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Upgrade my GeForce 256 or Athlon 750 for better performance?
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RPGDot Forums > Morrowind - General

Author Thread
Katho
Guest






   

Morrowind is DEFINITELY CPU limited.

The easiest way to find out is to reduce resolution to 640x480, and all the details down. You'll get just a few FPS increase. Upgrading the CPU from 600 to 1400MHz brought me DOUBLE framerates.
Post Sun May 12, 2002 3:15 pm
 
JemyM
Vault Dweller
Vault Dweller




Joined: 28 Nov 2001
Posts: 753
Location: Sweden
   

You can either buy a faster CPU, or a MPEG2 card to play MPEG2 movies.
Same goes with graphicboards. In a standard GraphicBoard today you get support for many effects you will see in a game like Morrowind.

It all depends of what you had before, and what you have now. Unified is that if you want faster 3d you should start with a 3d chip, then upgrade your CPU.

Best Regards
JemyM
Post Sun May 12, 2002 4:04 pm
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Katho
Guest






   

It's not so simple friend.

You cannot just say "if you want a faster car get the one with more HP". Because there is weight, drivetrain losses, gearing and many other factors going into the equation.


3D graphic cards are limited in two ways - fillrate and geometry+effects calculation. Morrowind produces way too little FPS to max out a GF3 fillrate even at 1600x1200. Quake 3 at 150FPS could do that, but not MW. Many users report BETTER performance with higher resolution.

Then comes the quality/effects issue. As I said, turning EVERYTHING down to lowest brings marginal FPS increases, implying that the geometry engined is not severely taxed either.

To anyone owning a GF3 Ti200 or better I would say - go for a faster CPU.
Post Sun May 12, 2002 4:17 pm
 
Lester's Friend
Eager Tradesman
Eager Tradesman




Joined: 07 Mar 2002
Posts: 25
   

What sort of framerate can I expect from my system:
Athlon 700
384megs RAM
Geforce 256
_________________
I knelt down ...... and hurt my knees!
Post Sun May 12, 2002 7:08 pm
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Zaal
Head Merchant
Head Merchant




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 64
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Re: on a budget
   

quote:
Originally posted by rascalmanny
pricewatch.com my friend. You can get a Athlon 1.4 for less than $100 and a GF3 Ti 200 for $150 or less. So for $300 or less (assuming you get another 256mb of system ram) your good to go for a year from now.

Just make sure to really check out any sites you may buy from as far as their return rules and security.


You have to take into account that he's (She?) a Canadian. Those prices dont' really apply. You have to add conversion rate (30%?), shipping and in some cases, duties as well.

But it is a good tip for any Americans thinking about an upgrade.

Zaal
Post Sun May 12, 2002 10:19 pm
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Simeon Tregarth
Eager Tradesman
Eager Tradesman




Joined: 09 May 2002
Posts: 25
Location: Atlanta
My experience
   

I just upgraded from a similar system so maybe my experience will be helpful:

Original system
Duron 750
256 Meg PC133 ram
GeForce2 GTS

fps - 6 to 10 in town, 20 to 30 indoors, 6 to 15 outside

First I replaced the video card with a GeForce4 Ti 4400. The game looked a whole lot better but I got basically no increase in fps whatsoever! Then I replaced the cpu with an Athlon 1.4 ghz and added an additional 256 mb of ram. Now the game flies with everything maxed (except shadows). I would say that this game stresses both the cpu and the video card - you will probably need to upgrade both to get full benefit. Replacing your video card will give you a much better visual experience but it will take replacing the cpu to get better fps.
Post Sun May 12, 2002 10:50 pm
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OhBrandi
The Pun-Slayer
The Pun-Slayer




Joined: 04 May 2002
Posts: 1038
Location: Somewhere this side of sanity.
   

My husband gave me a Mother's Day Card ... an ATi Radeon 8500 128MB DDR. (I cant stop laughing over that pun....sorry!)

I have a lowend system (PIII800, 224MB Ram) and the change in the game was phenomenal. I feel like I'm playing a different game!

Performance went up and better yet, I can run it in NEAR mode 1280x1024.

OMG!

So, I say upgrade the video card.
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Post Sun May 12, 2002 10:57 pm
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Guest







   

Sorry to hurt your feelings. But this game runs very nice on an ati radeon8500. Actually better than a geforce3 ti500. i have both and i have run morrowind and many other games on both cards. radeon smokes geforce hands down.
Post Mon May 13, 2002 12:06 am
 


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