Dilemma

[Guitarsmasher]

ok i need everyones help on this plz. i currently play PSU on a PS2 slim. at first i didnt mind the constant lag......but i crave MORE now and am getting tired of the lag. do you think i should switch over to psu on computer? before answering, read the rest. my computer isnt the best, but not the worst either. ill give you all the specs of my computer that i know of.

RAM= about 640-650
disk space left over= about 5 GB (i can easily get back an extra 6 GB if needed)
graphics card= intel extreme graphics 64MB
pentium 4 processor

thos eare the only specs i can think of. if you need more to determine whether my computer would be better or not just ask for em. but is switching to computer really worth buying a new graphics card and psu disk? plus, if i got a new vid card, id want it to be at least 256MB dispite what the requirements say. i really need your guys help on this one.

and one more thing. i asked my dad if i could buy and install a new vid card. he said "no, the computer wouldnt be able to take it", he made an analogy like if a semi had an 18 HP engine, would it run? NO. plus he said i wouldnt be able to take the old one out for some reason, like its welded in there. plz, someone say my dad is wrong, because i think hes just lieing cuz he doesnt want me to buy a new vid card.....

[McLaughlin]

If he meant integrated I think you're stuck with it. Though I'm no pro so I'm probably wrong there.

Lag as in poor connection or lag is in frame rate problems? Because connection lag won't just magically disappear.

[MXdude]

integrated graphics are directly attached to the mobo. However, I play with integrated graphics and it works fine for me. Not high end settings, but there is no lag.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: MXdude on 2006-12-19 12:31 ]</font>

[Guitarsmasher]

no, its not connection lag, but theres a difference right? isnt connection lag when everything totally stops, and regular lag when everything is just slow, but doesnt randomly stop. well, w/e it is, during combat in a 5 or 6 party team, it just lags slowly, but doesnt completely stop or anything like tht.

[MXdude]

Yea, thats just slowdown due to the ps2 suckage http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif Has nothing to do with your connection.

[Guitarsmasher]

oh, ok thts good! but does anyone think its worth it if i spend the money, buy a new vid card (if i can), and a new psu disk to switch over computer?

(if its not worth it, dont worry, i wont quit psu just cuz of this http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif)

[MXdude]

Your gonna have to buy a new motherboard as well then...So unless you plan on gaming on you PC in the future with other games I dont think its worth it. You could always just stay with the integrated graphics, people underestimate how well it actually can perform. Tho if you want the high res., high detail, omg settings then you wont get that.

[Maskim]

He's probably referring to an integrated graphics card. Almost every motherboard has them now, but you'll notice, it hasn't slowed the video card industry. You can still add a video card. Check to see if you have an AGP, PCI, or PCI-E slot available, buy the corresponding set up card, plug it in, go to your your settings, and choose for the computer to run off the new GPU instead of the integrated, switch your monitor to the new card's monitor connection slot (as when you switch cards the screen should go black as it takes effect), and voila, you're playing in higher quality. Even for a game like this, the lowest card you'll probably want to go is a ATI 9250, 128 mb or above. It's nothing glamorous, but it'll do the job well enough. Average retail is about $100 on one of these. If you have a Fry's around you, or you wait for a circuit city/best buy sale, you can usually pick one up for 60$ or less. I bought mine on one day sale for $40.

[MXdude]

Hmm, I didnt know that was possible Maskim. Well thanks for correcting me ^_^


EDIT: Also note, you might want to check your warranty before opening up your case.




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: MXdude on 2006-12-19 12:45 ]</font>

[Guitarsmasher]

awesome. im not sure that it's integrated to the motherboard, but if it is, i cant use it http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif its only 64MB. and how do i check if the vid card has an AGP,PCI or PCI-E slot? is it right click my computer>properties>hardware tab>device manager>display adaptors?

[Maskim]

NP. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif Even the cheapest computers will have a slot, from what I've seen. When my kids killed the gaming computer I made for my wife (which of all things she never used for anything but Maple Story...argh), I couldn't afford to rebuild, or get a nice one. I went and got the cheapest no moitor from Walmart comp I could find. Under $200 on clearance during the summer. It only had 1 AGP and 1 extra slot (for wireless network or whatever), but even on that configuration, I just canibalized the graphics card, RAM, and dual layer burner from the old comp, and the little sempron 2700+ cheapo gives a performance unnoticably different from the Athlon 64 3500+ she had before.

If I'd known it was jus going o be used for Maple Story, I'd have gone this route originally. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[MXdude]

On 2006-12-19 12:46, Guitarsmasher wrote:
awesome. im not sure that it's integrated to the motherboard, but if it is, i cant use it http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif its only 64MB. and how do i check if the vid card has an AGP,PCI or PCI-E slot? is it right click my computer>properties>hardware tab>device manager>display adaptors?




Its not like a 64MB card wont even let you play, its just not recommended. As I said, I play PSU fine in window mode with AIM,MSN,Firefox running, and sometimes Photoshop.



I have 512MB of RAM an intel Celeron processor, and integrated graphics. And yet i can run it with medium settings with frameskip on and post effects off. Again, if you are the kinda person who likes to have the best looking game while playing, then you will need some upgrades.

[Maskim]

On 2006-12-19 12:46, Guitarsmasher wrote:
awesome. im not sure that it's integrated to the motherboard, but if it is, i cant use it http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif its only 64MB. and how do i check if the vid card has an AGP,PCI or PCI-E slot? is it right click my computer>properties>hardware tab>device manager>display adaptors?



Well, it all depends on the shape of the empty slot in your computer. In all likelyhood, it has one slot just for the addition of a graphics card (this is all desktop by the way...I havn't figured out how to upgrade my laptop vid card, as I've just figured it all out via trial and error over the years). This slot will normally the top most empty slot under the motherboard. PCI, PCI-express, and AGP all have different connections and different shape. You can do a search online for pictures and how to's, which will give you an idea of what connecion you have. If you just want to play it safe, go with a PCI, as even if it doesn't fit into that slot, it will fit into the slots below that, that are put there for you to add a modem, ethernet card, wireless network card, whatever. If you have no slots available, the best thing to do is to remove the worthless dial up modem that all comps come with now (even the bare bones cases from my experiences...why?), and plug in a PCI card into the slot thet dial up took.

[Guitarsmasher]

nah, im not tht kind of person tht cares about graphics like WHOA O_O ,unless its like a 2-bit kind of graphics......then thts a problem, i just care about lagyness. and MXdude, is your video card 64MB too?

edit: btw, i was hacking into my OWN graphics card, found some info out. i saw the letters "PCI" with some stuff after it like numbers or other letters. one was like PCIVEN_8086 and some other letters, would tht be a slot??

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Guitarsmasher on 2006-12-19 13:00 ]</font>

[Guitarsmasher]

On 2006-12-19 12:56, Maskim wrote:
On 2006-12-19 12:46, Guitarsmasher wrote:
awesome. im not sure that it's integrated to the motherboard, but if it is, i cant use it http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif its only 64MB. and how do i check if the vid card has an AGP,PCI or PCI-E slot? is it right click my computer>properties>hardware tab>device manager>display adaptors?



Well, it all depends on the shape of the empty slot in your computer. In all likelyhood, it has one slot just for the addition of a graphics card (this is all desktop by the way...I havn't figured out how to upgrade my laptop vid card, as I've just figured it all out via trial and error over the years). This slot will normally the top most empty slot under the motherboard. PCI, PCI-express, and AGP all have different connections and different shape. You can do a search online for pictures and how to's, which will give you an idea of what connecion you have. If you just want to play it safe, go with a PCI, as even if it doesn't fit into that slot, it will fit into the slots below that, that are put there for you to add a modem, ethernet card, wireless network card, whatever. If you have no slots available, the best thing to do is to remove the worthless dial up modem that all comps come with now (even the bare bones cases from my experiences...why?), and plug in a PCI card into the slot thet dial up took.



wow, you really know your stuff bout this!is this your profession or something? or you read a lot of computer books? but yea, i guess since you said all desktops have it, mine should since its a Dell desktop from like...2002 or w/e. thanks for all of your help guys! youve helped me out a lot. im going to look further into this and figure out more stuff. thank you! http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

srry for teh double post!



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Guitarsmasher on 2006-12-19 13:06 ]</font>

[Maskim]

On 2006-12-19 13:06, Guitarsmasher wrote:
On 2006-12-19 12:56, Maskim wrote:
On 2006-12-19 12:46, Guitarsmasher wrote:
awesome. im not sure that it's integrated to the motherboard, but if it is, i cant use it http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif its only 64MB. and how do i check if the vid card has an AGP,PCI or PCI-E slot? is it right click my computer>properties>hardware tab>device manager>display adaptors?



Well, it all depends on the shape of the empty slot in your computer. In all likelyhood, it has one slot just for the addition of a graphics card (this is all desktop by the way...I havn't figured out how to upgrade my laptop vid card, as I've just figured it all out via trial and error over the years). This slot will normally the top most empty slot under the motherboard. PCI, PCI-express, and AGP all have different connections and different shape. You can do a search online for pictures and how to's, which will give you an idea of what connecion you have. If you just want to play it safe, go with a PCI, as even if it doesn't fit into that slot, it will fit into the slots below that, that are put there for you to add a modem, ethernet card, wireless network card, whatever. If you have no slots available, the best thing to do is to remove the worthless dial up modem that all comps come with now (even the bare bones cases from my experiences...why?), and plug in a PCI card into the slot thet dial up took.



wow, you really know your stuff bout this!is this your profession or something? or you read a lot of computer books? but yea, i guess since you said all desktops have it, mine should since its a Dell desktop from like...2002 or w/e. thanks for all of your help guys! youve helped me out a lot. im going to look further into this and figure out more stuff. thank you! http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

srry for teh double post!



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Guitarsmasher on 2006-12-19 13:06 ]</font>


Lol, np. No, not my profession, just part of a hobby. See, I am one of those people that like it to look very good wih optimum performance. It doesn't have to look perfect, but if it isn't at least running perfectly on above average settings, it's not good enough for me. Now, being as I can't do this on a budget by purchasing new computers all the time, I just taught myself to upgrade out of necessity. You should see the first comp I ever built, beautiful..too bad I didn't have any idea what I was doing and it took me almost two weeks to even get it to power on. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Maskim]

Note: I would go with the new vid card, like you're planning in his case, but if you want further improvement, now or down the road, remember RAM is about the fastest and cheapest way to improve over all performance. go to Fry's and get a 1 gig stick of RAM for $60. I've seen them do a 2 gig special (1 gig stick x2) for $99 on multiple occasions.


EDIT: Oh yea, this should be in tech support. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Maskim on 2006-12-19 13:22 ]</font>