Is this PC the problem

[pembquist]

Hi, I've been trying AH for a month and I seem to be getting discoed.  I have a Dell 531s Sempron 3600+ 2ghz with 1 gig of memory.  It has onboard video and only takes low profile cards and has an anemic 250w power supply.  It is running Vista home basic and a wireless card through an airport router connected to comcast modem.  Can this system work?  I tried a little trouble shooting with tracert but the dos window pops up and disappears.  I try to turn as much off as I can (software update, security blah blah) but I don't know what services or process I can kill so there are about 44 of those.  Is this just going to be a laggy pos from the get go and should I give up on it or should this system as is work o.k.?.  For all my real computing needs I use a mac so I can't justify spending very much on a new computer for just one game.  thankyou

P.s. is anyone using linux to run AH well?

[bbosen]

You asked about LINUX.

Yes and no.

I use PcLInux 2009.1  FREQUENTLY to run Aces High II version 2.12.4.  Performance is similar to what I see on Windows XP. Fine-tuning that performance is definitely easier and simpler for me on LINUX than on Vista, but not as easy as on XP. I haven't attempted it with the current version of Aces High, but I suspect they would also work. Full details for how I got this working can be seen here:

http://www.askmisterwizard.com/LINUX/PcLinuxOs2008Minime/SwitchingToPcLinuxOs2008Page01Full.htm

Regards,

[Tigger29]

I can get the game loaded in Linux (using wine) but the second it goes to 'full screen' mode, it crashes.  Apparently this pretty much happens with everyone using ATI video cards.

As for your computer, set all graphics options to the bare minimum and fly for awhile.  If it still keeps discoing, then I would have to suspect your wireless connection.  Try running a network cable to it instead (disable the wireless connection) and if it still discoes, then download and run pingplotter.  You can post the results here.

[Chalenge]

Wireless is not so good.

[Bino]

...onboard video...
...Vista home basic...
...wireless card...

Those are gonna be problems.  Sorry.

[mbailey]

I tried running in on Dell 3000 with pretty much the same result, It was xp, onboard graphics and 2gigs of memory. DSL connection.  From what i remember my discos were a resource  problem.The game was just a bit much for my computer, although somewhat playable with everything turned down to lowest setting

I now have a Dell 8400 w pcie and 4 gigs and have solid FR and still have a good deal of the "eye candy" on. Not one disco from a resource problem yet in 2 months, actually only 1 disco the whole time, but that was because of my ISP going down

[skribetm]

the problems: vista on a single core w/ onboard graphics.
and that PC is small form factor. it wont take regular sized video cards.
that mobo will take up to an athlon64 X2 5600+.
this radeon HD4650 would likely work, too.
but only up to as much as 1440x900 for decent frame rates at medium settings.

things you can reuse towards a new build:

DDR2
HDD/ODD

things you'll need:

PSU
mobo+cpu
video card


if youll be spending at least $200, i'd rather build a new one re-using the old components to save money.
btw, what resolution are you playing on? what LCD/CRT monitor do you have?

[Tigger29]

Wireless is not so good.

While wireless is obviously a lot more susceptible to interference as compared to a wired connection, this doesn't necessarily mean that his wireless connection is what is causing his problems.  I played for years using a wireless connection to my router and almost never got disconnected... maybe five times in a few year period.

There are a lot of factors of course including home configuration, what your neighbors are doing, how far your computer is from the router/access point... a LOT of factors, but let's not automatically assume his wireless connection is the issue.

[pembquist]

my video settings are 1024 x 768, no anti aliasing, texture 512, my monitor is a dell p1110 crt
I just tried dropping texture to 256 but I can't really tell any difference, (do changes happen on restart?) Frame rate dips to 27 turning low over airfield is 35 to 40 usually and 76 looking straight up at blue sky.  I kinda figure that upgrading the system would be a waste of money like you said above 200,(graphics card + processor and you've busted the 200 level.) I have an old case and a power supply (a sparkle 400 watt) so theoretically I just need to buy MB CPU Mem Video and OS.  So should I get windows 7 home?  I confess I am totally unclear on how to get XP.  My thinking is partly that any graphics card I get for the machine I have will be more expensive for what you get than a card for a regular system and decent power supply.  I still have to get ahold of a 50' ethernet cable to try a direct connect.   Thanks for replys so far.

[pembquist]

one more thing: My joystick is a MS Sidewinder FFB 2 which I read somewhere might hurt performance, (old drivers or something.)  It seems to work fine does anyone know if it can hurt performance?

[Chalenge]

While wireless is obviously a lot more susceptible to interference as compared to a wired connection, this doesn't necessarily mean that his wireless connection is what is causing his problems.  I played for years using a wireless connection to my router and almost never got disconnected... maybe five times in a few year period.

There are a lot of factors of course including home configuration, what your neighbors are doing, how far your computer is from the router/access point... a LOT of factors, but let's not automatically assume his wireless connection is the issue.

Quote from Skuzzy (technical support forum on internet connections): "Wireless connections will always incur higher bit error rates in the data stream."

Please dont take what I am about to say as rude or anything but... "If you are using wireless your a problem for us all." I say that because of the warps and other issues a wireless user introduces. Its just a nightmare situation in my way of thinking.