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#1
05-04-2011, 02:29 PM
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Birthday looms, out of my depth, please help!
Having worked with computers for 20+ years, my wife thinks I ought to know a lot... But I know nothing about this problem... And I'm in big trouble unless I solve it!
My son is coming up to his 15th birthday. He is the Leader of a "clan" playing an MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game with a lot of graphics. I know very little about the gaming side of computing. My son complains that the game goes too slow on his PC. It is an old Dell E520, but upgraded to 3GB RAM and Windows 7, with a new mid-range graphics card some 2.5 years ago. Our internet connection is a standard home one. My wife (who knows about as much about computers as I know about the anatomy of a penguin) is determined to buy him a new notebook for about $500. I think that, far from solving the problem, it would make things worse. My son is guessing that a better (and far more expensive) broadband connection would solve things, but I am not convinced. My guess is that a very good new graphics card would be the best answer. Please help with impartial advice! My family will never respect me if I get this wrong.
__________________
There are two sorts of binary jokes. There is the first sort. And there is the first sort shifted about a bit. Small business accounting downloads Accounts software free downloads UK Invoicing free software SIG LINKS ON HOLD AT PRESENT! 
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#2
05-04-2011, 02:44 PM
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You can go here http://www.speedtest.net/ to test your internet speed.
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#3
05-04-2011, 02:50 PM
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what MMO, and what are the system requirements for it?
__________________
2 Corinthians 5:21 "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin (by dying in our place), so that we could be made right with God through Christ."
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#4
05-04-2011, 02:54 PM
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Quote:
2) What is the Processor on the desktop? 3) What is your internet speed? 4) 32 bit or 64 bit Win7 and which version of windows is on the desktop? 4) Check the Ping - go to http://pingtest.net to check your ping. ( you can have 100mb speed but if your ping isn't there then the gaming will still suck) 6) What are specs on the Laptop? Check that out and let us know.......
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#5
05-04-2011, 03:04 PM
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Many thanks for the quick replies!
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The box his graphics card came in says PNY GeForce9 9500GT. It does say nVidia partner, too. I'm afraid the graphics card specs mean nothing to me! Is 9500 better than 8800, or is GTS better than GT? Or do I have it all wrong? (Love your inspiring sig!)
__________________
There are two sorts of binary jokes. There is the first sort. And there is the first sort shifted about a bit. Small business accounting downloads Accounts software free downloads UK Invoicing free software SIG LINKS ON HOLD AT PRESENT! Last edited by C0ldf1re; 05-04-2011 at 03:18 PM.
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#6
05-04-2011, 03:16 PM
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The bandwidth speed you've got should be plenty, but there's latency to worry about too.
Haven't they got a latency tool on the Fallen Earth website?
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-- With Friendly Regards, Wim Wauters - Unisoft Design Managed ICT Service Provider for professionals and small to medium size businesses Data Recovery and Password Recovery in Rushden, NN10
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#7
05-04-2011, 03:18 PM
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Also, is it slow all the time or only when there is a lot of things going on?
For instance, I used to play World of Warcraft and I would almost always experience a slow down when I got around a large crowd of other players, like in towns and such and when I was in a fight with tons of NPCs around. Otherwise it clipped along just fine.
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#8
05-04-2011, 03:21 PM
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Quote:
Quote:
__________________
There are two sorts of binary jokes. There is the first sort. And there is the first sort shifted about a bit. Small business accounting downloads Accounts software free downloads UK Invoicing free software SIG LINKS ON HOLD AT PRESENT!
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#9
05-04-2011, 04:07 PM
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More than likely your best upgrade path is a video card.
Like others say if your latency is good (ping 4.2.2.2 and if it's below 150ms) you are fine. I tend to buy "last years best" video cards, they are cheap power horses. I've only ever splurged one other time and wasn't as impressed. Find you a current video card in the 100-120 dollar range and you shouldn't have to upgrade for the lifetime of that computer.
__________________
Marshall Texas Computer repair
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#10
05-04-2011, 04:41 PM
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Speedtest.net says 19 ms ping. Some of your other questions were answered when I edited my earlier post, and some answers I still have to discover. Quote:
__________________
There are two sorts of binary jokes. There is the first sort. And there is the first sort shifted about a bit. Small business accounting downloads Accounts software free downloads UK Invoicing free software SIG LINKS ON HOLD AT PRESENT! Last edited by C0ldf1re; 05-04-2011 at 05:54 PM.
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