dont know whether new video card would help

[cubsfan1]

I'm just trying to figure out whether getting a new video  card would increase my framerate problems. someone told me if add additional ram this may improve my framerates. i am currently getting during high traffic times framerates as low as 15 fps but during low traffic times i'm getting an average of 40 fps. i have an HP media center 876x desktop pc.
processor: intel pentium 4 2.4GHz hyper-threading, 800 MHz frontside, socket mPGA478( have no idea what this means)
motherboard: ASUS P4SD
memory: two 256 MB(512 total) PC2700 or better dual-inline memory modules ; motherboard accepts DDR400/PC3200, DDR333/PC2700 or DDR266/PC2100 Dimms, Dual channel supported only when identical pairs are used ; motherboard contains four memory sockets in two pairs ( sockets 1:3 and 2:4 )[no idea what this means], upgradable to a max of 4 GB.
network card: on board Realtek 8101l/ 10/100 ethernet
have altec lansing 5.1 surround sound speaker system
VIDEO CARD: GeForce FX5200 with 128 MB memory, 8x AGP, and S-Video and DVI out
Expansion slots : three PCI slots ( two in use, one open) , one AGP slot (in use) , two serial ATA connectors

I have SBC Yahoo DSL service so my service is not the issue. I'm really sick of starting a break turn after the bullets are already on the way or getting killed before i even see the bullets.
P.S. soory about the long winded tech info that i don't understand at all but i wanted to be sure that you had all the info to give correct advice. thanks in advance.

[Krusty]

Your processor is good. I have a similar chip (but a 500mhz fsb). Your video card is better than mine. You have the same ram amount and the same speed (but mine is all in 1 stick, 512MB DDR400 running at DDR333), so your frames problem is not necessarily hardware related.

Please list the settings you fly AH under, including what visual effects you have enabled (checked) and what resolution and what texture size.

[StarOfAfrica2]

Krusty's right.  While your setup is certainly not optimal, nor is it even optimized for the hardware you have, your frame rate problems are most likely related to video card settings and ingame visual settings.  Could even be driver related.  Need more information on settings to tell though.

[Skuzzy]

Could be a resource issue too.  HP/Compaq and Dell have been in a race to see how many processes they can have running, by default, on thier computers.

Last count, HP was winning by having over 60 processes running by default.  Dell is a near second with just under 50.

By default, Windows XP has around 19 to 21.

[cubsfan1]

thanks for your prompt reply! These are my video settings:
Video Resolution: 1024x768
Textures: preload in system memory (selected), preload skins(selected)
Map texture: 256
Max frame rate: unlimited
Video preferences; Level of detail: most performance, Display object size: most performance, Ground detail range: middle of slider
Disable other plane skins (selected)
Video gamma settings: Gamma at 1.1
I've noticed that I almost have to be directly over target before buidings com into view which makes it really difficult to bomb and hit targets as you might imagine.
also how do i find out what systems are running in the backgroung and how do i turn them off. I am borderline computer illiterate.

[Krusty]

I would try restoring your sliders to default, that will help with things not showing up.

Then I would disable preload all textures (just to see if it helps any -- I hear you should not use this option unless you have 1GB of ram or more).

In windows, not in AH2, hit CTRL ALT DEL. This brings up the Windows Task Manger. You will see the Applications tab. Select the Processes tab. Down at the bottom it will say "Processes: 27" (that's what mine says).

Do this without any other programs running, then tell us how many processes it has running, and we'll work from there.

[cubsfan1]

under processes it says 49!

[buzkill]

wow...last i checked i had 14 (with v-scan turned off)

[StarOfAfrica2]

Looks like Skuzzy wins the prize.  

[RTSigma]

Jeez I got 58 running. Any free programs that can help reduce this?

[StarOfAfrica2]

http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=171880

[Krusty]

You don't need free programs. You can stop them in Windows itself. You just have to be careful.

Run "msconfig" under Start > Run. Hit ENTER. Click the last tab over to the right, it's called "Start up"

The check box says whether or not a process is loaded on startup (on EVERY start up I mean). Some you might want, like nVidia drivers, antivirus, and a few things like that.

There are a lot of little things like real media, quicktime, and even autodesk 3dsMax 8 that load things on startup, even if the program is not running. If you can easily tell what the program is by looking at the name (example: "Microsoft Offce" gets UNchecked! I'll start the program I want, thankyouverramuch Microsoft!)

If you don't know what a startup item is, lengthen the column that says "Command" and see if there's a name in the path like "NORTON~1" -- which might hint at what the program is.

When in doubt, pull up a browser window and "google" the phrase (search for "navapw32" for example) and if it's part of Windows you CAN disable it but you might find it more convenient to leave it running.

That's the basics on how to do it.

You have to reboot for it to take effect. When you do, a popup window will come up, select "Do not warn me again" and click the box that means "no I'm not going to change anything, go away right now" -- Windows wants you to go in and change things to re-enable stuff. You don't want to, because you've just set it up how you like.

You can go back into msconfig and re-enable these later.

[FireOf59]

Ive had good luck with a program called "End It All". It's freeware and easy to install/use for us PC Illiterates. Has never caused me any crashes, etc.

[cubsfan1]

what are the average fps that everyone gets, and what is considered optimal for great performance?

[Skuzzy]

Anything above 45FPS is perfect.  Anything above 24FPS is very playable.