Hi All,
First post. I added this today to the end of a thread started last August, in the event that person still needed answers, but the thread seemed dead. I hope it is right to actually post my question here separately (again - sorta).
My question to the forum is whether to upgrade or build new to give me ALL of LOTRO's eye candy. I believe you have to play this game to know the answer, but maybe someone out there is just that good.
I have two rigs now and want to improve or replace both. Because I ONLY play LOTRO, I would say whatever money it takes to get what I want is the budget, but no more. The most basic question is will RAM, Windows 7 64, SSD, overclocking (0 now - don't really know how) or some other combination of improvements make these rigs work?
If no, is there anything to save or do I start all over. With what?
But first, more about my stuff...
Currently, I can set LOTRO options on "high" (very high when low level questing) graphic settings at 1920 x (I forget) 720p HDMI 22" resolution. I should say the described graphics settings (with that monitor) are the UPPER limit! In 21st Hall or Bree there is a lot of load lag and in heavy battle there is lag (I don't know how to monitor frames per second). Also, I can't get detail very far out in front of me. When I try and push these settings on ths settings within LOTRO manually, the card will black out. Computers continue to run, but need a reset.
Please keep reading if you think you may know the answer - nobody seems to have refined experience enough to know if I can make this equipment work. Anyone can dump money into an i7 950, of course. This is a challenge.
Here is what I have now. Though they differ, both rigs perform VERY similarly. (both built 2005/06 with a card upgrade since):
RIG 1:
K8 Triton series, Model GA-K8N Pro-SLI, Logic board:
nVIDIA nFORCE4 SLI / 2 PCI-E*16 Socket 939 / ATX / 2 PCI-E*14 DDR Dual-CH / 8-CH Audio GbE / 4SATA II / 1394b / 10 USB 2.0
AMD Dual Core 4400+ / 2.2 Ghz - Socket 939 Processor (I think the model is Athlon 64 x2 64 FX, the box is a lil' confusing).
G-Power Cooler BL Super Silent (GH-PDU21-SC)
Enermax Liberty PSU 650W; DUAL 12V RAIL with 12 cm silent fan (ELT620AWT)
2G RAM (Not sure what kind of ram)
Western Digital Raptor x2 in a mirror RAID (WD74gb)
NEC DVD_RW (ND-3550A)
EVGA nVIDIA GF7800GTX x2 SLI (256-P2-N527-AX) <---- When we moved the 7800 cards together, the resolution available went up, but the play experience didn't change otherwise. By that I mean, had we left the resolution down where it was, we probably would have found faster town loads and further horizon draw. We went for resolution and found greater detail with a little more pep. Make sense?
abs Computer Technologies STEALTH all aluminum Tower
GIGABYTE CPU fan 21" (GH-PDU21-SC)
Windows XP Home Edition (this is forcing us to play DX9). <---- This is a 32 bit version
RIG 2:
K8 Triton series, Model GA-K8N Pro-SLI, Logic board:
nVIDIA nFORCE4 SLI / 2 PCI-E*16 Socket 939 / ATX / 2 PCI-E*14 DDR Dual-CH / 8-CH Audio GbE / 4SATA II / 1394b / 10 USB 2.0
AMD Dual Core 4400+ / 2.2 Ghz - Socket 939 Processor (I think the model is Athlon 64 x2 64 FX, the box is a lil' confusing).
G-Power Cooler BL Super Silent (GH-PDU21-SC)
Enermax Liberty PSU 650W; DUAL 12V RAIL with 12 cm silent fan (ELT620AWT)
3G RAM (Not sure what kind of ram) <---- More ram than rig 1
Western Digital 7200 rpm drive <---- No RAID here
NEC DVD_RW (ND-3550A)
ATI Radeon 4870 1G Video Card <---- Upgraded the 7800 card that moved to the SLI. Better, but only in that it got us to here.
Creative Technology, Ltd. Creative Audigy2 ZS 24-bit 192khz/108db SNR Sound Processor is also in the rig with the 48xx card. <--- an extra
abs Computer Technologies STEALTH all aluminum Tower
GIGABYTE CPU fan 21" (GH-PDU21-SC)
Windows XP Home Edition (this is forcing us to play DX9). <---- This is a 32 bit version
Well, that is what has been working LOTRO at about 3/4 horse power. I want "Ultra High" settings in LOTRO in every way and at maximum distances.
We run without anti aliasing and I hear that is best no matter what gear you have. (though I wonder even about that possibility). We want the most rich experience we can get, without bugs.
We want:
-MINIMUM 60 FPS everywhere (even RAIDS).
-FAST load times (we can go to the bathroom while initial load takes place, currently.
-MAX graphic settings at 1080P (22-24").
-Spend only what we need too.
We are on 14G Broadband.
We wonder about Windows 7 64 (and the implications of DX11 on these rigs or other). In fact, we wonder about all the mentioned improvements at the top (RAM, Windows 7 64, SSD, overclocking).
We understand that LOTRO is a single core app (not sure if they have plans to dual core).
We hear LOTRO doesn't take particular advantage of SLI (but we don't know what people mean when they say that, exactly - it seemed to give us res advantages...).
We think LOTRO uses DX11.
Anyone have a little love for me out there? Can these rigs work harder? Do we need new?
(what else can I tell you)? We really do nothing else. PS3 is the workhorse for other gaming...
THANKS!
Tura
First post. I added this today to the end of a thread started last August, in the event that person still needed answers, but the thread seemed dead. I hope it is right to actually post my question here separately (again - sorta).
My question to the forum is whether to upgrade or build new to give me ALL of LOTRO's eye candy. I believe you have to play this game to know the answer, but maybe someone out there is just that good.
I have two rigs now and want to improve or replace both. Because I ONLY play LOTRO, I would say whatever money it takes to get what I want is the budget, but no more. The most basic question is will RAM, Windows 7 64, SSD, overclocking (0 now - don't really know how) or some other combination of improvements make these rigs work?
If no, is there anything to save or do I start all over. With what?
But first, more about my stuff...
Currently, I can set LOTRO options on "high" (very high when low level questing) graphic settings at 1920 x (I forget) 720p HDMI 22" resolution. I should say the described graphics settings (with that monitor) are the UPPER limit! In 21st Hall or Bree there is a lot of load lag and in heavy battle there is lag (I don't know how to monitor frames per second). Also, I can't get detail very far out in front of me. When I try and push these settings on ths settings within LOTRO manually, the card will black out. Computers continue to run, but need a reset.
Please keep reading if you think you may know the answer - nobody seems to have refined experience enough to know if I can make this equipment work. Anyone can dump money into an i7 950, of course. This is a challenge.
Here is what I have now. Though they differ, both rigs perform VERY similarly. (both built 2005/06 with a card upgrade since):
RIG 1:
K8 Triton series, Model GA-K8N Pro-SLI, Logic board:
nVIDIA nFORCE4 SLI / 2 PCI-E*16 Socket 939 / ATX / 2 PCI-E*14 DDR Dual-CH / 8-CH Audio GbE / 4SATA II / 1394b / 10 USB 2.0
AMD Dual Core 4400+ / 2.2 Ghz - Socket 939 Processor (I think the model is Athlon 64 x2 64 FX, the box is a lil' confusing).
G-Power Cooler BL Super Silent (GH-PDU21-SC)
Enermax Liberty PSU 650W; DUAL 12V RAIL with 12 cm silent fan (ELT620AWT)
2G RAM (Not sure what kind of ram)
Western Digital Raptor x2 in a mirror RAID (WD74gb)
NEC DVD_RW (ND-3550A)
EVGA nVIDIA GF7800GTX x2 SLI (256-P2-N527-AX) <---- When we moved the 7800 cards together, the resolution available went up, but the play experience didn't change otherwise. By that I mean, had we left the resolution down where it was, we probably would have found faster town loads and further horizon draw. We went for resolution and found greater detail with a little more pep. Make sense?
abs Computer Technologies STEALTH all aluminum Tower
GIGABYTE CPU fan 21" (GH-PDU21-SC)
Windows XP Home Edition (this is forcing us to play DX9). <---- This is a 32 bit version
RIG 2:
K8 Triton series, Model GA-K8N Pro-SLI, Logic board:
nVIDIA nFORCE4 SLI / 2 PCI-E*16 Socket 939 / ATX / 2 PCI-E*14 DDR Dual-CH / 8-CH Audio GbE / 4SATA II / 1394b / 10 USB 2.0
AMD Dual Core 4400+ / 2.2 Ghz - Socket 939 Processor (I think the model is Athlon 64 x2 64 FX, the box is a lil' confusing).
G-Power Cooler BL Super Silent (GH-PDU21-SC)
Enermax Liberty PSU 650W; DUAL 12V RAIL with 12 cm silent fan (ELT620AWT)
3G RAM (Not sure what kind of ram) <---- More ram than rig 1
Western Digital 7200 rpm drive <---- No RAID here
NEC DVD_RW (ND-3550A)
ATI Radeon 4870 1G Video Card <---- Upgraded the 7800 card that moved to the SLI. Better, but only in that it got us to here.
Creative Technology, Ltd. Creative Audigy2 ZS 24-bit 192khz/108db SNR Sound Processor is also in the rig with the 48xx card. <--- an extra
abs Computer Technologies STEALTH all aluminum Tower
GIGABYTE CPU fan 21" (GH-PDU21-SC)
Windows XP Home Edition (this is forcing us to play DX9). <---- This is a 32 bit version
Well, that is what has been working LOTRO at about 3/4 horse power. I want "Ultra High" settings in LOTRO in every way and at maximum distances.
We run without anti aliasing and I hear that is best no matter what gear you have. (though I wonder even about that possibility). We want the most rich experience we can get, without bugs.
We want:
-MINIMUM 60 FPS everywhere (even RAIDS).
-FAST load times (we can go to the bathroom while initial load takes place, currently.
-MAX graphic settings at 1080P (22-24").
-Spend only what we need too.
We are on 14G Broadband.
We wonder about Windows 7 64 (and the implications of DX11 on these rigs or other). In fact, we wonder about all the mentioned improvements at the top (RAM, Windows 7 64, SSD, overclocking).
We understand that LOTRO is a single core app (not sure if they have plans to dual core).
We hear LOTRO doesn't take particular advantage of SLI (but we don't know what people mean when they say that, exactly - it seemed to give us res advantages...).
We think LOTRO uses DX11.
Anyone have a little love for me out there? Can these rigs work harder? Do we need new?
(what else can I tell you)? We really do nothing else. PS3 is the workhorse for other gaming...
THANKS!
Tura
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