A Graphics Card for MW

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue May 25, 2004 8:39 am

I am considering upgrading my graphics card in order to better appreciate Morrowind (in addition to picking up some more RAM). What would people recommend? I'd be looking for something in the mid price range though if I could get a reasonable deal I'd be tempted to go high end.

Thanks!

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue May 25, 2004 8:39 am

What are you using now, @DW?

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue May 25, 2004 8:46 am

@Fable,
It's rather anitiquated... It's an Nvidea RIVA TNT2, model 64 Pro..

In case anyone asks I'm running a Dell Pentium 3 with a 1 gig processor, 256 RAM...

I'm actually surprised the game even runs for me..

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue May 25, 2004 8:50 am

I'm using a Radeon 9600, so don't be too embarassed.

I honestly don't think a new card would help that much. Remember, MW's graphics are 2 years old. I'd suggest its the CPU and RAM that need improvement, most, because the game is so poorly optimized. I've heard people with cards a couple of years old getting good FPS rates, but they had 2.6 GB machines and 512 MB RAM--or higher.

arno_v · Post by **arno_v** » Tue May 25, 2004 8:50 am

@DW
Sounds like you need a hole new comp

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue May 25, 2004 8:56 am

Well I'd like a whole new comp.. but owing to present economic circumstances I need to make do with what I have and I just can't justify a new machine... so at this point additional RAM and perhaps a new card are the best I can do...

At least if I get more RAM, provided it is compatible, I can add it all to a new computer whenever I do get something better. This is also why I might be swayed by a high end graphics card, I could transfer it...

@Fable,
this is what I have been wondering; some people have mentioned to me that a new card really helps despite the age of the computer while others suggest it makes little difference.

What I would like to know, is just what the game creators had in mind.. I mean MW is already a couple of years old and I have heard of people with brand new computers that have trouble running it...

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue May 25, 2004 9:04 am

What I would like to know, is just what the game creators had in mind.. I mean MW is already a couple of years old and I have heard of people with brand new computers that have trouble running it...

There are a lot of variables involved--most notably, the more mods you use, the more memory it soaks up. RAM becomes important, very quickly; and RAM is used, as well, for visual redraws. But the game's visuals aren't optimized, so moving from a 64K to 128K card isn't going to make a significant difference.

On the other hand, upgrading your CPU would definitely help with data loads, those points in the game when it halts briefly to load in a new area. But that's a heavy investment--RAM is definitely the cheapest, and probably the best, way to go.

owlsight · Post by **owlsight** » Tue May 25, 2004 9:12 am

My boyfriend recently updated my video card. He got me a Radeon 9600 SE and it works great. It's not cutting edge technology; it's an older video card. I was amazed at the improvement in my game. It runs much smoother, and there is improvement overall in the graphics. He got it on sale for $79.00. It's normally around $95-$99 range.

Edited to add that I have 512MB of RAM.

brian12321 · Post by **brian12321** » Tue May 25, 2004 9:30 am

This is interesting. I've wondered what would improve my morrowinding experience too. I recently purchased another stick of 512 meg ram, so now i have a gig. I've installed a ton of mods, and it was getting pretty choppy, but since i added the extra ram it seemed to help. I've got a GeForce fx 5200, with a gig of ram, and a P4 2.4 gig processor, and it runs really well. I also downloaded the frame rate optimizer for it, and you can adjust the settings a bunch more, that also helped with my lag problems.

Danbacksli · Post by **Danbacksli** » Tue May 25, 2004 9:55 am

I would recommend the GeForce FX 5600, the plus to this is that it is 256 Megs instead of the regular 128. And it is like 130 bucks.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue May 25, 2004 1:58 pm

Originally posted by owlsight
My boyfriend recently updated my video card. He got me a Radeon 9600 SE and it works great. It's not cutting edge technology; it's an older video card. I was amazed at the improvement in my game. It runs much smoother, and there is improvement overall in the graphics.
Edited to add that I have 512MB of RAM.

Did you install the graphics card before installing more RAM? Or did you just have the 512 MB RAM and you subsequently added the graphics card at which point you noticed the improvement? Also, what sort of computer are you running?

I'm just trying to determine how worthwhile it would be to get a new card.. Fable is not the first person to state that upgrading to a better graphics card would be somewhat pointless.

There seems to be a wide range of opinion on the subject, so hence my confusion

arno_v · Post by **arno_v** » Tue May 25, 2004 2:02 pm

Maybe you should try to buy some new RAM first and see if it improves the speed enough. I think it's not that expensive and if your not satisfied with the new RAM, you could buy a new graphics card then.

Ares2382 · Post by **Ares2382** » Tue May 25, 2004 2:05 pm

I can tell you this, 3 years ago when I had my really old computer with the TNT 2 card the game looked ok. Then I got a new computer with GeForce 2 and the game looked so much better, however, just recently I upgraded to a new computer yet again with GeForce FX 5200, I didn't notice much difference in the way it looks. So I say that if you have anything before GeForce 2 you missing out on alot, but anything after that is not a big improvement.

brian12321 · Post by **brian12321** » Tue May 25, 2004 3:21 pm

oh oh, @dw

sorry, i had the video card before i got the extra ram. Heck, i dont even like my 5200. piece of ****. dont get one.

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue May 25, 2004 4:25 pm

Originally posted by arno_v
Maybe you should try to buy some new RAM first and see if it improves the speed enough. I think it's not that expensive and if your not satisfied with the new RAM, you could buy a new graphics card then.

That's good advice. You can always use more RAM: there's never enough, frankly, especially with games ramping up the memory requirements.

Gwalchmai · Post by **Gwalchmai** » Tue May 25, 2004 4:39 pm

I have a GeForce 3 card, and the game looks fine. I have 256 RAM and I have regular delays while loading new map cells and going through doors, and occasional CtD's that are livable but frustrating. I want to expand my RAM soon. Real soon, now that I'm thinking about it...

owlsight · Post by **owlsight** » Tue May 25, 2004 7:13 pm

I had 512 MB of RAM. Then he added the video card. I have an Intel Celeron 2.8 GHz processor. I'm running Windows XP. I found that Windows XP also really helped my computer out. I can now have two programs running at the same time without crashing my games to the desk top constantly. Windows 98 was never able to handle it when I tried to run two programs at once. Does that help? If you have more questions, go ahead and ask. I'm techie ignorant, but I can ask my boyfriend what questions you need answered.

Gwalchmai · Post by **Gwalchmai** » Thu May 27, 2004 11:09 am

Originally posted by Gwalchmai
I have a GeForce 3 card, and the game looks fine. I have 256 RAM and I have regular delays while loading new map cells and going through doors, and occasional CtD's that are livable but frustrating. I want to expand my RAM soon. Real soon, now that I'm thinking about it...

Okay, I upgraded my RAM to 512 last night (I called around and found a good deal on the thing). I played for about an hour - no crashes, but those only happened rarely anyway, but now the load times between map cells is so much faster! Now I don't have time to go get a snack whenever I go through a door!

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Thu May 27, 2004 12:17 pm

Originally posted by Gwalchmai
Okay, I upgraded my RAM to 512 last night (I called around and found a good deal on the thing). I played for about an hour - no crashes, but those only happened rarely anyway, but now the load times between map cells is so much faster! Now I don't have time to go get a snack whenever I go through a door!

lol! Sounds like this might be the solution!

I don't get snacks but I do things like folding laundry...

With more RAM I will no longer need to combine productivity and gaming!

Ares2382 · Post by **Ares2382** » Thu May 27, 2004 8:50 pm

yeah adding memory helps a ton in reducing load times, but it won't help you with getting all the eye candy that this game can be, unless you have a post GeForce 2 vid card.