Help with computer/lag issues- or possibly reccommend new computer

[Kareena]

So I have serious lag- I mean worse than most people.

Harry can be dead for you- he is still on my screen at 10-20%. Mainly I have lag in raids.

I went VIP again to see if maybe being on their VIP server would help- and no it doesn't. I want to enjoy being on ddo. I want to know if I need to just buy a new computer or if something like, updating a video card would fix it. Or maybe I need to update settings in game. If its a new computer- what do I need to look for for DDO to run smoothly.

FYI: I usually run JUST ddo- no messenger, firefox etc up- and I still have lag. alot.
I have turned off blob shadows, all shadows, all combat/heal/dice roll messages.
Occasionally I can do a raid without serious lag; but thats only like 15% of the time.
I constantly do disk clean up/defrag once a week/ and uninstall old things I dont play anymore. I try to keep my computer as clean as possible.

Here are my laptop specs:

Component Details Subscore Base score
Processor AMD Sempron(tm) SI-42 4.1

Memory (RAM) 3.00 GB 4.5
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G 3.2
Gaming graphics 1407 MB Total available graphics memory 3.9
Primary hard disk 79GB Free (139GB Total) 5.3
Windows Vista (TM) Home Basic

System
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
Model Compaq Presario CQ60 Notebook PC
Total amount of system memory 3.00 GB RAM
System type 32-bit operating system
Number of processor cores 1
64-bit capable Yes

Storage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total size of hard disk(s) 149 GB
Disk partition (C 79 GB Free (139 GB Total)
Disk partition (D 2 GB Free (10 GB Total)
Media drive (E CD/DVD

Graphics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter type NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G
Total available graphics memory 1407 MB
Dedicated graphics memory 256 MB
Dedicated system memory 0 MB
Shared system memory 1151 MB
Display adapter driver version 8.15.11.8644
Primary monitor resolution 1280x768
DirectX version DirectX 10


Thanks for any insight you can give me.

[mystafyi]

sadly, both the cpu and onboard video isnt quite up to the task of playing graphics lag-free ;(

can you upgrade the cpu? very unlikely(depends if the socket is generation 1 or 2, even then the best you could get would be a 2 core)

can you upgrade the video? no

best option is to replace whole unit.

the next question is do you want/need a laptop or desktop? whats your price range? finally how computer savvy are you? (can you install components/build from scratch?)

[Kareena]

best option is to replace whole unit.

the next question is do you want/need a laptop or desktop? whats your price range? finally how computer savvy are you? (can you install components/build from scratch?)

That's pretty much what I thought; I understand its hard to upgrade laptops. Or rather its costs about the same in labor/parts as it wold to replace. heh

I like having a laptop; but financially a desktop would prob be a better option and I can always keep my laptop for travel anyway. I say desktop b/c you can usually find with the same stuff desktops are cheaper.

Max I can spend is $1000. Prefer less. Sorry I know I'm cheap. What can I get for that? And not very computer *hardware* savvy. Lets say I could figure out how to install more memory in a desktop but that's about it. (did that once a long time ago)


Edit:
Would something like this work alright?


Or anything in their gamer's section?

[MartinusWyllt]

If you're wanting a new computer anyway, then nevermind what I'm going to suggest.

You did already try a clean reinstall of the client?

Your router/modem is working just fine?

I had a similar condition and a new router (replacing one that was actually dying, not just to troubleshoot a connection problem) plus a fresh install of the client cleared everything up.

As far as computers go I do like having this hp touchsmart tm2 tablet, cost right at $1000. The family computer is a touchsmart desktop from a couple of years ago, great fun with the kids and both run the high res client just fine.

[mystafyi]

ok looked at your link. the i3-2100 isnt a bad cpu for that price. the only thing that concerns me is the graphics. Intel HD2000 graphics isnt terrible, dont get me wrong. but it just doesnt provide great frame per second like the HD3000 does. Sure it will be a vast improvement compared to your current system.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883227261
found this at newegg, i like it cuz it has a nvidia graphics cards( personally i dislike the ati radeons because of driver headaches, compatability issues with flash10.2xxx and vsync issues). its an am3 motherboard allowing a fair bit of cpu upgrade if desired. 700watt power supply to handle any future upgrades. (newer cpu/motherboards can draw 100watts alone, graphics cards can also draw upwards of 100watts... always better to have moar power then less)
plus its approx the same price as the one you linked

EDIT: on another note, you could get the i3-2100 and at some point buy a decent graphics card for 50-90$ and hit 100fps easy .... just a thought. I do like the i3-2100 based system. the only issue i have is not able to find out the power supply wattage. sometimes they still use <400watt psu ;/

So either option *could* involve upgrades at a later date. ofc the i3 upgrade would just be inserting a video card, where the phenom would involve messing with cpu.

both systems would still provide 20+ fps in raid/heavy graphics instances.

[NaturalMystik]

IMO that's a fine machine. My laptop's specs are about half of what yours is and it sounds like your lag is much worse than mine. Are you using wi-fi or a hard wired internet connection? If your using wi-fi, perhaps plugging in might help. Have you made any tweaks on the 'trouble shooting' settings page? You might want to try turning down your engine and frames per second to see if that helps at all.

[mystafyi]

IMO that's a fine machine.

Not to be a jerk, but the hp compaq presario cq60-419wm retails for under 300$. sure its more then capable of web browsing, word-processing, photo-viewing, TV-streaming, and DVD-playing, it cannot handle gaming. the 8200M graphics is basically a nerfed 9100M.

If you are actually playing on a machine half that powerful... <snip> dont wanna go there.

[NaturalMystik]

Not to be a jerk, but the hp compaq presario cq60-419wm retails for under 300$. sure its more then capable of web browsing, word-processing, photo-viewing, TV-streaming, and DVD-playing, it cannot handle gaming. the 8200M graphics is basically a nerfed 9100M.

If you are actually playing on a machine half that powerful... <snip> dont wanna go there.

LOL - well I can't really comment on that specific machine. I know that HP tends to make pretty budget machines, but the specs sound like it should have more than enough juice. I would think that 3 gigs ram and a 256mb video card should be more than enough to run DDO on low settings. I'm running a Toshiba Qosmio g15 with a gig and a half of ram and a 128mb GeForce Go 6600 video card. In its day it was a hot laptop, and for me it runs DDO adequately, sure I dream of cranking all my graphics settings up one day but until then it does the trick.... I'm a tweaker though and make my livin' from fixing computers and building multimedia apps so maybe I'm a little better at pushing the limits of older hardware... Just sayin...

[Kareena]

I am currently reinstalling the game as we speak; It's taken about 2 hrs- grrr. But only has 10 mins left- yay!

I will update this post if it helps at all. But more than likely within the next month I will just get a new computer. I think I've decided on this one.(the previously linked one)

You said it should be fairly easy to upgrade the graphics later if I want to right? Is there anything else you recommend I look into upgrading at a later point?


And yes... I got my current one about 2 yrs ago for $350... Meh. And it does what he is saying; fine for everything else *except* gaming. I will be keeping it to open maps/puzzle solvers/etc while playing ddo and for travel.


Thanks for your help and advice!

[mystafyi]

You said it should be fairly easy to upgrade the graphics later if I want to right? Is there anything else you recommend I look into upgrading at a later point?

graphics cards are fairly simple to install. before you decide on one in the future, check your power supply wattage to insure it can handle the draw. this is easily accomplished by opening computer and reading the label on the powersupply
power requirement vary between different cards so no need to go into that now.
gl

[SilkofDrasnia]

if u want really good advice on a new pc forget these forums and go to MMORPG in the forums, go to hardware forums and post there. if u want a new system post all info related like budget n what u plan on using pc for etc .

get advice from Quizzical and Ridelynn they'll get u best system for best price. helll just read some of the other threads there and youll fast see they know what they are talking about