Tell me how to upgrade my toaster

[Videri]

Hi folks. I zone slowly, drop quickly when levitating (even with FPS set to 100%), and experience very laggy and choppy gameplay in zones like Emerald Jungle, Trakanon's Teeth, and the Wakening Land. What aspect of my computer should I look at upgrading? RAM, internet connection, hard drive (as in get a SSD), something else?

[Baler]

Run EQ on a Ramdisk. (You can trim down the game directory to under a 1 gb, but you may have to exclude some classic zones to get it that low) My ramdisk copy is around 1.5gbs Which is pretty darn amazing seeing as how my harddrive eq folder is 11gbs

Upgrade your gfx card. (last time I was around 200+ players all casting spells and stuff my gfx card was overclocking and at max core clock. EQ may be an older game but god damn is it not optimized for those situations. I had to turn my spell effects to only myself)

If you hit F11 (I think) it will show your latency. What is your #ms?

As for falling while levitated and running even at sow speed. I notice that I gradually fall, The time it takes me to run across DL for example I'm pretty low by the end. Even with just facing 1 direction and Num lock running.
If you click outside of the game, while levitate running you will drop like a rock. This is because when the game loses focus it drops the fps and idk.. I think wineq has an option to fix this, maybe.

Why ramdisk? Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4wJlg53hlQ
Basically with a ram disk the only thing holding your load speed back is the old client code and the server. SSD probably even falls into this catagory too but meh, ramdisk is faster.

[Videri]

Thanks. I need to upgrade my RAM to even create a RAMdisk - I intend to try it.

I guess if that doesn't help I'll look at upgrading the graphics card.

My latency is usually between 40-70. I've been playing over a wireless connection. I tried plugging right into the modem via Ethernet and it seemed no faster.

[Thulack]

Upgrade to a SSD will drastically decrease loading times and also help your computer overall with speed(wouldnt waste time with a RAMdisk just spend 60 bucks on a SSD.) Try turning your FPS down to 30 or so. The game actually runs worse higher you set FPS(it was made in 1999 when things didnt go above 30fps.

[CmaN]

Certainly going to want to cap your FPS, I suggest 60. When levitating, remember that if you are in third person, there is a chance your camera is actually looking downward. Anytime you plan on levitating zoom in to correct your camera to make it level or slightly above level.. same goes for if you do actually want to decrease your height quickly - you have to zoom in and look down.

Insofar as your chopiness, more then likely it is related to graphics. Again, cap your fps to begin with. It would help to know what the specifications of your system. EQ is not very demanding, and there should be plenty of bandwidth for your ram in almost any configuration.

Loading times can be decreased with a ramdisk, but to me that's just overkill unless you are experiencing serious or significant loading times (1 minute+).

Your internet connection sounds fine.. wireless is not so bad at all. Test your throughput on a speedtest site and although it won't be wired speed, it will be more then enough to handle EQ and about anything else.

It really just sounds like a graphics issue.. again, it would help to know what you are using to better assist you to make things more enjoyable.

Edit:
Would also be helpful to know what cpu and os you are using, as well as how much and what type of ram. You may be paging if you have a seriously low amount of ram, which would certainly cause chopiness.

[Baler]

Originally Posted by Thulack [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Upgrade to a SSD will drastically decrease loading times and also help your computer overall with speed(wouldnt waste time with a RAMdisk just spend 60 bucks on a SSD.) Try turning your FPS down to 30 or so. The game actually runs worse higher you set FPS(it was made in 1999 when things didnt go above 30fps.

Throw money at your problem,. then lower your fps to 30. wtf this is terrible advice.
The titanium client is from 2006 not 1999 despite when the original client/game was released.

For anyone else I'm not saying an SSD is a bad choice. But if the OP doesn't already have one then a ramdisk is an above viable solution.

Originally Posted by CmaN [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Loading times can be decreased with a ramdisk, but to me that's just overkill unless you are experiencing serious or significant loading times (1 minute+).

This is because of the client and server not necessarily the person's hardware. A ramdisk would ensure that the information is being read at the maximum potential speed. After that it's up to the client to dictate how quickly it proceeds and the server to pass back and forth information.

[Thulack]

Originally Posted by Baler [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Throw money at your problem,. then lower your fps to 30. wtf this is terrible advice.
The titanium client is from 2006 not 1999 despite when the original client/game was released.

For anyone else I'm not saying an SSD is a bad choice. But if the OP doesn't already have one then a ramdisk is an above viable solution.

Yes a Ramdisk is a viable solution but why not get a solution that will help many things then just a solution that helps 1 thing? "Throwing your money" at something like a SSD that most computers should have by now really shouldnt be a issue.

[Baler]

Originally Posted by Thulack [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yes a Ramdisk is a viable solution but why not get a solution that will help many things then just a solution that helps 1 thing? "Throwing your money" at something like a SSD that most computers should have by now really shouldnt be a issue.

You don't have to say it,. You've never used a ramdisk. I can tell.
a ramdisk is not just a solution for 1 thing. Learn about your computer and how it operates. I see you posting in Technical Dissuasion often. You do help people but you also re-enforce things that are un-true. Just because you believe so.

The OP asked how they can improve their load times and reduce choppiness. I gave them the most free and optimal answer possible. You told them to spend money and lower their fps.

[CmaN]

Originally Posted by Baler [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is because of the client and server not necessarily the person's hardware. A ramdisk would ensure that the information is being read at the maximum potential speed. After that it's up to the client to dictate how quickly it proceeds and the server to pass back and forth information.

I think you are confusing the date the client and server are exchanging with the raw zone and model data. A ramdisk isn't going to do anything to make network data process any faster. That data would still be housed in normal ram. A slow, fragmented hard drive, or say a very large, very full hard drive with EQ installed late in it's life, may benefit. It is also why I asked for his OS - to see if hard drive defragmentation was a default schedule enable or background process.

[Baler]

@CmaN - I too wonder what OS he is using. and the additional specs of this system. cpu for example.

I just wanted to restate that when it comes to Reading files ramdisk is 10x faster then an SSD. (depending on what type of ram you have)

Originally Posted by CmaN [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It is also why I asked for his OS - to see if hard drive defragmentation was a default schedule enable or background process.

If this is the case then he has bigger problems then hardware/software. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

PS. wasn't confusing anything. Ramdisk makes loading faster up to the point where the client and server kick in. I never said a ramdisk would fix choppiness,. but if there are other factors like background programs or scheduled events the ramdisk would still be better then if it was on a hdd or ssd what windows was installed onto.