Curse

swaaye · Mar 06, 2006, 09:22 PM // 21:22

I think the graphics card is the most important ingredient. With a Radeon 9200, you could have a liquid nitrogen cooled 3.5GHz dual core Opteron and it would still run poorly.

But the best case situation is both a good CPU and GPU, of course. The game likes both, especially when the action gets hectic.

Janus Anobix · Mar 06, 2006, 09:38 PM // 21:38

I don't think any of the parts are greatly affected over the others. You just need a system that will run everything in-sync with each other without creating bottlenecks. I can state my near-top system right now, but the fact that I can run at 100+fps at 1280x1024 (max for my LCD) with all settings maxed (including 4x AA, 4x AF) I am plenty happy.

Alias_X · Mar 06, 2006, 11:42 PM // 23:42

Please state your system.

Mine is
AMD Athlon X2 4400+
2 gigs of ram
7800GT

I run GW on max with 4x AA, and it runs smoother than anything I have ever seen before!

Omega X · Mar 07, 2006, 04:17 AM // 04:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmy_logic

I think GW tends to stress out the Proc and Memory subsystem more than the graphics card. Any modern decent card which can be had for less than $100 should do the trick fine on max settings.

That is true. GW does stress the CPU more.

I get more cpu usage out of GW than any other game, but it won't stress my video card much at all.

Cottage Pie · Mar 07, 2006, 05:13 AM // 05:13

I'm running a 2.8GhZ athlon, 512Mb DDr Ram, 128Mb GeForce FX5900, and GW runs off a defragged 10k raptor - completely tweaked all performance settings possible - i get about 50 FpS with 4xAA, which is more than good enough, only problem is at the start of big fights i will lag for 10-13 seconds as everything is loaded up, this only happens the once per area, in in HA, i am completely useless for 10 seconds fighting the zaishen! Lowering AA don't help matters though.

Seriously I would not spend ANY money on upgrading that 800MHz pc...you could build a good PC for the price of a high end graphics card!

wahoyaho · Mar 07, 2006, 09:10 AM // 09:10

If it were me, the first thing I'd upgrade on your computer is the CPU...800mhz is just way below standards.

Akhilleus · Mar 08, 2006, 10:48 PM // 22:48

what i want to know is why i see my comp as having 100% CPU usage when i have an AMD Athalon(tm) 64 processor 3200+ (runs at 2.01ghz)...

Josh · Mar 08, 2006, 11:19 PM // 23:19

I have an AMD Athlon 2400 (32-Bit) clocked at 2.0GHz (not even Over-Clocked...), 1GB RAM, ATI Sapphire Radeon 9250 128MB AGP 8x.

And Akhilleus, GW will give anyone 100% CPU, a game like Guild Wars will use as much CPU as it can to perform well, it's normal.

LiQuId StEeL · Mar 09, 2006, 12:31 AM // 00:31

Exactly why GW is such an amazing feat of development.

I can run GW at playable fps on integrated video and a 1.9 P4, but it isn't pretty. I can switch to my 3500+ amd, and see the same game, with the same jitters (or lack there-of).

I'm running a 3500+ AMD 64 overclocked as far as aircooling will permit, and am always at 100%.

To the OP: the 5500 will work perfectly fine. I used a 5200pci for the longest time, and it only had problems with NEW NEW NEW games (FEAR, and bf2). GW is based on an older engine, so most cards from at least 2000 will be able to run it.

Alias_X · Mar 09, 2006, 12:40 AM // 00:40

With Firefox anda bunch of tabs open, GW on max settings, and tons of background programs, I run at around 52& CPU usage on my AMD Athlon X2 4400+

LiQuId StEeL · Mar 09, 2006, 03:34 AM // 03:34

There is where the dual core is doing what it should be. Multitasking.

GW on all max + 5tab Firefox + Ventrilo + Winamp + gaim + xfire = 100%... probably 70% on a reasonably priced dual core

Alias_X · Mar 10, 2006, 01:20 AM // 01:20

51% max for that on an overpriced X2, or, the 4400+.

I don't notice any performance decrease, and, some patches even make games run even better on dual cores!

Old Dood · Mar 10, 2006, 01:49 PM // 13:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by wahoyaho

If it were me, the first thing I'd upgrade on your computer is the CPU...800mhz is just way below standards.

Depending on the motherboard you will at best be able to upgrade the CPU to a 1.1Ghz P3. Waste of time and money. I have a P3 800Mhz and when this game first came out it ran it fairly well...since all the updates and such it has become quite CHUNKY. I have it maxed at 512Mb of Ram with a Ti4200 Nvidia 128Mb vid card and a fast ISP cable connection. Doesn't matter...it is now named "Chunky Boy"...and Mrs Dood uses it for her daily email and forums habits.

If you are not into building a computer (trust me allot of people just don't want to build one) then you might want to look at a Bare Bones system and work up from there. Adding Ram...Vid Card...Hard Drives....etc.

[email protected]_UKRaiNiaN · Mar 10, 2006, 01:58 PM // 13:58

Just FYI....

Your computer will run as fast as the slowest component in your computer!

eaither its a vid card, CPU, RAM, etc.

Alias_X · Mar 10, 2006, 09:54 PM // 21:54

Not always true @ the above post.

CPU isn't as much as a bottleneck as GPU is in gaming. Ram can help load times, etc, but even with my 2gigs of ram, the shadows appear on people when I walk towards them, and disappear when I walk away.

1gig is ok, 2 gigs is sweetspot for ram.

Teklord · Mar 10, 2006, 10:07 PM // 22:07

The shadows will disappear when you walk away no matter what your system has. That is simply how the game was programmed. There are no shadow options to say "Always Off" / "Only on when close" / "Always On".

I'm sure Old Dood could confirm that the shadows disappear when he walks away from characters as well, and he has 4GBs.

I'm still not sure where people are determining that 2GBs is the optimal amount of Ram. Maybe when Vista comes out that'll be true... but for now I'm just not seeing it. Unfortunately I can't link the benchmarks that I saw to prove my point, can't find them anymore.