Okay, here's my comp:
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6550 (http://ark.intel.com/products/30783/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E6550-(4M-Cache-2_33-GHz-1333-MHz-FSB)) - 2 cores, 2.33 GHz, 4MB L2
RAM: 2GB DDR3
Video: nVidia 8400 GS, fanless (not sure who the actual manufacturer was)
HDD: Western Digital 250 GB, 7,200 RPM
I installed Minecraft 1.2.5 and ran it, but found the game was slow and choppy and all the fans in my comp were spinning hard (lots of noise). Task Manager showed 100% CPU usage. So I went into the video settings and set render distance to short (and also tried tiny) - the game was now responsive, but the CPU was still maxing out. So I updated Java (uninstalled 6-21, installed 7-5), then installed OptiFine (using MagicLauncher), then tweaked the OptiFine settings to turn off everything that would cause performance problems.
Now the fans don't come on anymore, but as we're playing the walls frequently disappear and show what's underground - like an xray mod (note: I am not using any mods except MagicLauncher and OptiFine). This makes it difficult to play, since if there's a mob right in front of you aboveground, and suddenly all you can see is inside the ground, you don't know where the mob is. It also makes mining really difficult.
So, any suggestions on how this might get fixed? Shouldn't Minecraft be able to run on this setup? Are there any Java updates I might need to install that Minecraft uses?
OptiFine likes to cause glitches I've found (textures for chests like to disappear, mobs sometimes get random textures applied randomly).
Also try turning on Advanced OpenGL. It actually turns on the use of the OpenGL Occlusion extension, which really helps frame rates on my laptop (though OptiFine's extra option on that option is worse, but then I have an intel gpu).
You're also probably going to want more memory. 1G for the OS, 1G or more for the game, and more for anything else you have running at the time.
Mind you, the ground being transparent sounds more like world holes from back in the day.
What version of Windows are you running?
I had quite a few issues running Minecraft on Win7 with 64 bit Java.
I don't know if you guys remember those pictures I posted of our little spelunking trip, and all the graphical glitches I see when on my laptop. Just in case you don't, here's a couple, one taken today, and another taken a while back.
With the exception of the Graphics Card, your setup is pretty much what I had before I upgraded and I also had to drop the render rate to tiny just to be able to play at all. It was still taking up 100% CPU, and I could here my fans going from downstairs. I was also constantly running out of memory.
The issue with walls disappearing happened to me when I started using OptiFine on the new PC as well. This is a known problem and can often be fixed by turning off threaded optimization in the NVIDIA control panel. Doing this fixed it for me.
Oh, I should mention I also have an 8400 GS. It is INCREDIBLY slow. KDE's compositing is less than ideal on it, and my intel laptop handles it decently.
So if you can, I'd suggest upgrading to something less slow if you can. It was great to have for my server system before I upgraded it. Thing is low profile and fanless. Very handy for a server system that doesn't need fancy graphics (and doesn't have any built in).
OptiFine increased the FPS by quite a bit, but did nothing to reduce the load on CPU and resultant fan speed and noise.
Advanced OpenGL is enabled in the game and set to Fast (yes, I'd read about what it does with occlusions). Not sure if I have to enable something in the video driver, but I didn't see anything.
I read through IronWaffle's speed guide, which suggested limiting the RAM available to Minecraft so that it doesn't start swapping out. I limit Minecraft to 256MB using MagicLauncher.
WinXP 32-bit with Java 7 32-bit.
I'll check the nVidia control panel for "threaded optimization" as soon as they let me back at the computer (even with its glitchiness, there's still two fighting to play!).
Yes, I would _love_ to upgrade my computers. However I just spent six months spending $1,000+ more than I make while my wife was in school, so there's not a lot of cash at the moment. Maybe someday I'll have money to buy a decent rig (actually at least a couple, since there's six of us here that use the computers).
And yes, the 8400 GS is slow. I bought it as a cheap silent solution to Farmville spinning the fans up (no, seriously, my wife was playing Farmville and I had to crank the volume on the TV in the same living room so I could hear it - fifty bucks was worth it).
Damn, now I'm looking at video cards and wishing I had some cash to spend and at the same time worried I'll make the wrong choice (haven't kept up with video cards for several years now). GT520? Cheap ($50), fanless (I love the quiet cards), 8x better than 8400 GS according to nVidia themselves. GT630? A little more ($80), 21x better than 8400 GS.
Or I could try it on the other machine with (supposedly) matching config - same vid card, same processor, same mobo, same ram, different psu, different hdd. Wifey tells me the fan never kicks on in the other machine.
Which makes me wonder if Minecraft is just completely missing the vid card and running against the integrated graphics (I have read forum posts that said this happening, but I don't know how to check whether Minecraft is hitting the onboard stuff, and I haven't found a way to turn the onboard stuff off (stupid Dell-specific bios)).
Generally integrated graphics are completely disabled when you install a graphics card.
I have an 8800GTS 320MB card I don't particularly need. Would have two, but one died.
I wouldn't mind borrowing that for a bit to see if it fixes things...
I have one you can have:
http://forums.righteouswrath.com/index.php/topic,7491.0.html
Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 25, 2012, 06:37:26 AM
I have one you can have:
http://forums.righteouswrath.com/index.php/topic,7491.0.html
Last posting date:
Reply #1 on: 2010-11-12, 10:37:48Yeah, so, I would've thought you'd sold that :)
Quote from: Tom on June 25, 2012, 12:35:56 AM
I have an 8800GTS 320MB card I don't particularly need. Would have two, but one died.
I think getting an 8800GTS in there will require me to upgrade the PSU in there (cheap Dell 330 watt). Although between the two of you I could upgrade both 'puters at the same time :)
But first, I need to do a check whether the other computer has the same loudness issue with Minecraft. Wife says it doesn't with other games the kids play (that is, on the problem computer they _do_ make the fans spin up, on the other computer they _don't_ make the fans spin up). So there's some troubleshooting / comparing to be done there.
I *think* I still have a spare PSU kicking around
I have a room full of computer gear I want to get rid of but no wheels to do it with.
Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 25, 2012, 10:12:11 AM
I *think* I still have a spare PSU kicking around
I have a room full of computer gear I want to get rid of but no wheels to do it with.
kijiji. I got rid of a @%&# ton of random @%&#. and a lot of it WAS @%&#. Give away for free, or very cheap, and people will gladly come take it.
Quote from: Tom on June 25, 2012, 10:51:45 AM
Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 25, 2012, 10:12:11 AM
I *think* I still have a spare PSU kicking around
I have a room full of computer gear I want to get rid of but no wheels to do it with.
kijiji. I got rid of a @%&# ton of random @%&#. and a lot of it WAS @%&#. Give away for free, or very cheap, and people will gladly come take it.
I want to take it to the eco station in one trip...
I had one dude come take a big box full of random old computer gear. someone probably would come take all your stuff.
Quote from: Tom on June 25, 2012, 10:57:27 AM
I had one dude come take a big box full of random old computer gear. someone probably would come take all your stuff.
Not the point, I want to do it on my schedule.
It's never really a problem with schedule. Just tell them when you're available :P but I can see it being a bit annoying dealing with people.
Quote from: Tom on June 25, 2012, 11:09:45 AM
It's never really a problem with schedule. Just tell them when you're available :P but I can see it being a bit annoying dealing with people.
Particularly when I can just truck it all down at one time. Just gotta get it all finally together and ready to roll.
I have a bunch of drives to wip
ANYWAY we're way OT here now
Oh, one thing you may want to try to boost performance is remove all mods / texture packs.
I had one mod running and the HD texture pack it was using absolutely gutted my machine (not sure what was going on, all I know is that when I removed the mod things got speedy and nice again :) )
Yeah, it was completely vanilla until I installed MagicLauncher and modded in OptiFine to try and relieve the pressure on the system.
Maybe I need to drive you home after work one of these days, then I can take your computer junk to the Eco station for you :)
Also, I thought you gave me your last extra PSU? Man, you're a computer parts magnet, aren't you?
Anyway, in the next couple of days I'm going to:
1. Check it on computer 2
2. If it doesn't happen on computer 2, move the installation
3. If it doesn't happen on computer 2, try and figure out what's going wrong on computer 1
4. If it does happen on computer 2, upgrade graphics cards (may require new psu)
5. Whether it happens or not, upgrade graphics cards :)
Quote from: Thorin on June 25, 2012, 11:44:20 AM
Yeah, it was completely vanilla until I installed MagicLauncher and modded in OptiFine to try and relieve the pressure on the system.
Maybe I need to drive you home after work one of these days, then I can take your computer junk to the Eco station for you :)
Also, I thought you gave me your last extra PSU? Man, you're a computer parts magnet, aren't you?
Anyway, in the next couple of days I'm going to:
1. Check it on computer 2
2. If it doesn't happen on computer 2, move the installation
3. If it doesn't happen on computer 2, try and figure out what's going wrong on computer 1
4. If it does happen on computer 2, upgrade graphics cards (may require new psu)
5. Whether it happens or not, upgrade graphics cards :)
Get yourself a can of compressed air. You may need to clean out the dust from the one that likes to spin up a lot.
Hah! You could SLI the two 8800s :D
And yes, I never throw anything away, unless I push myself.
Yep, the PSU you have would have been the better one of the 3 that are kicking around here.
I'll have to uninstall the old drives before trucking all this old crap outta here.
Yeah, I'm sure a good cleaning is in order. But the fan spins up because the CPU is getting worked by the games - in computer 2 the fan (supposedly) doesn't spin up, so (supposedly) isn't getting worked by the games. This suggests to me something's wrong with the video card operation.
Quote from: Thorin on June 25, 2012, 12:33:33 PM
Yeah, I'm sure a good cleaning is in order. But the fan spins up because the CPU is getting worked by the games - in computer 2 the fan (supposedly) doesn't spin up, so (supposedly) isn't getting worked by the games.
Which means its getting warmer. What tends to cause one machine to get warmer than another identically spec'ed machine? Bad air flow/cooling.
QuoteThis suggests to me something's wrong with the video card operation.
It's a possibility. But I'd check airflow through the heatsinks and fans first.
Well, that or the CPU having to do all the graphics work because the graphics card isn't working right...
But yeah, I'll check them both for cleanliness when I open them tonight.
Quote from: Thorin on June 25, 2012, 02:36:18 PM
Well, that or the CPU having to do all the graphics work because the graphics card isn't working right...
I'm tempted to bring up morbo... You either get software rendering (via cpu), or hardware rendering (via gpu). And minecraft would be so incredibly slow with a full software renderer. It is possible that for some reason the system's built in graphics (in the cpu if the machine was made in the past year, or chipset if its older), but you'd have to have plugged the monitor into the graphics port on the motherboard for that to work (before the last year-ish, there was no readily available hardware that supported utilising both integrated and discreet graphics hw at the same time, ie, using the integrated hw for most rendering, and the discreet hw to handle video out, or vice-versa).
Good point about where it's plugged in.
Futurama Morbo?
Quote from: Thorin on June 25, 2012, 03:57:46 PM
Good point about where it's plugged in.
Futurama Morbo?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQg8JKo_3ZQ
;D
So the CPU fan getting loud was because of a large build-up of dust around the processor, underneath the heatsink. A proper cleaning, and it no longer spins up while playing the game, even on higher settings. This explains why the other computer didn't get loud - it had been cleaned when I swapped the power supply in it a couple months ago.
With OptiFine running and settings tweaked, I'm hitting 40 to 75 Frames Per Second routinely, and have got over 100 FPS a few times. However, sometimes when you look down the floor disappears. I'm really not sure what to do about that with the current hardware, so...
Quote from: Tom on June 25, 2012, 12:35:56 AM
Generally integrated graphics are completely disabled when you install a graphics card.
I have an 8800GTS 320MB card I don't particularly need. Would have two, but one died.
You still interested in getting rid of this? How much would you want? I'd come pick it up.
Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 25, 2012, 06:37:26 AM
I have one you can have:
http://forums.righteouswrath.com/index.php/topic,7491.0.html
You still interested in getting rid of this? How much would you want? I'd come pick it up. [is there an echo here?]
Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 25, 2012, 10:12:11 AM
I *think* I still have a spare PSU kicking around
I have a room full of computer gear I want to get rid of but no wheels to do it with.
I'd be happy to buy a used PSU off you if you've got a decent one and are looking to get rid of it. As long as it costs me less than going to MemEx :)
QuoteHowever, sometimes when you look down the floor disappears. I'm really not sure what to do about that with the current hardware, so...
Did you try the multithreaded optimization setting in the NVIDIA control panel?
Quote from: LennyLen on July 01, 2012, 06:47:23 PM
QuoteHowever, sometimes when you look down the floor disappears. I'm really not sure what to do about that with the current hardware, so...
Did you try the multithreaded optimization setting in the NVIDIA control panel?
I did turn it off, it seemed to work, then the kids had some more missing floors, then I turned it on, then they had lots of missing floors, then I turned it off again. The strange thing is, I can't get it to happen when I'm at the keyboard, but as soon as they sit down and I'm standing behind them, sure enough, there it goes.
You can have the card, I'd much rather someone use it than me sending it to the recycler.
If you are in the office Wednesday I'll bring it in.
Quote from: Thorin on July 02, 2012, 12:13:16 AM
Quote from: LennyLen on July 01, 2012, 06:47:23 PM
QuoteHowever, sometimes when you look down the floor disappears. I'm really not sure what to do about that with the current hardware, so...
Did you try the multithreaded optimization setting in the NVIDIA control panel?
I did turn it off, it seemed to work, then the kids had some more missing floors, then I turned it on, then they had lots of missing floors, then I turned it off again. The strange thing is, I can't get it to happen when I'm at the keyboard, but as soon as they sit down and I'm standing behind them, sure enough, there it goes.
They both played multiplayer for a half hour this morning and neither remembers the floor disappearing. That's promising!
Uhh, I may not be in the office tomorrow. I'll text you if I won't be there...
I got Tekkit problems (it's too fun and I may be bagged tomorrow morning) :)
Quote from: Mr. Analog on July 04, 2012, 12:27:06 AM
Uhh, I may not be in the office tomorrow. I'll text you if I won't be there...
I got Tekkit problems (it's too fun and I may be bagged tomorrow morning) :)
Heh, you think /you'll/ be bagged....
Quote from: Mr. Analog on July 04, 2012, 12:27:06 AM
Uhh, I may not be in the office tomorrow. I'll text you if I won't be there...
I got Tekkit problems (it's too fun and I may be bagged tomorrow morning) :)
Yeah, I'm up late, too. Lets just work from home tomorrow (well, later today).
Quote from: Thorin on July 04, 2012, 01:40:33 AM
Quote from: Mr. Analog on July 04, 2012, 12:27:06 AM
Uhh, I may not be in the office tomorrow. I'll text you if I won't be there...
I got Tekkit problems (it's too fun and I may be bagged tomorrow morning) :)
Yeah, I'm up late, too. Lets just work from home tomorrow (well, later today).
Just sent you a text, I went to bed but... mind was humming for another hour lol
I'll be in Thurs/Fri
Hmm, I'm not in a big rush for these vid cards now - we seem to have found an equilibrium with OptiFine, View Distance - Short, changing the "threaded optimization" setting, and a thorough cleaning of the insides of the computer cases that makes it so the ground doesn't glitch out anymore.
Nevertheless, I'd still like to upgrade the vid cards (and the one power supply) as Minecraft and TVersity at the same time means choppy video playback for people streaming stuff from TVersity (and I think a better vid card will help in that regard).
If you're in tomorrow I'll bring it with me :)
Otherwise you can stop by on the weekend maybe?
Prolly not in tomorrow. I'll arrange a little trip out to your place and Tom's at the same time.
Given that these cards are five or so years old, how much cash do you want for it? $20 enough? Or were you expecting a lot more?
Quote from: Thorin on July 05, 2012, 03:58:26 PM
Prolly not in tomorrow. I'll arrange a little trip out to your place and Tom's at the same time.
Given that these cards are five or so years old, how much cash do you want for it? $20 enough? Or were you expecting a lot more?
Pff, for you? The price is Chicken for Lunch :)
Quote from: Mr. Analog on July 05, 2012, 04:17:01 PM
Quote from: Thorin on July 05, 2012, 03:58:26 PM
Prolly not in tomorrow. I'll arrange a little trip out to your place and Tom's at the same time.
Given that these cards are five or so years old, how much cash do you want for it? $20 enough? Or were you expecting a lot more?
Pff, for you? The price is Chicken for Lunch :)
I wouldn't mind such a thing myself :)
Ah, a wise choice in payment! Enrich Amy, fill belly, get rid of computer junk from five years ago! Nicely played.
Tom, you wanna meet us for lunch at CFL sometime? We can set that up outside of these forums...
Quote from: Thorin on July 05, 2012, 05:03:17 PM
Ah, a wise choice in payment! Enrich Amy, fill belly, get rid of computer junk from five years ago! Nicely played.
Tom, you wanna meet us for lunch at CFL sometime? We can set that up outside of these forums...
Sure :) Let me know when's good :) (sadly tomorrow isn't for me :( )
So on my old machines with 1.2.5 installed I used OptiFine to get a workable FPS rate (went from 25-30 to 45-60, so about double). With 1.3.1 installed on those same machines, I'm getting 53-57 FPS rate _without_ OptiFine. That's quite the performance improvement Mojang made. I checked just now and OptiFine is now available for 1.3.1. I'm going to install it to see if I'll be able to play with Render Distance: Far even though they're 32-bit machines; that would be awesome.
As Lazybones said (in game, I think) OPTIFINE SHOULD BE IN THE CORE OF MINECRAFT. It makes it run so much smoother and look so much better (MipMaps for the win!)