Anyone else experience ridiculous lag when playing high quality games....?

**jrdatrackstar1223** · 09-11-2012, 10:59 AM

When I play N.O.V.A. 3 it's unplayable. The lag is so bad when shooting action occurs in the game that I just turn it off. In Modern Combat 3, there is also lag; it's not as bad a N.O.V.A. 3, but it's enough to be frustrating. I was under the impression that the Adreno 225 should handle these games just fine, and I thought that Galaxy S3 wasn't supposed to be a beast device (even with S4)?

Anyone else experience this? I'm so glad I got this off-contract because this whole "you never know what experience you'll get" with Android devices is really getting old.....

**Almeuit** · 09-11-2012, 12:31 PM

Do you happen to have power saver on?

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**jrdatrackstar1223** · 09-11-2012, 01:20 PM

thanks for the response. I have not had power saver on since I've gotten this device (yesterday)....

**ilifecomputer** · 09-11-2012, 01:40 PM

Same lag here for same game. Other games run like *** too that shouldn't like sonic cd and dodonpachi.

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**boomerbubba** · 09-11-2012, 02:21 PM

Are these online games? (Sorry for the stupid question. I'm not a gamer myself.)

If the game apps run online, the lag may be attributable to Sprint's network, not the handset.

**jrdatrackstar1223** · 09-11-2012, 02:35 PM

Actually, these games don't run on Sprint's network and only on Wifi. I don't have Sprint service and only the handset for gaming and media purposes since my Windows Phone can't do much of that right now (don't laugh...it's coming lol).

When I play online, actually, it plays smoother. Campaign mode in these games is where the lag occurs the most, but it still lags a bit online. In Modern Combat 3, it's pretty good online and OK in campaign mode (but not as smooth as it should be). In NOVA 3, I haven't even tried online because of how bad campaign mode is.

The weird thing is this....the lag only occurs when there is a lot of actions. In Modern Combat 3, the menus, cut scenes, and running on the map with no real action going on is smooth as could be; it's perfect. When there are like 5 enemies I'm shooting at and a lot of action going on is when the game chokes. This is also the case with NOVA 3, only it runs slower than Modern Combat 3 on all instances...

This is extremely frustrating. This happened with my Galaxy Nexus (which I traded off for this phone thinking the GPU would be better). I know the Galaxy Nexus has the same GPU as the Nexus S overclocked, and ran these games better than my Galaxy S3 does. I know Adreno 225 isn't AMAZING, but I know they wouldn't ship a GPU that plays worse than it's predecessors....

**s14tat** · 09-11-2012, 02:54 PM

apparently, you need to run chainfire 3d to get the proper firmware to get these games to run right.

**jrdatrackstar1223** · 09-11-2012, 02:56 PM

i just need to root and install this correct...? I've heard weird things happen with chainfire, but I'll do it to get this phone to run as it should...

**gollum18** · 09-11-2012, 07:32 PM

I have mc3 and it runs the internet to only check for updates unless you want to play online then you use Wi-Fi which makes sense.

As for lag I've never had any at all but I'm also running a custom kernel. But still I'm under clocked to 1.2 and undervolted.

I was going to download nova 3 as well but the play store was acting loopy.

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**Dave_k605** · 09-11-2012, 07:37 PM

Might want to try to force gpu, it's under development options, I have a vzw gs3, although I don't notice issues with games....it does seem smoother over all.

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**jrdatrackstar1223** · 09-12-2012, 07:37 AM

thanks, but forcing GPU doesn't work either. I've deleted the games and are re-downloading them to see if this will perhaps fix it...

**jrdatrackstar1223** · 09-14-2012, 11:16 AM

Ok...I'm really starting to hate having having the Adreno 225 in the American Galaxy S3 (I have Sprint). I keep seeing, however, that this GPU CAN outperform the iPhone 4s if they are played on the same screen resolution (which the 4s my standard for mobile gaming right now...in the US anyway since the Mali in the Intl. Galaxy S3 kills the 4s 543MP2). I wonder if it is optimization, but I read reviews on the Play Store for only the Galaxy S3, and there are mixed reviews of lag and smooth gameplay, and it makes me wonder if the smooth gameplay reviews are from people using the international version because games like N.O.V.A. 3 and Modern Combat 3 lag on my Sprint GS3 (smoother on Modern Combat 3, but not the performance it should be for a flagship device, and N.O.V.A. 3 is unplayable basically). Also, a lot of games aren't even available in the Play Store for the One X/EVO LTE with the same exact SoC (Snapdragon S4), so there is a lot of mystery going on.

I have read of others changing the build.prop to be able to pull down the right files from other devices that have the same S4 processor as ours for mobile gaming, but I don't feel like rooting just to do this and shouldn't have to go get a game that is optimized for our GPUs (although, I will anyway since I don't want to go back to the small screen of the 4s for gaming). I just can't believe Gameloft would leave the incorrect files for this phone out on the market if it runs so poorly on a flagship device (apparently, the most popular in the US). I don't know when their release cycles are for updates, but I've known Gameloft to have terrible support and frankly not care if the games work or not. If this is the case, I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to trade this for a 4s again since it is properly optimized for its GPU, even though I HATE that small screen and no expandable storage....

Personally, this is why I hate Android right now and am sticking with Windows Phone 8 when it's released due to optimization on multiple hardware devices. Not trying to troll (I have a Galaxy S3, Lumia 710, and had an iPhone 4s so I'm not biased), but Apollo will have various form factors with all of them sharing the same processor. Although the first batch of devices will ship with the weak S4 processors to start, Windows Phone 8 (and up) will support up to 64 cores while at the same time allowing developers to code for ONE processor instead of like 500 under the Android model.

Another funny thing to note: when I had a Galaxy Nexus on ICS, it lagged on these games. However, when I put JellyBean on it (and soon after the official JellyBean that was just released) the games sped up and ran fine (although they still didn't run as smooth as the International Galaxy S3). I tried putting CM10 on my Galaxy S3 to test, but the games ran poorly still. Who knows though....maybe official JellyBean will fix this problem (whenever carriers get around to releasing it.....)

**bearballz72** · 09-14-2012, 11:41 AM

I have Nova 3 as well and haven't experienced any major issues with it. I know there was an update for it maybe last week, might have to do something with that....

**jrdatrackstar1223** · 09-14-2012, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by bearballz72

I have Nova 3 as well and haven't experienced any major issues with it. I know there was an update for it maybe last week, might have to do something with that....

So you're saying game is playable without lag slowing it down to a point to where it just doesn't work well? What version of the game do you have? I have 1.0.2 on N.O.V.A. 3, and the game lags horribly. On Modern Combat 3, I have version 1.1.1. Are those the final versions of the game?

**bearballz72** · 09-14-2012, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by jrdatrackstar

So you're saying game is playable without lag slowing it down to a point to where it just doesn't work well? What version of the game do you have? I have 1.0.2 on N.O.V.A. 3, and the game lags horribly. On Modern Combat 3, I have version 1.1.1. Are those the final versions of the game?

Yeah I have 1.0.2 as well. Like I said, other than it takes bit longer than other games to load up, I haven't seen any major lag time. Oh, also the phone gets warm when playing it a while.

I don't have Modern Combat 3 so I can't really comment on that game.

**jrdatrackstar1223** · 09-14-2012, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by bearballz72

Yeah I have 1.0.2 as well. Like I said, other than it takes bit longer than other games to load up, I haven't seen any major lag time. Oh, also the phone gets warm when playing it a while.

I don't have Modern Combat 3 so I can't really comment on that game.

Perhaps I have faulty device...who knows, but this thing can't play N.O.V.A. 3 for crap....

**MannyZ28** · 09-21-2012, 02:24 AM

I have noticed some herky jerky with some games as well. I think it's the combination of the high 720p resolution and the Adreno 225 being less than a stellar performer. I had Google Earth open in the same exact spot in San Francisco to admire the pretty 3d view on both my GS3 and a AT&T GS2. With one finger each on a screen I moved forwards and backwards, and the old Exynos powered GS2 seemed smoother than my GS3. The GS3 obviously looked better but definitely wasn't as smooth. Reckless Racing is also not as smooth as I had hoped, some of the nice live wallpapers are jerky as well, and Dead Trigger has it's share of slowdowns too.

I am getting a Note 2.

**kevin60824** · 01-05-2013, 07:12 PM

i got nova 3 running smoothly on my vzw s3
i made a video about it just now on youtube on how to fix the lag problem
heres a link

p.s. your phone will have to be rooted