Curse

Markrids · Dec 29, 2005, 09:18 AM // 09:18

Hi. I was wondering what setting would best suit Guildwars for my PC. My Specs are:

-Intel Pentium 4 Processor
-3.00 GHz
-Windows XP Home Edition (S.P 2)
-512mb of RAM
-Nvidia FX5200 with 128Mb RAM
-1024 x 768 Monitor (75Hz)
-DirectX 9.0c
-Fully Updated Computer (Graphics Drivers etc)

Help would be greatly appreciated.

Caesarus · Dec 30, 2005, 09:16 AM // 09:16

Good post.

Old Dood · Dec 30, 2005, 12:51 PM // 12:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markrids

Hi. I was wondering what setting would best suit Guildwars for my PC. My Specs are:

-Intel Pentium 4 Processor
-3.00 GHz
-Windows XP Home Edition (S.P 2)
-512mb of RAM
-Nvidia FX5200 with 128Mb RAM
-1024 x 768 Monitor (75Hz)
-DirectX 9.0c
-Fully Updated Computer (Graphics Drivers etc)

Help would be greatly appreciated.

What are you asking....Settings? Your system should run Guild Wars quite well. Personally for me I would add another 512Mbs of ram. Your Video Card is showing it's age but it will still work. Your Processor is just fine....fast enough. So what are you asking? There are some "stickies" at the top of the Tech Page that can answer some equipment questions...like Video Cards and such.

Gildor_Dragonfoot · Dec 31, 2005, 08:30 AM // 08:30

Hey I'm a recently new player and I was unsure about my video cardf when I bought it because its not on the supported card listing (it even told me before I ran the game that it probobly wouldn't work)

Its an ATi Radeon FireGL 7500 (or a number similar maybe 7000)
anyways I have that and

768MB DDR
1.5Ghz Pentium M (runs closer to 3Ghz when not running on battery)

my card is a 32MB card and it displays the game beautifully it's one of the most impressive games I have ever played visually and gameplay wise
just thought I would let you all know that there are some cards that work great that aren't over 64MB

Update: incase no one catches it, I'm running it on an IBM thinkpad R51 (Laptop) it's SUCH A GREAT GAME! I LOVE IT!

Bgnome · Jan 03, 2006, 04:51 PM // 16:51

ive scanned this thread, but havent seen any real commentary on the guide. i dont think it has been mentioned anywhere, but i am a stickler for technicalities and nothing bugs me more than the spreading of false information:

Quote:

PCI - The oldest of the video card slots. Is not made on motherboards anymore, and uses very old video cards such as the Nvidia Riva TNT and ATI Rage.

this is not true at all. i do not claim to know everything there is to know about what video interfaces that motherboards have used, but I have had experience with ISA videocards and can tell you that those are pretty dang old. in fact, i am not sure if 3d cards were even made for those.

The vast majority of PC motherboards i know of will have PCI slots. In the context of the guide, you may be referring to using PCI as the dedicated video slot, in which case is not likely nowadays. However, integrated chipsets, as you mention, ARE fairly common and many of these types of motherboards do not offer any other slot besides PCI for video upgrade purposes, (as is the case with Char Killer and Tels' Dells).

Thankfully, with the relatively light requirements of GW, these people have hope. I, for one, also have an old pIII 900mHz compaq and was in the same situation. I bumped up my ram to 512 megs and stuck in the best PCI card i could find and can get decent playability. 800x600 at medium settings with ~30FPS isnt the best thing in the world, but works great for those with few alternatives.
PCI cards I would recommend:
Ati Radeon 9250 256mb
NVidia Geforce FX5500 256mb
NVidia Geforce FX5700LE 128mb

Those are just a few links that popped up after a quick search at newegg and MUCH more powerful than an old TNT or Rage card. At least these are DX8 compliant.

You give these people little credit and make it sound like they have no alternative other than to buy a new mobo, (in which case you will likely need a new cpu, which isnt that far from getting a whole new pc altogether). There are plenty of people in this boat and think they deserve as much support as anyone else here.

Helll is for Heroes · Jan 03, 2006, 05:22 PM // 17:22

the 6600GT is the best bang for buck at the moment.

Mustache Mayhem · Jan 03, 2006, 06:30 PM // 18:30

heck if your just gaming though why not get a 7800.. I really like the ati's aiw line cause it's basically free tivo with remote especially if you own a hdtv and it's nice on high end gaming.. think old dood mentioned he runs the X800XL which is a pretty good deal for the money- I've o/c'd it to 550/550 very stable (top end air cooled looks like 555/570).. 3dmark 2005 scores over 7k pretty much all you need to run everything out there up to 1280x1024 4x tempor alias 16x ansio- what I run quake 4 on that card

the 6600 looks like it's good out of the box but I have'nt seen anyone with the card yet.. I would probably recommend it though cause so many people look like they're happy to own one if your a price/performance guy

nowdays I would'nt really sell myself short on the video card- no point cause the stuff is so comparably cheap.. as long as your running a 64 and stay away from the p4 (sucks compared to the 64 line gamingwise in both price and performance).. don't get sucked in by the fanboi's of the pentium line.. they are smokin crack- the numbers don't lie

Seef II · Jan 05, 2006, 09:19 AM // 09:19

If you want to get technical, I believe Intel, with PCI-SIG, developed the PCI express protocol. Intel made AGP after all. (And of course Al Gore invented the internet.

)

For card specs a good site to check is www.gpureview.com

Quote:

nowdays I would'nt really sell myself short on the video card- no point cause the stuff is so comparably cheap.. as long as your running a 64 and stay away from the p4 (sucks compared to the 64 line gamingwise in both price and performance).. don't get sucked in by the fanboi's of the pentium line.. they are smokin crack- the numbers don't lie

P4s can still game. In fact, at higher resolutions, games become GPU limited anyway, and performance between the A64 and P4 is nearly nonexistant. Of course, if you play at 8x6 you will notice the difference, but who cares between 80 and 140 fps? Perfectly playable in both caes.

johan the destroyer · Aug 16, 2006, 01:59 AM // 01:59

I would like to make a quick correction about the Geforce 6200. It lists it as a PCI-E/AGP card but, on my old computer, I have only PCI Slots so I use a BFG Geforce 6200 OC 256 MB card and it is, by far, the fastest PCI card out. It also supports DirectX 9, OpenGL 2.0, and Shader Model 3.0 so getting it is almost a must for people stuck with PCI. (Gives me about 40 FPS at 1280x1024 at Highest texture and terrain quality, medium shadows, and default reflections on a 3.0 ghz Intel P4 630 HT processor and 1 GB RAM, so its a pretty good choice).

Just some info that some people with PCI might find useful.

jrstall · Aug 17, 2006, 09:48 AM // 09:48

i would like to know if anyone out there would know how well my computer would play gw

i have a:

hp pavilion zv 6000
Amd Sempron Processor 3200+
640mb of ram
ATI radieon xpress 200m video card

just let me know your thoughts if it will work or how well

Kuchiki Akio · Aug 17, 2006, 12:49 PM // 12:49

I'm not sure if any1 corrected the misconception about sm3 or pci-e having insane advantage over agp8x, but i'll say it here anyhow

SM3.0 is not just a visual enhancement, its a performance enhancement too. You're supposed to get more speed and not sacrifice it for better gfx quality. Google for it if you want.

Pci-e will only gain you a mere 5-10% fps boost, despite the larger bandwidth when compared to an agp-8x. Even the supposed benefit(no need for molex power) has been what ? smashed as newer cards needs the molex connector anyhow.

Tbh, i'm glad i stood with my agp-mobo and my trusty 6800

Pci-E really isn't worth the upgrade for me unless i am considering sli.
I'll wait for the real agp replacement =)

My sys
Intel Pentium 4 3.2ghz Extreme Edition.
1gb Corsair Pro
120gb barracuda 7200 HDD
Audigy 2 soundcard
Trusty Nvidia 6800Gs

I run guildwars pretty well, especially after that long overdue sound update.
Get the latest directx 9.0c august edition

Sir Frozen Arrow · Aug 17, 2006, 01:49 PM // 13:49

Lol i got 256mb of ram.
And 512 Graphics card.
Thats all i know.

Fr_3_aK · Aug 11, 2007, 03:13 PM // 15:13

Hi, with Eye of the North looming i thought id bring this back up. Im a budget gamer and never spend much on my computer.

The new EOTN character select screen has brought the 'shader' graphic option to my attention. It dramatically changes the fire effect in the storm beacon. Having seen screenshot of the Burning Forest in EOTN i hate to think what im going to miss out on with a old 3D card.
An option for upgrade (without spending much $$$) is a ATi x800 GTO. This card got good reviews, BUT was criticised for lack of 'Shader model' something or other.

Will the x800 GTO hamper my GWs experience?

Does GWs (and now EOTN) need Shader Model support?

lordpwn · Aug 11, 2007, 06:01 PM // 18:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fr_3_aK

Does GWs (and now EOTN) need Shader Model support?

The different Shader Model versions are specifications for what the hardware must be capable of to support certain graphical effects. As far as I can remember the different versions of the spec, and the oldest cards from Ati and Nvidia that support it are:

Shader Model 1.0 - GeForce 3 / Some Radeon 8xxx
Shader Model 1.4 - Geforce 4 / Some Radeon 8xxx
Shader Model 2.0 - GeForce 5 series / Radeon 9xxx + Radeon X?00
Shader Model 3.0 - GeForce 6 series / Radeon X1000 series
Shader Model 4.0 - GeForce 8 series / Radeon X2000 series

As far as I know Guild Wars only uses Shader Model 2.0 effects, so any relatively recent video card should support its shader tricks. The game _will_ run without any Shader support at all but will not look very good (tried on my laptop).

The Radeon X800 GTO is quite fast and supports SM 2.0, so it should run Guild Wars just fine with all the fancy effects, although some newer games may have problems since SM 3.0 has been out for years and the card doesn't support it at all.

EDIT: fixed silly typo

roxy rub rub · Aug 12, 2007, 02:36 AM // 02:36

How well would a:
nVidia GeForce 7600GS PCI-E 250mb
ATI Radeon RX1050 PRO PCI-E 512mb.

**I would go for a 8500GT/8600GT, but too many people say they are bad, and I don't want to spend 200AU on one.

Too many errors

Run on this game.

180G HDD
Windows XP
Intell Celeron CPU (2GH)
1G RAM
etc

Fr_3_aK · Aug 12, 2007, 12:54 PM // 12:54

Ok i bought the X800GTO AGP for AU$125 new. It's a good card, better than what my system can handle. Ive got the recommended specs 2GHz CPU and 1Gb RAM. I know its better than what i can handle because it overclocks from 400/700 to 510/840 with no change in FPS

Incase anyone wants to know, the FPS at max settings and 1024x768 res is 34 at login screen (rotated a bit so the fire is on screen). Goes uptp 105 FPS in guild hall and is about 30-50 when playing PVE. The lowest i saw it was 8 FPS in Kamadan #1 but this is likely my cheapo hardware not the card.

acidic · Aug 12, 2007, 05:18 PM // 17:18

your 2ghz cpu is bottlenecking and at a low resolution like 1024x768 it becomes more cpu dependent. If you increase the resolution it becomes more gfx card dependent.

Malice Black · Aug 12, 2007, 06:20 PM // 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by roxy rub rub

How well would a:
nVidia GeForce 7600GS PCI-E 250mb
ATI Radeon X1950 PRO PCI-E 512mb.

**I would go for a 8500GT/8600GT, but too many people say they are bad, and I want to spend 200AU on one.

Run on this game.

180G HDD
Windows XP
Intell Celeron CPU (2GH)
1G RAM
etc

Avoid low end 8XXX series, they suck. I'd go for the X1950 over the 7600gs. Up your RAM also, 1GB is kinda falling by the wayside now.

Gio · Aug 12, 2007, 08:11 PM // 20:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malice Black

Avoid low end 8XXX series, they suck. I'd go for the X1950 over the 7600gs. Up your RAM also, 1GB is kinda falling by the wayside now.

I just bought a XFX 8600 GT for only $100 dollars and IMO It's very smooth I play all my games on max settings. I think it depends on your whole system. So not necessarily does the 8600 GT lacks in performance. It can also be the fact that the drivers are not doing so well at the moment for the 8XXX series. This is just my personal opinion and experience owning a XFX 8600 GT. ^^

roxy rub rub · Aug 14, 2007, 09:57 AM // 09:57

Woops, I didn't read what I was typing..

Could anybody tell me the best valued card under 180AUD from this site, for casual GW playing..
http://itestate.com.au/category.asp?...10003062600081