What's my bottleneck?

[Qoojo]

I am going to go with the GPU on the work computer, and the CPU on the home computer. Both versions are 64 bit, so the one with 3gb memory is sufficient. Try swapping that video card from the home computer to the work computer for a test.

[chrissiurso]

I have similar issues. I forgot my specs for home but there is a huge difference (like night and day) when playing the game on my home laptop compared to my work computer.

At home I lag really bad in the black sun area and the coruscant taxi area as well but when I tried the game at work, I have ZERO lag.

 

Home:

Dell Studio XPS 1640 Laptop (about 2 yrs old)

4 gigs of ram

64 bit, Windows XP

Some ATI Raedon Graphics card (mid range)

 

Work

Intel Xeon W3550 @ 3.07 GHz (year or so old)

6 gigs of ram

Windows 7 64 bit

Nvidia Quadro FX 3700 with 512 MB GDDR3

[mangarrage]

Take your work computer home and swap cards lol your computer would be great

[rhirne]

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.

 

 

Definately add more RAM. With x64 OS, get it up to at least 8 GB for better OS performance. SHould be fairly inexpensive ($50 - $60).

 

 

If the MOBO is indeed an AM2+ MOBO, a AM3 chip WILL work in the AM2 slot. You would want to make sure you have the latest BIOS, but it will work. The BIOS might show it as "Uknown" though. You will also lose some of the extra functionality of the AM3 chip (due to not having an actual AM3 MOBO), but it will still function. Just make sure you get one that has the same power rating as your current MOBO (don't get a 115w if your MOBO only supports upt to 95w processors)

 

That would at least get you more processing power and more RAM until you could get a new MOBO.

[Chevex]

You clearly lack a fundamental and logical understanding of computers and how they work. For instance I have an i7 oc'ed to 4ghz, 8 gb ram, two intel SSDs in a raid, and two nvidia 470s OC edition. When I am near the pvp vendors I drop to 20fps but my cards remain at 35% usage. That is an optimization problem and don't hold your breath for a fix. They will just take more out of the game like they did with hi res textures.

 

You clearly lack a fundamental and logical understanding of logic and how it works. Something works fine under one hardware configuration and doesn't work under another. I don't care if the best machine in existence can't run well near pvp vendors. That's not the point. My point is that an area that is a problem for me on one machine is NOT a problem on another.

 

Now if I went by a pvp vendor on one machine it ran great but then ran crappy on another machine, then I would blame the machine again. Yes the game needs optimized for performance. No that doesn't mean I can't at least improve my system up to the standards another system has set right in front of my eyes. So how about you climb down off your pedestal and share a little humility.

Edited January 12, 2012 by Chevex

[Amonephis]

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.

 

realy ?

 

ive got a i7 2600k, 16gb ram amd 6970 and standard hdd

 

i run the game at up to 110 fps on planets, only time id see 30 fps is when the fleet is packed with players.

 

Defrag and run cleaners on your computer , update drivers if that dosent work id check the power supply or other hardware to see if its faulty

[shinacarana]

your problem rests in your RAM. The system requirements for a 64-bit OS is 4 Gigs minimum. Having 3 gigs means your home computer doesn't have enough resources, and your OS is hogging it all.

[LionRampant]

You clearly lack a fundamental and logical understand of logic and how it works. Something works fine under one hardware configuration and doesn't work under another. I don't care if the best machine in existence can't run well near pvp vendors. That's not the point. My point is that an area that is a problem for me on one machine is NOT a problem on another.

 

Now if I went by a pvp vendor on one machine it ran great but then ran crappy on another machine, then I would blame the machine again. Yes the game needs optimized for performance. No that doesn't mean I can't at least improve my system up to the standards another system has set right in front of my eyes. So how about you climb down off your pedestal and share a little humility.

 

What happens when the machine it runs poorly on is faster than the machine it runs ok on?

 

Logic fail or game problem?

[Chevex]

Your bottleneck is SWTOR.

 

I'm glad somebody else is seeing the Black Sun problem - my Pc is pretty much the same as yours (I have a 6850 graphics card though) and I struggle to get more than 15fps in the Black Sun area.

 

I just fresh installed Windows 7 Pro to see if that helps but I'm not holding my breath. This lag happens to people with intel cpu's as well btw so don't assume that will fix anything.

 

Again. Works great on another PC in the same area.

 

I am NOT saying BioWare couldn't make the area run better on poorer machines. That is NOT NOT NOT what I am implying in the slightest.

 

I'm saying that my home computer has a bottleneck that my work computer DOES NOT HAVE so now I'd like to identify it. All of you can take your QQing out of my thread please. Thank you.

[Chevex]

What happens when the machine it runs poorly on is faster than the machine it runs ok on?

 

Logic fail or game problem?

 

I give up. I got what I needed from this thread anyway. I will report back after I make some RAM upgrades and let you all know how it went.

 

Thank you to those of you that decided to be constructive.

[Chevex]

I am going to go with the GPU on the work computer, and the CPU on the home computer. Both versions are 64 bit, so the one with 3gb memory is sufficient. Try swapping that video card from the home computer to the work computer for a test.

 

What would that show? I have no issues with the work computer.

[Jswizzle]

I agree with the more ram statements. Ram is incredibly important.

 

I find it somewhat funny that people with much much better computers than I having problems. Trust me I've wanted to break some of my computers, it is extremely frustrating. I feel your pain, but the simple fact is a lot of the people having problems are simply computer newbies.

 

Just listing off your computer specs means little, especially when your computer is good. Help us, help you. They never list the software they are running, what video drivers. They never list what diagnostic tools they use. One guy said he took it to his professional buddy and he said his comp was "fine". If you can't run this game, your comp isn't "fine" its got software issues out the ying yang.

[VicScotia]

If you can afford to get as far away from AMD as possible you'll see the different is night and day between quality chip.

 

I could get real technical as to why, but let's just say when you're the underdog, you copy and steal from those that are doing it right in an attempt to get ahead.

 

AMD is for grandma to check her email with.

 

I'm running an AMD Phenom II X4 Black Edition CPU on an AMD chipset based mobo from Asus...and its running TOR and any other game and app i throw at it fine.

[LionRampant]

Again. Works great on another PC in the same area.

 

I am NOT saying BioWare couldn't make the area run better on poorer machines. That is NOT NOT NOT what I am implying in the slightest.

 

I'm saying that my home computer has a bottleneck that my work computer DOES NOT HAVE so now I'd like to identify it. All of you can take your QQing out of my thread please. Thank you.

 

I've already identified it for you - It's SWTOR. You fail to understand that you're looking for a hardware problem THAT DOES NOT EXIST.

 

I'll give you a little test. Take any other game to your work and fraps it at any settings, then fraps the same game at the same settings on your home PC.

 

I guarantee you 100% that your home PC will perform better. Do you understand it yet?

[chrissiurso]

I'm a total non tech person......so I can't understand a lot of the technobabble here. Just wondering if upgrading the RAM matters more than the video card? Thanks. :x

[LionRampant]

I'm a total non tech person......so I can't understand a lot of the technobabble here. Just wondering if upgrading the RAM matters more than the video card? Thanks. :x

 

Almost never unless you are seriously low on RAM in which case the game most likely wouldn't load.

 

4 GB RAM is more than enough for this game.

[Chevex]

I agree with the more ram statements. Ram is incredibly important.

 

I find it somewhat funny that people with much much better computers than I having problems. Trust me I've wanted to break some of my computers, it is extremely frustrating. I feel your pain, but the simple fact is a lot of the people having problems are simply computer newbies.

 

Just listing off your computer specs means little, especially when your computer is good. Help us, help you. They never list the software they are running, what video drivers. They never list what diagnostic tools they use. One guy said he took it to his professional buddy and he said his comp was "fine". If you can't run this game, your comp isn't "fine" its got software issues out the ying yang.

 

I think it's a little of both. The game is far from perfect so I don't deny that optimizations need to happen on BW's end. I'm just sick of this debate. I have a working model that I'm trying to emulate. It's not like I can't get the black sun taxi area to run on any computer at all. I can get it to run on one box smooth as butter so to say that there's nothing I can do but point fingers at BioWare is silly at best.

[DeeckTator]

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® AM2+ Quad-Core

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!

 

Single HDD and running shaite in background? If you have a single Sata2 disk in those puters, that will be serious bottlenecks. I noticed a huge overall performance when I went from a Single drive to Dual raid sets.

I had OS on 2x500GB in raid 0 (speed) and for install and store 4x1TB in raid-5 (speed + parity)

Now I have even added a SSD for OS and Cache, the 2x 500GB in raid-0 for installs and the raid 5 set for storage.

 

When you have a single disk, running OS, Cache, services, a game ++

For the HDD it's like you reading a book. But you have to read the first word from page 60, the 2nd word from page 24, the 3rd from page 251 and so on.

Would take you quite a while to finish the book.

[Jswizzle]

I've already identified it for you - It's SWTOR. You fail to understand that you're looking for a hardware problem THAT DOES NOT EXIST.

 

I'll give you a little test. Take any other game to your work and fraps it at any settings, then fraps the same game at the same settings on your home PC.

 

I guarantee you 100% that your home PC will perform better. Do you understand it yet?

 

Did your mom just buy you a puter for Christmas? Sorry random line from 1995 hackers movie. Had to be done

[Chevex]

I'm a total non tech person......so I can't understand a lot of the technobabble here. Just wondering if upgrading the RAM matters more than the video card? Thanks. :x

 

No. Video card is first in priority. RAM is definitely a close second. I just didn't know if RAM would affect me more or less than my CPU.

[LionRampant]

Single HDD and running shaite in background? If you have a single Sata2 disk in those puters, that will be serious bottlenecks. I noticed a huge overall performance when I went from a Single drive to Dual raid sets.

I had OS on 2x500GB in raid 0 (speed) and for install and store 4x1TB in raid-5 (speed + parity)

Now I have even added a SSD for OS and Cache, the 2x 500GB in raid-0 for installs and the raid 5 set for storage.

 

When you have a single disk, running OS, Cache, services, a game ++

For the HDD it's like you reading a book. But you have to read the first word from page 60, the 2nd word from page 24, the 3rd from page 251 and so on.

Would take you quite a while to finish the book.

 

I'm running SWTOR on a fast SSD and it still lags in the Black Sun area of Coruscant and in pvp. This is NOT a hardware issue on any of his PC's - both are more than capable of running games fine and his home PC will easily outperform his work PC in *ANY* other game because the graphics are so superior.

Edited January 12, 2012 by LionRampant

[LionRampant]

Let me explain it simply so you might have a chance of understanding -

 

I went to my mates place for the past 3 days and played on his old pc which has the same CPU as mine, same RAM and a graphics card that is only 25% as fast. HIS SYSTEM WORKED BETTER EVEN THOUGH IT WAS THE SAME CPU, RAM AND MUCH SLOWER GRAPHICS CARD.

 

ARE YOU GETTING THIS YET. IT'S QUITE SIMPLE REALLY.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Qishari
quoted insults

[Chevex]

I'm running SWTOR on a fast SSD and it still lags in the Black Sun area of Coruscant and in pvp. This is NOT a hardware issue on any of his PC's - both are more than capable of running games fine and his home PC will easily outperform his work PC in *ANY* other game because the graphics are so superior.

 

Yes, the black sun area needs optimized. As do many other areas. BioWare is NOT getting a free pass. Performance needs to be addressed. I get it, ok? All I'm saying is that my work PC is capable of running an apparently poorly optimized area pretty freakin good despite not having as good of a GPU as my home PC. So I would like my home PC to do whatever my work PC happens to be doing to run a poorly optimized area pretty well.

 

That's it. There isn't anything more to it. Maybe SWTOR is not using it's RAM efficiently. Maybe it's not multi-threading where it should. It doesn't matter. The point is that there is a difference between the two PCs and one happens to win out in a very specific scenario.

[Chevex]

God your logic is utter fail. I have a WORKING MODEL that is SLOWER than my home PC too. IT DOESN'T MATTER ABOUT "WORKING MODELS" the game is flawed on a per-pc basis. You either got lucky or unlucky - that's how it is.

 

Let me explain it simply so you might have a chance of understanding -

 

I went to my mates place for the past 3 days and played on his old pc which has the same CPU as mine, same RAM and a graphics card that is only 25% as fast. HIS SYSTEM WORKED BETTER EVEN THOUGH IT WAS THE SAME CPU AND MUCH SLOWER GRAPHICS CARD.

 

ARE YOU GETTING THIS YET. IT'S QUITE SIMPLE REALLY.

 

It doesn't matter. The PC that runs the problem area smoothly is a working model that can be emulated. If I built a second PC with the exact same specs as my work PC then the problem area would still run smooth on the second PC. That means that my working model is duplicatable. It's not magic. So if I get my home specs as close to the specs of the working model then I will hopefully be able to also run the problem area smooth as butter.

 

Make sense? Or are you really that dense? I'm not saying BW can't fix the area to make it run better on more machines. I'm simply saying that whatever crappy performance issues BW designed into that area aren't manifesting on my work PC because it is beefy enough in some area to mitigate the problem.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Qishari
insults

[Eboo-Kauri]

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.

 

Upgrade ur ram, but always keep identicle ram in ur slots. So if u have 2 slots buy 2 sticks of ram and replace the old stick. Also check ur mother board and see how much ram itll take. I reccomend ripjaws g skillz.