SWTOR - Sys Req.

[saveaux]

Thank you for taking the time to review my post and give any advise. I have several questions at the bottom. They are all important, please answer as many as you can.

I would like to play Star Wars The Old Republic with a friend. I am using an older PC and am having a couple issues. First its laggy. Internet connection is fine, its just that none of the player movements are fluid, its playable, just jumps around a bit. Second, it locks up and freezes for about 5 seconds at completely random times.

SWTOR Minimum Requirements state:

Processor:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz or better

Operating System:
Windows XP Service Pack 3 or later

RAM:

Windows XP: 1.5GB RAM
Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB RAM

Note: PCs using a built-in graphical chipset are recommended to have 2GB of RAM.
Star Wars: The Old Republic requires a video card that has a minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM as well as support for Shader 3.0 or better. Examples include:

ATI X1800 or better
nVidia 7800 or better
Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better

My spec's are:

EVGA GeForce 7300 GT / 512MB DDR2 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / DVI / VGA / TV Out / Video Card
MPN: 512-P2-N447-LX

ABIT KN8 NVIDIA Socket 939 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express x16 / Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID
MPN: KN8

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 2.20GHz / 1MB Cache / 1000 MHz (2000 MT/s) FSB / SanDiego / Socket 939 / OEM / Processor
MPN: ADA3700DAA5BN AV
I have 3.2GB RAM


My questions are:
1) It says I need a dual core processor, can I get by with my single core?

2)The spec's on the motherboard say that it has 1 PCI-E x16 slot but I can't find a clear answer what this means. On parts websites they have listed PCI-E, PCI-E 1, 2, and 3. They don't have a PCI-x16 and I have no idea what I 1, 2, or 3 is.

It says to use at least a GeForce 7800 with shader 3.0. I have a GeForce 7300 which states that it has the shader 3.0.

So the second question is this: If I were to upgrade to a GeForce 7800 or better would it:

A) Help?
B) If so then what card would you recommend that I get which fits in my PCI-E x16 slot?


PS: I have updated all my drivers: Video, Sound, Windows. All graphics settings are dictated my NVidia and are set to max performance. Also all settings are as low as they come in the game. I am running Windows XP

 

[PP Mguire]

Your whole system is holding you back for minimal graphics gameplay.

 

[Frosty is a Snowman]

I have to agree
Your CPU is around half the speed that it needs to be.
You might be able to get away with the graphics card, so long as you set it to the lowest settings and a small resolution.
But the CPU is just not good enough.

I think you might be able to install a Athlon x2 CPU on that motherboard
and a Athlon 64 x2 CPU that will meet the requirements, and might only cost $20-30 on ebay

You might be able to pick up a 7800 for around that price as well

 

[PP Mguire]

Oh yea, and to explain the PCI-E.

You have PCI-E 16x 1.0. 1, 2, and 3 are the versions. 16x is the bandwidth.

Each versions doubles in bandwidth over the other. So PCI-E 16x 1.0 = the same amount of bandwidth as PCI-E 8x 2.0 and ect. All PCI-E 16x cards are slot backwards compatible.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 2 2 GHz ADA4200DAA5BV Dual Core Socket 939 Free Shipping 683728133160 | eBay

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512 P3 N802 AR 512 MB GDDR3 SDRAM PCI Express 0843368003357 | eBay

 

[saveaux]

Thank you so much for all of your input! You guys are absolutely super!

I'd like to just confirm with you what I'm understanding what you've said.

PP Mguire - It sounds as if your saying that the dual core/single core is all based on the processor and NOT the motherboard. Is this correct? I just assumed (yes I know, insert age old adage) that the whole single core/dual core was based on the motherboard having a single bus vs two bus's or something. It sounds as if that's not the case, which is TERRIFIC news! So in other words I thought that I had to replace both the motherboard and the processor all in one, but now maybe I don't.

The whole PCI question:
Sounds like I have a PCI-E 1.0 slot, correct?

Not only would I like to thank both of you for your quick responses but also for actually giving me a link to find a processor and graphics card. The link was instrumental in me understanding what was going on.

After hours of scratching my head and getting frustrated over what I thought would be a large expenditure I was left completely discouraged not knowing where to move forward. As a hail Mary last minute option I signed up for this forum and thought I would turn to the professional's. Hat's off to both PP Mguire and Frosty is a Snowman again for being so fast and not being cruel to me because I didn't understand how some of the things work. Forum's are full of jerks that seem to only enjoy pointing out how people used improper grammer and how stupid they are. Thanks for not being one of the jerks. Thanks for being my hero.

 

[saveaux]

Also it looks as if I can get the CPU that you linked from eBay as cheap as $17. Most of the processor's are used with a 7-30 day guaruntee that they will work. Are used CPU's generally ok? Is it something where as long as it works for one day it should work for 2 years?

 

[saveaux]

I have been checking out processors and think I know the very one I want to purchase. It looks as if the best 939 socket CPU I can get is the one you linked. The Athlon 64 X2 4800, would you agree?

I moved forward to locate a graphics card. It looks as if the one you linked says in its description:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Expansion / Connectivity[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Compatible Slots[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PCI Express 2.0 x16[/FONT]

Again will this work? It says the whole 2.0 thing, which throws me off.

 

[PP Mguire]

I want to clarify.

Socket 939 has 4 different types of processors. Athlon 64, Athlon X2 (those are dual core), Sempron, and Opteron.

Socket AM2, AM2+ and AM3 also have Athlon X2 chips. The Athlon X2 4000+ they specified in the system requirements is the AM2 version. It is faster, and supports DDR2.

The key here is, getting the fastest dual core processor for the cheapest price which supports your motherboard. If you went with a faster CPU like the X2 4000+ they specified then you would need a brand new motherboard and RAM. Does that make sense? You technically need a faster CPU than the one I linked (as in architecture, no pure GHz speed) but the one I linked will get the job done. What I did, was linked the 8800GT which is a MUCH faster GPU than required to make the GPU do most of the work.

Yes, you have PCI-E 1.0 and the slot in question is 16x. The 8800GT will work in it still though.

Yes used CPUs are fine, as long as the pins aren't bent and they didn't do something stupid with it. Back in 09 I sold my trusty X2 4200+ for my S939 board and in 2012 bought an X2 3800+ off Ebay for 10 bucks. It works like a charm. It's luck of the draw trusting the person didn't screw something up, but for that price it's not much of a gamble IMO.

Personally, I think if you have any kind of real budget you need an overhaul, but I'm just trying to get you to be able to play the game on the cheapest budget possible which is why I linked those two things. On that note, I need to ask what the wattage and model your power supply is.

 

[saveaux]

I agree, an overhaul is what I need. I left PC gaming (EQ, EQ2, WOW) in 2007 to pursue the PS3 and am currently in the top 20 in the world in Modern Warfare 3 on the PS3. I have lost interest with that and am SLOWLY trying to slink back into the PC world. My wife and I are trying to purchase a house in the next 3 months so justifying $100 in parts is much easier than $750 in parts. Also we aren't getting her a graduation gift (graduated nursing school last week) so we can save for a house. I would be murdered if I bought a whole new PC instead of buying her the matching wedding band that we had originally intended.


My power supply is:
1 ULT31841 Ultra / V-Series / 500-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / 20/24-Pin / SATA Ready / Power Supply
MPN: ULT31841

Looks like I will go ahead and order exactly what you recommended. Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING AWESOME!

Also, I have an IDE HD, would it increase any speeds to have a SATA?


Could you also maybe shed light on a problem that I am having in game? The game runs relatively smooth when I am running around, however the moment I try to complete an action (casting a spell) the game freezes in place and the sound skips for 5-10 seconds. Teamspeak is running in the background and I can still talk to my friends through it. I have the most updated AC'97 sound driver. Think this is something that will be fixed with a new processor/graphics card?

 

[PP Mguire]

A modern/newer SATA drive is much faster than any IDE drive, so yea. Especially if you go to some form of SSD. Just leave that for an overhaul.

Your sound problem when you cast a spell is the animation graphics lagging. All of it will be fixed with the new setup. AND with the new setup you can play MW3 on PC if you wanted to. No offense, but booooo to PS3.

Understand the house thing. I put off purchasing a house because the one we want still isn't on the market.