Why won't game play smoothly?

[shays47]

I have just bought tomb raider underworld on pc, and have installed it with no problems. However, when i play the game, the game is not smooth, as it stutters.
According to system requirements on the box, it states the following (my pc specs are in brackets) :

PROCESSOR : PENTIUM 4 3.0GHZ (INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q8300 2.5GHZ 1333MHZ)

WINDOWS : XP/VISTA/WINDOWS 7 (WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM 64)

RAM : 1GB FOR XP, 2GB FOR VISTA/WIN 7 minimum (4GB DDR2)

VIDEO CARD : 256MB INCLUDING SHADER MODEL 3 minimum (MY GRAPHICS IS NVIDIA 7100 INTEGRATED, BUT 256MB DEDICATED)

PLEASE HELP

 

[shays47]

I have just bought tomb raider underworld on pc, and have installed it with no problems. However, when i play the game, the game is not smooth, as it stutters.
According to system requirements on the box, it states the following (my pc specs are in brackets) :

PROCESSOR : PENTIUM 4 3.0GHZ (INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q8300 2.5GHZ 1333MHZ)

WINDOWS : XP/VISTA/WINDOWS 7 (WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM 64)

RAM : 1GB FOR XP, 2GB FOR VISTA/WIN 7 minimum (4GB DDR2)

VIDEO CARD : 256MB INCLUDING SHADER MODEL 3 minimum (MY GRAPHICS IS NVIDIA 7100 INTEGRATED, BUT 256MB DEDICATED)

PLEASE HELP - do i need new graphics card, and what could you recommend to fit in a packard bell ixtreme x5620uk pc, without having to change psu.

 

[razor512]

your videocard is very low end. for that game. the 7100 is slower than most intel videocards also.

if possible, are you able to get a new videocard?

(I tried the game, didn't really like it, and even though the graphics are not very good, it can still be taxing on the videocard)

I recommend at least a nvidia GTS 250 or a radeon HD 4850. Don't go any lower because if you are getting a new card, you at least want something that can handle every current game smoothly and at max settings, PS with a new videocard you will also get hardware acceleration with flash videos

 

[shays47]

your videocard is very low end. for that game. the 7100 is slower than most intel videocards also.

if possible, are you able to get a new videocard?

i could, but ideally i do not want to replace the psu, as the pc is only 2 months old. I don't want to invalidate the warranty, and so, i would more than likely ask pc world to do it, as if something does go wrong, then it will still be covered.

 

[razor512]

i could, but ideally i do not want to replace the psu, as the pc is only 2 months old. I don't want to invalidate the warranty, and so, i would more than likely ask pc world to do it, as if something does go wrong, then it will still be covered.

k so can you describe the lag?

I have not tried that game on a system with a videocard that low end but based on the charactics of the lag, I will be able to have an idea of what is causing most of the lag (if the lag is constant and only goes away or at least reduces when you are looking at the floor or the sky then it is the videocard, but if it is normally laggy but with larger lag spikes every few seconds then it is most likely a running process in the background. Microsoft has a pretty good guide for troubleshooting this kind of problem http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;331796

if you have a very small power supply (eg 300 watts) and you don't have the money to replace the PSU and videocard, then you can go with a nvidia radeon HD 4670 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150450&cm_re=hd4670-_-14-150-450-_-Product

if the PC has a sticker that rips when you try to open the case, then you will have to very carefully remove it enough to open the case (if you pull very slowly the sticker wont rip, and if the system has no sticker then the company wont know if you tampered with it or not)

 

[shays47]

k so can you describe the lag?

I have not tried that game on a system with a videocard that low end but based on the charactics of the lag, I will be able to have an idea of what is causing most of the lag (if the lag is constant and only goes away or at least reduces when you are looking at the floor or the sky then it is the videocard, but if it is normally laggy but with larger lag spikes every few seconds then it is most likely a running process in the background. Microsoft has a pretty good guide for troubleshooting this kind of problem http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;331796

if you have a very small power supply (eg 300 watts) and you don't have the money to replace the PSU and videocard, then you can go with a nvidia radeon HD 4670 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150450&cm_re=hd4670-_-14-150-450-_-Product

if the PC has a sticker that rips when you try to open the case, then you will have to very carefully remove it enough to open the case (if you pull very slowly the sticker wont rip, and if the system has no sticker then the company wont know if you tampered with it or not)

the game in general is slow, and stuttering, even with the detail set to lowest setting. when the initial menu comes up it is fine, but once i start the game, and anything after that the response is slow.

 

[razor512]

if the lag is very consistent and there also other signs such as slow response to the mouse input, the videocard is too slow and theres not much you can do to improve performance (PS overclocking in a case like this wont help either), you need a new videocard.

PS you should be allowed to open the pc case as it is generally good practice to clean the case out every 2 months or so, especially if you have a CPU that gives off a lot of heat. in many cases when I repair computers for others, I will see many systems (store bought) and they will be complaining that it is slow (generally due to the infections but even then there will be another problem, the CPU clock speeds jumping all over the place (due to the CPU heatsink being almost completely clogged with dust and a ton of throttling is happening

also many of the companies will include instructions on hot to add things like pci cards and cd drives and other basic components (a company wont offer instructions to do something that voids their warranty so it should be safe for you to upgrade)

also if the system has like a 1 year warranty, if the system survived this long it will last through to year

 

[number13]

you have a basic display adapter, if you want to play games get a good video card, as far as the warranty, well wait till it runs out, and then replace the PSU and GPU

 

[number13]

you need to replace the basic display adapter with a real video card that supports graphic intensive games, GTX260+ or better

 

[Herr_Koos]

Integrated GPU's are mostly useless when it comes to gaming. Buy yourself a proper video card.

 

[LePhuronn]

Radeon 5770 - hundred bucks and you're done.

 

[dakotablues1]

Your PSU rating is inside the case on the side of the unit. Odds are good that if a quad=core was installed at factory, you will have at least a 450watt psu. That is more than enough to run a hd 4830 or a gt9600 PCIe card. If it is an HP or Dell product, you SHHhhooulld have a PCIe slot. either of the cards I mentioned won't set you back much, under a bill. BTW the manufacturer warranty will NOT be voided if you open the case. change out ram install a video card. It just means don't break anything, change motherboard, HDD, or CPU. That is what is figured in as their original configuration. Good luck

 

[isamuelson]

I think his question was already answered in another post -> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/104550-13-game-play-smoothly

Definitely, the integrated video card is junk.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This next topics has been merged by Mousemonkey
■ WHY CAN'T I PLAY TOMB RAIDER UNDERWORLD PROPERLY?