[HELP] The game slows down in certain areas; Is there any fix??

[Myth[Alex]]

What do I mean by slow downs:

The game suddenly decides to get into 'slow-motion'/lag and this is highly noticeable when I move the camera (using the mouse), to see the landscape. If I point the camera to a different place (-sometimes-), the 'slow-motion' issue dissapears. But if I return the camera to the original place, the issue re-appears, so I have to move on from that location. Also, I noticed that if I put the camera to see just the ground, the issue -again- dissapears.

* slow down / 'slow-motion' / constant lag / game events run slowly *

The game gets unplayable in those moments... I really don't understand why I get this major, annoying issue... Is the game broken for the newer Windows operating systems - Vista & 7?? I remember when I first played the game, but on Windows XP... and I didn't had any problems.

Let me tell you those areas where I get this problem:

> in the country (from Los Santos island and from the south-west one), usually where there are tall trees
> in the north, east & north-east of Los Santos city (in some zones)
> in the forests (= in which there are a lot of tall trees)

I play GTA San Andreas at the highest video settings, at 1680 x 1050 resolution.

Note: I have the Frame Limiter option DISABLED, because I hate when playing with it. (= you get poor fps with it and the game feels laggy)

These are my PC specs:

> Intel Core i5, 661 @ 3,33GHz (stock)
> ATi Radeon HD 5770 (1 GB - stock)
> 4 GBs of RAM
> Windows 7 Ultimate, 32 bit (no service pack installed)

^ My system should handle this old game, without any doubt.

What have I tried, in order to fix this this annoying issue:

> run the game on XP Compatibility (both SP2 and SP3, as I remember)
> verify integrity of game cache
> downgrade its executable to the first one (1.0 US exe)
> downgrade its executable to the second one (1.1 US exe)
> reinstall the game
> REPEAT the above solutions, even randomly
> change the video card driver

^ But none of the above solved the issue.....

Can someone help me, please??? Thank you in advance.

[Denguin]

You should run it as windows 98 compatiblility.

I have windows 8 64 bit and i run it pretty decent with a bunch of mods so it shouldnt be because of your OS.

Do you have any mods? hd textures or draw distance mods? If you do you should get a stream fix. Google it or look at my topic i made a couple days ago.

I would just leave it as 1.0 since its required for a lot of mods. Look into resolution fix mod.

[Denguin]

It shouldnt be from the frame limiter because i also have it disabled with no problems.

I think windows 98 / ME should help.

[Myth[Alex]]

Ugh... I have no mods... If I had, I would have wrote them in my main post.

(I will try the Windows 98 compatibility tommorow)

Also, what does 'stream fix' mean? What's its purpose?

NOTE: I just have that Widescreen fix (remake), so that HUD & in-game elements aren't stretched. The issue is there, whenever I have this fix or not.

[Killspark]

I see your problem is laggy but of Visual fx and render distance but VIsual fx is the one that kicks performance down the hole of sparta so turn it down a bit you wont be missing much and if all else fails go to a lower res If your vid card had more gb (like 2-4) it wouldnt be a problem.

[Killspark]

Originally posted by ☆MythAlex ツ:

"The game gets unplayable in those moments... I really don't understand why I get this major, annoying issue... Is the game broken for the newer Windows operating systems - Vista & 7??"

It feel like it is broken because this game was more optimized for nvidia and older graphics cards :P

[Myth[Alex]]

Originally posted by Spark P1ug1n5:

I see your problem is laggy but of Visual fx and render distance but VIsual fx is the one that kicks performance down the hole of sparta so turn it down a bit you wont be missing much and if all else fails go to a lower res If your vid card had more gb (like 2-4) it wouldnt be a problem.

Why should I lower 2 graphics options (Visual FX and Draw distance) for such an old game?! :-( But I guess the answer is because of the bad port (which isn't friendly on newer operating systems & hardware)....

Also, why should I get a video card with 2 GB or more? For San Andreas?!? =)) You're kidding, right? This is an old game. But I get your point.... a stupid port is a stupid port....

[Myth[Alex]]

Originally posted by Spark P1ug1n5:

Originally posted by ☆MythAlex ツ:

"The game gets unplayable in those moments... I really don't understand why I get this major, annoying issue... Is the game broken for the newer Windows operating systems - Vista & 7??"

It feel like it is broken because this game was more optimized for nvidia and older graphics cards :P

^ like I said above, bad port

Even so, what's the best, old-generation nVidia video card for San Andreas (to run it maxed-out)? I think I'll build a gaming system with Windows XP on it for older games to run well. And don't forget to tell me about the processor model, too. Thank you in advance.

[Killspark]

Originally posted by ☆MythAlex ツ:

Originally posted by Spark P1ug1n5:

It feel like it is broken because this game was more optimized for nvidia and older graphics cards :P

^ like I said above, bad port

Even so, what's the best, old-generation nVidia video card for San Andreas (to run it maxed-out)? I think I'll build a gaming system with Windows XP on it for older games to run well. And don't forget to tell me about the processor model, too. Thank you in advance.

Actaully dont go and build one, Emulate one within your system using Virtual box[www.virtualbox.org] and try to play it it, You will need the xp disc or an iso of it. It might be hard to use but if you want to do it shoot me a pm and i will help you out! The reason for emulating it uses the raw power of your graphics card and ram instead of filtering it! (Which is almost unnessary to filter it, Microsoft strikes again) and it would cost less then to build one and also I would recommend upgrading your hardware because you will need more raw power for games like these consider upgrading to 2-4 gb of Gram, Hell the graphics card can be very ♥♥♥♥♥♥ like and Intel hd graphics card and still haul ass in the long run. :P
(I use hd intel graphic and hit 60 fps in game :P but not fully max settings but close enough)

[Myth[Alex]]

Originally posted by Spark P1ug1n5:

Originally posted by ☆MythAlex ツ:

^ like I said above, bad port

Even so, what's the best, old-generation nVidia video card for San Andreas (to run it maxed-out)? I think I'll build a gaming system with Windows XP on it for older games to run well. And don't forget to tell me about the processor model, too. Thank you in advance.

Actaully dont go and build one, Emulate one within your system using Virtual box[www.virtualbox.org] and try to play it it, You will need the xp disc or an iso of it. It might be hard to use but if you want to do it shoot me a pm and i will help you out! The reason for emulating it uses the raw power of your graphics card and ram instead of filtering it! (Which is almost unnessary to filter it, Microsoft strikes again) and it would cost less then to build one and also I would recommend upgrading your hardware because you will need more raw power for games like these consider upgrading to 2-4 gb of Gram, Hell the graphics card can be very ♥♥♥♥♥♥ like and Intel hd graphics card and still haul ass in the long run. :P
(I use hd intel graphic and hit 60 fps in game :P but not fully max settings but close enough)

I see.

> And there's no other solution for my problem, besides lowering those 2 graphics options you told me??

I would had upgraded my system, but the problem is MONEY :-\ I don't have enough money in order to spent it on gaming systems / upgrades to hardware, once an year.

> Still, I'm curious about your PC specs + GTA SA 'relationship'. What system do you have? And do you encounter any problems within San Andreas? If so, how did you fixed your problems?

[Killspark]

Originally posted by ☆MythAlex ツ:

Originally posted by Spark P1ug1n5:

Actaully dont go and build one, Emulate one within your system using Virtual box[www.virtualbox.org] and try to play it it, You will need the xp disc or an iso of it. It might be hard to use but if you want to do it shoot me a pm and i will help you out! The reason for emulating it uses the raw power of your graphics card and ram instead of filtering it! (Which is almost unnessary to filter it, Microsoft strikes again) and it would cost less then to build one and also I would recommend upgrading your hardware because you will need more raw power for games like these consider upgrading to 2-4 gb of Gram, Hell the graphics card can be very ♥♥♥♥♥♥ like and Intel hd graphics card and still haul ass in the long run. :P
(I use hd intel graphic and hit 60 fps in game :P but not fully max settings but close enough)

I see.

> And there's no other solution for my problem, besides lowering those 2 graphics options you told me??

I would had upgraded my system, but the problem is MONEY :-\ I don't have enough money in order to spent it on gaming systems / upgrades to hardware, once an year.

> Still, I'm curious about your PC specs + GTA SA 'relationship'. What system do you have? And do you encounter any problems within San Andreas? If so, how did you fixed your problems?

Specs:
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit

CPU
Intel Core i3 3220 @ 3.30GHz
Ivy Bridge 22nm Technology

RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard

Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Ivy Bridge
Chipset Revision 09

Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model P75/B75
Southbridge Revision 04

Graphics
Intel HD Graphics (Dell)

Hard Drives
932GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-75ZF5A0 (SATA)

Optical Drives
DTSOFT Virtual CdRom Device
HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GHA2N
VCXUX 1QV4PAJWTEV SCSI CdRom Device

Audio
Conexant SmartAudio HD

My only problem was starting it up and I fixed it by downgrading and running it as windows xp and administrator.

Costed me about $650 dollars alone with the computer.

*edit* It was 4 gigs of ram to start and i put 4 more gigs in, Otherwise the rest is all stock!

[Myth[Alex]]

Thank you, Spark P1ug1n5, for all your answers.

It's so odd that ATi users get so many problems with older GTAs..... :-( I hate Rockstar...

[Killspark]

Originally posted by ☆MythAlex ツ:

Thank you, Spark P1ug1n5, for all your answers.

It's so odd that ATi users get so many problems with older GTAs..... :-( I hate Rockstar...

It is because ati [Now owned by amd] is nvidias main compeitor and they had certain stuff used on a nvidia card more than a ati at the time. Developers should focus on a cards raw power them its special features that might make it fun to play for people who have the card but it gives hell to people who dont have the card. Graphics devs should focus on full on Round-robin fun gaming time instead of devloping a game for one brand of gcards. :/