The best gaming experience possible.

Comments

• blargskull Member Posts: 98 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  I don't even have a graphics card, I use on board intel graphics adapter and it works just fine. However you are using shared memory along with the GPU so that is a bit odd. You have 4 GB of RAM and your video is borrowing 1663 MB or roughly 1.5 GB. To fix that when you boot the machine run BIOS set up (sometime del key) and go fishing about for shared memory or how much RAM is used for video memory. Turn it off or set it to 0.
  
  I am currently running XP SP3 without issues. So I doubt it is your OS.
  
  Most of the time I experience a lag in the game is where there are tons of objects needed to be positioned and updated frequently. I wouldn't be too quick to blame the machine. You can also adjust your video settings in the game. There is the simple slider bar or you can click advanced.
  
  Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

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• mikewendell Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  I went from 4 to 8 gigs of memory in my laptop with a built in graphics card and my graphics score in the windows experience thingie shot up more than 2 full points. Had a 5.9 score over the 3.4 I had when I got the thing.

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• rattraps123 Member Posts: 101 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  Ok, here's what I would suggest, upgrade your videocard first. Your CPU is plenty fast enough. I'd suggest a NVIDIA 550 Ti $114.00 on newegg.com is your best & cheapest performance boost.. Next SSD for your primary drive & another larger drive for storage. I'd suggest an OCT 64gb ssd $59.99. Space will be tight, but off load your Internet Explorer temp folder to your storage drive. Along kill your swap file, and hibernation file also. Will free up a lot of room. You'have enough for your Os & sto installed. Everything else goes on your storage drive, ie. Downloads, pics,movies,music... Your CPU is not an issue, modern games us mostly GPU power. & you have plenty of ram. One side note get window 7 any flavor your computer will feel bran new, even without all the upgrades. That's my 2cents. ~Rt

  
  

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• dma1986 Member Posts: 541 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  mikewendell wrote: »

  I went from 4 to 8 gigs of memory in my laptop with a built in graphics card and my graphics score in the windows experience thingie shot up more than 2 full points. Had a 5.9 score over the 3.4 I had when I got the thing.

  
  It's a 32bit operating system, no point upgrading from the 4GB they have.

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• herrisdevio_1374578291 Member Posts: 8 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  even a nvidia gt 430 or gt 440 are vast inprovements to the olde 9200 and only in the $50-$60 range

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• sameriker Member Posts: 38 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  I use an Nvidia ION graphics adapter but unlike the others above me I am not here to sell you on buying or upgrading a graphics card. You can do what you like, it's your machine.
  
  If you want to know if your machine can handle ANY game. Go to Can you RUN it there is a harmless plugin to add because it scans your machine for hardware and rates everything on a graph.
  
  
  Enter the name of the game and the plugin will run. The site gives you a breakdown on CPU, RAM, OS, Video, Sound, and HD Space. I have used this several times without issue and it costs you nothing.

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• notaredshirt79 Member Posts: 13 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  I bought a new card. A GeForce GT 610. I got it for $60 bucks. It is amazing. And it's my birthday gift. Now I just need to figure out the in game video settings. I have mostly everything set to it's highest setting. Except for bloom of course. :-)

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• marctraiderz Member Posts: 539 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  notaredshirt79 wrote: »

  I am not that computer literate, but I love my baby. Except at times when playing this game. The graphics are awesome but things are choppy and laggy(super techinical words I know). And when I enter an asteroid field, it gets so much worse. Can anyone give me advice? Do I need a new video card? Are my settings not right?
  
  Here is my setup now:
  
  
  System Information

  ---

  Time of this report: 6/18/2012, 20:45:09
  Machine name: OWNER-PC
  Operating System: Windows Vista?„? Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.120305-0430)
  Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
  System Manufacturer: Acer
  System Model: Aspire X1200
  BIOS: )Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PG
  Processor: Athlon(tm) Dual Core Processor 4850e (2 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
  Memory: 3838MB RAM
  Page File: 1763MB used, 6142MB available
  Windows Dir: C:\Windows
  DirectX Version: DirectX 11
  
  Display Devices

  ---

  Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9200
  Manufacturer: NVIDIA
  Chip type: GeForce 9200
  DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
  Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_084B&SUBSYS_01531025&REV_A2
  Display Memory: 1902 MB
  Dedicated Memory: 239 MB
  Shared Memory: 1663 MB
  Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
  
  
  
  Like I said I love my computer and have had it for at least 4 years and it has never given me any issues. I really don't want to replace it. But if I have to I will. I love this game.

  
  Lets drop the illusions, And Ill tell you exactly what you need for 60+ steady FPS in all conditions with maxed Graphics.
  
  A very good i7 with an Nvidia 670GTX or equivalent system.
  
  
  Especially mind the CPU, this game hangs on 2 cpu threads because of the UI not properly accelerated by the GPU, so performance per core is of the essence. (The game will only use 2 cores so the faster those cores are the better.
  
  So what this basically comes down to is; You can buy the best videocard on the market, with that dual core system you have you will still retain the same frames per second or very close to. I only recommend a very, very good i7 processor because of its performance per core value, not because its a Quad.
  
  
  Furthermore, in this case you better ditch your Vista and install W7 64-bit. 4 or 8GB will really not matter in this game, unless you run tons of TRIBBLE in the background.

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