KOTOR 2 on PC is out!

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-02-13 09:15pm

A lot of manufactures/retailors like to play games with their numbers. That combined power output number describes the power that is actually going into your system and powering your components. That 300W number is probably its draw from the wall outlet, which makes your PSU 60% efficient (Enermax PSUs, on the other hand, is 80-85% efficient). Another thing to keep in mind is that those numbers are for your peak draw. Your average draw is going to be the RMS (root mean square) of your peak (you learn interesting things when you work with electrical engineers), meaning your system is really only getting 127.26W (180 * 0.707). And its a safe bet that half of that power is going to your processor.

So, if we look at my system, we get: 480W PSU, 80% efficient = 384W peak to PC. Average supply is 271W. Aren't numbers wonderful... And that's running at 6800GT OC, a P4 2.8 800FSB, 1GB Ram, 2 HDs, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, sound card, motherboard, five fans and a floppy in a pair tree.

Bastards! And my friend tried to make me feel stupid by saying I was wrong, and it was 300W. So I'm only ggetting 127.26W to power a 6600GT, an AMD Athlon XP 2100+, 512MB RAM, 1 HD, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, sound card, motherboard, x (five fans? does that include the fans on all your components, i.e. the PSU, CPU, etc?) fans and a floppy drive.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2005-02-13 10:34pm

Vympel wrote:Bastards! And my friend tried to make me feel stupid by saying I was wrong, and it was 300W. So I'm only ggetting 127.26W to power a 6600GT, an AMD Athlon XP 2100+, 512MB RAM, 1 HD, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, sound card, motherboard, x (five fans? does that include the fans on all your components, i.e. the PSU, CPU, etc?) fans and a floppy drive.

Yup.

As I remember it, an HD usually eats about 8W, and CD-RWs/DVD-ROMs eat 15W to 20W when they get going. RAM and your motherboard are comparable to drives (IIRC). Its the CPU and GPU that eat most of your power. When you build a new system, budget at least 200W (combined) for your GPU and CPU (although with the Alton and 6600, you can probably get away with 125W to 150W budget for them). I also suggest budgeting 50W to 75W for your drives. You'd need to check your motherboard specs for its power needs (it really depends on what's one board - how many PCI slots, how much RAM, USB, etc.). But a 450W or higher should be enough for a modern, low to mid-range system. Personally, I'd go with a 550W or higher.

The five fans include 3 case fans (2x 120mm, 1x 80mm), 1 PSU fan and a 5000 RPM CPU fan. The graphics card fan makes a sixth fan, but I include it with the GPU.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-02-14 12:49am

God I hope power is the issue. I really won't be able to stand it if it keeps on happening after all this. I refuse to reformat over this ... I'll have to wait till tommorow.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-02-14 04:50am

AHA!

It's not power:

In response to a problem exactly the same as mine:

This is a "feature" of via motherboards. Kotor is not the only game affected. The via motherboard agp controller drivers are "jacked" or "broken". When mixed with service pack 2 you get "pain".

If you use a via motherboard, be certain to download the latest "hyperion" drivers off their website, viaarena.com. Also make sure you're running either the latest official nvidia driver (nvidia has tried very well to work around the problem, but there's only so much they can do) or the latest nvidia beta driver.

This will LESSEN the problem, not totally fix it. But it's playable for now. Via is the culprit for this fault, flame them all you wish.

-Maniac

Now, this pretty much fits me to a tee- I have a via chipset, after all. My friend has reformated his computer often, and I just asked him, he doesn't recall putting SP2 on after his latest reformat. This is not surprising- by all accounts, its a worthless piece of shit that wrecks everything. And I have it. I'm stupid.

So ... I think the best chance I have, irrespective, I need to kill it. I must reformat my computer. BUGGER. I have this folder with an odd set of numbers as a folder name with "sp1" and "sp2" folders within their- their uninstall commands don't work, as it say sit can't find "spuninst.inf". So it seems I have no choice ... don't where this bloody folder came from. I don't remember doing it.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2005-02-14 08:11am

A VIA chipset? I wish you had mentioned that - I've only had bad experiences with their crap (and SiS isn't much better). Can you get an nForce motherboard for your system? (Personally, this is the reason I stick with Intel chipsets, because they do have superior quality).

Now SP2 isn't a "worthless piece of shit". It works very well, and hasn't given me, my friends or coworkers any problems (well, expect one coworker, but he didn't know what he was doing).

That said, power can still be an issue. At the very least, get a beefy PSU with your next system.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-02-14 09:18am

Arrow Mk84 wrote:A VIA chipset? I wish you had mentioned that - I've only had bad experiences with their crap (and SiS isn't much better). Can you get an nForce motherboard for your system? (Personally, this is the reason I stick with Intel chipsets, because they do have superior quality).

Well, until now it's worked perfect ... but I'll know for next time.

Now SP2 isn't a "worthless piece of shit". It works very well, and hasn't given me, my friends or coworkers any problems (well, expect one coworker, but he didn't know what he was doing).

I don't even know if I have it now- it's there in a folder on my F:\ but not listed on my Add/Remove Programs list (SP1 is) and as mentioned, it can't be uninstalled. But it seems to be the best shot.

That said, power can still be an issue. At the very least, get a beefy PSU with your next system.

Absolutely- I'm wondering if it's still worth it for my friend to pop round and try the new powerpack, but I'm not sure.

Out of the two, reformat or new powerpack, which do you think is te best bet?

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-02-14 09:31am

Yeah bitch and moan. Y'know, if you had the xbox version you wouldn't be in this ridiculous position...

I'm still waiting for my chance. I might go in tommorow morning and see if I can't hire it, though I probably should wait some more.

Oh and Vym, I have the SP2 on my laptop and it's given me nothing but smooth sailing. I think your computer just hates you, or IBMs just love me.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2005-02-14 09:53am

Rather than reformat, why not do what the thing you pasted says and update your VIA drivers?

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2005-02-14 11:32am

Well, get the new PSU anyway. It will elimate possible problem from your system.

Then I'd do what White Haven suggests and try the updated VIA drivers (although I won't get my hopes up, given my experience with them; but that was a few years ago, maybe things have improved... yeah, right!).

Then, if all else fails, try the reformat.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-02-14 06:20pm

White Haven wrote:Rather than reformat, why not do what the thing you pasted says and update your VIA drivers?

I did- no dice.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2005-02-14 06:32pm

To check if you have SP2 installed, right click on My Computer and go to properties. Or you can check by "System" in the Control Panel. You might not need to reinstall.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-02-16 02:20am

Doesn't look like I do. But at this point, I'm bloody desperate and it can't be a power issue. And god knows what's up with that folder.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-02-16 08:35am

Well, I'm back from the mighty format ... everything is new and ... different. I'm using Firefox 1.0 now.

How the hell do I turn off these annoying Windows sounds?

I'm using a pre-SP2 version of Windows XP Professional ... I really need to get the latest media player and all that crap .... put Quicktime back on, all this other stuff ... god.

Report:

1. the "pausing FMV" phenommenon that appeared out of nowhere is gone from both KOTOR and KOTOR 2 ... on my old video card, it never happened, yet it did on my 6600GT.

2. Star Wars Battlefront and KOTOR 2 appear to be working. Extended play, no crash. *fingers crossed* ....

3. KOTOR still crashes, but it's different from before. In any case, it is still unplayable.