UO Second Age

If you're experiencing any type of lag or flicker issues, it could be caused by your computer and/or computer OS power management systems. Newer CPUs are designed to throttle CPU performance when idle to save on electricity, then raise the speed back up when you actually put a load on your system. This constant flip-flop can cause slight delays, which inevitably could effect your UO performance. UO is such a light client load on the computer, your CPU can actually throttle itself while you're sitting in a dungeon farming, then switch back to default when you attempt to run away from a PK.

CPU-Z is a great utility to see whether your computer is being throttled by your power management systems. Simply download the client (I use the non-install version), run the .exe and look at what your Core Speed is in the clock section. Let your computer sit idle, then run an application or two and see if it changes. Any change means you have throttling.

These settings do not affect your CPU temperature in anyway, they simply prevent it from throttling itself while not in use. This also means that if you're not using your computer, the CPU will continue to run at its default setting, so expect a tad bit higher electric bill if you leave it on 24/7.

You can disable/uncheck the following items to completely disabling CPU throttling.

Uncheck "Use smart CPU usage reduction" under the General tab of Razor
- This setting does exactly what it says

Disable C1E Enhanced Halt under your BIOS.
- It's usually listed as one of the following: C1E Support, C1E Function, CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E), D.O.T. Control
- This setting is essentially the setting that decreases the voltage supplied to the processor. In the low-clock state (266*6), it doesn't make sense to continually push large voltages through the chip if it's not making much use of it. Hence, if you aren't doing anything, lets save electricity and slow the CPU.

Disable Enhanced Intel Speedstep (EIST) under your BIOS.
- It's usually listed as one of the following: Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm) Tech, PPM(EIST) Mode, CPU EIST Function, Intel EIST, EIST Function
- EIST, in conjunction with C1E, tells the processor to decrease the FSB as well as the Multiplier. Lowering this decreases the performance of the CPU during idle conditions, and increases them to whats set in the BIOS when the CPU comes under a load condition.

Enable High Performance in Vista
If you're running Windows Vista, you may need to adjust the Power Settings in addition to modifying the BIOS (especially if you're using a laptop.) Changing the power settings on a laptop will use up the battery faster, so be warned. The quick and easiest method is this:

Click Start > Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Power Options > Select 'High Performance' and hit Apply

wait does this fix the stupid blue bar at the top that shows regs and bandaids flickering cause i get that a lot ?

TheEttinKing wrote:wait does this fix the stupid blue bar at the top that shows regs and bandaids flickering cause i get that a lot ?

Are you running Vista? Do you receive any sort of error popup on the lower right stating your display has been restored? Might want to verify you have the latest display drivers installed, or try running UO in Windows XP compatibility mode.

hiicha wrote:

TheEttinKing wrote:wait does this fix the stupid blue bar at the top that shows regs and bandaids flickering cause i get that a lot ?

Are you running Vista? Do you receive any sort of error popup on the lower right stating your display has been restored? Might want to verify you have the latest display drivers installed, or try running UO in Windows XP compatibility mode.

no vista it does this when in full screen mode

I flicker white and hang, often when theres "action" on 2 or more simultanious clients. 3 clients run fine, but when theres things going on on 1 or more of them (not just idle macroing ect) they pause between switching windows with a white screen. Cycling smart cpu reduction on/off seems to fix it, but its a hassle to find which razor is which screen and press it before I die lol.

Ill look into this thanks hicha

MatronDeWinter wrote:I flicker white and hang, often when theres "action" on 2 or more simultanious clients. 3 clients run fine, but when theres things going on on 1 or more of them (not just idle macroing ect) they pause between switching windows with a white screen. Cycling smart cpu reduction on/off seems to fix it, but its a hassle to find which razor is which screen and press it before I die lol.

This is exactly what's been happeneing to me since I went to Windows 7, and I do the same thing to fix it, of course it's never too urgent for me. It usually happens when I'm changing between the cleint and other windows, especially IRC.

Hi.

I have also tried to fix the problem this way (Check/Uncheck smart CPU Reduction) However, occassionally when doing this, my whole computer freezes, not just UO. The only thing possibe then is to reboot with Reset Button.

Anyone experiencing this too ? Vista 32-bit.

The last time sucha total freeze happened to me is now some month ago, so I dont think its hardware issue.

TheEttinKing wrote:

hiicha wrote:

TheEttinKing wrote:wait does this fix the stupid blue bar at the top that shows regs and bandaids flickering cause i get that a lot ?

Are you running Vista? Do you receive any sort of error popup on the lower right stating your display has been restored? Might want to verify you have the latest display drivers installed, or try running UO in Windows XP compatibility mode.

no vista it does this when in full screen mode

every OS does that in fullscreen. don't think there's anything you can do about it. maybe try turning the counter off completely?

I'm plagued with the white screen as well, win7.

I fixed this myself by moving my client installation off my C: drive and ensuring that my registry settings were correct, all pointing to the same install. I've had no problems since.

erm....

I have win7 as well, sooo.. U mean put the UO folder somewhere else other then c:? then check my registry (how to I do that?).

I'm a noob :/

I see no one has posted here for 2 months, but I thought I'd post the solution I found to work for Win 7 64-bit. I set Razor to compatability mode for Windows XP Service Pack 3. I didn't put the UO client in compatability mode. I've had no white screens since.

YES, finally I fixed my problem thanks to Hicha.

This is probably the best thread in this forum, I have no more flickering/warping/lagg ups when pvping or running.

My CPU was definetly lowering power usage while playing UO, I disabled all that stuff and it works fine now.

Thanks Hicha.

Well.. not to be the bearer of bad news as it all sounds great on paper.
Disabling CPU Throttling May Improve Lag/Flicker Issues -
The truth is yes, it may Improve Lag/Flicker Issues in the short term, but in immediate future it can cause nasty overheating/ damage your CPU, I'm going to have to disagree here with hicha, as this can, indeed cause more hurt than good.

happening to me.. the white screen (slight transparency) locking up (not responding) ran razor in xp serv pack 3 compatibility mode and so far so good.. =) yay!