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[jamie123]

I'm getting fed up now with these games i've been trying, i got my computer a year or two ago with the best there was around then and now i can hardly play quake 4 or FEAR at all, i mean i know technology gets more advanced everyday, but i can hardly play these games

so i have a question about FEAR, i have my ram/cpu settings up high, i have 512 MB of ram and a 3ghz p4 processor, the game runs pretty good at low graphics and high cpu settings , but i don't want low graphics lol, so my 1st question is

1. even though my performance pc level is at high, if i got more ram would it still help the game run smoother and let me enable more advanced graphics options without making the game too choppy?

2. if you play FEAR or quake 4 and have it on medium or high settings and it runs really smooth, could you list your computer specs and where you got your graphics card and how much?

Thank you so much!

[ILLusions0fGrander]

hmmm.. my first guess would be RAM. at least 1GB.
what graphics card you using?

i ran the fear demo on all max settings fine
also run half life 2 on mostly high settings.

p4 2.8ghz
1GB ram
radeon 8500 w/128MB ram on board.

[ridefour15]

The most effect on a game's performance is thanks to the video card.  What are you running now?  Also, 1GB of RAM will help dramatically.

I can run the fear SP demo on half maximum half medium settings with:

A64 3200+
512MB of RAM
GeForce 6600GT AGP8X 128MB

It stutters once in a while, but I know that's from lack of RAM.

[jamie123]

lol man i'm so dumb, id idn't even realize i didn't list my grahpics card

so would this be effecting the choppiness a lot? i have a geforce fx 5500 256mb

is that my main thing that's holding me back? or is it ram? because like i said my performance is up a lot, but i can't even put the grpahics at 800x600 res without it being too choppy



edit: half life 2 runs fine for me on medium settings, including the new half life lost coast, but f.e.a.r. is realy bad

This post has been edited by jamie123: Nov 11 2005, 04:23 AM

[ridefour15]

The video card is holding you back the most.  Other things will help a little, but not as much as the video card.

[basso4735]

yea, if you are playing fear in the 1st place you really need 1gig ram. Then next would be upgrading your video card.

[jamie123]

QUOTE(basso4735 @ Nov 11 2005, 10:26 PM)

yea, if you are playing fear in the 1st place you really need 1gig ram. Then next would be upgrading your video card.

what video card do you suggest?  give me a link and price please?

[jamie123]

anyone? i need to know lol ,because i need to ask my dad for Christmas

[skys05]

hey if you live in the us check out the graphic cards www.newegg.com has they are pretty cheap and good. try to get a 256mb video card with one of those dd2 memorys.

by the way i think that the 5500fx is 128mb not 256mb.

[Arvarden]

Most nvidia cards that have 128 memory have a older brother with 256 of memory.

Hell my old ti4200 had 256 x8 agp.

If you are going to get a new card a would suggest a min 6600, you won't be able to play on max settings but it will run smooth on medium settings.  As another poster suggested it's worth while upgrading your RAM but it's not essential, 512 should be ok but loading times will take longer.  If you buy a better card than the 6600 you will still be limited to medium settings until you upgrade your RAM.

 

[jamie123]

QUOTE(Arvarden @ Nov 18 2005, 03:35 PM)

Most nvidia cards that have 128 memory have a older brother with 256 of memory.

Hell my old ti4200 had 256 x8 agp.

If you are going to get a new card a would suggest a min 6600, you won't be able to play on max settings but it will run smooth on medium settings.  As another poster suggested it's worth while upgrading your RAM but it's not essential, 512 should be ok but loading times will take longer.  If you buy a better card than the 6600 you will still be limited to medium settings until you upgrade your RAM.

do you prefer nvidia over ati?

and can you post any sites with good deals for cards? how much is the 6600?

[skys05]

www.tigerdirect.com
www.newegg.com
www.zipzoomfly.com
www.pricewatch.com

[jamie123]

i was thinking of getting the x700, is that any good?

[ridefour15]

QUOTE(jamie123 @ Nov 27 2005, 03:56 AM)

i was thinking of getting the x700, is that any good?

It's not a great card, you can do much better for a little more money.  The X700PRO is supposed to be really nice though.

I'd personally recommend something such as the GeForce 6600GT or higher for the nVidia lines, or possibly the X700PRO for the Radeon line (although I haven't followed ATI much lately I will admit).

Check NewEgg's video card section if you live in the US http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Category.asp?Category=38  You'll find a good deal fairly easy.  Just keep in mind some are sales that are for the current week, so they wont help if whoever buys it for your Christmas present buys it a few weeks down the road.


I should add that I got another half gig of RAM so I have 1GB of RAM and a 128MB GeForce 6600GT and F.E.A.R. runs amazing on my computer on half maximum, half medium settings.  I could even tweak them more, but it's a demo so I haven't bothered.

[jamie123]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814102605


the geforce6600gt is a little too expensive, what about that, the x700pro 256mb , do you reccommend getting this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814139173  or the x700 pro (the firstr link in this post) let me know, would they both run fear at 800x600 medium/high settings you think?


edit: also, i just figured out that the problem with my card is it can't run directx 9.0 good at all, cod is at pretty high settings and runs smoothly running at directx 7, but when i switch it to 9 it's just as choppy as fear, so what do you think, which of those cards would be better, and will they both run fear and quake at 800x600 pretty high settings?

This post has been edited by jamie123: Nov 27 2005, 07:51 PM