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Miscellaneous Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-07 11:13:50

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-07 11:13:50

Hi!

I just ordered a new PC! YAY!  :D

The basic main specs are:

* Intel Pentium 4 3.06Ghz processor with HT technology
* 512Mb RAM
* 160Gb hard drive
* 128Mb nVidia GeForceFX 5200
* DVD-ROM and DVD-RW (seperate)

It also comes with a keyboard and mouse and monitor! Wow!  :lol:

Anyway... I suppose that I will come up against many new problems with FFVII on it, won't I? I'm dreading the motorcycle chase scene.  :-?

Has there been any new patches released for, let's say, correcting the speed problem with the bike chase?  :-?

xeriouxi.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Aaron on 2004-01-07 12:08:15

No bike patch yet.  When I played it on my computer recently, it was really fast, but I managed to get to the end with the people alive enough to survive the boss fight... :P

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Caddberry on 2004-01-07 16:41:03

If worse comes to worse just cheat a little bit at that part.. That bike thing was hard on my computer.. I couldnt imagine it one one like that..

Title: Why don't the other games speed up?
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-08 13:40:55

Hi!

Why is the motorbike game the only one of the mini games that's speed is determined by your processor?  :-?

I can't imagine what the motorbike game will run like, either! I'm sure the results will be very interesting!  :D

Oh, and something a bit off topic... I have a new avatar! Can you guess who it is? Even harder to guess is where I got it from... heehee!  :P

xeriouxi.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Aaron on 2004-01-08 14:14:39

Quote

Why is the motorbike game the only one of the mini games that's speed is determined by your processor?

I think some of the other minigames may be affected as well.  Anyway, they forgot to cap the framerate for the motorbike game, so your computer just spits out frames as fast as it can.  This results in a motorbike game that could be running at 300+ fps, making it almost not playable.

You see a similar problem with old DOS/Windows games that don't have a speed limit :P

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Threesixty on 2004-01-08 20:51:59

There are a few slowdown freeware outthere....but I could never get them working right. They either don't work at all...or they just make the framerates into a slideshow.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Skillster/RedSarg99 on 2004-01-08 21:57:55

mate I would invest in more ram down the line
512MB just doesnt cut it with windows xp anymore, especially if you like to do things there and then like myself :)

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Aaron on 2004-01-08 22:03:01

Heh.  I think 512MB of RAM should be fine for most people.  If I were to suggest an upgrade to his computer, I would suggest getting something better than a FX5200 graphics card.

Microsoft's minimum for Windows XP: 64 MB
Microsoft's suggseted for Windows XP: 128 MB

Have you ever tried to run Windows XP on 128 MB of RAM?  It's rediculously slow.

I would suggest 256 minimum for a good experience with XP, but I think 512 should be fine for regular users.  I'm looking at my memory usage right now -- I have a reasonable number of apps open and I'm only using 343 MB.  However, 512 MB is not enough for me either, when I get really busy with stuff, so I bought 1536 MB of RAM for my computer :P

Anyway, if you have more than 512 MB of RAM, you should consider killing the virtual memory (page file) since there's not really a reason to keep it around anymore.


[Edit] Wow, this is my 1800th post.  Only 200 more to go to the big 2K :P

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Skillster/RedSarg99 on 2004-01-08 22:30:53

I would leave the Swapfile as  fixed, killing it could cause a BSOD,
I think.
Besides, when you do massive file compressions, AVI encoding etc it helps to keep swap file to be on the safe side.
What are the benefits performance wise?
Space is not an Issue,
I did run a PC (300MHz Celeron) on 128MG ram (SDRAM 66MHz).
It had one 3.22GB hdd, and a 8GB hdd.
had a trusty ATi RAGE 128Fury (4X AGP 32MG ram, ALL the rage then even had the fabled ATi Multimedia port on the board).
best card to play FF7 on I must admit.
Though I did first play FF7 on a (Gulp) Diamond Trio verge 2000 Pro graphics card, a massive 4MB (expandable sockets provided) PCI card, with a Trio Virge Chip from S3, was ok for Decent2, nothing else tho.
(So i had to use Software with FF7, on a P2 233Mhz machine with 32MG ram, Oh the days)

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Aaron on 2004-01-08 22:42:47

I've been running without a swap file for about six months.  In that time, I've only gotten one BSOD, and it was because I was using a beta graphics card driver I found :P

I like having it off because it just ensures that your comp won't start using the hard drive as RAM (i.e., virtual memory).  It just bugs me cause it's slow, and it shouldn't have to do it if you have a lot of RAM.  I don't know how smart Windows is about doing this automatically, but I'd just prefer to have it off if I'm not gonna use it, cause it would simply be a waste of 1.5+ GB of hard drive space.

Title: Don't really need to upgrade, do I?
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-09 13:42:11

Hi!

You suggested to me that I upgrade my graphics card, Aaron... do you think it would be worth it? The GeForce FX is quite good, yes? As long as it's better than the GeForce 2 MX400 then I should be fine, right?  :-?

xeriouxi.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Aaron on 2004-01-09 13:44:15

:P

In my opinion, the GeForce FX 5200 isn't as powerful as some people think.  It's marketed as a DirectX 9 card, but when full DX9 games start showing up, I don't think it's gonna be fast enough to run them well, even though it supports all of the features like pixel shading 2.0 and so forth.

But it's certainly not a bad card... however, I'll be getting better performance out of my GeForce4 Ti 4600, which is only a DX8 card.

Title: Awww... I thought it was good...
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-09 13:53:21

Hi!

I thought that the letters 'FX' would have made my graphics card great... I guess not...  :weep:

Oh, well! As long as the newest games run on it at some resolution or another the I'm happy! Games like 'Halo' work well on my GeForce 2... so I think they won't have a problem on my new graphics card... I hope!  :D

xeriouxi.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Caddberry on 2004-01-09 18:28:47

Aaron ditching the swap file might be a viable option for you.. Dont you have like some Gb of ram? With gigs of ram yeah the swap file becomes kinda worthless..

Xeriouxi your avatar looks familiar.. but i cant even venture a guess as to who it is.. i think i would have to have a bigger pic...

Title: Heehee!
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-09 19:57:35

Hi!

My avatar is the one and only Princess Garnet! I got it from... somewhere...  :oops:

Teehee! I got it from a very naughty doujin comic... it was the only picture that I could find that was 'acceptable' to place as my avatar... heehee!  :lol:

xeriouxi.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: macksting on 2004-01-09 19:58:38

The irony is, I saw it and *still* wondered if it was from a hentai mag.
Must be the flush in her features that tipped me off.

Title: Aren't I naughty!
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-09 20:02:46

Hi!

I figured nobody would guess it was from one... so I spilled it out! Aren't I a naughty boy!  :lol:

xeriouxi.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Jedimark on 2004-01-09 22:00:57

Oh dear.... maybe this is why you are having trouble with your exams! Looking in naughty magazines rather than your textbooks ;)

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Aaron on 2004-01-09 22:10:30

Quote

Aaron ditching the swap file might be a viable option for you.. Dont you have like some Gb of ram? With gigs of ram yeah the swap file becomes kinda worthless..

Yeah, that's why I said:

Quote

Anyway, if you have more than 512 MB of RAM, you should consider killing the virtual memory (page file) since there's not really a reason to keep it around anymore.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Caddberry on 2004-01-10 01:27:14

Ha I thinik i saw that somewhere too.. I wouldnt have guessed Garnet though..

Title: Things change, eh?
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-21 11:07:04

Hi!

My specs have now changed. I cancelled the original order because they were taking too long to do anything about it. I won't say the company... but I'm sure that you can guess... I think!  :D

As for my new specs... they are pretty much the same as above... except there is no DVD-RW anymore. But... I have the option to customise what I want! So... would upgrading to an ATI Radeon be better than an nVidia card?  :-?

Quote

Oh dear.... maybe this is why you are having trouble with your exams! Looking in naughty magazines rather than your textbooks  :wink:

Heehee! Exam revision is separate from the admiration of... you know!  :lol:

I may have a lot of the *ahem* comics... but I know of some people who have in excess of 20Gb of it! Yikes!  :isee:

Heehee! The FF series can have more of a storyline than you think... but there is one storyline that is best left out... completely!

Basically...

Spoiler: show

The scene just before you get Red XIII in your party goes a little bit further when there are 2 people in the capsule...  :isee:

Heehee! Who draws these things, anyway!  :lol:

xeriouxi.

Title: Re: Things change, eh?
Post by: J*** H******* on 2004-01-22 15:52:49

Message

Title: Thanks!
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-26 11:01:06

Hi!

Thanks for the advice! I think I'll get an ATi Radeon card instead of the GeForce card. It's more powerful!  :D

Sorry if I scared you all with my last post, BTW. I get like that sometimes... and no I didn't purposly download the... thing.  :oops:

xeriouxi.

Title: Re: Thanks!
Post by: Caddberry on 2004-01-26 21:30:04

Quote from: xeriouxi

Sorry if I scared you all with my last post, BTW. I get like that sometimes... and no I didn't purposly download the... thing.  :oops: xeriouxi.

Oh geez i just caught that.. I guess i missed it last time.. Sicko.. LoL no its fine.. i have seen tons of stuff like that all over the internet.. Nothing really shocks me anymore..

Title: Heehee...
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-27 08:36:47

Hi!

That's the Internet for you! Anything you can think of, artists can think of twice as much!  :D

You want to see some of the space these collectors have. I have in excess of 100Mb... but some people have Gb of the stuff!  :o

Anyway... I'm sure that the younger generation wouldn't like me to ramble on all day about my... collections! That's what email was invented for!  :wink:

xeriouxi.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: sfx1999 on 2004-01-28 01:40:02

One thing, getting 4GB for Windblows is useless. Everything above 2 GB gets reserved. I think it was 2 GB.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Aaron on 2004-01-28 02:47:45

Quote

One thing, getting 4GB for Windblows is useless. Everything above 2 GB gets reserved. I think it was 2 GB.

Windows XP can address up to 4 GB.  Convenient, this is also the max amount of memory that a 32-bit processor can address without doing anything wierd (like this (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/platform/server/pae/pae_os.mspx)). If I am reading this correctly (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/platform/server/pae/PAEmem.mspx), you're right, 2 GB is usually the maximum amount that most apps can address, but you can increase this to 3 GB by throwing a /3GB switch into the boot.ini file (see article linked above).  I don't see why you would need more than 3 GB (or even 2 GB) in your PC right now.

IIRC, Windows XP 64-bit Edition for Extended Systems (not yet released) can support more than 4 GBs of RAM, but 32-bit applications will still be limited to 4 GB.  I don't really know anything about Windows XP 64-bit Edition for Itanium Systems (doesn't look like its about to go into mainstream use).

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Threesixty on 2004-01-28 16:38:38

You really don't want that much ram.....There is reason why buffers and ECC are mandatory on sticks above 512 and on servers. It's because, the more Ram you have, the more errors your going to get.....errors equals crashes/freezes/Crash to desktop. It has to do with solar flares from the sun, or something...I don't know.

Also....Sticks with Buffers and ECC are slower than the smaller, non-buffered sticks.

Me, personally, I not that intrested in fast computers, anymore...I'm sticking with my 1.2 Athlon, G2, Win98SE. There is just not much software that I need or want for it, anymore....I'm talking about games, of course. The only one I'm interested in is Halflife2.....and even that doesn't get me as excited as StarOcean3  Xenosaga Ep2, or MGS3.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: sfx1999 on 2004-01-28 16:51:15

Aaron: The Itanium is not x86 compatible. The Windows for it comes with a built in emulator.

Threesixty: Are you saying that if I split memory among slots it will reduce the chances of a crash? That does not make any sense. Anyway, the odds of a crippling memory error are probably low, and with more memory it is probably still low. Of course, maybe it is just a problem with Windows.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Threesixty on 2004-01-28 16:54:02

No...I'm saying more un-buffered sticks mean more random crashes...and buffered sticks, means a slower computer......

It's give and take.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Aaron on 2004-01-28 18:16:08

Quote

Aaron: The Itanium is not x86 compatible. The Windows for it comes with a built in emulator.

Yeah I know... I didn't say it was x86 compatible.  I mentioned it's Windows XP version mainly to differentiate it from the other 64-bit edition.

Title: Yay! I got it!
Post by: xeriouxi on 2004-01-29 08:44:37

Hi!

I finally got my PC. It is the one listed on the start of the thread! It's really great and super fast! Only one problem, though... the fonts in FF7 look really wrong. Does anybody know how to fix this? They just look very ugly and unreadable because they look like they have been drawn in Paint or something.  :D

xeriouxi.

Title: A new PC... a new collection of problems?
Post by: Skillster/RedSarg99 on 2004-01-30 10:39:12

All Hail The Great FF7 FAQ By Aaron Sire ...  :roll: