Found Memory Leak & Sound Problem with game and fixed it so far!

[Mixman]

Easy fix for nVidia-users!

Well, here is an easy fix if you are using a nVidia graphics card;

You are probably using too NEW drivers, at least until the first patch (hope they fix it).

When I started playing Civ IV I was using the latest nVidia-drivers (81.85) but the game crashed to desktop as soon as the game map grew bigger. And later on in the game it crashed to desktop every 10-15 minutes. Read a tip somewhere about changing back to old drivers (71.89) and since then I have not had a single problem...

I have friends using nVidia graphics who didnt even got the game running because of the newer drivers. Crashed at start-up. But that was also fixed by the older ones...

[feckhornet]

well, i'm not an expert, but i'd say it was a memory leak. my system freaks out when i try to select things like gridlines, or move to certain menus. I've also had sound AND video crashes, but the most telling thing is that when i ctrl+alt+del and check the processes, the memory usage goes up at an alarming rate and does not stop!!! the civ iv process fluctuates up and down at between 5 and 30 MB. bear in mind this is right from the word go when i start a game. i have not managed to play more than half a dozen turns yet. I am not impressed.

Athlon XP 2Ghz
*512 MB PC3200 DDR Ram
Radeon 9800xt

*yes, i know it's not much and i've already ordered more, but what does it matter? i'm using 2Gig of ram after a matter of minutes from starting a new game...and counting...

[seebs]

Originally posted by feckhornet
well, i'm not an expert, but i'd say it was a memory leak.

On what basis would you say this?

my system freaks out when i try to select things like gridlines, or move to certain menus. I've also had sound AND video crashes, but the most telling thing is that when i ctrl+alt+del and check the processes, the memory usage goes up at an alarming rate and does not stop!!! the civ iv process fluctuates up and down at between 5 and 30 MB.

Well, here's the thing. If it actually went up and never stopped, that might actually support your idea of a "memory leak". But if it goes back down, then it's not so much support for the idea of a memory leak.

Also not supporting the idea of a memory leak is that a large world in late-game crashes constantly, but I've played as much as three or four hundred turns without crashes on smaller maps or earlier in the game.

A memory leak would be much worse over long play periods than on large maps.

bear in mind this is right from the word go when i start a game. i have not managed to play more than half a dozen turns yet. I am not impressed.

Well, once again, this argues against it being a memory leak.

*yes, i know it's not much and i've already ordered more, but what does it matter? i'm using 2Gig of ram after a matter of minutes from starting a new game...and counting...

That's sort of odd, because I have a huge map with tons of stuff on it (I started as the Russians, and I'm halfway through the list of American cities now) and it's not using much over 1GB of memory.

So it's not just the game.

[Stromprophet]

I am only running 512 MB, is this going to be a problem later in the game? As in, it will be unplayable and just crash?

[seebs]

512MB will probably be unusably slow on larger maps or later in the game, unless the patch improves things.

[feckhornet]

Originally posted by seebs
Well, here's the thing. If it actually went up and never stopped, that might actually support your idea of a "memory leak".

that's exactly what does happen, but to system memory used NOT the process. But each time the process takes a big spike in usage, the sys mem takes a similar hit, but when the process releases the mem, the system does not get it back. that's what i mean by a memory leak, but i'm not sure i used the right teminology.

Originally posted by seebs
Also not supporting the idea of a memory leak is that a large world in late-game crashes constantly, but I've played as much as three or four hundred turns without crashes on smaller maps or earlier in the game.

yes, but we're all experiencing different problems. What OP SYS are you all running??? Mine is Win 2k.

Originally posted by seebs
A memory leak would be much worse over long play periods than on large maps.

i'm not using a large map. I just started a bog standard earth mod game. The tutorial ran fine so i wondered if it was an AI problem as some have suggested.

Originally posted by seebs
That's sort of odd, because I have a huge map with tons of stuff on it (I started as the Russians, and I'm halfway through the list of American cities now) and it's not using much over 1GB of memory.

then you don't have the same problem as me

Originally posted by seebs
So it's not just the game.

Yes and no. it only happens on CIV IV. it could be that the games problem is worse for people with less RAM, but 512 is not rediculously low. I let you know how I get on when put my new 512 stick in.

cheers for your thoughts seebs