not to mention it's cheaper then just buying a new Video Card.

  • 05.18.2004 7:19 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

the only problem there iss ur cpu but ur isp will also effect ur lag deppending what server ur on so dont worry too much any thing under 100 on halo is good i mainly get 67 in a full server dispite haveing the crap 9200 ATI -blam!-

  • 05.18.2004 7:25 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Your video card has nothing to do with the ping

  • 05.18.2004 10:49 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

you can buy an xbox and play it on the xbox

  • 05.18.2004 4:16 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

That sounds like almost the exact setup that my friend has...down to the same video card and he purchased Halo PC a few weeks ago. The lag was horrible...and it wasn't connection lag or processor lag but VIDEO lag. It was terrible...almost to the point where he stopped playing (I go over there and play when I can for the MP hehe).

So what I did was updated his video drivers and upgraded him to DX9 and it helped immensely...but it still is nowhere near as smooth as the Xbox...part of me wonders if it ever will. I plan on trying his Halo PC on my comp and see how it goes since I have 2.66Ghz 512Ram and an ATI Radeon 9700 128MB video card...from these other posts it sounds like your video card isn't up to the challenge. I'll post again when I've tried it on my comp...but I can't do MP since I don't have broadband but I'll do my best to try it out on campaign.

  • 05.18.2004 10:18 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

I have the EXACT same specs. p4 2.8 with HT, 512MB RAM and my GeforceFX5200 is only 128MB. I did a lot of research and troubleshooting and here's what I have to do to get a good game.

In your halo folder on your hard drive, create a shortcut for the exe file. Go into the properties. There's going to be a path for the exe sitting in quotes, (something like C:\program files\halo\halo.exe) outside of the quotes you can add certain perameters that effect the way halo loads. One I use is -novideo which simply disables those 3 annoying little videos that play everytime you start halo. (gearbox, MS, and bunjie). You can omit that if you enjoy the videos.

anyway halo defaults to run pixel shaders 2.0 which is very intense for lower end vid cards. You can force lower versions which is what I have to do. For single player I force pixel shaders 1.1, keep textures and particles at high run 640x480 resolution with Vsync and disable the other vid settings. This will run smooth and still looks pretty good. One way to check your Frames per second in game is to press ctrl+F12. This brings up an ingame frame rate calculator. for best results play with settings until you get a constant 60fps.

For multiplayer Ive found it best to force a fixed function card however you may be able to do more since you have 256MB. For instance you may be able to use Pixel shaders 1.1 on multiplayer with 800x600 resolution and still get a good frame rate. But the key is the lower pixel shaders. so to do this, after the path of the exe file, out side the quotes, put a space then "-14" for pixel shaders 1.4 and "-11" for 1.1 and "-FF" for fixed function.

Each one takes out a couple more effects (mostly things unnoticable) but the only real noticable one is the fixed function. I want the smoothest response for multiplayer (especially since I'm also on dial-up)
So when I play multiplayer, my location for my exe looks like this

"C:\programfiles\halo\halo.exe" -novideo -FF

make sure you have a space outside the quotes and in between the commands.

oh yeah, launch halo by double clicking the shortcut.

Yes I'm on a budget. Pretty soon I'm going to upgrade my video card which is really the problem. you might want to upgrade your ram to 1GB but that's not really the biggest issue. It's the video card. I have a friend with a slower processor who has an ATI 9800 PRO and he runs Halo at FULL settings with not one shred of a problem. I'm either gonna pick up one of those or maybe a 9600XT.

To find out more about maximizing halo and about these -11, -14 etc commands check out this halo tweak guide. It's where I got most of my info. But try Pixel shaders 1.1 at 800x600 with vsync and disable everything but textures and particles. keep those at high. See if you can get 50 fps or more on that. (a good way to test is to have single player in an intense, outside part and change the settings and try and play). Hope this helps you out.
http://www.tweaktown.com/ttg/ttgdocument.php?dType=guide& dId=456

[Edited on 5/19/2004 3:56:17 PM]

  • 05.19.2004 3:46 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Fixed function is almost cheating...since you can see invisible player

  • 05.19.2004 7:06 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

But I can't. Sometimes people are completely invisible until they shoot. No matter which mode I use I don't get the invisibility the way it's supposed to look. it's always just sort of transluscent and like I said, sometimes completely invisible. I get nailed by invisible people all the time. I wish I could see them.

  • 05.19.2004 7:39 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Nice ohbeone, thats good info for the guy, just what i woulda said. ObbiQuiet, it isnt that he doesnt have enough ram, 256mb of ddr is fine (whether pc2100, 2700 or 3200). It is the quality of ram and the cas latency that matters. In fact, adding the exact same stick of 256 if it a slower pc3200 with a cas of 3 will make the game run slower because it has to sift through more space/info. After adding 256 of pc3200 kingston value ram to my 256 pc3200 (no name) i was thouroly disappointed, cause my 3Dmark2003 marks dropped by 20, simply because it had to go through that much more ram.

EDIT- Woa, sry bout listing tweaktown again... man at least somebody else knows about it :) but dont just go to the Halo guide, go to the Win XP tweak guide as well, which will speed up your comp on the whole as well as make your gaming experiences much better. If you follow these guides to the T, you will never have probs.

[Edited on 5/20/2004 5:43:01 PM]

  • 05.20.2004 5:38 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

The amount of ram does matter....

And pc3200 is faster than pc 2100 as long as your fsb is fast enought.

  • 05.20.2004 7:39 PM PDT