My alienware is not that good...

[scoobydoo1988]

Ok you guys must be sick of these cpu and gpu help threads, im sorry, but I need help and you guys at TWC are the best so could yaul help me out with this 3 yr old alienware?
Latley ive been so confused with hardware jargon i feel like and then
I want to have a smoother m2tw experience just like everyone else, and my system is as follows.

->->->->
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500, 2.2GHZ
MEM: 2 gigs, DDR PC3200LL
VID: BFG Geforce FX 6800 Ultra 256MB
->->->->
What needs upgrading??
The sytem runs on high settings REALLY REALLY WELL!!............... untill I get more then 1000 men on the screen.
So what I think I need is a new graphics chip thats what ive been told, and sadly I think it only supports AGP, so PCI-E vid chips are out of the picture .
I could either buy a new motherboard or buy a better AGP graphics chip, and since i know nothing about this stuff, could yaul show me some really high-end AGP cards, would these give my system the boost it needs?

[danzig]

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500, 2.2GHZ
MEM: 2 gigs, DDR PC3200LL
VID: BFG Geforce FX 6800 Ultra 256MB
->->->->
What needs upgrading??
The sytem runs on high settings REALLY REALLY WELL!!............... untill I get more then 1000 men on the screen.
So what I think I need is a new graphics chip thats what ive been told, and sadly I think it only supports AGP, so PCI-E vid chips are out of the picture .
I could either buy a new motherboard or buy a better AGP graphics chip, and since i know nothing about this stuff, could yaul show me some really high-end AGP cards, would these give my system the boost it needs?

You could upgrade to 7800 GT for AGP slot which is really the only thing you could upgrade that would help any. Whether you want to spend the 200+ dollars on a card that ultimately is going to be replaced when you DO upgrade for real though depends on whether you have money to burn Personally Id just turn down some details or resolution then spend money on the card or look to replace the motherboard to PCI-E and video card.

[scoobydoo1988]

Hmm.. I dont know nething about mtoherboards though or this vista stuff?
I wouldent mind buying the card even if it will beoutdated as long as it would dramaticaly increase my performance. would it ?

[Selahedîn]

My honest advice to you is this: try finding a good deal on a 7600GT AGP.
It's a really nice GPU, obviously good enough for MTW2, and it really isn't that expensive.

I bought one the other day and I am able to run the game incredibly well, even with high settings + all shader 2 options turned on.

On the other hand, I also have a Core 2 Duo processor, but since you already have a pretty good CPU and more than enough RAM, I'm guessing a 7600 GT would satisfy your gaming needs rather well.
There is no need for you to spend a fortune on a large upgrade, with a system like that!
Hope that helped.

[scoobydoo1988]

Selahedîn thats what I really want to do, and it sounds promising but are you totaly sure that my cpu would allow that chip to boost my performance, cuz if u are i will no doubt upgrade. Oh and yaull at this forum are definitley the best thanx for being so quick to help!! Kudos

[Selahedîn]

Selahedîn thats what I really want to do, and it sounds promising but are you totaly sure that my cpu would allow that chip to boost my performance, cuz if u are i will no doubt upgrade. Oh and yaull at this forum are definitley the best thanx for being so quick to help!! Kudos

Actually my best friend's specs are something like this:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+
RAM: 2 GB Kingston DDR3200
GPU: Geforce 7600GT

The only real difference between our PCs is the CPU and he's able to run the game almost as well as I can!
In other words, with your current CPU & RAM + the AGP Geforce 7600GT I really can't see why you should have any trouble playing this game with medium/high settings.

[scoobydoo1988]

Ok well im definitley going to buy this card, but could you give me it's full name, how much it cost you?
Oh, and when you or you're friend play the m2tw demo hae you tryed with like 120 men in each unit, how does it run then?fps?
oops i meant that card saladhei mentioned, the 7600GT AGP thing.. if that is the best agp card i could get now, how long would it take for tha x1500 u mentioned to come out for AGP?

[Shaun]

Ok you guys must be sick of these cpu and gpu help threads, im sorry, but I need help and you guys at TWC are the best so could yaul help me out with this 3 yr old alienware?
Latley ive been so confused with hardware jargon i feel like and then
I want to have a smoother m2tw experience just like everyone else, and my system is as follows.

->->->->
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500, 2.2GHZ
MEM: 2 gigs, DDR PC3200LL
VID: BFG Geforce FX 6800 Ultra 256MB
->->->->
What needs upgrading??
The sytem runs on high settings REALLY REALLY WELL!!............... untill I get more then 1000 men on the screen.
So what I think I need is a new graphics chip thats what ive been told, and sadly I think it only supports AGP, so PCI-E vid chips are out of the picture .
I could either buy a new motherboard or buy a better AGP graphics chip, and since i know nothing about this stuff, could yaul show me some really high-end AGP cards, would these give my system the boost it needs?

Well once it slows down then hust go to medium settings, thats still a very good PC even for todays standards. But if you can afford a new PC then you might as well buy one, but dont feel pressured into buying one, you dont need to upgrade yet, that system is still good.

On to a possible upgrade, it seems that the whole thing will need upgraded due to compatability, the new Athlons use AM2 (which means DDR2 RAM) and the new and better Core 2's use sky 775, your mobo is 939, you can probably find a good 4800 X2 (X2 means dual core) skt 939 for just over $200, which is excelent. Although you might want to go Core 2 if you have the money, although this means a new mobo and RAM as well. There is no point in going Athlon AM2 if you want a total overhaul then go Core 2, if you want a quick fix then get a 4800X2 skt 939.

For a GPU, well there aint much in the AGP market anymore, the best I seen was a 7800GS, but it was very expensive. You might find an X850XT AGP, or a 7600GT AGP.

But really, you would be better going to medium settings and waiting until your PC is obsolete before you get a major overhaul.

[scoobydoo1988]

Yes good point I probably should wait, but youre saying I could buy a new intel MOB for 200 or more that would allow me to use the cpi-e graphics chips? Im confused could u explain that again, sorry, I am really trully retarded when it comes to this stuff... :tooth:

[OTZ]

Your CPU and RAM are fine - as Selahedîn has stated. What I would suggest is in terms of a new GPU, is wait until the X1950pro is released for AGP mobos. It'll probbaly be the best buy, it'll be top of the line, and it will fit quite well in your current system.

[Cadmium77]

Ok you guys must be sick of these cpu and gpu help threads, im sorry, but I need help and you guys at TWC are the best so could yaul help me out with this 3 yr old alienware?
Latley ive been so confused with hardware jargon i feel like and then
I want to have a smoother m2tw experience just like everyone else, and my system is as follows.

->->->->
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500, 2.2GHZ
MEM: 2 gigs, DDR PC3200LL
VID: BFG Geforce FX 6800 Ultra 256MB
->->->->
What needs upgrading??
The sytem runs on high settings REALLY REALLY WELL!!............... untill I get more then 1000 men on the screen.
So what I think I need is a new graphics chip thats what ive been told, and sadly I think it only supports AGP, so PCI-E vid chips are out of the picture .
I could either buy a new motherboard or buy a better AGP graphics chip, and since i know nothing about this stuff, could yaul show me some really high-end AGP cards, would these give my system the boost it needs?

AGP; there is your problem...you need at least a PCI Epress motherboard or the newest latest ones that surpass PCIEx...I forget what it's called..that's the big limiting factor there...

[OTZ]

AGP is not necessarily a problem, or "the" problem. Most of the time it's $$$.

[PyrrhusIV]

My alienware is not that good...

Already knew that company was terrible.....

CPU: AMD Athlon, 2.2GHZ

That is your problem. I would kill for a 6800 to replace my X800 right now....if it was free. I think the Processor is your trouble. Shaun said it is skt 939, and he is correct. I would reccomend getting a better processor, your GPU is still decent.

it is the processor which is lacking in power. Now of course, a better GPU would help, but go for a Proc...... just my opinion.... better than spending money on a GPU right now....

[scoobydoo1988]

Ok so I should upgrade my gpu. I think that the main problem is the gpu because when I went into the Nvidia console and set all the settings to full, antialisng, antistrphic, and performance, I then played m2tw and experinced a dramatic decrease in fps. Since my processor is a 3500 AMD it runs equivalent to a 3.5 ghz intel.
Oh and it is a 939 so i should upgrade gpu i think then

[PyrrhusIV]

Well, RTW atleast, was more CPU intensive than GPU intensive. No, it is not good to compare AMD to intel by ghz alone... a 1.8 ghz AM2 will perform like a 3.0ghz Northwood Intel.... They use different management systems... but lets not get into those specifics.......

I'm gonna say your processor is the issue.

Your GPU had a problem, because you set everything to absolute highest, and only "god" cards, like the X1950XTX can take that much punishment and display good FPS.

I would reccomend one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ubCategory=343

You could get a dual-core... probably should.... but i'm just preparing you for the Vista upgrade time......

If you do want dual core though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ubCategory=343

[Selahedîn]

Having a dual-core surely helps, but it's not a necessity.
Like I've said before, I've seen an Athlon 64 3500+ CPU running all of the demo's battles extremely well (and no it wasn't overclocked).

Is it really necessary to spend a lot of $ on a decent new motherboard just to change your CPU? Probably not, especially when your old GPU would just bottleneck the Hell out of your new state-of-the-art dual-core CPU!

It's all about balance, you have a good CPU, good RAM and a bad (in my opinion) GPU.
You should be buying a good GPU to make things balanced (Good-Good-Good), not buying an incredible CPU and ending up with an AMAZING-good-bad combo!

EDIT: MTW2 is a very demanding game in terms of CPU yes, everyone knows that, but it's probably not the only game you play and if you really don't want to spend a lot of $ on a full upgrade and are really just looking to balance your PC a bit and moderately increase your performance I believe you shouldn't be looking at dual-core CPUs and such, at least not until the time comes when you DO need a major upgrade.

The prices on the currently available dual-core CPUs and high-end PCI-Express GPUs will fall quickly, trust me, new technologies will obviously appear as well, and when they do you can start thinking about getting a motherboard that supports such features, for now, you should be more than fine with a small balanced upgrade.
This assuming you feel the need to upgrade at all, which you probably do, MTW2 does that to us all!

[Aristocrat]

Here is my advice, do some research, and when you understand what you are talking about and asking, come back and ask our opinion.

I say this because:
1) Of course having your Anti Aliasing and AS settings at full will cause lag on a game that is so new, it hasn't even been released yet, these settings make the graphics completely smooth and non-jagged, this takes a huge amount of Video Processing power, if you want to have Full everything be prepared to dish out a lot of money.
2) Your processor could (in my opinion) do with an upgrade. I have that processor, it was faily good 2 years ago when I bought it, not top of the line, but a middle of the pack runner, so now it is not so good, an upgrade is in order if you want the best, again be prepared to pay through your nose however.
(Note: My processor is faster though as I have overclocked it).
3)The RTW battle engine, on which M2TW battles are also based, is a real cpu killer, it uses the cpu to the max, so once you have a graphics card that can handle the graphics settings you are playing on, your cpu will determine how many men you can have on the field.

4)Your graphics card, like your cpu, was a good card two years ago (top of the line actually IIRC), now it has been left behind, you can play last years games on full settings easily, and you should be able to play M2TW on high settings (I have a 6800GT...overclocked past Ultra speeds though), but you are at the stage now where future games will leave your hardware behind.

And now last and most important (and perhaps only) point.

5)Sure you can upgrade your computer, but guess what, 1 year from now it will still be obsolete, the new Unreal engine, and other new next-gen engines on which new games will be based on, and the release of vista with directx10 will mean you have spent the money for something that gets you about 6 months of enjoyment before you start getting that irritating feeling that your computer is limiting your enjoyment of a game again.

So my question is this. Can you afford to throw away $500-750 on a short-term upgrade....and still start from scratch next year, and if you can afford it are you still happy to do so? If you are happy to throw your money at a short term upgrade then thats fine, you will enjoy M2TW, but games after that will leave you behind., until you shell out another $2000-3000 for a top of the line computer.

If you cant afford to do both however, (IE if you are getting the money from your parents or have been saving up for this for ages) then I'd say save your money, bite the bullet and somehow bare to run M2TW on only high settings and not full.

On another note...try updating your video card drivers for better performance if you haven't upgraded them recently.

[Arakorn]

I don't understand, that system is a monster! Has any of you seen the price of the 6800 Ultra? It was higher than 7800GT when it came out!

[scoobydoo1988]

That is your problem. I would kill for a 6800 to replace my X800 right now....if it was free. I think the Processor is your trouble. Shaun said it is skt 939, and he is correct. I would reccomend getting a better processor, your GPU is still decent.

it is the processor which is lacking in power. Now of course, a better GPU would help, but go for a Proc...... just my opinion.... better than spending money on a GPU right now....

My cpu will run equivalent to 3.5ghz to intel right, shoudlent that be enough for M2TW on high? Cuz thats what everyone else seems to have around. However is there a way i could test it to see if changing which one (GPU or CPU), would yield the best results.?


Also what about overclocking, that would boost my cpu right, and alienware supplied the comp with enough cooling to cryogenicaly freeze a small cat. I know how to do it but I dont know how to get the right combos of voltage and cpu balancing. The highest ive got it to run succesfuly was only at 2.8ghz barely .6 ghz more then before. And even then it wouldent run M2TW, it just froze.

[John I Tzimisces]

I have a very similar system according to the specs you have provided...my only difference is that I have an ati x800XL 256 MB.
What resolution do you play at? This can often have a big effect, and in all honesty unless you're crazy about clarity it isn't necessary to have it set higher than your monitor. Even so, playing games at home (19 inch monitor) is a little laggier than at school (I have a 17 inch here). Don't worry about your AMD 3500+. Its a good processor, I use, I can play a ton of games on full settings (MTW2 demo is not included, I absolutely cannot play that game on all highest settings. Play around with reflections and AA on and off.

(also, I don't overclock. Why? Whats the bloody point in making your processor go .5 gHz faster? I guess it was cool back when everyone had <1 gHz processors and you could practically double your clock speed...but now...whats the point?)