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DX9.0 and Lagging

MertonMerton Member Posts: 7
in Everquest

Seems that since the cutover to manadatroy DX9 support lagging has increased a lot. I have a Geforce3 Ti200 64mb card running in a PIII 500 with 768mb ram. Mainboard only supports AGP2 carda so uping to a ATI 9800Pro 128 is not possible unless I get a new machine.
Any suggestions on a better AGP2 graphics card that will support DX9 and have a high potential for giving me better game play.
I am experiencing lag city in POK , Adventure camps , and the Bazaar especially. It is increasingly bas in areas where toons congregate in groups.

Any help would be appreciated.::::02::

Comments

  • neschrianeschria Member UncommonPosts: 1,406

    PoK has been like swimming in molasses for me, so I feel your pain on that. I spend most of my time in less populated zones, so I have been doing ok, except for the inevitable run... or creep, rather... across PoK when I am travelling.

    That's not my major complaint about recent changes. My complaint is about the new collision system. I am just about tired of getting hung up on door knobs, pebbles, and things I can't even see. Grrr.

    ~*~
    neschria
    Bludgeoner of Bunnies

    ...
    This is where I draw the line: __________________.

  • MertonMerton Member Posts: 7

    Well since the lagging was making me scream each time I played I decided to go out and get a new video card.
    I purchased a eVGA GeForce FX5500 256MB DDR 128 bit card. It supports AGP8 but will tune down to AGP2 also supports DX9 and it doesn't require connection to the power supply. I should get it in a couple of days and when I try it out I will post a message with what I find.
    PS: I did finally experience a crash in POK last evening. SO mow I;m a member of that club too.

    hehe - LOL

    cheers!!!


  • MertonMerton Member Posts: 7

    Got the FX 5500. Lag is only marginally better although the graphics are more stunning, especially in the newer Luclin + zones. I tried updating the AGP chipset drivers buut WinXp seems to have already loaded the latest updates available. I played with the Antialias settings on the card but that didn't seem to help either. I do think that some of the slowness is due to the AGP2 throughput limitations and possibly the fact that I am running a PIII 500 processor. So after spending about $100 on a new video card my next mod will be to upgrade the processor to the max my mainbiard will support. That is a PIII 850mhz 100mhz FSB slot 1 processor. I found one on ebay for $65.00 it shoul be here mext week. We'll see if that helps. After that mod I will have the following:

    PIII 850mhx 100mhz FSB Slot 1
    768 MB non-ecc RAM (PC100)
    GeForce FX 5500 256MB / 128 bit
    80 gb 7200 RPM HD ATA66 (1/0 transfer rate on this bus may be a problem as well)
    Samsung SyncMaster 171v Flat panel display (1280x1024 @ 72hz refresh)

    My last efforts before believeing that a new computer is a necessity will be to try and oveclock the CPU on the video card. Some reports I have seen say that result eas good others say don't bother. We'll see if I have to try. My hope is that the Processor upgrade will do the trick.

    Later,
    Merton
    Main: Silvic lvl 18 Ranger
    Guild: Unseen Mentors
    Server: Povar


  • XxVarkinxXXxVarkinxX Member Posts: 22
    Hey man..Im guessing the problem may be your connection? or are you already running off of a broadband connection? The anti aliasing fearure just smooths everything requiring more memory/lag so i would reccomend u keep that off >=) good luck on getting it to run better image

  • MertonMerton Member Posts: 7

    Thanks but I am running a broadband connection. The PIII 500 is definately a limiter here. The 850 should help some. From some tests I've read about I expext the Frame rate should improve from the 20-35 FPS i'm getting now (3DMark2004) to somewhere in the 60's. That should help the lag in POK. I'm still waiting on the new processor. Like I said when I get it installed and running I will post whatever I find.
    Cheers

  • MertonMerton Member Posts: 7

    Got the PIII 850, finally. INstalled in in my ABit BE6 with latest bios upgrade. Also overclocked it to 876mhz. Here is the result:
    - 3DMarks went from 1024 to 1275, Pretty good I' would say.
    - Actual gam play also improved nicely. Still a bit laggy in places but Im much happier

    POK is very usable as is the Bazaar and all Adventure Camps. This has been a pretty cost effective addition adn it gives me a little room to move until I can afford to make the ful system upgrade that I want eventually. I know if I decide to try EQII I will have to make that move sooner than later.

    Oh well, Back to the game.

    cheers


  • ScarisScaris Member UncommonPosts: 5,332

    Its not DX 9 thats causing the problems, its everquests rather heavy code and new graphics engine that is causing the misery, I play other DX 9 games just fine and have no issues, since they implemented their new graphics engine however I have lost significant performance on my machine, and I am no slouch for computer hardware.

    Spell effects are completely crushing yet again, everytime they promise changes to the spell effects to make them lighter I get more miserable, I finally just turned them off because the new ones are far to blurry to turn down and them be appealing at all. Unless your looking at EQ spell effects from distance they lack any crispness to them at all. The smoke spell effect is just crushing, and when I am playing my monk, that can be rather infuriating when your in the middle of an adventure pull going through doors and your lagging up on turns.

    Everquest has very very heavy sytem requirements for a game that in my opinion is on the bottom end of graphic quality.

    - Fadeus Hawkwood

    - Scaris

    "What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World

  • MertonMerton Member Posts: 7

    I never blamed DX9 for my woes but I knew that Sony's integration of that new capability was part of the reason why my system ( as dated as it is) was experienceing even greater strain than it had after previous new builds. You can't really blame EQ for the creeping degradation in performance either. Like any other S/W project the objective is to repair or "patch" or enhance rather than re-design from scratch as new capabilities are developed for H/W (and the like). Like any profitable business they are attempting to eech out the most life from the code they have in place before facing the reality that a new architecture is the only way to solve the problems they have. I suppose that they will know when that time comes when the dungeons of Norrath begin to empty and as new travelers find other realms to visit besides Antonica and its hinterlands.
    I don't blame DX9 or Sony for the lag I am experiencing. I guess Mr. Smith put it best in the Matrix, "Do you hear that sound Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability.". Technology marches on adn I suppose its up to me to keep up.

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