The bottom line is that the OP does not need a new graphics card. He is of course, free to upgrade if he wishes, but it's not required and won't be required for the vast majority of the games player base.
Yep. Which is why I stated to the OP that the nVidia GTS 250 is a DirectX 10 GPU and it is good enough to continue playing STO.
my PC is 5yrs old and has a Geforce GTX550Ti & runs STO just fine. (though I did have to update my Directx12 to latest version since it was making some parts of my ship disappear and making character lighting wonky.) I can't imagine any comparable video-card being expensive. You don't need the best video card to run STO.
I have dx11 which fixed the graphics settings. I have windows 10 and an r9 390 and as far a I can tell I have all the latest drivers. I still get the message at load screen saying that I need to update my drivers. I get random crashes usually when checking mail to delete the exchange items. How else can I update my drivers?
I have dx11 which fixed the graphics settings. I have windows 10 and an r9 390 and as far a I can tell I have all the latest drivers. I still get the message at load screen saying that I need to update my drivers. I get random crashes usually when checking mail to delete the exchange items. How else can I update my drivers?
You get a message from STO saying you need to update drivers?
I have never seen this, but the best way to make sure your drivers are up to date is to just go to the ATI Web Site and make sure you have the newest drivers. Then when you launch the game, go under your graphic options, Display Tab, and make sure that Video Card is set to Direct 3D 11.
I have dx11 which fixed the graphics settings. I have windows 10 and an r9 390 and as far a I can tell I have all the latest drivers. I still get the message at load screen saying that I need to update my drivers. I get random crashes usually when checking mail to delete the exchange items. How else can I update my drivers?
I've had the same issue when I was running my Radeon R7 260X, it's a common problem that has not been addressed and reported in the Support Thread a number of times. The only way I was able to fix it was to run the AMD Crimson 16.7.3 Driver and that will fix the issue. Since then I've switched from and AMD Radeon R7 260X to and nVidia Geforce GTX 970. All I can say is try that Crimson Software Version and see if it removes that message and don't update Crimson untill Cryptic relases a patch to fix that.
i am running windows 10 home and according to my system info I have dx12, having said that I ran a software that tests your dx11 hardware & driver called 3Dmark and it reported that my hardware is not compatible with dx11 although windows directx driver tool reports my hardware does support display feature level 10_0.
since they did the lighting update I have been experiencing many problems with sto, sometimes the screen goes blank but I can still hear the game running and sometimes I get a crash to desktop with a direct3d error report, yet other times I can run the game for extended periods without issue.
I have the game settings set to dx11 and this seems to minimise the problems but it still occurs often enough to be irritating.
I have a duel 2.13 GHz core Acer Aspire 5742Z with 6gb ram and a 64-bit OS with x64 based processor.
what will happen when they drop support for direct3d 9 on march 1st remains to be seen.
i am running windows 10 home and according to my system info I have dx12, having said that I ran a software that tests your dx11 hardware & driver called 3Dmark and it reported that my hardware is not compatible with dx11 although windows directx driver tool reports my hardware does support display feature level 10_0.
since they did the lighting update I have been experiencing many problems with sto, sometimes the screen goes blank but I can still hear the game running and sometimes I get a crash to desktop with a direct3d error report, yet other times I can run the game for extended periods without issue.
I have the game settings set to dx11 and this seems to minimise the problems but it still occurs often enough to be irritating.
I have a duel 2.13 GHz core Acer Aspire 5742Z with 6gb ram and a 64-bit OS with x64 based processor.
what will happen when they drop support for direct3d 9 on march 1st remains to be seen.
The reason you have DirectX 12 is because it's part of Windows 10. Everyone running Windows 10 has DirectX 12 installed. Now, rather or not it's actually working with your hardware.. that's a different story.
Looking around, your Aspire 5742Z is an early 2011 model intended for basic web use. It's really not a gaming system and it looks like the Intel HD Graphics is not DX11 compliant. You should still be able to use the Direct 3D11 setting, but your performance will probably suffer greatly. I would recommend that if you have the lighting 2.0 enabled that you try turning it off. The best you're going to get out of that system is going to be running the game on it's absolute minimal settings.
Honestly, I'm surprised that PC can run the game at all. Still, you should be able to select the Direct3D 11 options, which would mean that you should be unaffected by the loss of support for Direct3D version 9. The performance won't get any better or worse it will just remove your ability to try to get better performance by using the D3D 9 option. As for ways to improve your performance, I am sorry to say that I really don't think you can get it to run any better. That PC is really skirting the boundaries of the minimal system requirements.
I'll stress the importance of the first step being: Check if you can pick the Direct 3D 11 option in the game settings (options -> display). If you can you shouldn't really have anything to fear.
The game really isn't that hard on graphics (often it's rather CPU it's straining).
HOWEVER, all that doesn't mean there aren't bugs. Many systems with sufficient graphics sometimes get trouble with STO. Subjectively, it would seem it's mostly AMD graphics based systems (as my previous laptop). If that is the case for you (you can select Direct 3D 11, but the game then starts behaving weird/ustable/crashes), now's probably the time to speak up and hope they resolve the issues (obviously you should check for up-to-date drivers etc.).
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
i am running windows 10 home and according to my system info I have dx12, having said that I ran a software that tests your dx11 hardware & driver called 3Dmark and it reported that my hardware is not compatible with dx11 although windows directx driver tool reports my hardware does support display feature level 10_0.
since they did the lighting update I have been experiencing many problems with sto, sometimes the screen goes blank but I can still hear the game running and sometimes I get a crash to desktop with a direct3d error report, yet other times I can run the game for extended periods without issue.
I have the game settings set to dx11 and this seems to minimise the problems but it still occurs often enough to be irritating.
I have a duel 2.13 GHz core Acer Aspire 5742Z with 6gb ram and a 64-bit OS with x64 based processor.
what will happen when they drop support for direct3d 9 on march 1st remains to be seen.
I am actually surprised you are able to select DX 11 in your game settings since it seems the laptop has an Intel GMA HD graphics chip that is soldered into your laptop's motherboard only supports DX10. The first Intel graphics core to support DX 11 is the Intel HD 4000 which is integrated in all 3rd generation "Ivy Bridge" Intel Core series CPU. Your Acer has a Pentium P6100 CPU which is a derivative of the 1st generation Intel Core series CPU.
Based on a Google search there does not seem to be a variant of the Acer Aspire 5742Z that has an AMD or nVidia dedicated GPU.
Since the Intel GMA HD graphics core is compliant with DX 10, then you should not have any problems playing STO when March 1st rolls around. With regards to the problems you are having, I would say that it is mostly an issue with the outdated Intel graphics drivers. You can click on the following link to install the Intel® Driver Update Utility to determine if there is a recent driver that is compatible with the old Intel GMA HD.
I have STO running on max settings on a GTX 750Ti OC. That's a pretty cheap card, and to be honest even if you went with a cheap version of the new 1050/1060's you'd have no issues running the game on max either.
STO is 6 years old and doesn't do anything overly fancy in terms of graphics. Depends if you play anything else and want those games to have good settings also.
If all you play is STO and a few oldish MMO's i'd not recommend buying a massive $200+ card as it's utterly excessive for what you need.
Remember a super powerful card will potentially need a better power supply and it'll also need mobo that can support it plus a case with room & cooling suitable for the heat, so if you're not careful you could end up with costs spiraling out of control
That said my card will run Skyrim on max, and GTA V pretty darned high as well, so you can go quite high in terms of settings without anything too pricey.
This is good information. I always build my own rigs, and used to build them for others. A video card does not have to be over $100-150 to be pretty darn good, unless you're playing a new game with insane graphics requirements, or you are an engineer running high end CAD programs.
Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
I have STO running on max settings on a GTX 750Ti OC. That's a pretty cheap card, and to be honest even if you went with a cheap version of the new 1050/1060's you'd have no issues running the game on max either.
STO is 6 years old and doesn't do anything overly fancy in terms of graphics. Depends if you play anything else and want those games to have good settings also.
If all you play is STO and a few oldish MMO's i'd not recommend buying a massive $200+ card as it's utterly excessive for what you need.
Remember a super powerful card will potentially need a better power supply and it'll also need mobo that can support it plus a case with room & cooling suitable for the heat, so if you're not careful you could end up with costs spiraling out of control
That said my card will run Skyrim on max, and GTA V pretty darned high as well, so you can go quite high in terms of settings without anything too pricey.
This is good information. I always build my own rigs, and used to build them for others. A video card does not have to be over $100-150 to be pretty darn good, unless you're playing a new game with insane graphics requirements, or you are an engineer running high end CAD programs.
If someone is looking to upgrade for cheap, then the best option right now is probably the GeForce GTX 1050. The 1050 runs around the same price as the 750Ti on Amazon (around $110) but runs about 50-70% faster then the 750.
This card is right around $100 and can easily max out STO and play most games out there on at least Medium settings. They're also very good on power usage and don't require power directly from the Power Supply, they can get enough juice from the PCI-E slot.
You can find a good example of a very low cost option here.
Comments
Yep. Which is why I stated to the OP that the nVidia GTS 250 is a DirectX 10 GPU and it is good enough to continue playing STO.
You get a message from STO saying you need to update drivers?
I have never seen this, but the best way to make sure your drivers are up to date is to just go to the ATI Web Site and make sure you have the newest drivers. Then when you launch the game, go under your graphic options, Display Tab, and make sure that Video Card is set to Direct 3D 11.
You can find the newest drivers here.
That card is definitely way above what's required for STO, not sure why the game would have any problem with it.
I've had the same issue when I was running my Radeon R7 260X, it's a common problem that has not been addressed and reported in the Support Thread a number of times. The only way I was able to fix it was to run the AMD Crimson 16.7.3 Driver and that will fix the issue. Since then I've switched from and AMD Radeon R7 260X to and nVidia Geforce GTX 970. All I can say is try that Crimson Software Version and see if it removes that message and don't update Crimson untill Cryptic relases a patch to fix that.
since they did the lighting update I have been experiencing many problems with sto, sometimes the screen goes blank but I can still hear the game running and sometimes I get a crash to desktop with a direct3d error report, yet other times I can run the game for extended periods without issue.
I have the game settings set to dx11 and this seems to minimise the problems but it still occurs often enough to be irritating.
I have a duel 2.13 GHz core Acer Aspire 5742Z with 6gb ram and a 64-bit OS with x64 based processor.
what will happen when they drop support for direct3d 9 on march 1st remains to be seen.
3Dmark basic edition can be downloaded free here> https://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark if anyone wants to try it out.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
The reason you have DirectX 12 is because it's part of Windows 10. Everyone running Windows 10 has DirectX 12 installed. Now, rather or not it's actually working with your hardware.. that's a different story.
Looking around, your Aspire 5742Z is an early 2011 model intended for basic web use. It's really not a gaming system and it looks like the Intel HD Graphics is not DX11 compliant. You should still be able to use the Direct 3D11 setting, but your performance will probably suffer greatly. I would recommend that if you have the lighting 2.0 enabled that you try turning it off. The best you're going to get out of that system is going to be running the game on it's absolute minimal settings.
Honestly, I'm surprised that PC can run the game at all. Still, you should be able to select the Direct3D 11 options, which would mean that you should be unaffected by the loss of support for Direct3D version 9. The performance won't get any better or worse it will just remove your ability to try to get better performance by using the D3D 9 option. As for ways to improve your performance, I am sorry to say that I really don't think you can get it to run any better. That PC is really skirting the boundaries of the minimal system requirements.
The game really isn't that hard on graphics (often it's rather CPU it's straining).
HOWEVER, all that doesn't mean there aren't bugs. Many systems with sufficient graphics sometimes get trouble with STO. Subjectively, it would seem it's mostly AMD graphics based systems (as my previous laptop). If that is the case for you (you can select Direct 3D 11, but the game then starts behaving weird/ustable/crashes), now's probably the time to speak up and hope they resolve the issues (obviously you should check for up-to-date drivers etc.).
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
I am actually surprised you are able to select DX 11 in your game settings since it seems the laptop has an Intel GMA HD graphics chip that is soldered into your laptop's motherboard only supports DX10. The first Intel graphics core to support DX 11 is the Intel HD 4000 which is integrated in all 3rd generation "Ivy Bridge" Intel Core series CPU. Your Acer has a Pentium P6100 CPU which is a derivative of the 1st generation Intel Core series CPU.
Based on a Google search there does not seem to be a variant of the Acer Aspire 5742Z that has an AMD or nVidia dedicated GPU.
Since the Intel GMA HD graphics core is compliant with DX 10, then you should not have any problems playing STO when March 1st rolls around. With regards to the problems you are having, I would say that it is mostly an issue with the outdated Intel graphics drivers. You can click on the following link to install the Intel® Driver Update Utility to determine if there is a recent driver that is compatible with the old Intel GMA HD.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html
This is good information. I always build my own rigs, and used to build them for others. A video card does not have to be over $100-150 to be pretty darn good, unless you're playing a new game with insane graphics requirements, or you are an engineer running high end CAD programs.
Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
If someone is looking to upgrade for cheap, then the best option right now is probably the GeForce GTX 1050. The 1050 runs around the same price as the 750Ti on Amazon (around $110) but runs about 50-70% faster then the 750.
This card is right around $100 and can easily max out STO and play most games out there on at least Medium settings. They're also very good on power usage and don't require power directly from the Power Supply, they can get enough juice from the PCI-E slot.
You can find a good example of a very low cost option here.