Werhmacht Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Hello all! I would like to upgrade my computer. Problem is, I don't know what I should replace to help some performance issues i have. Basically its all lag. I get around 25-30 FPS questing, about 3 FPS in the Imperial Fleet, and i am not even able to play warzones, as i lag out of Alderaan and Huttball is too laggy to even be a viable player. This is all on the lowest graphics settings. Here are my specs: Gateway DX4320 PROCESSOR- AMD Athlon II X4 635 Processor 2.90 GHz RAM- 4 GB OS- Windows 7 64-bit GRAPHICS CARD- ATI Radeon HD 5500 Series What would be the biggest thing i could replace to raise my FPS? That's the biggest thing I am worried about, graphics can stay on the lowest setting. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddum Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Hello all! I would like to upgrade my computer. Problem is, I don't know what I should replace to help some performance issues i have. Basically its all lag. I get around 25-30 FPS questing, about 3 FPS in the Imperial Fleet, and i am not even able to play warzones, as i lag out of Alderaan and Huttball is too laggy to even be a viable player. This is all on the lowest graphics settings. Here are my specs: Gateway DX4320 PROCESSOR- AMD Athlon II X4 635 Processor 2.90 GHz RAM- 4 GB OS- Windows 7 64-bit GRAPHICS CARD- ATI Radeon HD 5500 Series What would be the biggest thing i could replace to raise my FPS? That's the biggest thing I am worried about, graphics can stay on the lowest setting. Thanks in advance! Are your graphics already on the lowest possible? If they're not, you can lower then a bit... If the FPS rises, you can upgrade your video card (Remember to check your power supply while doing it, you don't want to get a video card that eats more than you have), if not, it might be that the game isn't running well with your Athlon. I've seen that it has problems with some computers randomly, and you might be affected... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werhmacht Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Are your graphics already on the lowest possible? If they're not, you can lower then a bit... If the FPS rises, you can upgrade your video card (Remember to check your power supply while doing it, you don't want to get a video card that eats more than you have), if not, it might be that the game isn't running well with your Athlon. I've seen that it has problems with some computers randomly, and you might be affected... Would upgrading my RAM help at all? That seems like the simplest and easiest option... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddum Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Would upgrading my RAM help at all? That seems like the simplest and easiest option... Should not. The game should not be getting close to 4gb, and it probably won't until they sort out the High Res textures. EDIT: Did you try the settings? If there was no change, you probably have an incompatibility like some other people and no amount of tinkering would help unless you switched everything. Edited January 25, 2012 by Reddum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-Bee Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Would upgrading my RAM help at all? That seems like the simplest and easiest option... 4GB should be enough atleast in normal maps, but it probably wouldnt hurt you to have 6 or 8GB installed. I also strongly recommend that you do a clean videocard driver install so that you dont have any invisible options screwing up your driver - hardware interraction. Im not entirely sure how ATI handles this these days, but nVidia driver installers have an option to whipe all old settings away during install process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisfriend Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 running win 7 64bit with barely 32bit lvl of ram is kinda dumb. up it to 8GB just to take advantage of having 64bit. i honestly dunno much about AMD cpus. but... it's a gateway. prob with crap big box brands is upgrade potential is highly limited. the 50-100 you drop in ram. would be better spent trashing that system and building a real rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasamukha Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 First make a restore point and try upgrading your graphic card's drivers to 12.1 beta. The AMD/Radeon's were having optimization issues with the 11.xxx drivers. (I don't know why) 12.1 beta took my fps from low to mid 30's to 60-80 at full 1920 resolution all graphics on high but shadows (personal preference) I am running AMD Phenom quad core 3.08 gig RAM5750 Radeon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daemonjax Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) That cpu was $100 when it was brand new (early 2010), and the ATI 5500 series video card isn't much better than an integrated graphics card. You're really looking at getting a whole new computer... However, you can salvage the LCD panel, hard drives, keyboard, and mouse. There is no single component you can upgrade that wouldn't be bottlenecked by the rest of your system. Edited January 25, 2012 by Daemonjax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasamukha Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Deleted duplicate Edited January 25, 2012 by Dasamukha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaimiIflya Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 CPU to a Phenom II 900+ and Video Card to something above #7##. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riceahoy Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Upgrade that video card. Tomshardware.com had SWTOR benchmarks on different pc hardware and the conclusion is to get a decent video card. SWTOR doesn't need a beefy CPU, but get a Geforce 550ti or even a ATI 6850. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-Bee Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 That cpu was $100 when it was brand new (early 2010), and the ATI 5500 series video card isn't much better than an integrated graphics card. You're really looking at getting a whole new computer... However, you can salvage the LCD panel, hard drives, keyboard, and mouse. There is no single component you can upgrade that wouldn't be bottlenecked by the rest of your system. Who cares if the CPU didnt cost a lot, what matters is how it performs and that CPU performs almost as well as my Phenom II X4 945. Using that as a reference, I can say that the CPU is not the bottleneck here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferroz Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'd say Graphics card would be the best purchase for you, followed by ram. I was really tempted to post something about trying "start and stop method" and degenerating from there... but that seems to be a bad idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiennen Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Hello all! I would like to upgrade my computer. Problem is, I don't know what I should replace to help some performance issues i have. Basically its all lag. I get around 25-30 FPS questing, about 3 FPS in the Imperial Fleet, and i am not even able to play warzones, as i lag out of Alderaan and Huttball is too laggy to even be a viable player. This is all on the lowest graphics settings. Here are my specs: Gateway DX4320 PROCESSOR- AMD Athlon II X4 635 Processor 2.90 GHz RAM- 4 GB OS- Windows 7 64-bit GRAPHICS CARD- ATI Radeon HD 5500 Series What would be the biggest thing i could replace to raise my FPS? That's the biggest thing I am worried about, graphics can stay on the lowest setting. Thanks in advance! edit your .ini file. I did that and my game went from 1 FPS all the way to 20 FPS. if you send me a private message, i'll reply with the details on how to do this. (The forums don't allow .ini file edits to be posted, sadly.) Edited January 25, 2012 by tiennen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FooBard Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Video card - definitely. An ATI 6850 (140 bux) would certainly make your game play MUCH MUCH more fluid - plus you'd be able to crank up your settings to High. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werhmacht Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Would I be able to upgrade my graphics card without it being "bottlenecked" by my CPU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasamukha Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 If you read the benchmarks on tomshardware, it appears that the game should perform reasonably well at 2.5 dual cores or higher, and that increasing the processor speed doesn't significantly increase performance. If anything in your rig is the bottleneck it is the graphics card. Try upgrading the drivers to 12.1 they made a significant improvement in my performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-Bee Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Would I be able to upgrade my graphics card without it being "bottlenecked" by my CPU? Only one way to really find out, but Im betting that your CPU would do just fine with new GFX card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDigitalDoom Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Honestly I have to agree with a few others on here...scrap it and start building a new machine. The AthlonII is not a gaming chip at all and the 5500 GPU isn't up to par IMO. Before trying to put a bunch of cash into upgrades for it you really should just consider building (or buying) a new system. You could build a decent gaming machine for around $500 that would run much better than what you have and also be a good start for future upgrading to a mega machine. I also recommend if you decide to build a new one to go with the new i5 CPU from intel. The 2500k is a fairly cheap CPU and is a great place to start building your monster system. The machine you are using now is just really a waste of time trying to upgrade. Any money you put into it will be just trying to play catch up and there's really only so much you can do with it and that's not going to be enough to give you what you want/need. Sell it on Craigslist for a couple hundred and use the cash you make plus the cash you have for upgrading to buy a low end gaming machine on CyperpowerPC.com or start buying components to build your own. If you get one from Cyberpower, this one is a great one to start from:http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Xtreme_2200/ You could even get by with changing a few things on it to get that price a little lower if you need to and then upgrade it in the future. But you will be much better off putting your money into a new low end machine that you can expand on than to try and make that AthlonII system into a gaming system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werhmacht Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Honestly I have to agree with a few others on here...scrap it and start building a new machine. The AthlonII is not a gaming chip at all and the 5500 GPU isn't up to par IMO. Before trying to put a bunch of cash into upgrades for it you really should just consider building (or buying) a new system. You could build a decent gaming machine for around $500 that would run much better than what you have and also be a good start for future upgrading to a mega machine. I also recommend if you decide to build a new one to go with the new i5 CPU from intel. The 2500k is a fairly cheap CPU and is a great place to start building your monster system. The machine you are using now is just really a waste of time trying to upgrade. Any money you put into it will be just trying to play catch up and there's really only so much you can do with it and that's not going to be enough to give you what you want/need. Sell it on Craigslist for a couple hundred and use the cash you make plus the cash you have for upgrading to buy a low end gaming machine on CyperpowerPC.com or start buying components to build your own. If you get one from Cyberpower, this one is a great one to start from:http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Xtreme_2200/ You could even get by with changing a few things on it to get that price a little lower if you need to and then upgrade it in the future. But you will be much better off putting your money into a new low end machine that you can expand on than to try and make that AthlonII system into a gaming system. Selling it on Craigslist might be a good idea. Any ideas how much i can get off it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDigitalDoom Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Only one way to really find out, but Im betting that your CPU would do just fine with new GFX card. This is probably correct. A new GPU would make all the difference. If you insist on trying to get a little more out of that Athlon II then a good GFX card will help a lot. Most games are more dependent on the GPU than they are the CPU anyway. I still recommend selling the one you have and building from the bottom but if you just can't part with that machine then your best bet would be investing in a good video card. I recommend the Radeon 6770 1GB at the very minimum. If you really want to see improvement than shell out the cash and go for an EVGA built NVIDIA 580....that card screams! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDigitalDoom Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Selling it on Craigslist might be a good idea. Any ideas how much i can get off it? Depending on the OS it has I would guess you might do pretty good. Maybe as much as $300 or so. I sold an old piece of crap eMachines PC with a Celeron D processor on there for $150. The guy wanted it for the OS (Windows XP). It was funny because I bought the thing new for only $150 and used it for 3 years before I sold it. Like I said, it's something to consider and if I were you I would just be seriously looking at getting a new machine soon. If you're gonna sink a couple hundred into a new graphics card anyway then why not just sell what you have and buy a whole new system that's upgradeable and future proof? At least that's how my mind would be working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werhmacht Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Depending on the OS it has I would guess you might do pretty good. Maybe as much as $300 or so. I sold an old piece of crap eMachines PC with a Celeron D processor on there for $150. The guy wanted it for the OS (Windows XP). It was funny because I bought the thing new for only $150 and used it for 3 years before I sold it. Like I said, it's something to consider and if I were you I would just be seriously looking at getting a new machine soon. If you're gonna sink a couple hundred into a new graphics card anyway then why not just sell what you have and buy a whole new system that's upgradeable and future proof? At least that's how my mind would be working. Thanks a bunch, i will seriously consider it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goreson Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Well, to be honest, before jumping the shark i'd maybe just have a chat with a mate to see if you can borrow some of his bits for a bit of testing. I mean it all comes down to budget... yes, a Win XP PC may give you a nice price because many people still prefer XP over 7. (And definitely over Vista) And yes, that offer a poster linked you to does give you a *****load of options to re-configure and maybe get the price a bit lower or keep the price but up some component. The thing is that for most part SWTOR shouldn't require a high end system! I mean I running it perfectly fine on an entry(!) level laptop almost a year old, only updates I've done is upped the RAM to 8 GB and replaced the HDD as the old one crashed. So, having said that: yes, eventually you will have to get a new PC as upgrading it will no longer make any sense. But you should do it on your own terms which means not because a fairly low sys req game 'forces' you to do so. As I said: check with some mates, see what hardware they are running, maybe swap a few things for testing and who knows, a new graphics card might be all it needs... By the way, not sure whether that was said before or you yourself have done it: try cleaning/defragging your HDD, check for updates to your system (drivers, BIOS), maybe even clean the PC itself (you know fans, etc.), you may well get something out of that already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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