Tell me how to upgrade my toaster

[CmaN]

I completely agree. We will have to wait for them to reply to get some more information about their hardware to help further!

[Thulack]

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

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.

You are correct i have never used a ramdisk but i also know a ramdisk is just using ram as a disk drive. None of this helps your system run better just whatever you store on the ramdisk. A SSD will help your whole system run better. Thats my point. Considering OP said he needed to buy more ram just to do a RAMdisk i doubt he is going to able to afford enough ram to put his whole OS on the Ramdisk to improve its overall performace where he could a SSD.

[EQBallzz]

I can't speak to the RAMDISK suggestion but I was also having performance issues on my fairly beefy system (stuttering/hitching and abysmal loading times). I had EQ installed on a separate SATA drive (with all my other games) from my W10 install which is on an SSD. After trying many suggestions I moved my EQ directory to my SSD drive and my performance issues disappeared. I also had to turn my FPS way down because at 2k resolution I couldn't even turn.

[CmaN]

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

You are correct i have never used a ramdisk but i also know a ramdisk is just using ram as a disk drive. None of this helps your system run better just whatever you store on the ramdisk. A SSD will help your whole system run better. Thats my point. Considering OP said he needed to buy more ram just to do a RAMdisk i doubt he is going to able to afford enough ram to put his whole OS on the Ramdisk to improve its overall performace where he could a SSD.

That's not really what a ramdisk is. A ramdisk, is, as the name suggests, allocating part of your memory as a filesystem. The EQ directory, for example, could be assigned to a portion of your available ram. This means that all zone and model files have essentially been 'preloaded'. It simply removes the latency that occurs from disk access->ram that normally occurs. You wouldn't be loading your entire OS into ram ala a liveOS or something like that.

In reality, the zone files/model information are not that large, and shouldn't take an abnormal amount of time to load, even for a slow, standard HDD. I think some people with HDD's though, might be surprised to learn that their actual read/write speed is much slower then what it is advertised as for the unit in question. Crystalmark or others can show you that information. Typically indicative of an issue with IDE/AHCI settings, driver issues, or hard drive health. Additionally, as a HDD fills, so does the physical placement of the data on the platter, read and write times will increase.

SSD's are neat, ram disks have their niche uses, but neither should be required for acceptable loading times (given a stable internet connection) for everquest, by a long shot.

[Thulack]

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

That's not really what a ramdisk is. A ramdisk, is, as the name suggests, allocating part of your memory as a filesystem. The EQ directory, for example, could be assigned to a portion of your available ram. This means that all zone and model files have essentially been 'preloaded'. It simply removes the latency that occurs from disk access->ram that normally occurs. You wouldn't be loading your entire OS into ram ala a liveOS or something like that.

In reality, the zone files/model information are not that large, and shouldn't take an abnormal amount of time to load, even for a slow, standard HDD. I think some people with HDD's though, might be surprised to learn that their actual read/write speed is much slower then what it is advertised as for the unit in question. Crystalmark or others can show you that information. Typically indicative of an issue with IDE/AHCI settings, driver issues, or hard drive health. Additionally, as a HDD fills, so does the physical placement of the data on the platter, read and write times will increase.

SSD's are neat, ram disks have their niche uses, but neither should be required for acceptable loading times (given a stable internet connection) for everquest, by a long shot.

SSD's and Ramdisk have been proven to greatly increase loading time. Just saying. And yes i know you wouldnt be loading your entire OS onto RAMdisk that why i was saying get a SSD because it will improve the load times on your OS and EQ as opposed to just using a RAMdisk for EQ. Either way SSD or Ramdisk will help OP load EQ quicker. Both will cost him money.

[CmaN]

The problem is, I think you've lost sight of OPs problem. They are stuttering in certain zones. He said nothing of loading time, and you continue to pitch spending money on an SSD. I think that's irresponsible advice. I am waiting to hear back details regarding the hardware being used, and will continue then.

[Thulack]

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

The problem is, I think you've lost sight of OPs problem. They are stuttering in certain zones. He said nothing of loading time, and you continue to pitch spending money on an SSD. I think that's irresponsible advice. I am waiting to hear back details regarding the hardware being used, and will continue then.

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

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?

[CmaN]

Alright, was more focused on the other issues, which an SSD will do nothing for. It is my bad for overlooking that in this discussion! Just going to wait for the hardware information.

[Thulack]

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

Alright, was more focused on the other issues, which an SSD will do nothing for. It is my bad for overlooking that in this discussion! Just going to wait for the hardware information.

And to me those other issues arent hardware issues as they are settings issues. Turning down FPS helps with the stuttering and choppy gameplay and it changes the way you float. The other thing i have seen cause issues with choppyness is systems that run over 4.0ghz clock speed on their cpu's. Judging that the op is calling his rig a "toaster" i just kinda ruled that out. But as you have said having specs will help rule out/in things as a issue.

[CmaN]

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

And to me those other issues arent hardware issues as they are settings issues. Turning down FPS helps with the stuttering and choppy gameplay and it changes the way you float. The other thing i have seen cause issues with choppyness is systems that run over 4.0ghz clock speed on their cpu's. Judging that the op is calling his rig a "toaster" i just kinda ruled that out. But as you have said having specs will help rule out/in things as a issue.

Look I'm only interested in getting OP playing in an enjoyable fashion. Here you say its not a hardware issue, but settings - but your suggestion on page 1 was to upgrade to an ssd and drop fps to 30? You seem more interested in forum warrior points then actually helping.