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#1  Video Card and framerates. A while ago, I posted wondering if my power supply was good enough for an upgrade to a 7600GT or 7900GS. Well I'm considering getting the GT due to space concerns in the case. I am hesitant on a few fronts however on how to upgrade the computer, and wanted opinions if anyone still wouldn't mind. The computer is: Athlon 64 3700 (2.2ghz) Socket 939 motherboard, SATA150, DDR400, AGP AGP Geforce 6600 256mb 430W Antec TruepowerII, 17A on two rails I believe. old as dirt case with no front USB Kingston 1GB ValueRAM DDR400 Viewsonic 19" VX922, 1280x1024 resolution I used to have 2gb of kingston, but one stick died. I am getting some low framerates playing a certain online RPG, when multiple characters are on the screen, then framerates are fine looking at most scenery. This leads me to believe that either the processor is weak, or the graphics card is weak. I am thinking of upgrading to the 7600GT and adding 1gb of ram. However if I do this, and it does not solve the issue, I will have wasted money for the most part... as there is not much more of an upgrade path beyond that. The other option, and one I am slightly short on money-wise, is to completely overhaul the system. 4200 Athlon 64 X2 Socket AM2 with DDR2, SATA300, PCIe PCIe 8600GT 2gb DDR2 new case 500-550W power supply However I am still short on that much of an upgrade. My continuing reasons to pause are... Friends in game, claim very little or no lag with Barton Athlon XP 2500 chips, 1gb ram, and Geforce 6200s/9800s I have seen many forums which laugh at my posts, and say dude you need to get a 6000 X2 with 8800GTX SLI.. but then look at other topics where someone has a 24inch montior, and they tell him he needs a bigger video card because of the resolution he's running at... something like 1600x1200... that a 7600GS won't cut it, he needs like a 7950 or 8600GTS. I don't give this much stock, because most of the users at hardware forums are complete... well nm, but I am wondering if my 19" monitor at 1280x1024 is a bit much for my little 6600 and maybe the 2-3x power upgrade of a 7600GT would be enough. Some people say my system looks great and it should run fine. Worried that maybe the motherboard is bad or powersupply if my system should be running this game "fine". So, I would love to throw a video card and ram stick at this problem and be fixed for 1-2years for 170$, but at the same time I don't want to do that and have it not fixed, wasting the 170$, but I am a little short of a full upgrade to the newer standards. Windows XP SP2, and the most straining thing I run on it is this older MMORPG. It isn't oblivion, starcraft 2, or some other highly intense game, but it has been called "poorly coded" and a "memory hog" by many players. I guess that happens when you could originally play the game on a geforce2, when it first came out, but it has been patched for years. The system requirements are the same as they were 3 years ago, but the game has seriously become more demanding since then. The game manufact won't really update their system requirements, so I can't get a clear picture of what is needed. Thanks for any help in advance, hope I am not bothering too many. |
09-15-2007, 04:31 PM
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| | Well it's an older game,  Everquest, not everquest II I configure all particles(sparklies) to off, turn all advanced models(how nice the players look) off, and have tried to play at 1024x768 instead of 1280x1024, but it didn't seem to help or I may have been testing it wrong I guess. Basically no amount of lowering the settings on the card seems to help. I'll try lowering the resolution again. *edit* 10fps at 1280x1024 /switch video mode to 640x480 10fps at 640x480 Hmm, does that prove that it's not the video card? Video card scores in line with others of its class on this system type on 3dmark 2005, 2200 if i remember in a range of 1300-4000. 4000 was a core 2 duo I believe with 2gb ddr2 and a PCIe 6600 or 6600GT. Performance tests as far as I can tell are fine, on disk, memory, and processor. It has me baffled. Every time I do some kind of diagnostic on it... "working as intended" or the performance is high, or good. Yet in game.. well 10frames per second isn't very good. Last edited by ValiantKnight; 09-15-2007 at 05:25 PM. |
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09-15-2007, 04:57 PM
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| | Kingston have a Lifetime warranty on ValueRAM sticks. Provided your stick didn't die because you were overclocking it or you damaged it, you should look into returning it and getting a replacement. Having the extra gig of memory again certainly would be nice! Kingston Technology Company - ValueRAM Support - Lifetime Warranty Hmm... characters on screen in an MMORPG? It sounds like your internet connection is suffering because it's trying to download so much information. How does your computer perform in an off-line game? Something with huge system requirements like Oblivion? |
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09-15-2007, 06:48 PM
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| | Internet connection is 5mbit/384kbit Cable. Don't really have a demanding offline game to test it on, would welcome some suggestions though. I'll look into the Kingston warranty, but I don't really have a receipt. PCXs2? |
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09-15-2007, 10:03 PM
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 | Save up a bit and get a good overhaul. Get a 8800gts 320mb since you're using a 19", they're all dropping prices now, you'll be able to play almost any current game out there at 1240x780 maxed out. There's are also dirt cheap 20"+ monitors with higher res, but if you get anything 20"+ you'll need a 640mb. But either card will last you alot longer, for only a few 100$ more. That'll be around 400-600$ for a 8800gts 320 and a decent 20", depending on where you buy your stuff. An 8600gt will be fine too if you don't wanna spend that cash, and if you're keen on playing the games you already have at high-max. Definetly get 2x1gb ram. DDR2 ram is also dirt cheap. You'll also need a slightly higher psu, but the corsair 450w would be able to handle a single card setup, and its about 70$. Or you can get the Antec Sonata III case w/ 500w psu for about 30-40$ more, both are good. I'd change the cpu and mobo too.. Check your current card or bring in your pc in to a tech until then, it might be shot. |
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09-15-2007, 10:23 PM
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