Gaming Performance and RAM

[jeeves]

I have recently purchased my computer and wanted to know which is the best single upgrade that I can go for. My system comprises of following components:

Pentium III 667 MHz Processor
Asus P3V4X Motherboard
128 MB Transcend PC133 SDRAM
Matrox Millennium G400 Dual Head 32 MB
Asus 8x/40x DVD Rom Drive
Creative Sound Blaster Live Value
PC Works (Cambridge Soundworks)alternatively my audio system
Quantum Fireball Plus LM Hard Drive 15GB
17" Samsung 700IFT Monitor alternatively Panasonic 26 inch TV
Microsoft Elite Keyboard and Wheel Mouse
Panasonic 1.44 Floppy
Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro Joystick
500 VA UPS with AVR

OS: Windows 98SE
Matrox driver version 6.04.028


My personal decision as to the single upgrade would be to go for additional 128 MB RAM. Is this the best route to take?

I managed a score of 2837 on the 3D Mark2000 (not a very good score, I suppose). Will the increase in RAM improve the 3D performance drastically? I am not regular tweaker but I must set the system right in order to justify the dough that went into buying these components.

I am tweaking the system for my 10 year old son who loves 3D simulators and F1 racing. Sometimes I too get carried away with him.

Any advise would be appreciated.

[Alec]

With an additional 128 Mb of RAM, your 3D performance will not increase a bit, maybe 1 or 2 frames per second. Keep in mind, though, that in a year from now, 256Mb of RAM will be welcome

Your machine is very good and appears to be fast, but if you´re unhappy with the 3D performance, you´ll have to buy a GeForce 2 GTS, which is way faster than the G400.

If I were you, however, I´d buy a CD burner.

[ahartman]

I hear ya, Jeeves. I got the upgrade fever too. My system is close enough to yours to be called a sibling. Truth is, there's not much you can do to it to make it better (aside from a new gaming vid-card or a new processor).

I agree w/Alec, that a CD burner is a must-have.

Aside from that, I see nothing that jumps out at me.

Ooh, maybe a headset microphone so you can use Roger-Wilco w/your friends while gaming.

Cable modem/DSL?

Hmm, there has to be SOMETHING we can spend money on...

[DukeP]

Go with the 256mb ram.

I upgraded my win2000 machine with 128mb extra. It did great things with CS and general improved the overall feel of the machine.

This IS win2000 which does use more resources than 98...
..But its way srable and a great gaming platform, if properly equipped and configurated.

~~dukep~~

[jeeves]

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

I am in the midst of tweaking my system and the first thing I did was to overclock my PIII to 140FSB, and guess what? My system is much faster and quicker with most of the things.

I also grabbed another module of 128 MB which I have yet to install.

I will give full detials on the weekend as I am keeping all the data and comparision noted down and all the information will be shared with you so please allow me to get back by this weekend.

Thanks a lot!

Jeeves

[ski]

Ahh I see you beat me too it jeeves I was going to tell you to overclok it and go for the 128mb of ram but you figure that out yourself That should put some each life in your system.

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[spoogenet]

Are you really going to see much of a performance increase in 98 with 256 vs 128?

I'm asking, because I don't have a 98 machine to do the tests on. I do know, however, that NT/2000 is a memory eater. The more ya give it, the happier it is. I actually just added another 128 tonight, making it 256. 512 feels even better on a NT4 machine, though, so I might still add more.

b

[Beezer]

Your system seems pretty darn good - actually, I'm a little jealous. However, the two spots in your set up that might be lacking a little is 1) the size of your monitor -- you should be able to use high resolutions that would look sweet on a 19" or even a 21" monitor... 2)Your PC Works speakers are OK, but there are lots better quality ones for reasonable prices. A 5-speaker setup does wonders for gaming. I have the FPS 2000 with the SB Live and am quite impressed with the sound quality especially for the price - about $130 US.

By the way, I added 128 RAM to get to 256MB a while back due to video editing reasons. I didn't notice any difference in my 3D gaming (Win 98), although my processor is only 450Mz so I may be more processor limited than anything else.

[Paulr]

Give Win2000 as much memory as you like, it will use it.
Once Win2000 has finished loading you hardly hear a peep out of my HD's.
So much more can be loaded into RAM reducing that PageFile size.
Even those memory hungry games like Ultima On-Line hardly need to access the HD once it's loaded, it used to churn like crazy under Win98 with 128MB.

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ASUS CUSL2, PIII 800EB, 512MB PC100 RAM (Hyundai), 2x 30GB ATA-100 IBM HD, Matrox G400MAX, SB Live!, Adaptec 2940UW, Pioneer 32x/6x SCSI DVD-ROM, Yamaha 4416 SCSI CD-RW, Internal SCSI ZIP Drive, Iiyama VM Pro410, Windows 2000 Only

[HOBO]

Don't waist your money on ram, if you want a faster gaming machine get a different video card full stop! The Matrox G400/450 is out of date, there are heaps faster and better cards out now. Sorry but its the truth Matrox just don't cut it anymore....

To give you an example. The best I got out of Quake3 arena was 60 fps and that was with 256 meg of ram with a PIII 667, and a G400 Max. I put in a Voodoo5500, and got 170fps. now thats a huge difference....

If you don't believe me, I can post screen shots if you like. Get a different card and you won't be sorry

Cheers Hobo

Cheers Hobo

[Greebe]

The clueless HOBO strikes again!

[ahartman]

Sigh. Hobo, you've voiced your discontent with Matrox in a previous thread. I hope I don't see your little tag post at the end of every topic now...

Also, how can 60 vs. 170 fps make a difference? Your eyes cannot SEE the full 60 fps, much less 170. Look around - everyone has said that if fps is your main goal, a Matrox card isn't the #1 (or prob. even #2 choice).

I like mine and it gives me what I need. Whine somewhere else.

[spoogenet]

Also, how can 60 vs. 170 fps make a difference? Your eyes cannot SEE the full 60 fps, much less 170.

I like my G400, too. Color quality is great, 2D quality is great, nice and crisp and clear. It runs the games I play fast enough for me.

BUT, I must disagree with your statement. 60 vs 170 is noticeable. While there is much debate to how many fps your eye can really see, there isn't much debate about needing/wanting higher fps. The main point being, if you are AVERAGING 60 fps, then there will likely be times that you are close to 20-30 fps, and it will be choppy. Equally there will be fast times and it'll be smooth as silk. But if you are AVERAGING 170 fps, then it will most likely be smooth most of the time.

While your eye can't see the difference from frame to frame, your eye will see the difference in how smooth it is from 30 to, say, 100. Or at least you will tell a difference in the feel, if not just by sight.

b

[jeeves]

Hi guy's,

I just installed the second module into the slot!

As per comments of many of you I did not expect greatly increased performance in 3D and yes that is so very true! Yet I must say that this single upgrade actually did not go to waste as I further tweaked the system to utilise the Ram efficiently.

How? I simply made a few changes in the system.ini file as follows:

[386Enh]
ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1
DMABufferSize=64

[vcache]
chunksize=4096

I also installed Cacheman 3.80 to improve upon the cache. chunksize can also be tweaked from there.

I noticed that the photographs open very fast and Microsoft Office 2000 opens the MS Word the moment you release the finger from the key, this is very useful for me as I do a lot of reports and figure work.

I am not sure about other goodies as I am just trying to check everything as the module was installed only an hour ago.

By the way I also was advised to get the CD Burner. I actually do not need it as I have no use of same. I use my Laptop as my back up through the USB Link and it works just fine for me. Plus it is also used to to transfer my work files on a regular basis. All my important data are on two machines at the same time. If I loose one the other is there.

I also noted about the advise from you guy's to go for a better vga card -- sorry guy's to disappoint you all but no way as I am not just looking for one thing in a card but I am interested in a card which can do justice to everything I use the computer for-not just 3D games. Besides, my son needs more than just 3D games to hang on to-the computer is a tool for learning and that is what I intend to use it for.

I am also not interested in competing with anyone based on scores-its how you use it, not how fast, how big or how goodlooking!

The computer is not the only thing I fancy, I am a serious photograper, an audiophile and simply a computer user (just wanting to use it properly). My savings go into these three activities.

Will come back and report further for all those interested.

Jeeves

[Alec]

Hey Jeeves, I´m a (amateur) photographer, too... I love photography. I guess I´m a computer user too and kind of an audiophile (without the proper hardware).

I´d like to see some of your work, if possible. Maybe you can e-mail me a few low-res photos...


By the way, have you already checked out these:
http://www.photopoint.com
http://www.corbis.com


Regarding your hardware, I think you could find a Iomega ZIP-250 USB drive useful...

[This message has been edited by Alec (edited 02 November 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Alec (edited 02 November 2000).]