Now I'm Having Graphics Problems... Please Help

[vahauser]

Greetings,

When I start up the game all the colors are messed up. The terrain and units look like rainbows and I can't tell anything apart. Anybody know how to fix this??

[Huffy]

well...you know the drill...graphics drivers updated?...DX ok?...This may be really bizarre...but try it...uninstall 8.3,...install 8.1,....then install 8.3.....on a different hard drive...if not a different Hard drive...a different directory...see if that helps...
Before any one says i'm nuts...I tried to put 8.3 on by itself...and same stuff happenes to me...so I put back on 8.1....and it worked fine....I don't know..if it works......
Just try it and see what happens...you can always uninstall it..
Take care,
Huffy

[Losqualo]

For me the rainbowcolours happen when I have a graphics program open in the background, or just things like the Explorer in the mode where it shows the miniatures of pictures.

Try closing programs like these.

[proberts]

hi vauhauser

i was troubled with this for a long time and found it in the end
the problem my cpu was running at 28-34% occupancy with nothing running at first thought it was spyware but it was a program called CISVC.EXE ( Microsoft Index Service Helper, )
a service that monitors the memory usage of Microsoft Indexing Service (cidaemon.exe) and automatically re-starts cidaemon.exe if it uses more than 40 MB of memory
i closed this down by stopping indexing services and all is well
also turn off any spyware blockers or virus checkers that are running ie spyware guard
this one caused me no end of problems with black screens being only redrawn by moving or clicking the mouse



regards phil

[minefield]

Wrong colors means the palette loaded on the video card got screwed up. Probably another program accessing video card. See others' advice above.

[KG Erwin]

SPWaW is not the only game that taps out CPU resources at 100%. Silent Hunter II (modded heavily) does the same thing. I got both of these running well on XP, and (crossing fingers) have had no issues with either one.

The key thing is the combination of video cards and drivers. In my case, I go with the updated drivers for the existing default Dell Dimension 2400 audio/ visual hardware. The only thing I've done is add an extra RAM card. Performance-wise, this is the simplest and cheapest upgrade you can do.

A note about NVidia--avoid their products like the plague. Upgrading drivers makes older games unplayable--I found this out on my old PC (RIP).

[Goblin]

Its kind of harsh to recommend avoiding an entire product line when the issue seems to be indivdual cards and/or drivers, not limited to brand.

I have had 4 cards on three computers now. I have used the Radeon 7000, Radeon 9200, NVidia 5200 FX Ultra, and just recently the NVidia 6800GT. I have had problems with drivers on the 7000 and 5200FX cards. My buddy has a Radeon 300, and had the same issue. Thats two against Radeon and one against NVidia. I imagine it would even out if more people posted.

The new NVidia cards rock ass! Especially configured on a PCI-X motherboard with SLI running two video cards!

Goblin

[KG Erwin]

Two cards on one machine? Why and how? Jeez, the "Dell people" keep saying it's not a good idea to add a DVD drive to the 2400. I'm changing subjects, sorry, but I'd like to watch movies on my PC. What's the big deal on adding a second external drive?

[Goblin]

Dunno about a second drive. 16X PCI Express cards (as opposed to 8X AGP) run on an Athlon processor now have the option of SLI (Scalable Link Interface) technology. The motherboard must support this option, as must the video cards (both have to be the same exact card). Pentiums, as of right now, can run one card at a time. I was going to get two 6600GT's, but the 6800GT tied or surpassed them both combined on performance. I am adding a second 6800GT soon. More information at http://www.evga.com/ and www.cyberpowersystem.com

My new box is from cyberpower, and I highly recommend them for price (they beat the closest price for my system by $500, and I shopped at 40+ sites) and support. They have an 'instant chat' tech feature. Click on the little green instant chat button, and a tech person answers you almost instantly. www.ibuypower.com is almost as good, but their prices are higher.


Goblin