[offthewild]

hello all, names jim and i must say that most other sites always make people like me (not real computer savvy) feal stupid i hope its not like that here. 1st heres what kind of machine i have intel p 4 2.66ghz, 512 mb ram, dx 9.0c, vid card is a nvidia geforce fx 5500 256 mb driver nv4_disp.dll and a realtek ac97 audio card. i know its not all that but its all mine lol. but actually what i am wanting to know good and bad is this, i play COD 2 multiplayer online. on dial up just for 2 more weeks though. i know the dial up is crapola but besides that how does my machine add up? and wut single (or more) upgrade could i do to make it better? example in game ok me and another guy come around a corner same time both go to shoot and i know i shoot first but i die . ok i know i could miss but when its like i am a split sec slower even though what im seeing is i was 1st to the draw but not actuallyand boom dead. is that lag and if so what do i need to make it go away? i hope that made sense and if i have gave enough info needed to make a somewhat assesment let me know and ill provide more thxs all look forward to learning alittle something here.

 

[koala]

Hi Jim, welcome to TSF

It sounds like your dialup connection is the cause of your lags. Broadband should fix this, but in the meantime update DirectX, motherboard chipset drivers, and your graphics and sound drivers to see if that improves things.

If you want to make some hardware upgrades to improve performance, start with an extra 512mb RAM. A higher quality graphics card and moving from onboard sound to a PCI sound card would also help, but you'll see a more obvious performance boost by increasing the RAM.

Other things to try....
defrag the hard drive and make sure there's at least 10% free space,
clean out any dust from inside the case, especially around the fans and heatsink,
monitor temperatures and PSU voltage fluctuations using SensorsView

 

[offthewild]

much thanks

koala, thanks bro appreciate the info. adding another 512mb is 1st thing on my santa list and with no more dial up im hopin thatll make a big difference. once again thxs

 

[offthewild]

oh just a quick ? i have a ati 9700pro w/128mb after i add another 512 of memory. how would it stack up against my geforce fx5500 with 256mb? i have been told ati has takin over top dog spot from nvidia im the gaming department. this is a dumb ? im thinking but i gots to clear the air with a friend of mine whos in favor of the ati thats the only reason y i ask sry

 

[koala]

ATI and Nvidia both make good graphics cards and you can find comparable quality cards from both companies. You can't really say one is better than the other as their range of products is varied enough to cater for basic users, high-end gamers, video editors, etc. Currently the Nvidia GeForce 8800 is the best card you can buy for gaming. You'd need a new PSU and some extra cooling to run it though, and ATI are working on a new range to compete with it.

Games benchmarks for the 2 cards you mention give the FX5500 slightly higher scores, but there's not much in it.

 

[offthewild]

sweet thxs bro!

 

[Agret]

i have been told ati has takin over top dog spot from nvidia im the gaming department. this is a dumb ?

Yeah, this is a pretty dumb view. The 2 major players (ATI & NVIDIA) are always fighting each other trying to one-up the other one. It really depends on which budget you are looking at, the leader keeps changing. For example ATI's X1900XTX was the most powerful card on the market and now the NVIDIA's 8800GTX has taken the title. ATI are bringing out their new line of cards based on their new r600 core which should be more powerful than the 8800GTX.

 

[jen56]

:wave: Hi Jim
Welcome to TSF, from the land down under.
Hope you enjoy your time with us. :wave:

 

[mecoatwar]

Bro I love how you say that........Bro I am so going to start to do that ray: ray: ray: ray: ray: ray: ANyways welcome onboard. go spend an extra 100 bucks for a gig of ram. get a modem or dsl and anything else like a brand new nvidia geforce 7600 gt or gs graphics card would be wonderful for gaming. Also get a better power supply like a 400 or 500 watt and maybe upgrade your mobo all for the price of 600 dollars :grin: yeay but seriously get better ram and a better graphics card. I prefer performance which nvidia offers, but Ati has better image quality although both companies offer all around the same its all in how you like it and your taste. :wink: So yeah welcome here, enjoy the wonderful forums and post anything noobish ya like :smile: lalalalalalalal............................... ok that was retarded but still enjoy the forums.