CPU Usage shows pol.exe running 90%+ when FF is loaded...

[Sabertiger]

So.. for 3+years ive been playing on ps2, decided it was time to try it out on PC after everyone and their cousin said graphics were better. I purchased '07 collection and installed, waited 40+ hours to update on dialup, and finally go to play on PC.

I'm running a 6ish year old PC, Sony Vaio desktop. I know, thats stoneage technology in the tech world, but it still runs fine. Pentium 4 clocked at 2.02Ghz, I have not overclocked it. ATI Radeon S9550 256mb vid card, on board sound (no room for another card ; , and 512 ram.

Problem: Even with reduced visual settings, I.E, shadows off, clip pane minimum, char models set to min, etc. I get an unusual amount of visual lag. Audio plays fine, with the min. 12 sounds in FFconfig. Overlay graphics set to 800x600 and background set to 512x512, i get the same lag with min settings on that res as I do background 1024x1024. In taskmanager, pol.exe runs around 20-30% before loading FF, once FF is loaded in the char select screen, it spikes to 98%~ and hovers somewhere over 90% even in mog house. Now, I'm no computer genius, but the game says it can be played in a P3 800mhz, so, a P4 running at 2ghz should be doing fine, with medium settings right? The vid card is AGP, i'm not sure the technical differences between pci-x, agp, etc. For some reason, it seems the visual lag spikes when the processor spikes. This is making the game highly annoying to play on my PC, due to being visually 1-2s behind whats happening. I'm not sure if its actually the processor, but I've toyed with the graphics settings, put them at bare minimum, tweaked some stuff on the vid card, and it still lags like that
On a side note, this isn't due to a widower I don't believe, as it happens in full screen mode also. /sigh

Current actions:
updating spybot S&D to run scans and such, just in case...

I have norton antivirus, not sure if that might be lagging me up, i tried disabling it and running FF, still lagged. Updating definitions and such once again, and gunna scan for virus'.

Figure ill defrag while im at it, cant hurt.

Any feedback or ideas are welcome thanks!

[Avanarius]

Uninstall all the shit on your computer until the cpu can idle at 0% on desktop....then you can figure out what the problem is.

[Sabertiger]

You mean uninstall background apps like antivirus and such? CPU idles around 5% now, with web browser minimized to taskbar. taskmgr doesnt show any other programs running any CPU usage really, just pol.exe burning 90%+ :/

[Avanarius]

Truth be told is that ffxi does take a lot of cpu power, and you want to give it as much as physically possible for an older computer. Hence uninstalling as much as you can.

My own general rule, but I can't speak for anyone else, is that the computer SHOULD be able to reach 0% always while nothing is running save a few background apps.

[Sabertiger]

Hmm, so, start with just knocking out stuff i dont need/use anymore, and go from there? It's worth a shot. I've asked around LS friends and everyone says FF doesn't take alot of CPU power, so maybe it is something running that I don't know of.

[Avanarius]

Up until recently ffxi was like my personal benchmark for cpu's to see how much fps you get in crowded areas....lol

[Sabertiger]

yea if i tried that my CPU might grow and arm+hand and slap me. It struggles in totally uncrowded areas. I mean, I think my graphics card can handle it for the most part, but FF using 98% of CPU is killing me.

[Shuemue]

everyone says FF doesn't take alot of CPU power

everyone is wrong then, FFXI is particularly CPU intensive.

[Sabertiger]

Currently defragging and uninstalling random apps i don't need. Gunna check out msconfig too, and see whats loading at startup. Anyone have any other suggestions? Or will a 2ghz P4 just run normally at 90%~ for FF? :/

[Shuemue]

With just 512mb of ram too it won't ever run brilliantly. When was the last time you did a fresh install of windows on that machine?

[Sabertiger]

reinstall windows? hmm, it's been a few years since I did that..

[Shuemue]

That's easily the best way to speed up a PC if it's not a hardware issue, much smaller registry, no unwanted processes, only the drivers you need and so on.

[Sabertiger]

I'll give it a shot if all else fails. But my god.. the update times on dialup... /cry

[Shuemue]

No DSL or cable in your area?

[Sabertiger]

Unfortunately no, not where I live..

[Avanarius]

just backup the installation on 2 dvd's and do a reg install / dll bat register.

I think there was a walkthrough somewhere....too lazy to find it.

[Sabertiger]

I got it running decently, but it still seems to lag visually. I ordered more ram for this machine, I need it anyways, so why not. It's weird though, because even with graphics settings turned down, and no background programs open, it still skips a few frames visually. I can turn graphics to max etc. and it does the same thing O_o;