enormous loading time after comp upgrade

[BIFF EXPLODER]

hi there guys, i recently upgraded my pc processor and mainboard, but since then my loading times increased like crazy to around 5 minutes or so,

old system specs (normal loadings)

AthlonXP 2000+
1GB ddr 333 ram
audigy2
Radeon 9600XT
IDE 40GB HDD 7200rpm

new specs are the same but with a Asrock 939Dual SATA2 mainboard and a Athlon64 3200+ venice

the most weird of all is that everything else is running ALOT better including bf2 once i get in the servers, its just the loadings that are freaking me out.

tks for the help.

PS.dont say to get more RAM that aint gonna happen :p and it used to work fine with 1GB

[WildLegba]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

When you say "load time" are you referring to:

1. Time it takes for you to get to the account login screen?
2. Time it takes to login after clicking "login"?
3. Time it takes to load a map when you have selected a server to play on?

Also, if it is #3, is there any difference in the time it takes to load single player servers?

[BIFF EXPLODER]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

time to get me on a server.


no difference in single player except for the verifying client data thats alot faster.

[The_Misfit]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

I would look at a HD upgrade.

I've recently upgraded to 2gb ram, and a few other upgrades, but still have my old 40gb ide HD. While my gameplay is much better, I still load slower than most of the guys in my clan.

I am receiving a 200gb 16mb cache 7500rpm Maxtor drive today from NewEgg ($79) - I'll have it installed later this week and will let you know how things go, but I imagine a major increase in loading times.

And as far as upgrades go, I'd look at another vid card b4 going to 2gb ram, just my 2 cents

[cheesewz]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

Have you cleared your "Recent" list in the BF server browser? When there are a ton of items in there and some/several don't exist anymore it can contribute to long load times. There was a thread about it some time ago...

[BIFF EXPLODER]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

i cant waste more money now on another upgrade, and the list must be small since i only played like 10 times since i formated.

i read somewhere about HDD in pio mode instead of DMA, and my my current transfer mode is in PIO, could that be it?

[Sensa]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

Try This:

http://battlefield2.filefront.com/fi..._Cleaner;61774

[vascular]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

More ram will not decrease you load time.

Sounds more like you increased your resolution or turned some effects on.
While it isnt slowing you computer down, it does take longer for the effects to load.

[imported_Wasp]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

i cant waste more money now on another upgrade, and the list must be small since i only played like 10 times since i formated.

i read somewhere about HDD in pio mode instead of DMA, and my my current transfer mode is in PIO, could that be it?

Definetly, it should be Ultra DMA mode 4 or 5.

[BIFF EXPLODER]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

Definetly, it should be Ultra DMA mode 4 or 5.

i did, it ran fine, suddenly it started loading slowlly again and when i went to see was on PIO again arrrgggghhhh, it changed by itself :\

at least now i know what it is, does anyone know a way to prevent this from changing?

[abtomat74]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

I've had lots of PIO mode issues since BF2 came out.

I use a SATA1 HD which should be DMA 6 I believe by comparison...I would constantly get HD paging file errors, which after 6 errors, Windows downgrades your HD's transfer speed to PIO mode to ensure proper transfer.

Manually changing it used to work for weeks, now it works for hours before PIO mode activates.

I thought my HD might be bad, but it checks out fine. So I rolled back my IDE driver from the nVidia version to the Standard Windows version, which does not have SATA listed in the options for transfer rates.

So now I am running my SATA drive on the older Windows IDE driver as if my HD was an ATA133. It takes the same amount of time as before(maybe seconds longer, literally 2-4) to get into the server.

I used to be 1-5 getting in, I am still 1-5 and PIO mode never comes back, nor do I have any of those paging file errors anymore.

3200 Venice
2x1024 Corsair pc3200
x800xl 256mb
80gig SATA@ATA133
.
.
.
Right click My Computer
goto Manage
goto Event Viewer
goto System

look for Red Error icons on the left column. They will show you the exaxt moments your HD went screwy and into PIO mode. My bet will be that your error line will read exactly the same as mine. Ignore the Yellow Warnings, only RED ERRORS concern us.
It mentions paging file errors on Disk D, which nobody seems to be able to figure out.

My D is my DVD burner for example, for others with the same error message they had no D at all.

This just adds to the confusion as to why this happens. But the confirmed part of the problem we know to be is when Windows experinces 6 data transfer errors, your HD downgrades to PIO mode.
.
.
.
There is a simple way to detect if your HD is in PIO mode each day:

turn on your computer and count the number of times the Blue bar moves across the screen during the Windows loadup. This number should be consistant each day.
Using non Catalyst drivers for example I used to load in 3 bars, with CCC drivers it takes 4.5 to 5.5 bars. When in PIO mode, it took 13-15 bars!

It was during these long startup times(and increased BF2 loads) that I got curious and first discovered this problem and began looking into fixing it.

So my best advice for SATA users is to downgrade to 1 mode below SATA mode if your HD refuses to stay in SATA like mine did.
Or for ATA133/100 users, also try a single mode downgrade if your max transfer rate won't stick.

If neither solution works, RMA your HD or try a new one

SATA150 = mode6
ATA133 = mode5
ATA100 = mode4
PIO is equivalent to ATA16, yes sixteen! = mode1

[BIFF EXPLODER]

Re: enormous loading time after comp upgrade

wow.... that IS a very helpfull and informative post man, very very well done, anyway, i will try that downgrade, i will say something when i can.

once again man, very well done


yeah i went to event viewer and i have looooooooooads of disk and cd-rom errors when playing bf.

i wonder why this only started happening after i upgraded?