need some help upgrading.

Divine · 2004-10-07, 12:07 AM

hey ev1,

i got the 7 day planetside trial, enjoyed the game. The performance in the game wasn't exactly up to what I thought I would be getting. I had 40-2 FPS, with lockups occuring at big battles (30+). Here are my stats:

AMD XP 1800+
256 RAM
Nvidia GeForce 4 Mx440
40 Gig Hard Drive

I'm looking to spend...well, under 250 dollars to upgrade. According to what I heard, PS makes the CPU and RAM work more than the GPU. Anyway, other things that bugged me are the slow loading for my computer (a CPU bottlecap), alt-esc-ing outta the game (RAM here would help) and a few other things. Lag was fine, so I figure my connection (256k, Verizon DSL) is fine.

It would be a hinderance to upgrade the CPU, seeing as how I would have to upgrade the Mobo as well (my motherboard only supports up to 2000+, not worth upgrading just the CPU).

Anyway any suggestions would be good. I run other games (CS:Source, Call of Duty, BF:V) fine, so I suppose it's the MMOG element.

Thanks

Christian

MattxMosh · 2004-10-07, 10:03 AM

I suppose your best bet would be your ram.

But honestly, you are running on a very outdated system.

I'd recommend buing some good RAM first, then saving up some cash and start buying parts for a whole new system. Very Very soon.

Baneblade · 2004-10-07, 12:56 PM

My machine for PS wasn't much better than yours.

AMD 2000+
512 DDR-RAM
Nvidia GeForce 4 Mx440

And it ran bad a lot of the time.

What OS are you using? A safe bet is upgrading the ram and Video, if you use XP you can safely use more than 512 Mb of ram.

Divine · 2004-10-07, 02:09 PM

yeah I'm running XP Pro, my system is a little over a year old. So memory would be the best? I found some good stuff on newegg.com like 160 bucks for a gig of ram (2 512 sticks dual channel).

Baneblade · 2004-10-07, 02:24 PM

Can your mobo handle it? If so awesome. It is the single best upgrade you can make with those specs for PS.

The CPU isn't bad, but could be newer, however the video card should be upgraded before the CPU, it's the next biggest problem.

Divine · 2004-10-07, 02:36 PM

yes I believe it can support it, but i'll have to check. thanks.

Daleon · 2004-10-07, 02:58 PM

Get an Xbox, heh.

Get the ram and something as close to a 9600 Pro/XT or better. I'd be looking at some of the bigger forums with forsale sections looking for deals from users with reputable heatware. Can get good prices from ppl who just upgraded.

Baneblade · 2004-10-07, 07:07 PM

You should be able to get a 9800 Pro for a decent price now.

Divine · 2004-10-09, 02:09 AM

is the difference between the 9800 pro 128 and 256 huge? it's around a 40 buck difference on new egg

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-286&depa=0

^ 128

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-361&depa=0

^256

Rbstr · 2004-10-09, 02:19 AM

no difference at all get the 128

Divine · 2004-10-09, 02:20 AM

aight thanks for the quick reply.

Electrofreak · 2004-10-09, 11:30 PM

Eh, there is a big difference between the 256-bit and 128-bit versions of the 9800 PRO however.

HunterKiller · 2004-10-10, 01:08 AM

Originally Posted by MattxMosh

I suppose your best bet would be your ram.

But honestly, you are running on a very outdated system.

I'd recommend buing some good RAM first, then saving up some cash and start buying parts for a whole new system. Very Very soon.

what he said.

Rbstr · 2004-10-10, 01:32 AM

those were both 256bit memory ones i checked to make sure