Penny Arcade Forums› Help / Advice Forum
The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.

Underperforming computer?

badger2dbadger2d San FranciscoRegistered User regular
edited January 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
I'm not up-to-date at all with the nuances of hardware specs. I have the following computer:

AMD Athlon 64x2 4000+ 2.10 Ghz
2 GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce 7300LE (128 MB, I think)
Windows Vista SP2

...on which I would like to run Dawn of War 2, but it is completely unplayable. Even the main menu screen runs slower than a turtle in a tar pit. This is so despite the fact that as far as I can see, these specs are a little better than the minimum reqs, although certainly short of recommended. The late computer on which I used to play was point-for-point the minimum specs, and it was playable on lowest settings and did not slow down on the startup screen.

Here are the DoW 2 reqs:

Minimum Requirements
* Windows XP SP2
or Windows Vista SP1
* P4 3.2 GHz (single core) or any Dual Core processor
* 1 GB RAM (XP), 1.5 GB RAM (Vista)
* A 128MB Video Card (Shader Model 3) - Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT / ATI X1600, or equivalent
* 5.5 GB of Hard Drive space

Recommended
* Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista SP1
* AMD Athlon 64×2 4400+ or any Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2 GB RAM (XP and Vista)
* A 256MB Video Card (Shader Model 3) - Nvidia GeForce 7800 GT / ATI X1900, or equivalent
* 5.5 GB of Hard Drive space

Any ideas of what I'm not understanding here would be appreciated.

Blizzard: Symphony #1704
Steam: badger2d
badger2d on

Posts

  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    It's not all about specs. Have you been into the DoW2 customization settings, if there are any? Like, are you insisting that it be run at the maximum resolution your computer can handle? See how it runs in 800x600, then 1024x768, etc. Turn off anti-aliasing, try turning down shadows/lighting, maybe turn off vsync. I have no idea if it actually has options for these.

    UncleSporky on
    Switch Friend Code: SW - 5443 - 2358 - 9118 || 3DS Friend Code: 0989 - 1731 - 9504 || NNID: unclesporky
  • illigillig Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    i'd upgrade that PC if i were you... a better vid card and some ram (get some used stuff on forums), and you'll be good to go

    illig on
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Your video card is worthless. If your previous card really was the minimum (6600GT) put that back in your computer. Higher numbers on a video card's name make it better like more pages in a book make it better.

    TychoCelchuuu on
  • 1ddqd1ddqd Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Yeah the 7300LE is not nearly as competent as the 6600GT. I assume we're talking AGP, given the processor and model of Video Card. If so, get the one of the ATI 4000 series AGP cards: http://tinyurl.com/ydxrr7f

    1ddqd on
  • FantasmaFantasma Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Try replacing Windows Vista with Windows XP service pack 2/3. Also, run an optimization wizard such as

    http://www.totalidea.com/product.php?Product=Tweak-XP

    If you still cannot play the game in low settings, a faster processor and better video card is the possible solution.

    Fantasma on
    Hear my warnings, unbelievers. We have raised altars in this land so that we may sacrifice you to our gods. There is no hope in opposing the inevitable. Put down your arms, unbelievers, and bow before the forces of Chaos!
  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    It's your video card. The 6600GT is better than the 7300LE.

    tsmvengy on
    steam_sig.png
  • badger2dbadger2d San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    edited January 2010
    TychoCelchuuu wrote: »
    Your video card is worthless. If your previous card really was the minimum (6600GT) put that back in your computer. Higher numbers on a video card's name make it better like more pages in a book make it better.

    :lol:

    Good to know, and nicely put.

    The old card was the ATI X1600, but I can't just toss that back in. The computer it belonged to was an iMac. I hear that even if you open those up, everything's soldered together in there.

    The rig in the OP is my wife's. I was hoping that maybe I could tweak something to make do with it for a bit while I figure out what I'm going to do about replacing my own, but I'm not really surprised to instead learn a lesson about what's what in video cards.

    badger2d on
    Blizzard: Symphony #1704
    Steam: badger2d
  • DmanDman Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    If you google video card comparison the first result is a handy site that lets you compare the specs of video cards side by side.

    There are lots of subtleties that are lost and more serious analysts compares in game performance of popular cards with popular games on a standardized setup but for some quick raw comparison you can check the texture fill rates.

    1880 MTexels/sec on the ATi Mobility Radeon X1600

    4000 MTexels/sec on the nVidia GeForce 6600 GT AGP

    For comparison a popular card (although now "old") is the nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB which fills textures at 41600 MTexels/sec.

    And I agree that it's unfortunate that the naming convention for video cards is pretty much "whatever the fuck they want to call it". My gf looked at the requirements for a game she was thinking of getting me for Christmas, went cross eyed, and decided since I bought a new computer recently enough I'd be fine.

    Dman on
Sign In or Register to comment.
Penny Arcade Forums› Help / Advice Forum