Old Rig and New Game = Bad Memories

[redbelly]

It reminded me of back in the day (tour 80 something) when I tried to run AH my old, old PC.  It was a constant lag of hardly being able to move the mouse cursor and a frame rate of 0-1 (it just couldn’t handle it).   It’s pretty much the same thing for me now with the Alpha.  I did manage to get the graphics turned down to a minimum in game and it helped a little but still my frame rate was 1-2.  I have another system I plan testing with soon but I figured I would post the info on what I got going on now with the rig that I have dominated the skies for years with.

I would like to note that even with the current game I have high res, anti anyalising, and all that kind of stuff turned off.  I would always get a bit laggy and my frame rate would start dropping when things like “detailed water” were on (it wasn’t bad but in this game, any lag is enough).  Also, my frame always seemed to cap at 60 when things were running smooth.  Its like wanted to go higher but it would just sit at 60.  I never had a problem with it so I never really researched why.  I realize this doesn’t regard to Alpha but I just thought I would mention it since you guys are already looking at my system info.

I’m sure some of you will also wonder why I still have Vista.  Well, I have tried to install Win7 and 8 on more than one occasion but I always have the same problem of the system shutting off.  It would keep shutting off on install and if I actually made it through the install, it would shut off shortly after.  It’s like the bios was made to manage only Vista or something, but as you can tell, I’m no computer whiz so I don’t know.  However, I have gone through all the tips and tricks of making Vista perform better and it has served me well over the years.

Hopefully I attached the dxdiag correctly and you all are able to view my system info.  

Will new game = new rig for me?

[Bizman]

To answer your question: Yes, you'll definitely need a new rig. I'm surprised that you can play the current version with the one you're using now!

As for the dxdiag report, instead of a screen image use the "save all information" button and send the DxDiag.txt file. But I must give you kudos for having run the DxDiag and posting the most essential parts of it. That helps to explain you the bottlenecks in layman's terms.

As you may know, every game (and any other program for that matter) has minimum requirements for the hardware. The current game leans more on the processor side than on the video card side and that's why you've been able to play it at all. The alpha puts a lot more struggle on the video card like most games do. Your video card was the weakest of its series already in 2007, it barely meets the current minimums. Truth to be said, if that computer was sold to you as "a serious gaming rig" you have been fooled.

As for you not being able to install to Win7 or 8, did you try to do a clean install or an upgrade? An upgrade install over the existing one is never a good option, because it carries all potential problems to the new system as well. There may be driver issues and other settings related things, not to mention the possibility of malware.

One obscurity I noticed in your DxDiag is that you seem to have 6 GB of RAM in a 32 bit operating system. Shortly put, no 32 bit operating system can use more than 4 GB of memory, so the rest is just sitting there. With a 64 bit OS the limit with current components is measured in thousands of miles rather than gigabytes.

Summa summarum, for your current rig to be able to run the Alpha, you'd need a better video card. But then you'd probably have to get a more powerful power supply, too. Those two alone can be a good start for a piece-by-piece build, but for longevity I'd recommend getting everything needed at the same time.

BTW, it might be interesting to know the specs of your other system to see if combining the two provided a better gaming experience. A Dr. Frankenstein approach to computers... 

[redbelly]

Thanks for checking it out for me Biz!  I figured she wouldn’t be able to handle it.  I will try to do the text file next time on my dxdiag report.

It is far from a gaming rig for sure.  It’s just a regular HP Pavilion purchased from Best Buy around 7 or 8 years ago probably.  I added the graphics card and more RAM shortly after I bought it.   I also added a 700w power supply a few years ago.   As far as I can tell, it is a 64bit system as I was able to install 64bit OS.  By right clicking “computer”, then “properties”, and looking at “System type”, it says “64-bit Operating System”.   Again, I am no computer whiz but my experience from working with 32bit system RAM upgrades, even if I had 6GB in it, it would only tell me I had the max 4GB on the dxdiag, I think.
 
For a little more detail attempts at Win7, I did do the complete install.   The problem with it shutting off seemed kind of heat related.  It’s like the system couldn’t monitor my core temps correctly therefore shutting it off prematurely.  It did this with both Win7 and 8.  I put Vista back on it and haven’t had any more problems.  It could be a bios update or something would solve the problem.  I attempted to update it a couple times to no avail as it has no option in bios to do so and every attempt to do so manually failed (probably because I wasn’t doing something right).

Bottom line is like you said, I’m definitely going to need a new rig.  I will post the info on my other pc soon.  It’s just a newer quad core pavilion.  I do think I have a slightly better graphics card in it, or at least it has a fan on it anyway.