Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) Hey guys, I just had a quick question about my computer setup at home. I have had the opportunity to play SWTOR on my home and work computer. For some reason the game runs a lot faster on my work computer even though my home computer has a better graphics card. However, everything else is slightly worse than my work computer. I'm just curious what you guys think my bottleneck would be. Here are my specs for both computers: Work computer Windows 7 Professional 64-bit NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT Intel Core i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz 8gb RAM Home computer Windows 7 Professional 64-bit NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-Core Processor 3gb RAM My home computer really struggles when there are a lot of NPCs in the area. Particularly in the black sun taxi area on Coruscant. I chug so hard there when I'm at home because of all the NPCs fighting below the taxi platform, but that area runs fine at work. Would my processor be the culprit or would it be my RAM? Or is there something else you think is holding me up? Thanks for the help! Edited January 12, 2012 by Chevex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raewin Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) Both processor and RAM will be holding you up. I'd be tempted to say upgrade them both if you can! I dont know anything about your CPU, but with only 3gb of RAM... an example, at rest my PC that also uses WIN7 uses 1.77GB of RAM, if you only have 3GB then that is less than half of your RAM able to be used for SWTOR, less than 1.5GB in total for the game... that's not enough. Get more RAM, RAM is cheap and easy to replace. Edited January 12, 2012 by Raewin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) Problem with the CPU is I'd have to upgrade my motherboard as well and both of those combined add up to almost $500! However, RAM would only cost me around $75 for a 4gb DDR 2 stick to fill my 4th RAM slot (giving me 7gb total). So I guess my question is, should I drop the money for the 4gb DDR 2? Or should I suck it up and save my money for the next six months and get a new mobo, i7 cpu, and some DDR 3? Probably be like $500-$600 total. Edited January 12, 2012 by Chevex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raewin Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Both. I just looked quickly online and found4GB DDR2 for $50, there is probably cheaper out there. Do that in the short term and then save up for 6 months or whatever and get a new mobo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 I dont know anything about your CPU, but with only 3gb of RAM... an example, at rest my PC that also uses WIN7 uses 1.77GB of RAM, if you only have 3GB then that is less than half of your RAM able to be used for SWTOR, less than 1.5GB in total for the game... that's not enough. Get more RAM, RAM is cheap and easy to replace. Hmmm, alright. Maybe I have no idea what I'm doing but I hit CTRL + ALT + DEL while playing and I opened the performance tab in the task manager. I was only using 2.7gb of RAM out my 3gb. Shouldn't I have been using all of it? I probably have no idea what I'm talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Both. I just looked quickly online and found4GB DDR2 for $50, there is probably cheaper out there. Do that in the short term and then save up for 6 months or whatever and get a new mobo You mind linking me to the $50 4gb DDR2 stick? On Newegg all I could find was around $70 and higher. I'd like a single stick if I can because I already have 3 1gb DDR 2 sticks and one open slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ishtori Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 its the game, not your machine. don't waste your money upgrading for this game. i've got a i7 3970k 32gb ram ati 6970 256 gb ssd agility 3. i get stutter and 30 fps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oPURT Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Windows 7 Professional 64-bit NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti AMD® AM2+ Quad-Core 3gb RAM I run this set-up but with an i7-920 and 6GB of RAM. When I run the game I have no issues but my RAM usage sits around 3.5GB when playing. As such I agree with others that you need more RAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 its the game, not your machine. don't waste your money upgrading for this game. i've got a i7 3970k 32gb ram ati 6970 256 gb ssd agility 3. i get stutter and 30 fps. Why would it be the game when my work PC plays the problem area just fine. It's smooth as butter at work. That pretty much guarantees it's my machine at home wouldn't you say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 I run this set-up but with an i7-920 and 6GB of RAM. When I run the game I have no issues but my RAM usage sits around 3.5GB when playing. As such I agree with others that you need more RAM. Good to know. Thank you very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammarye Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) Hmmm, alright. Maybe I have no idea what I'm doing but I hit CTRL + ALT + DEL while playing and I opened the performance tab in the task manager. I was only using 2.7gb of RAM out my 3gb. Shouldn't I have been using all of it? I probably have no idea what I'm talking about. You also have a pagefile. Given a free hand, Windows 7 will happily use 2GB of RAM all by itself. When it's constrained, it chucks a load on the harddisk. It will always leave some available for other processes to start up in. RAM would be the top of the list to increase, 8GB really is worth it, though as the previous poster said, upgrading CPU wouldn't hurt either. Edited January 12, 2012 by Grammarye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raewin Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Hmmm, alright. Maybe I have no idea what I'm doing but I hit CTRL + ALT + DEL while playing and I opened the performance tab in the task manager. I was only using 2.7gb of RAM out my 3gb. Shouldn't I have been using all of it? I probably have no idea what I'm talking about. I just did the same thing and mine uses 3.34GB of my 8GB just standing at carrick station, so i guess the more you have the more it can use, but maybe windows keeps a buffer spare or something which is why it didnt go to 100%. IDK either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archetypee Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Problem with the CPU is I'd have to upgrade my motherboard as well and both of those combined add up to almost $500! However, RAM would only cost me around $75 for a 4gb DDR 2 stick to fill my 4th RAM slot (giving me 7gb total). So I guess my question is, should I drop the money for the 4gb DDR 2? Or should I suck it up and save my money for the next six months and get a new mobo, i7 cpu, and some DDR 3? Probably be like $500-$600 total. $500 for a Mobo and CPU? You can get an i7-2600k for $250 and a Mobo that can run it for $100. That is $350 without searching for a single sale or discount for a TOP OF THE LINE processor. Downgrade to an i5-2500k to save an additional $50-75. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 $500 for a Mobo and CPU? You can get an i7-2600k for $250 and a Mobo that can run it for $100. That is $350 without searching for a single sale or discount for a TOP OF THE LINE processor. Downgrade to an i5-2500k to save an additional $50-75. Well I haven't done the totals in a while on my newegg wishlist. That's better but for me $350 is still a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 I just did the same thing and mine uses 3.34GB of my 8GB just standing at carrick station, so i guess the more you have the more it can use, but maybe windows keeps a buffer spare or something which is why it didnt go to 100%. IDK either. You also have a pagefile. Given a free hand, Windows 7 will happily use 2GB of RAM all by itself. When it's constrained, it chucks a load on the harddisk. It will always leave some available for other processes to start up in. RAM would be the top of the list to increase, 8GB really is worth it, though as the previous poster said, upgrading CPU wouldn't hurt either. Sounds good. More RAM it is then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raewin Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 $500 for a Mobo and CPU? You can get an i7-2600k for $250 and a Mobo that can run it for $100. That is $350 without searching for a single sale or discount for a TOP OF THE LINE processor. Downgrade to an i5-2500k to save an additional $50-75. and that's a downgrade that's worth it, the i5-2500K is a beast of a processor, best value for money of any processor right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ishtori Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Why would it be the game when my work PC plays the problem area just fine. It's smooth as butter at work. That pretty much guarantees it's my machine at home wouldn't you say? the game is so unoptimized that it's really just about luck on whether it will run well or not on any particular computer. there is a thread in the customer service forum called "horrid fps" if you'd like more example. really, save ur money because if that particular computer is already performing badly with the game, extra ram isn't going to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potto Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Save your money for the new mobo and proc. Upgrading your RAM will help, but you won't notice much of a difference until you get a better proc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 and that's a downgrade that's worth it, the i5-2500K is a beast of a processor, best value for money of any processor right now Do i5 supported mobos support i7 CPUs? I ask because if I could always upgrade my processor in the future then maybe I just want an i5 for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-ray Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 You could take your graphics card from home and put it on your work computer and stay at work all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishdogg Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I would start with RAM and see where that gets you. The game uses about 1.5 gig of memory itself. If you have any other processes running, you're going to struggling to keep up. You should try for at least 6 gig and see how that works for you. If that doesn't help, you might want to try upgrading your cpu. I'm not sure the exact cpu you're running with or what you're motherboard will support, but you may be able to upgrade your cpu to an AM3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truedark Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130592 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074 Only 260, I didn't put to much thought into this though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 the game is so unoptimized that it's really just about luck on whether it will run well or not on any particular computer. there is a thread in the customer service forum called "horrid fps" if you'd like more example. really, save ur money because if that particular computer is already performing badly with the game, extra ram isn't going to help. That is silly. I know there are areas where the game needs optimized and no matter your hardware configuration but if I can get an area to run great on one PC consistently but not on the other PC then there is a bottleneck. I'm not saying the game is perfect and runs great everywhere. If I played more at work I'm sure I'd find bad areas even though my work machine is pretty beast. But in the meantime I can try to get my home PC to run at least as well as my work PC. It's only logical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayrune Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Problem with the CPU is I'd have to upgrade my motherboard as well and both of those combined add up to almost $500! However, RAM would only cost me around $75 for a 4gb DDR 2 stick to fill my 4th RAM slot (giving me 7gb total). So I guess my question is, should I drop the money for the 4gb DDR 2? Or should I suck it up and save my money for the next six months and get a new mobo, i7 cpu, and some DDR 3? Probably be like $500-$600 total. i agree with the other posters that the RAM seems to be your primary bottleneck. Having said that, whether or not you save up your money for 6 months and then redo the motherboard, processor, and get ddr3 ram... that's your call, as a user of DDR3 ram, i would say it's worth it so long as you can stand the current performance for those 6 months. if you can do both 9get the ram now and upgrade in 6 months) i'd do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevex Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 You could take your graphics card from home and put it on your work computer and stay at work all the time. If I didn't have a wife and a life outside of swtor then I would do this for sure! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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