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system specs please

ouch.. where to begin...

P3 800 = serious problem... very slow for this game, I get lag in Qeynos on a P4 3.0 ghz so I cannot imagine what lag you're getting or the resolution and settings you're playing at to keep it playable...

384mb ram = too low.. I have 1 GB of ram and just booting my system eats up your total amount of ram available.. odds are upon system boot.. you loose about 64 to 128 mb of ram to the system and video before you even run EQ2.

GeForce 5500 = passable but upgrading this would also be a pretty good idea..

cable modem = just fine here..

windows ME = win 2k or windows XP.. WinME is simply not as efficient with respect to system functions or memory optimizations.. and who knows how much longer you'll be able to get direct X for it... I don't even think there IS a version of direct X 9.0c available for ME (but I could easily be wrong.. not touched WinME in years)

hate to be the bearer of bad news but I'm afraid you're a prime candidate for a completely new system... a P4 motherboard, processor, and ram bundle will not run on a P3 power supply.. meaning you'll need to buy a new case (unless you have a REALLY good case) that's effectively a new machine right there. :-\

if you can build your own or know someone who can you'll likely save a little money.. we built my taller half's EQ2 machine and spent less than 800$ and it's a solid machine. ^_^

Well i knew that was coming. Ive been pricing some new stuff so ill prolly use my tax return to build my own...if you would could u send me the specs of your comp i.e. exactly what you bought and what ill need ... mavericbjl@yahoo.com


tahnks

I am surprised the game even ran.

First upgrade CPU, [which implicitly means changing motherboard, RAM, and probably power supply]:

Intel PIII uses front side bus of either 66, 100, or 133 Mhz.
Below 600 Mhz the FSB speed is 66 Mhz, the last 100 Mhz FSB systems were 700, 750, one 800, and an 850. 133 Mhz FSB systems were at 733, 766, 800, 866, and up through 1.00 Ghz.
FSB counts because this is the speed at which system motherboard RAM is accessed. Cache exists but is 256K for PIII.

Compare to Celeron 1.5Ghz or more (consider it a P4-"lite") or Pentium 4. FSB is now 400 Mhz for CPU clockspeeds 2.4 Ghz and less, at 2.4 Ghz you can now specify 533 Mhz speeds, even with Celeron, and a 800 Mhz FSB is available. With 800 Mhz FSB you'll need DDR-400 Mhz, but you can get by with DDR-333 for FSB 533 and 400. In each case, the [CPU <-> motherboard RAM]
path is now minimum 3x faster (400/133 = 3); with a 533 Mhz FSB you're 4x faster memory access than with the best Pentium III.

But there's more -- AGP also shares the FSB. So, slower FSB means more delay for AGP, assuming that both system RAM and AGP are very busy. This caused my older motherboards using Intel Application Accelerator (a driver to use Ultra-DMA/ATA100/ATA133 etc on IDE connectors) would get corruption every few months. Grrr.

P4 vs identical speed/FSB Celeron: P4 has improved cache over celeron, and has some improvement for math processing, which could improve 3D and lighting. But since most of these are moved to thew video card instead, my advice for the cost conscious is save the $70 to $100 difference and get the fastest Celeron you are comfortable with; certainly get the best FSB in your price range.

But, changing CPU means changing motherboard AND RAM.

My own picks last month: (and what I looked for in choosing them)
Motherboard
ASUS P4S800D-X
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=12&l3=45&model=407&modelmenu=1
I liked the dual access DDR, the ability to use my choice of 400,533,or 800 Mhz FSB P4 or Celeron. I wanted AGPx8 support, on-board audio and LAN were a nice bonus, and the RAID-1 option using SATA drives was a nice touch for later. I used to dislike SIS chipset but the 655FX seems robust. Price $52

CPU
Celeron 2.4Ghz M -- 533 FSB, socket 478 price $86

memory: (2) pieces Kingston 256MB DDR400, at $28 each
install in groups of 2 for 20% or so better game throughput since both memory modules are read in parallel
I was very tight on cash, else I'd recommend (2) 512 MB memory modules. Samsung would have worked well also. Toshiba or Siemens is good also. Siemens has higher environmental test requirements than most; Kingston likewise. Hyundai used to be bad because their company was in dire financial straits and needed to raise money; I havent seen them on the market recently. Toshiba is always good; Samsung is good. No name isn't worth it.

Power Supply -- ATX 2.0, needs more +3.3V current than in PIII. The P4 series (including Celeron) actually use a lower core voltage than 3.3V, due to smaller transistor size, and the 3.3V current is converted by a voltage converter on the motherboard to the lower voltage levels. Lower voltage, but high amperage. Thus, get minimum 300 W "P4" rated power supply.
I spent $18 on a Codegen 350W power supply; the Fortron 350W with dual fans I brought from USA is a far better supply, but cost me around $50-$80. Other issues for power supply are voltage ripple, with under 100 mV ripple the magic spec. You'll see such PS for Xeon CPU and large server class motherboards (ie 2 or more CPUs). In the old days, more expensive power supplies meant higher quality capacitors, which meant longer effective lifespans. Now they're commodities that last only 3 - 4 years before changing value (and thus becoming borderline). Dust or cigarrette smoke are the next concerns for an old PC.

DVD drive: I had to upgrade my CD drive to DVD to run Sony's EQ2 install. I had these choices:
DVD (and reads CD) only $26
DVD read but writes CD-R and CD-RW $41 "Combo drive"
DVD read AND Write, hich implies CD-RW also $61-68
I went with DVD-write (all 5 formats) $62
Mostly I decided I'd need to start backing up more often, and a 5 GB game needs too many CDs.

Win ME: DirectX 9.0c does install to Windows Millenium.
That said, my XP station seems to work well at 512 MB RAM, whereas my Win ME still locks up sometimes.

I'll try adding 256 MB to the Win ME system in 3 days (next payday), and report then. My advice is now aim for 1 GB for smooth play, which uses the dual-access memory since its groups of 2 or 4 memory modules (of same capacity).

Nvidia 5xxxx FX; slow pixel fill rate. I'd upgrade it, but saw a lot of complaints regarding Nvidia 6600. A pity; I used to think Nvidia was the best, and I never had to spend more than $100 on a video card. I'll try my hand. I expect AGPx8 support from my video card, which means I can install to a AGPx4 motherboard if needed. AGPx8 cards could be damaged by older AGPx2 motherboards, which are more than 5 years old. Likewise, a very old AGP card could toast your new AGPx8 motherboard; at issue is the voltage used for signalling, specifically the unused control signals will be pulled up to the expected voltage when the board is laid out. For AGP x2 or x4 it uses the motherboard slot connector to specify the voltage levels. But AGPx8 slots expect a lower signal voltage; AGPx4 works in one, an AGPx2 will likely burn. Why? Its a nuisance to lay out the board with support for several signalling voltages; either a plit power plane is used, leading to signal integrity problems, or more layers are used in layout, which hikes the cost of manufacture considerably. Thus I stick to mature companies and very recognizeable names in picking my video card, but be aware nearly every company starts with a reference design from the video chip maker, and so they're all very similar other than attention to manufacturing. Thus for me ASUS is a good choice, second tier Acer (mostly due to lower investment in decoupling capacitors, which were very expensive some time ago), third tier most every other video company. ATI had some mailorder direct cards built to good standard, but you need to be careful which family graphics chip you want, as they have "general purpose" video cards that just run poorly, and high end that do well, and you need to get the right mix of features.
From marketing specs I chose ATI 9550 w/ 256 MB DDR memory at price $88. Second choice same card 128 MB DDR $69. I absolutely advise avoiding the "SE" models (narrow memory access) and 9250 (hardware support is DirectX 8.1 only, after that it is emulated in software, ugggh), even if they are $15 to $20 less.

OK, thats my huge guide to shopping for a system as of June 2005.

You know, in three months the sweet spot shifts; notice I dont chase the highest end, but rather go for stuff that was cutting edge a year ago and is now in the middle of the pack, because its steeply discounted.

Oh, Monitor:
I'm too poor for TFT (thin screens). A 15 inch TFT screen blows my entire budget. I chose a 19 inch Hitachi 715CM, its a big (30 Kg) CRT that has very crisp text (invar shadow mask), flat screen (means edges are crisp), and 1600x1280 at min 75 hz refresh (I think its 85 hz). My wife refuses any monitor that isnt low radiation; from lowest to best
{unrated, TCO 95, MPR II, TCO 2003}. I spent $370 on that monitor, and considered it a better buy than a 1280x1024 17" TFT, which would have been hard to come close to $400. Remember the vertical refresh rate on the TFT monitors is 60 Hz, not 75 or 85 Hz. The best 1600x1280 TFT screens at 20 inch cost $800 USD from IBM. If I was very cheap (guilty), and $370ish is too much, try a Mitsubishi FE770 for $142 USD. You'd be stuck at 1024x768 for egonomic display but its a good monitor for eye relief.

Again, theres a lot of motherboards CPUs Monitors etc. I really liked getting Intel motherboards, using Intel chipset, but to be honest had a lot of bad experiences starting with the 815 chipset, the 820 chipset, the Intel Application Accelerator software, and even my 7205 chipset. I'm no longer quite so fond of them, especially since they cost $100 more than rivals. Also, the PCI bus performance was very low on 845 chipset; I come from a PCI bus design-support background.

OK, enough book writing. I think you could, in theory, piece together a system on a $250 upgrade to $400 new price range, plus OS. I'd use Norton Ghost 2003 or 9.0 to migrate from the old Hard disk so as to not have to buy a new OS for your game computer. This also lets me swap in a larger capacity drive without having to reinstall everything. XP has a migration wizard that does the same thing, but not everyone has XP.