Curse

Bouldershoulder · Jul 19, 2007, 10:17 AM // 10:17

Ok, I need help with how much my new computer's performance would differ over my old one. I just bought a new computer off of Tigerdirect (the $300 one at the top left of the home page), and I need a little help figuring how much of a boost it will give me before it comes. (I know I can just wait, but shipping from the U.S. to Europe takes forever...

Old Computer:
1.60 Ghz. Single Core Processor
256mb DDR RAM
256mb FX 6600 Video Card
Windows XP Home Edition

New Computer:
P4 3.0 Ghz Processor
512mb DDR2 RAM
256mb FX 6600 Video Card (moving old one to new, since it works really nice)
Windows Vista Home Edition

My Old Computer took around 15 seconds when it loaded areas I went to frequently, and when it finally got up an running, the FPS got around 15-37 and the Ping varying from 234-932. It's a very slow system and I wonder how it can even run it with my stupid Avast! antivirus popping up in the screen every 5 minutes, ruining my framerates. Note that this performance is with all the settings on low except for Texture. AA at x0 and Resolution at 800/600 (I know...I'm ashamed too). So, can anyone tell me how much of a performance it will give, if anyone has around the same specs as my soon to be new PC?

Hengis · Jul 19, 2007, 11:05 AM // 11:05

To be honest, I don't know that you will see much of a performance gain.

The new machine has more RAM and a more powerful processor, but is running Vista which is much heavier and more system intensive operating system than XP.

The amount of RAM you have is really the minimum for Vista too.

You are also limited by the graphics card which again is now sadly at the lower end of the performance spectrum.

Lastly, loading times can be heavily dependant on your Internet connection rather than the speed of the machine itself, so if your internet connection is slow you may find that you still take the same time to load a new area.

You may gain some performance simply because the system is new, and hopefully the hard disk is not fragmented and full of temp files, invalid registry entries, and other crap that Windows gathers during its life.

Sorry to be the bearer of such unpromising news.

I could of course be wrong, in fact I hope I am, but 15 years in the IT industry make me think you really won't gain that much from your new PC.

Etta · Jul 19, 2007, 11:42 AM // 11:42

You'll need at least 1gb of rams for vista, 512mb will work but half of that will go toward the OS already. Save up for a better graphic card would be a good idea as well. I know it's such a pain being a PC gamer.

Brother Andicus · Jul 19, 2007, 06:45 PM // 18:45

Sadly, you might even find the new machine is a downgrade.
Its more than likely that vista will eat all the extra performance and then some.

Assuming you dont have the cash to splash on better components(and hence the superbudget system), i'd try and get on the phone before they ship it and get them to send it with XP on rather than Vista.

With XP as your operating system, you could reasonably expect to run at 40+fps @ 1024x768 with next to the highest settings(still no AA though)

Bouldershoulder · Jul 19, 2007, 07:28 PM // 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brother Andicus

Sadly, you might even find the new machine is a downgrade.
Its more than likely that vista will eat all the extra performance and then some.

Assuming you dont have the cash to splash on better components(and hence the superbudget system), i'd try and get on the phone before they ship it and get them to send it with XP on rather than Vista.

With XP as your operating system, you could reasonably expect to run at 40+fps @ 1024x768 with next to the highest settings(still no AA though)

I don't know if this will work, but I still do have the Windows XP Home Edition CD still in the package that shipped with my old computer. Is it possibe that I could stick that in and shift it to XP? (I can also buy a 1gb stick, seeing as Vista needs some memory to run the OP. That would help right?)

Brother Andicus · Jul 19, 2007, 10:32 PM // 22:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bouldershoulder

I don't know if this will work, but I still do have the Windows XP Home Edition CD still in the package that shipped with my old computer. Is it possibe that I could stick that in and shift it to XP? (I can also buy a 1gb stick, seeing as Vista needs some memory to run the OP. That would help right?)

I dont know the exact legalities, but your XP home licence will be for a single computer. You should be able to put XP on your new machine, but if you do, then strictly speaking, you should format the old one.

And yes, sticking the extra GB of RAM in should then give you a comparable performance in vista to running without it in XP.