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I need a better ComputerFollow
Scholar
47 posts
any suggestions on what computer I should get to run EQ without lag
Well how much money are you willing to spend? Check out pctorque.com, pretty good stuff there for a fair price.
Scholar
47 posts
Im just a kid really only 15 but I got like 500 bucks to spend on it right now with my birthday on the 23 of novemeber and christmas lol so tell me what i need to get everquest and at running looking for more of a PC desktop im not a fan of labtops :) thanks though
A new computer isn't necessarily gonna affect "lag". Lag is all about your internet connection.
For fast "zoning" time, get more RAM (go up to at least 768 MB, but 1 GB is better).
Faster game loading time, defrag your hard drive and/or get a faster hard drive.
Also, if you know how to partition your disk, you can break up the hard drive and put EQ and windows in different partitions and one additional partition for the windows swap files to minimize hard drive fragmenting.
Just saying all of this because you could spend all your money only to end up with a computer that still has lag when you are in a zone with 100+ peeps.....
For fast "zoning" time, get more RAM (go up to at least 768 MB, but 1 GB is better).
Faster game loading time, defrag your hard drive and/or get a faster hard drive.
Also, if you know how to partition your disk, you can break up the hard drive and put EQ and windows in different partitions and one additional partition for the windows swap files to minimize hard drive fragmenting.
Just saying all of this because you could spend all your money only to end up with a computer that still has lag when you are in a zone with 100+ peeps.....
If you have a system already there are a few things you can do to make it better.
Upgrade your memory - it's the cheapest part to get and makes a huge difference for your system. 1GB is the goal.
Another fairly cheap upgrade is the hard drive - look for 7200RPM. Partioning like Kanador said will make a nice difference too.
Get DSL or High Speed Cable - goes without saying a faster Internet connection keeps the lag spikes from hitting you.
For more information: http://www.rpgexpert.com/734.html
Upgrade your memory - it's the cheapest part to get and makes a huge difference for your system. 1GB is the goal.
Another fairly cheap upgrade is the hard drive - look for 7200RPM. Partioning like Kanador said will make a nice difference too.
Get DSL or High Speed Cable - goes without saying a faster Internet connection keeps the lag spikes from hitting you.
For more information: http://www.rpgexpert.com/734.html
EQ will run great with 2 things:
A fast CPU, and lots of memory.
I have 1gb of Ram, and it doesn't seem like enough sometimes.
A fast CPU, and lots of memory.
I have 1gb of Ram, and it doesn't seem like enough sometimes.
yeah i was cheap and only got 512mb of ram and i have a good system and it lags in PoK but no where else really. I'll probably get 2 gigs for christmas that'll rock hehe.
How old is your current puter. upgrading it if it is 2 yrs or less will be a lot cheaper. and convince mom and dad to get DSL or Cable use that "I will split it with you thing" that would be the best suggestion if you dont all ready have oh yeah like someone else said DEFRAG I get up early every Saturday and run defrag then go back to bed. ( boy what a geek i am)
If you were a true geek you set up a scheduled task to run defrag :-)
Just want to put in my 2 coppers here...
Memory- 1 Gb, fast hard drive 7200, DSL/Csble, 256 meg video
On the DSL/Cable, remind your parents that with DSL you both can be on at the same time. That was the selling point with my wife. EQ can become rather time intensive, and my wife uses her computer for business. Cable was an easy sell on that basis. Plus my children can get on as well - have 4 comps on network.
I have a 3.0 GHz, 2 Gb ram, 7200 9ms drive, and a 256 video, works well and I can multi box with it. Paid $545 for a NIB Dell, $69 shipping.Had to get an extra gig ram, faster drive - separate drive for EQ - and the card. Less than $1K all in.
Memory- 1 Gb, fast hard drive 7200, DSL/Csble, 256 meg video
On the DSL/Cable, remind your parents that with DSL you both can be on at the same time. That was the selling point with my wife. EQ can become rather time intensive, and my wife uses her computer for business. Cable was an easy sell on that basis. Plus my children can get on as well - have 4 comps on network.
I have a 3.0 GHz, 2 Gb ram, 7200 9ms drive, and a 256 video, works well and I can multi box with it. Paid $545 for a NIB Dell, $69 shipping.Had to get an extra gig ram, faster drive - separate drive for EQ - and the card. Less than $1K all in.
Frak my wife wont let me leave it on all time (a green thing)So I guess I am a geek in a skirt lol
A real geek would
1.) Shut off the monitor
2.) Disconnect the power LED
3.) Leave the computer on all the time.
A real man would
1.) Leave the computer on all the time.
2.) Make wife do the dishes.
Personally I chose option A, as my wife is very stubborn and can kick my ***
1.) Shut off the monitor
2.) Disconnect the power LED
3.) Leave the computer on all the time.
A real man would
1.) Leave the computer on all the time.
2.) Make wife do the dishes.
Personally I chose option A, as my wife is very stubborn and can kick my ***
About the lag...
I was so fed up with the lag I had a new computer built, P4 3.2 64bit // 2 gigs of ram // 2 - 200gig HD's // 2 - gforce 7800 GTX's daisychained together.
And with that setup I "still" lag a little at the big bank, (with all textures turned on full). There are other factors in play so I don't think you can entirely remove all of the lag in the game but it is better. The only problem I have with that setup is the heat, it won't run unless I open thee case. Even with an Asus Vento case it still gets too hot. I'm thinking about putting special fans on the video boards and throwing in a liquid cooling system.
I was so fed up with the lag I had a new computer built, P4 3.2 64bit // 2 gigs of ram // 2 - 200gig HD's // 2 - gforce 7800 GTX's daisychained together.
And with that setup I "still" lag a little at the big bank, (with all textures turned on full). There are other factors in play so I don't think you can entirely remove all of the lag in the game but it is better. The only problem I have with that setup is the heat, it won't run unless I open thee case. Even with an Asus Vento case it still gets too hot. I'm thinking about putting special fans on the video boards and throwing in a liquid cooling system.
I recently built a
P4 3.2 HT
2 GB RAM
2 180GB SATA drives
ATI x800 PCIe 256MB
I can run full textures, with no lag anywhere.
I also have nothing installed on this PC except for EQ and magelo updater. I use my laptop for everything else.
I have a good processor fan, two side exhaust fans, and one of these PCI slot exhaust fans...seem to have no problems with heat.
Now, if I only could convice the phone company to offer me broadband....
P4 3.2 HT
2 GB RAM
2 180GB SATA drives
ATI x800 PCIe 256MB
I can run full textures, with no lag anywhere.
I also have nothing installed on this PC except for EQ and magelo updater. I use my laptop for everything else.
I have a good processor fan, two side exhaust fans, and one of these PCI slot exhaust fans...seem to have no problems with heat.
Now, if I only could convice the phone company to offer me broadband....
The One and Only Frakkor wrote:
I recently built a
P4 3.2 HT
2 GB RAM
2 180GB SATA drives
ATI x800 PCIe 256MB
I can run full textures, with no lag anywhere.
I also have nothing installed on this PC except for EQ and magelo updater. I use my laptop for everything else.
I have a good processor fan, two side exhaust fans, and one of these PCI slot exhaust fans...seem to have no problems with heat.
Now, if I only could convice the phone company to offer me broadband....
P4 3.2 HT
2 GB RAM
2 180GB SATA drives
ATI x800 PCIe 256MB
I can run full textures, with no lag anywhere.
I also have nothing installed on this PC except for EQ and magelo updater. I use my laptop for everything else.
I have a good processor fan, two side exhaust fans, and one of these PCI slot exhaust fans...seem to have no problems with heat.
Now, if I only could convice the phone company to offer me broadband....
That makes me happy cause i have a intel pentium D 820, 1 GB of DDR2 duel channel ram, 1 X 250 SATA hard drive, and the X800. I was wondering how well it would do : )
I've been very happy with the x800. It's performed better than the nVidia cards that I have, and I was worried.
I can't complain though :) I think part of the reason that things are working so well is the fact that I've got nothing else installed on the PC.
I can't complain though :) I think part of the reason that things are working so well is the fact that I've got nothing else installed on the PC.
I should probably explain what I mean by "lag". Keep in mind this is the only place that this happens.
If I'm standing in front of the big bank in PoK and I start to spin myself around pretty fast, as soon as I begin to face the 100+ people standing in front of bank the system will "hickup". Other then that it feels like I'm getting 100fps.
If I'm standing in front of the big bank in PoK and I start to spin myself around pretty fast, as soon as I begin to face the 100+ people standing in front of bank the system will "hickup". Other then that it feels like I'm getting 100fps.
Scholar
41 posts
Not sure if this still applies, but last I heard DSL has lower ping time than Cable, which decreases lag (depending on what you mean by lag). For example, with cable you may notice other characters slightly "leaping" from place to place, whereas DSL has higher refresh thus less jumpiness. Again, this is historical knowledge, so if it's wrong now don't flame me.
As for sharing broadband, I have used both Cable and DSL and found both were fully sharable using my little D-Link router (or as they say, Ethernet hub with 4-port switch). As a matter of fact, not only have I done that at different times with my own network, but currently at one location I am on a network that uses cable internet, and at another a network that uses DSL. I had heard that some cable internet providers were trying to block this, as they want you to purchase an account for each computer, but I have never seen it in practice. I can't imagine how they would be able to block you if you used a router.
I agree with the suggestion that you buy more memory, especially if you're at the low end of what your system could support. Say for example you have 256MB of RAM and could take up to 1GB. Well, if you go all the way you'll see double-digit increases (percentagewise) in speed on load times for applications, which is essentially what zone loading is. You can get lots of memory for a not unreasonable amount of money. Frakkor and Grimleaper mention a couple of video cards. I don't know what it cost them, but those retail at around $350, which sounds like a bit much for your budget. You can get cheaper than that, but without your system specs I don't know what would be an upgrade for you.
Edited, Thu Nov 10 12:09:05 2005 by Nathanius
As for sharing broadband, I have used both Cable and DSL and found both were fully sharable using my little D-Link router (or as they say, Ethernet hub with 4-port switch). As a matter of fact, not only have I done that at different times with my own network, but currently at one location I am on a network that uses cable internet, and at another a network that uses DSL. I had heard that some cable internet providers were trying to block this, as they want you to purchase an account for each computer, but I have never seen it in practice. I can't imagine how they would be able to block you if you used a router.
I agree with the suggestion that you buy more memory, especially if you're at the low end of what your system could support. Say for example you have 256MB of RAM and could take up to 1GB. Well, if you go all the way you'll see double-digit increases (percentagewise) in speed on load times for applications, which is essentially what zone loading is. You can get lots of memory for a not unreasonable amount of money. Frakkor and Grimleaper mention a couple of video cards. I don't know what it cost them, but those retail at around $350, which sounds like a bit much for your budget. You can get cheaper than that, but without your system specs I don't know what would be an upgrade for you.
Edited, Thu Nov 10 12:09:05 2005 by Nathanius
Quote:
any suggestions on what computer I should get to run EQ without lag
PCWORLD
Quote:
I was so fed up with the lag I had a new computer built, P4 3.2 64bit // 2 gigs of ram // 2 - 200gig HD's // 2 - gforce 7800 GTX's
Hollycrap! Awesome system Grimleaper. @#$%& Iam getting drool on my keyboard just by looking at the specs.
It is a little rediculous but what the hell, it's my hobbie and hobbies cost money.
I had it built by a local company, Computer Design Center located in Boynton Bch FL. They basically built it for cost and put a 1 year warranty on it. Very good company with exellent personal service, I highly recomend then.
Just in case your curious,
ASUS VENT 3600 ATX green
P4 3.2 GHz 640 - 64-bit LGA775
ASUS AiLife Series P5WD2 Premium - mainboard - ATX - i955x - LGA775 Socket - UDMA100, UDMA133, SATA II (RAID) - 2 x Gigabit Ethernet - Firewire - HD Audio 8c
2 - ASUS Extreme N7800GTX/2DHTV - Graphics adapter - GF 7800 GTX - PCI Express x16 - 256 MB GDDR3 SDRAM - DVI - VIVO
2 - Corsair Value Select - 1 GB - DIMM 240-pin - DDR II - 667 MHz / PC2-5300 - CL 5
2 - Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JS - Hard drive - 200 GB - 7200 rpm - buffer: 8 MB
1 - Plextor PX-716AL - DVD+RW
Windows XP Professional X64
I'm not posting this to brag, I just really like this computer. =)
I had it built by a local company, Computer Design Center located in Boynton Bch FL. They basically built it for cost and put a 1 year warranty on it. Very good company with exellent personal service, I highly recomend then.
Just in case your curious,
ASUS VENT 3600 ATX green
P4 3.2 GHz 640 - 64-bit LGA775
ASUS AiLife Series P5WD2 Premium - mainboard - ATX - i955x - LGA775 Socket - UDMA100, UDMA133, SATA II (RAID) - 2 x Gigabit Ethernet - Firewire - HD Audio 8c
2 - ASUS Extreme N7800GTX/2DHTV - Graphics adapter - GF 7800 GTX - PCI Express x16 - 256 MB GDDR3 SDRAM - DVI - VIVO
2 - Corsair Value Select - 1 GB - DIMM 240-pin - DDR II - 667 MHz / PC2-5300 - CL 5
2 - Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JS - Hard drive - 200 GB - 7200 rpm - buffer: 8 MB
1 - Plextor PX-716AL - DVD+RW
Windows XP Professional X64
I'm not posting this to brag, I just really like this computer. =)
Scholar
41 posts
Sounds pretty awesome, Grimleaper. Can I ask how much it cost?
Sure, here ya go;
1 - Asus 3600 mid tower $134
1 - P4 3.2 64 bit processor $260
1 - Asus motherboard $243
2 - GForce 7800 GTX's $1140
2 - gigs ram $272
1 - Plextor DVD+RW $198
2 - Western Digital 200GB hd's $250
1 - 1.44 3.5 floppy $20
1 - Windows XP Pro X64 $182
Sub $2699
Tax 6.5% $175.44
Total $2874.44
1 - Asus 3600 mid tower $134
1 - P4 3.2 64 bit processor $260
1 - Asus motherboard $243
2 - GForce 7800 GTX's $1140
2 - gigs ram $272
1 - Plextor DVD+RW $198
2 - Western Digital 200GB hd's $250
1 - 1.44 3.5 floppy $20
1 - Windows XP Pro X64 $182
Sub $2699
Tax 6.5% $175.44
Total $2874.44
Scholar
41 posts
Well that's actually more reasonable than I thought (although I would never be able to front the cash for those videocards). While we're on the topic, what peripherals do you use?
P4 3.0 HT
2 Gigs DDR@400hmz
2 120 SATA @ 10,000 RPM
ATI Radeon 9800XT (256 of DDR@400mHz)
DSL into a 10/100/1000 GBic
A faster connection will help to prevent lag spikes, and reduces the amount of LD that is experienced.
Zoning times *might* be lessened.
You need to understand, your CPU, Graphics Card, and RAM are what is taking care of the loading of the zone files, the geometry of the shapes of everything pretty.
You can have a T5 line hooked to your computer, capable of downloading a DVD in 5 seconds. If your processor and RAM cannot handle the load it is being issued, it cannot process it quick enough.
Its like dumping 5 gallons of gasoline(a faster connection) into a funnel(your CPU). You might have all 5 gallons dumped out, but once it hits the funnel, it is still going to drain (be processed) slowly.
And for good measure, make sure you use msconfig to turn off unneccessary start up programs, and run SOME form of spyware protection.
2 Gigs DDR@400hmz
2 120 SATA @ 10,000 RPM
ATI Radeon 9800XT (256 of DDR@400mHz)
DSL into a 10/100/1000 GBic
A faster connection will help to prevent lag spikes, and reduces the amount of LD that is experienced.
Zoning times *might* be lessened.
You need to understand, your CPU, Graphics Card, and RAM are what is taking care of the loading of the zone files, the geometry of the shapes of everything pretty.
You can have a T5 line hooked to your computer, capable of downloading a DVD in 5 seconds. If your processor and RAM cannot handle the load it is being issued, it cannot process it quick enough.
Its like dumping 5 gallons of gasoline(a faster connection) into a funnel(your CPU). You might have all 5 gallons dumped out, but once it hits the funnel, it is still going to drain (be processed) slowly.
And for good measure, make sure you use msconfig to turn off unneccessary start up programs, and run SOME form of spyware protection.
Grim, that's a honkin' big machine! Good example of 'There's always something bigger' out there, lol! I was pretty proud of my SLI box with the twin NVidia 6800's and now I see one with twin 7800 GTX's. Yeesh! But what really tweaked me was the excellent price tag for the whole thing. It was only $120 more than I paid for my box, and you've got video cards a hell of a jump above mine. I'll just be over here turning all green and wrinkly and evil with envy.
To Froglokpaladin: Your best bet if you want real help with upgrading is to provide a rundown of exactly what you have now. Give us your machine's specs so we can suggest how best to upgrade it. Some excellent and economical ideas have already been put forth, but to really know what to do, we have to know your machine. Just answer the following if you know how to find the info:
Processor:
RAM (amount and type):
Operating System:
Video Card:
Hard Drive (type and size):
Motherboard:
That's all we'd really need to know. I find that the video card, RAM and processor are the 'holy trinity' of running smooth games, but some other things factor in too. The chipset, drivers, and operating system most certainly make a difference. Your Internet connection does also, of course. Of the major system components that can be easily upgraded, the video card and RAM are probably the easiest. A video card that 'does the job' for about any recent game on the market (and EQ) would run about $250 minimum. RAM is cheaper fortunately. I'm guessing you have basic DDR or SD133. About $120 will bring you up to speed there. The RAM is very easy to physically install, and the video card is only slightly more complicated, with driver installs.
The processor is a bit more complicated, not just the physical install, but because it is so dependant upon your motherboard's capabilities. You can get a very respectable AMD 64 processor for under $200. You would likely have to upgrade your motherboard for that though, and that would cost at least another $100. And none of this is counting labor costs if you cannot manage the operations yourself, which are pretty involved.
Let us know what you have and we'll do what we can. ;)
To Froglokpaladin: Your best bet if you want real help with upgrading is to provide a rundown of exactly what you have now. Give us your machine's specs so we can suggest how best to upgrade it. Some excellent and economical ideas have already been put forth, but to really know what to do, we have to know your machine. Just answer the following if you know how to find the info:
Processor:
RAM (amount and type):
Operating System:
Video Card:
Hard Drive (type and size):
Motherboard:
That's all we'd really need to know. I find that the video card, RAM and processor are the 'holy trinity' of running smooth games, but some other things factor in too. The chipset, drivers, and operating system most certainly make a difference. Your Internet connection does also, of course. Of the major system components that can be easily upgraded, the video card and RAM are probably the easiest. A video card that 'does the job' for about any recent game on the market (and EQ) would run about $250 minimum. RAM is cheaper fortunately. I'm guessing you have basic DDR or SD133. About $120 will bring you up to speed there. The RAM is very easy to physically install, and the video card is only slightly more complicated, with driver installs.
The processor is a bit more complicated, not just the physical install, but because it is so dependant upon your motherboard's capabilities. You can get a very respectable AMD 64 processor for under $200. You would likely have to upgrade your motherboard for that though, and that would cost at least another $100. And none of this is counting labor costs if you cannot manage the operations yourself, which are pretty involved.
Let us know what you have and we'll do what we can. ;)
I didn't set out to build a machine like this, originally I was just looking for something around $2000.
The guy worked with me over the phone. Originally I was just going to have one video board but then one day he called and told me that the motherboard he had ordered was designed to hold two video boards. I thought for a minute and then decided to go with the second video board. It was a little more then I had wanted to spend but what the hell.
The curious thing is that they didn't charge me for labor. Either they forgot to charge me or mabey they made a little on the parts. I googled the parts and the prices on the service sheet seemed to be in line with what the venders were asking.
It comes with a 1 year carry in warranty too.
The guy worked with me over the phone. Originally I was just going to have one video board but then one day he called and told me that the motherboard he had ordered was designed to hold two video boards. I thought for a minute and then decided to go with the second video board. It was a little more then I had wanted to spend but what the hell.
The curious thing is that they didn't charge me for labor. Either they forgot to charge me or mabey they made a little on the parts. I googled the parts and the prices on the service sheet seemed to be in line with what the venders were asking.
It comes with a 1 year carry in warranty too.
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