seeking video card advice
By
Father Xmas,
Posted on: 2012-07-24 20:56 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Actually DDR2 RAM costs more than DDR3 RAM, its like buying V rated tires for a Ford Pinto. Buying RAM for the thing won't make it run faster.
Should give us things like the model of Dell you have. Although I'm guessing its a 531 and let us know if its the Mini tower or the slimline.
Should also give us a budget.
*IMHO* I would not spend a dime trying to upgrade the thing.
Anyways,
This 6670 is $90 and uses GDDR5 not DDR3 like you see in the really cheap cards. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102958
Its tough buying any cheap cards since the evil marketing people prey on the folks who get suckered by the large number on DDR3 RAM. GDRR5 or save up money.
Just my 02 INF
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
It's a single core CPU which will limit the effectiveness of a video card.
That said just about everything is faster than an integrated nVidia 6150se. A GT 430 (128-bit) would blow the doors off the 6150se. The biggest concern is available power, even the very, very modest GT 430, GT 440/GT 630 (same card) or HD 6570 falls into the 45-50 watt range. Online (NewEgg) we are talking under $70, under $50 with rebate in some cases.
The next level under those cards are generally considered cards used in home theater PCs since they provide hardware decode but aren't really great for gaming. These include the GT 520/GT610 (same card), the HD 5450 or the HD 6450.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
6570 and 6670 are very similar cards. 6570s are clocked lower and use DDR3 RAM, often have cheaper capacitors to be profitable at the lower price range. 6670 is available with GDDR5.
Power could be an issue which is why I say its important to say which dell.
Its like saying I need new tires for my Ford.
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Zubenelgenubi
All,
My daughter has a computer that will just barely run CoH. But the frame rate is so poor and choppy that the game is really unplayable. I'd like to upgrade it a bit and see if she can play on her machine. Please DO NOT try and sell me a new computer! I know this one isn't a gaming rig, and it's a few years old, but I can't shell out a few hundred dollars for a new one. It's a DELL with an AMD SemPron Processor LE-1250 It has a built-in graphics “card”: NVIDA GeForce 6150se nForce 430 2 GB of RAM Obviously the first place to start is the RAM. I just bought another 2 GB on eBay for $20. There is a video card slot, a PCI express 16 channel. So MY QUESTION IS: Can someone recommend a halfway decent video card that I cal plug into this slot? I'm NOT looking for cutting edge or latest model, I'm looking for something that's one or two generations old that I can pick up cheap but which will allow this machine to run CoH at an acceptable frame rate. (yeah yeah... I know... depends on your definition of the word “acceptable”... whatever). I know the processor is rather crappy, so I don't need something that's soooo much better it's like putting a $10,000 stereo into a $300 junker car. Ya know?  Any suggestions? |
- Can you get me the exact model name AND number of the machine? Inspiron, Optiplex, etc.
- To your knowledge, has the power supply in said machine ever been replaced?
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Thanks for the replies so far. Sorry that I'm so clueless with the technical aspects of this stuff. Hard to know what's relevant and what's not.
It's a Dell Inspiron 531.
Don't know how to tell if it's a mini tower or slimline. Thing stands 14 tall and 6.75 wide.
Power supply says max 300 watts. Never been replaced.
I don't understand why newchem would say increasing memory is useless. My understanding is that the first thing to ever do to improve a computer's performance is to increase memory.
"OK, first of all... Shut Up." - My 13-Year-Old Daughter
29973 "The Running of the Bulls" [SFMA] - WINNER of the Mighty Big Story Arc Contest !
- The Stellar Wind Orbital Space Platform
Actually, you answered the question.
The 531s (slimline) comes with a 250W PSU.
The 531 (mini tower) comes with a 300W PSU.
As far as 2GB vs 4GB. Hearing that topic being tossed around CoH, I ran that experiment with my old C2D E6600. I ran it with 2GB and 4GB for a week with each configuration and tested zoning times after 4+ hours of play and it made no difference. The topic though was about zoning times not stablity of FPS not that I could tell any difference while playing.
Back in the good old days when Windows XP first came out, the idea that 256MB of RAM was going to be required for reasonable scared people. Most people at the time were on 16/32 MB and running Windows 98. As things changed and memory got alot cheaper just about every PC has 2GB with XP.
Vista failed because most PCs at the time of release were still being sold with 512MB to 1GB of RAM and Vista is a total memory hog. Never mind the fact that most PCs used integrated graphics by intel which was quite slow and Vista actually pushed up the requirements on the low end of graphics.
Edit: Sorry for the wall of text.
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
Quote:
Slimline:|
Originally Posted by Zubenelgenubi
Thanks for the replies so far. Sorry that I'm so clueless with the technical aspects of this stuff. Hard to know what's relevant and what's not.
It's a Dell Inspiron 531. Don't know how to tell if it's a mini tower or slimline. Thing stands 14 tall and 6.75 wide. Power supply says max 300 watts. Never been replaced. I don't understand why newchem would say increasing memory is useless. My understanding is that the first thing to ever do to improve a computer's performance is to increase memory. |
Minitower:
Slimlines tend to have their drives mounted vertically. |
Towers tend to have their drives mounted horizontally. ---
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Quick comment on RAM.
I use XP still (won't change until I build a new system) I was running 2GB and in Atlas was getting stuttering and FPS between 20 to 45, I added another 2 GB which gives about 3.25GB after overheads are taken out. I'm now running without the stuttering and FPS between 30 to 60.
I will agree that zoning times is still about the same.
FPS were checked with FRAPS which is always running.
Happy to be on Defiant.
Global name @mereman
Member of P.E.R.C. Representing Defiant
Alts http://cit.cohtitan.com/profile/4488
CoH faces http://faces.cohtitan.com/profile/mereman
That's due to the reduction/elimination of banging the swap file since the game's actual memory usage is in the 1.5GB range. Any hard drive access is DMV level of slow when compared to CPU and system memory speeds.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Considering microcenter is offering deals like Phenom II 965 + MB for $100 and 8GB of good DDR3 RAM is $40. A mere $140 can really boost alot of systems.
Yes, they are selling the stuff at a loss. Probably why the Northern California store closed. Having 4 Frys stores within 10 mles doesn't help.
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
Quote:
DMV levels of slow?|
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
That's due to the reduction/elimination of banging the swap file since the game's actual memory usage is in the 1.5GB range. Any hard drive access is DMV level of slow when compared to CPU and system memory speeds.
|
No, that's like trying to pull digital data off storage medium hand-carved in granite blocks being read to you buy a guy on a crummy cell phone connection with a limited call plan.
Compared to the DMV, pulling a terabyte of data off old tape media from the 70's is like being told the answer before you even thought to ask the question...
Seriously though:
Fastest processing time: In-flight on the CPU (happening NOW)
Next fastest: In CPU cache (first, second or third tier cache, with each being marginally slower than the previous tier): Time measured in nanoseconds (billionths of a second)
Next fastest: In system memory: Time still measured in nanoseconds, but more being added on for slower memory and connection latency.
Next fastest: An SSD bulk storage: Time measured in fractions of a millisecond (thousandths of a second) plus connection latency.
Next fastest: A hard drive bulk storage cache: Time measured in milliseconds plus connection latency.
Next fastest: A hard drive bulk storage physical medium: 3-20 milliseconds
Jump from nanoseconds to milliseconds = 6 orders of magnitude negative impact on speed/latency.
In terms of physical speed:
Fastest medium (not in-flight) would be a car capable of 200 miles per hour.
Hard drive bulk storage would be the equivalent of walking at a rate of 1 foot an hour (or less).
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
I originally used the word epoch but I thought it was still too quick. Also DMV is easily to relate too than an astronomy term.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Quote:
<-- Works at the National Observatory in Arizona. |
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
I originally used the word epoch but I thought it was still too quick. Also DMV is easily to relate too than an astronomy term.
|
So given the 300 watt capacity of the power supply, do you still recommend a cheap GT 430 card for this old beast?
"OK, first of all... Shut Up." - My 13-Year-Old Daughter
29973 "The Running of the Bulls" [SFMA] - WINNER of the Mighty Big Story Arc Contest !
- The Stellar Wind Orbital Space Platform
If your set on getting a GT 430.
Get this one. At least its 128bit, still has DDR3 ram but what do you expect for ~$50? Most GT 430s are 64bit.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130579
Its really your call Z, I already have my opinion on the matter.
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
I think the 300 watt PSU should be fine. The CPU is rated at 45 watts, the GT 430 (the card was designed to be 128-bit with DDR3 memory, the 64-bit cards are manufacturers being "creative") is rated to max at 60 watts according to nVidia. eVGA recommends a minimum PSU of 300 watts.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
All,
My daughter has a computer that will just barely run CoH. But the frame rate is so poor and choppy that the game is really unplayable. I'd like to upgrade it a bit and see if she can play on her machine. Please DO NOT try and sell me a new computer! I know this one isn't a gaming rig, and it's a few years old, but I can't shell out a few hundred dollars for a new one.
It's a DELL with an AMD SemPron Processor LE-1250
It has a built-in graphics card: NVIDA GeForce 6150se nForce 430
2 GB of RAM
Obviously the first place to start is the RAM. I just bought another 2 GB on eBay for $20.
There is a video card slot, a PCI express 16 channel.
So MY QUESTION IS:
Can someone recommend a halfway decent video card that I cal plug into this slot? I'm NOT looking for cutting edge or latest model, I'm looking for something that's one or two generations old that I can pick up cheap but which will allow this machine to run CoH at an acceptable frame rate. (yeah yeah... I know... depends on your definition of the word acceptable... whatever). I know the processor is rather crappy, so I don't need something that's soooo much better it's like putting a $10,000 stereo into a $300 junker car. Ya know?
Any suggestions?
"OK, first of all... Shut Up." - My 13-Year-Old Daughter
29973 "The Running of the Bulls" [SFMA] - WINNER of the Mighty Big Story Arc Contest !
- The Stellar Wind Orbital Space Platform