MadFerIt Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 (edited) This is something I've spent quite a bit of time experimenting with and I wanted to check with fellow 360 owners to see if anyone else has experienced this. I've probably made threads about this in the past, however at that point I was under the impression that I was sent a faulty console when my original died. The reason I've come to this conclusion (and I only notice it with Gears of War) is because I have tried as of now, 2 launch consoles (Manufactured in October of 2005) as well as 3 consoles manufactured after May 2006 (two refurbished, one brand new). The difference isn't staggering, and certainly compared to other games even Gears of War on newer consoles is still "smooth", however I'm a huge videophile and I pick up on any small changes and they annoy me (I wish they didn't lol). But anyway let me explain a bit more.. I originally purchased my 360 in late November of 2005, and it wasn't until nearly a year later that it started freezing, and eventually died completely (however I was able to play Gears of War for a short time). Now me and my close friend were excited to play the game, and the 360 replacement including shipping of the old console and the wait till I received the new one would be nearly 2 week or more. So we rented a console from That's Entertainment. It was also a launch 360 from around the same manufacturing date.. And the game played identically to my own dead console. Flash forward a few weeks, and the rental is returned and I finally receive my replacement 360. As soon as me and my friend started playing (splitscreen obviously), we noticed a great deal of slowdown at the beginning of Act 4 Mission 1. It was something we never experienced with the other two consoles, so I called up Microsoft and they agreed to send me another replacement. Flash forward yet another two weeks and I have my 3rd 360 console, and I'm surprised to find the exact same slowdown is present. And it was definitely not the same console since the manufacturing dates were different. About a week ago another friend purchased a brand new 360 (premium version), and I asked to try it out and see if it didn't suffer from the same problem (I was entertaining the idea that the slowdown may have something to do with the refurbished status of the two consoles. You never know, the gpu or cpu clock may be slightly adjusted). But it was exactly the same. It does at least make me feel better to know that I do have the best 360 I can get (well unless I go out of my way to buy another 360 with a launch manufacturing date). But I can't imagine I'm the only one who has noticed this, and I'm certainly not as big of a videophile as some individuals. Please let me know in this thread ^_^. Btw just to note here's a few times where I notice slowdown without playing in split-screen (that had no noticeable framerate drops on the older consoles). -The last level (final boss) -Act 4 Last Stand -Act 4 Level 1 (Forget the name, but I mentioned it earlier in this post) -Act 3 Level 1 (The "Rain" level, areas with heavy rain tend to show framerate slowdown) There are more examples but I think that's good enough lol. And for those of you wondering "Why do you care? It's no big deal!", like I said I'm a videophile and these things tend to bother me even though I wish they didn't. *Oh also forgot to mention that I also tried different "parts" and "accessories" including power supply, hard drives, input cables. And the result was the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreqFace Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 (edited) I'm not going to check those specific parts you mentioned, but the framerate does drop (a little) from time to time, mainly on the cutscenes. I highly doubt them changing clock speeds, that'd be stupid, probably not even possible. It is noticeable yes, it sounds like you notice a little too much though. When the frame rate drops it probably isn't consistent everytime you play. For instance, sometimes for me it'll completely freeze for a second while it's loading the area, sometimes it doesn't. Also, I would have thought that for co-op, yes there are going to be more slowdowns than usual, since it is rendering two screens, after all. Really, as long as the framerate drop is only slight, I think it's completely normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadFerIt Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 I'm not going to check those specific parts you mentioned, but the framerate does drop (a little) from time to time, mainly on the cutscenes. I highly doubt them changing clock speeds, that'd be stupid, probably not even possible.It is noticeable yes, it sounds like you notice a little too much though. When the frame rate drops it probably isn't consistent everytime you play. For instance, sometimes for me it'll completely freeze for a second while it's loading the area, sometimes it doesn't. What you've just mentioned is normal.. Framerate drops in cutscenes/etc. I had that on the older consoles as well. And the very very short "jumps" when loading/saving checkpoints is also normal. I'm talking more about framerate drops during gameplay, sorry if I didn't make that clear. Places where there was no drop in framerate with older consoles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreqFace Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 (edited) Hmmm... I don't remember any major drops during gameplay, if they were major I would have remembered them :p I guess you do notice them more than I would, I'm just too immersed in the action. However, the level with the rain, I remember specifially running smooth for me. I remember this because I was very impressed with the graphics and the overall smoothness(?) of it, on (what seems to be) such a graphically intensive scene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdodson Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I haven't noticed it in Gears of War, even in co-op, but I have seen it a few times in Rainbow Six: Vegas. Even then it only happens when there are about 10+ enemies shooting at me and smoke/flashbangs exploding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadFerIt Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Hey guys I just want to note that.. Unless you've had both an older manufactured 360, and a newer model, you won't notice a thing. I certainly would have thought any framerate drops were normal if I hadn't owned a previous 360. Which is the oddest thing, since I don't notice a difference in other games (not to any significant degree anyway), but with Gears of War I do.. Very very odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Markus Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 been playing quite a bit both online and offline, however only time I've noticed some noticeable frame rate issues is during multiplayer with several players on screen. Offline playting mode has been rather OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoadorable Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 totally understand why you're concerned with this. they can gnaw on you, those things. but here too, haven't noticed flat-out slowdowns, just the occasional drops either in cutscenes (as noted) or when you move the camera rapidly. i believe GoW's locked at like 30 frames all the time, all resolutions, correct? that should be easy for any 360, even with the slight variations in clocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreqFace Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 (edited) I have played GOW on both a launch model (my friends one) and a new model (brand new bought 3 weeks ago), not noticed any difference between the two. Both stable framerates throughout ('cept slight drops during cutscenes, like I said before). EDIT: Damn my poor typing skills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 The dual rail gun thingies on the train. When you co-op that ****. You can barely get around the screen the frame rate drops so badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkGashX Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I got GoW in my limited edition bundle with the console. The only time I notice "lag" is if it is real intense on coop which happens on my buddies 360 also. The particular areas you mentioned though, I don't have a problem with. The dual rail gun thingies on the train. When you co-op that ****. You can barely get around the screen the frame rate drops so badly. That is just the area I ment!! Lol. It isn't as bad as that for me but you can see it drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadFerIt Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Haha looks like no one else has noticed the difference between older/newer console with Gears of War as I have. Granted it's not like I've tested a mass number of consoles. All I know is, there is definitely a difference between the two launch consoles I used and the 3 recently manufactured consoles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyLarry Veteran Posted January 10, 2007 Veteran Share Posted January 10, 2007 If you want to see some seriously bad frame rates, look no further than Tony Hawk's Project 8. That game drops so bad in so many places it is for all practical purposes a joke, it never should have been released IMO until they ironed it out. With Gears, yes, you see a little drop here and there, but nothing ay all crazy. Also I do have a Launch console from December 2005. Have you cleared the cache on the systems you do have issues with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadFerIt Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 (edited) If you want to see some seriously bad frame rates, look no further than Tony Hawk's Project 8. That game drops so bad in so many places it is for all practical purposes a joke, it never should have been released IMO until they ironed it out.With Gears, yes, you see a little drop here and there, but nothing ay all crazy. Also I do have a Launch console from December 2005. Have you cleared the cache on the systems you do have issues with? I do know it's normal to have framerate drops.. And I definitely agree there are games (even compared to the slower framerates of Gears of War on my newer console compared to the old) that are far less smooth. I actually have tried clearing the cache, and also I used a different HDD (as well as consoles), and it still happened. It isn't the actual framerate drops that bother me.. It's more the fact that I had a console previously that had "less" framerate drops then the one I have now.. It just annoys the heck out of me lol. I'm a perfectionist in the hardware that I buy (I can't stand a monitor with dead pixels, or light leakage, etc), so that's why it's a bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 How do you clear the cache. I have heard and read about it before but I can't remember for the life of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdodson Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Press Y on the HD symbol and then press X,X,Left Bumper, Right Bumper, X,X. Once you do this a messsage will appear saying: Do you want to perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 storage devices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DELTETHISACCOUNT Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 (edited) Framerate in GoW drops when it's in HD. I was at an all-nighter and decided to bring my 360. We decided to get GoW in the morning and played it on my friend's HDTV, framerate did go down, espicially during cutscenes. I come back home later that afternoon and hook it back up on my SDTV. No framerate issues. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 (edited) Never mind. Figured it out. Edited January 10, 2007 by Dirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tharius Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Haha looks like no one else has noticed the difference between older/newer console with Gears of War as I have. Unfortunately, my 360 bit the dust about a week ago. I was just barely within my warranty period so Microsoft is taking it back free of charge. My console was a launch version which I purchased late Nov./ early Dec. When I get a new/refurbished 360 (How do we know what it will be?) I will try to post any changes I notice if this thread is still around. By the way, I am somewhat of a videophile also and have played GoW fairly extensively so I should notice any major differences. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagamer34 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 If you want to see some seriously bad frame rates, look no further than Tony Hawk's Project 8. That game drops so bad in so many places it is for all practical purposes a joke, it never should have been released IMO until they ironed it out.With Gears, yes, you see a little drop here and there, but nothing ay all crazy. Also I do have a Launch console from December 2005. Have you cleared the cache on the systems you do have issues with? But that's a bit different. There's a difference between low framerate caused by bad QA, and another caused by differences in the consoles themselves. Granted, each console should play exactly the same, but we all know that consoles undergo some minor and major revisions every now and then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v0ltage789 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Haha looks like no one else has noticed the difference between older/newer console with Gears of War as I have. Granted it's not like I've tested a mass number of consoles. All I know is, there is definitely a difference between the two launch consoles I used and the 3 recently manufactured consoles. I don't think there is a difference, usually picky people..and I know because I am one, once u get an idea in your head it stays there until you have the best proof possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 If you want to see some seriously bad frame rates, look no further than Tony Hawk's Project 8. That game drops so bad in so many places it is for all practical purposes a joke, it never should have been released IMO until they ironed it out. Yeah, THP8 is pretty bad - good thing it's an excellent game though. -Spenser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huleboeren Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 When I get to choose 'really' beautiful places and theres alot of action going on - yeah, I can feel the fps drop But for the most part, nothing.. If you want to see some seriously bad frame rates, look no further than Tony Hawk's Project 8. That game drops so bad in so many places it is for all practical purposes a joke, it never should have been released IMO until they ironed it out.... Yeah, THP8 is terrible - and its horrible when trying to do combos :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKAngel Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 anyone bothered to see if the disc was faulty? or a minor scratch or dust, or just a dud disc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huleboeren Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Will clearing the HD cache mess up my patches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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