mobear Posted September 27, 2002 Share Posted September 27, 2002 My System: 1) AMD Athlon 800MHz 2) GeForce 256 w. 32mb (updated drivers last night) 3) 256mb RAM (if you need to know what kind of RAM, you need to tell me how to find out) 4) Windows 98SE Problem: Choppy scrolling with the larger scenarios, computer locks up with some of the operations (ok, I kind of expected that). Solution: ?? Question: Would I get a substantial performance boost with a 64mb video card? Would a 128mb card be worth it, considering my system? Assuming a new videocard is in order, which one(s)? [ September 26, 2002, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: mobear ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malakovski Posted September 27, 2002 Share Posted September 27, 2002 I don't know whether CM leans more on the processor or the video card. I suspect mainly video for the playback, but an Athlon 1.4 GHz CPU can now be had for $53...if your motherboard can support it that would give you a performance boost on everything. For video cards, choice is easy: GeForce4 4200 for about $120 or GeForce3 Ti200, seen it on sale for $75 before. Both will give you great performance. [ September 26, 2002, 10:38 PM: Message edited by: Malakovski ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeWary Posted October 1, 2002 Share Posted October 1, 2002 To answer your questions: Your video card is old and cannot handle large scenarios well. A faster card, as suggested above, would do the trick. As for the locking up, that shouldn't happen just because your computer is a little old. Are you talking about a complete system/game freeze or just a few second pause? Do other games freeze on you? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Jones Posted October 1, 2002 Share Posted October 1, 2002 I think if you put your RAM up to 512mb and got a 64mb video card that would help. I have the ATI Raedon 8500 video card. It is pretty smooth in this game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobear Posted October 2, 2002 Author Share Posted October 2, 2002 Originally posted by BeWary: As for the locking up, that shouldn't happen just because your computer is a little old. Are you talking about a complete system/game freeze or just a few second pause? Do other games freeze on you?[/QB]Ctrl-Alt-Delete shows the game to be "Not Responding", so it's a complete lock-up. This does not happen with any other programs/games. And again, I've only seen this happen with the largest ten-battle operation. This is not a pressing issue at this time. I'll see if the problem is fixed once I upgrade. Yeah, I guess I'm looking at buying a 64mb or 128mb card. In addition to a new video card, I also have the option of upgrading my 800MHz processor to a 1GHz processor, since the mainboard will accept it. Should I do that, or bring my RAM from 256 to 512? Which would be more important? [ October 02, 2002, 11:39 AM: Message edited by: mobear ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeWary Posted October 2, 2002 Share Posted October 2, 2002 The video card is the most important upgrade. I've read that 128MB doesn't do you any good with the current crop of games out there, so it's your call. I'm sure somewhere down the road it would make a difference. The Geforce4 Ti4200 would be my suggestion for price/performance reasons. The processor upgrade would make a difference, but probably not enough to justify the cost of a new processor. 256MB of RAM is probably ok, especially for Win98. You don't need more unless you get disk thrashing during gameplay (which means Windows doesn't have enough RAM and is using your hard disk as virtual RAM). This issue doesn't affect CM as far as I know because graphics are loaded at the beginning of the scenario. So more RAM won't increase your gameplay speed. As for that lockup issue. If it's only CM and only in that operation you mentioned, it's most likely a bug in CM related to very large operations or a bug in the operation itself. I wouldn't worry about your machine. BeWary [ October 02, 2002, 01:04 PM: Message edited by: BeWary ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobear Posted October 3, 2002 Author Share Posted October 3, 2002 Originally posted by BeWary: The Geforce4 Ti4200 would be my suggestion for price/performance reasons. The processor upgrade would make a difference, but probably not enough to justify the cost of a new processor. 256MB of RAM is probably ok, especially for Win98. BeWary[/QB]Thanks BeWary, you're being very helpful. I will take your advice. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeWary Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 You're welcome. And thanks for saying thanks. Most people never respond, whether you've helped them or not. It's nice to know that at least I'm sometimes helpful. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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