Computer Upgrade for Morrowind Performance

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

Horton Mammal wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I need some PC advice. I have a Duron 800 with 256 MB of Ram and an MSI
> FX5200 - 128 vid card.
>
> Just got Morrowind and it is slow. I'm getting 10 - 15 FPS outside in the
> starting town at 1024 x 768 with the view distance at about 1/2. I just got
> the new vid card, before that the game was only barely playable, about 5 FPS
> at 640 x 480 (TNT-2 M64).
>
> I can eiher buy a Duron 1.4 (fastest chip my old mobo will take) or another
> 256 MB Ram with this months toy budget. Which will give me a better
> performance boost, more CPU or more RAM.
>
> Any other performance hints?
>
> thanks
>
> HM
>
>
wich OS are you using?

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

"twbms" <twbms@localhost.spam> wrote in message
news:51346$40a45b2e$d549fd22$4340@news.multikabel.nl...
> Horton Mammal wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I need some PC advice. I have a Duron 800 with 256 MB of Ram and an MSI
> > FX5200 - 128 vid card.
> >
> > Just got Morrowind and it is slow. I'm getting 10 - 15 FPS outside in
the
> > starting town at 1024 x 768 with the view distance at about 1/2. I just
got
> > the new vid card, before that the game was only barely playable, about 5
FPS
> > at 640 x 480 (TNT-2 M64).
> >
> > I can eiher buy a Duron 1.4 (fastest chip my old mobo will take) or
another
> > 256 MB Ram with this months toy budget. Which will give me a better
> > performance boost, more CPU or more RAM.
> >
> > Any other performance hints?
> >
> > thanks
> >
> > HM
> >
> >
> wich OS are you using?

Win XP Pro

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

Horton Mammal wrote:
<snip>
>>>I can eiher buy a Duron 1.4 (fastest chip my old mobo will take) or
>
> another
>
>>>256 MB Ram with this months toy budget. Which will give me a better
>>>performance boost, more CPU or more RAM.
>>>
>>>Any other performance hints?
>>>
>>>thanks
>>>
>>>HM
>>>
>>>
>>
>>wich OS are you using?
>
>
> Win XP Pro
>
>

hmm, seeing you can only buy 1 of either 2.. i suggest a new CPU.
I heard from a friend that the 1400 of AMD produces a lot of heat, so
you might wanne reconcider getting a slightly slower cpu then that.

Best solution would be to get more mem and a beter CPU.
But then it would be wiser to invest in to a newer system.
Mostly since there are a lot of bottle necks in your system.
I gues you got a 2x or 4x speed AGP bus, FX 5200 can use 8x if i am
correct. this is just one example.

now don't think you need to get a "whole" new system.
Depending on what you have you be fine with just a new mem+cpu+mainboard
and perhaps a new power supply unit.
Just going from your 800mhz system to a athlon XP 1800+ or 2000+ based
system will give you a lot of performance increase.

damn now i start to sound like a sales man.. :S

Just think about it for now.

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

"Horton Mammal" <Hmamal@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:10a8pf2t8g1u3ae@corp.supernews.com...
>
> "twbms" <twbms@localhost.spam> wrote in message
> news:51346$40a45b2e$d549fd22$4340@news.multikabel.nl...
> > Horton Mammal wrote:
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > I need some PC advice. I have a Duron 800 with 256 MB of Ram and an
MSI
> > > FX5200 - 128 vid card.
> > >
> > > Just got Morrowind and it is slow. I'm getting 10 - 15 FPS outside in
> the
> > > starting town at 1024 x 768 with the view distance at about 1/2. I
just
> got
> > > the new vid card, before that the game was only barely playable, about
5
> FPS
> > > at 640 x 480 (TNT-2 M64).
> > >
> > > I can eiher buy a Duron 1.4 (fastest chip my old mobo will take) or
> another
> > > 256 MB Ram with this months toy budget. Which will give me a better
> > > performance boost, more CPU or more RAM.
> > >
> > > Any other performance hints?
> > >
> > > thanks
> > >
> > > HM
> > >
> > >
> > wich OS are you using?
>
> Win XP Pro

Sounds to me like you may be running too much OS for what you have for a
system. My old CPU is an AMD K62, 466 mhz and 512 MB of RAM. Windows XP
professional will not run on it.

I'm a firm believer in upgrading RAM as high as it will go the moment I buy
a system. You may want to give that a try if you are looking for a temp
fix, but I just don't think that will do it all.

Seriously speaking, it looks like the time is nearing to buy a new system.
These days, with all of the package deals available for dirt cheap, it is
more cost effective to buy an entire system than to upgrade the one you
have. You can get something that is more than twice the machine you have
now for well under a grand. In fact, I'm guessing you could get by spending
about $500 given the assumption that you already have a printer and a
monitor.

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

Hi, Horton Mammal! This is a friendly line to let people know who I'm
talking to!

> Hi all,
>
> I need some PC advice. I have a Duron 800 with 256 MB of Ram and an
> MSI FX5200 - 128 vid card.
>
> Just got Morrowind and it is slow. I'm getting 10 - 15 FPS outside in
> the starting town at 1024 x 768 with the view distance at about 1/2. I
> just got the new vid card, before that the game was only barely
> playable, about 5 FPS at 640 x 480 (TNT-2 M64).
>
> I can eiher buy a Duron 1.4 (fastest chip my old mobo will take) or
> another 256 MB Ram with this months toy budget. Which will give me a
> better performance boost, more CPU or more RAM.
>
> Any other performance hints?

I'd save your toy budget, bear with the slowness a little longer, and put
enough money together to build a new system. I don't know what chipset
that msi video card is based on, but it should be enough, however your
processor and memory both need upgrading, and a duron 1.4 really isn't
going to cut it. Plus with CPU prices as cheap as they are right now,
there's no reason to go with a cut-rate processor like a duron or a
celeron. Take your toy budget, throw it in the bank, and save up for a
couple of months, and replace the board, the cpu, and the memory all at
once.



--
John Henry
www.lowgenius.com
I'm a damn stud, and a haircut isn't going to change that.
Remove the SPAMBLOCK and organize an orgy to reply by e-mail

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

"bryan k" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:10a9v5f4r6b6kcb@corp.supernews.com...
>
> Sounds to me like you may be running too much OS for what you have for a
> system. My old CPU is an AMD K62, 466 mhz and 512 MB of RAM. Windows XP
> professional will not run on it.
>
> I'm a firm believer in upgrading RAM as high as it will go the moment I
buy
> a system. You may want to give that a try if you are looking for a temp
> fix, but I just don't think that will do it all.
>
> Seriously speaking, it looks like the time is nearing to buy a new system.
> These days, with all of the package deals available for dirt cheap, it is
> more cost effective to buy an entire system than to upgrade the one you
> have. You can get something that is more than twice the machine you have
> now for well under a grand. In fact, I'm guessing you could get by
spending
> about $500 given the assumption that you already have a printer and a
> monitor.
>
Bryan's right. Windows XP is probably too much for your system. My husband
is running something around that and he can't use XP. Check out Dell's
website (unless you hate Dell--but I've had good luck with their systems in
terms of reliability). They always have great deals on both new and
refurbished systems. I'm looking for my husband right now so he can play
Far Cry. They had a 2.66 GHz Pentium 4 with both DVD and CD R/RW, 256 MB
RAM for around $500. That's just an example. Pretty cheap. That system,
with a video card upgrade and more RAM, will allow you to play Morrowind at
a smoking frame rate. My system allows that, and it's not nearly as good.

Dawn

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

Horton,
Make sure anti-aliasing is turned off.
Download and use the "Morrowind FPS Optimizer" found on
http://morrowind.nm.ru/Morrowind%20FPS%20Optimizer/

I'm getting 15 - 25 FPS outdoors with a Quadro FX 2000 video card
(1600x1200) with it, around 10 FPS without.



On Thu, 13 May 2004 21:40:36 -0700, "Horton Mammal" <Hmamal@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I need some PC advice. I have a Duron 800 with 256 MB of Ram and an MSI
>FX5200 - 128 vid card.
>
>Just got Morrowind and it is slow. I'm getting 10 - 15 FPS outside in the
>starting town at 1024 x 768 with the view distance at about 1/2. I just got
>the new vid card, before that the game was only barely playable, about 5 FPS
>at 640 x 480 (TNT-2 M64).
>
>I can eiher buy a Duron 1.4 (fastest chip my old mobo will take) or another
>256 MB Ram with this months toy budget. Which will give me a better
>performance boost, more CPU or more RAM.
>
>Any other performance hints?
>
>thanks
>
>HM
>