Need help on what will make Quake 4 run smoother.

Post by **I cant spell u** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:54 am

Well as of now I have a GeForce FX 5500 128 mb agp , AMD Sempron 3000+ (2.0ghz) and 512 mb of ram. If I were to upgrade to 1 gig of ram would it perform smoother? Also how can I find out what kind of mobo I have so I know what kind of ram to get?

Post by **Mogul** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:54 am

The ram will help in some ways, but your biggest problem is that video card.

That said, if you're playing Q4Max, you can use r_vertexlight 1 and I can practically guarantee you a solid 60 fps.

Post by **K-mart Shopper** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 4:06 am

512 Ram made mine constantly load during singleplayer. When I had a 5500 it went really slow. I have a 6600 now, and it still goes really slow, but not as slow, but slow enough where I'd rather not play it.

Post by **I cant spell u** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 4:34 am

Well I always put performance over graphics, I ran it on slow and it was acceptable. So I'm sure if I got a gig of ram and maybe like a cheap 6600 card it would run better. I need to find out my mobo specs though, any advice on that?

Post by **Bueller** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:47 am

I cant spell u wrote:Well I always put performance over graphics, I ran it on slow and it was acceptable. So I'm sure if I got a gig of ram and maybe like a cheap 6600 card it would run better. I need to find out my mobo specs though, any advice on that?

I don't have the article handy, but I did some research prior to building my rig and it specifically stated that the only game that was hot on the shelf at the time it was written that would benefit from 1 gig of ram over 512meg was BF2. Q4 specifically was mentioned that it did not benefit hardly at all.

A better vid card will increase your performance drastically. Geforce 6800 GT PCI Express with 512 pc-3200 ram and an athlon 64 2000 gives me 60 fps solid.

Post by **kleeks** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:22 pm

Bueller wrote: stated that the only game that was hot on the shelf at the time it was written that would benefit from 1 gig of ram over 512meg was BF2. Q4 specifically was mentioned that it did not benefit hardly at all.

hmm thats weird, because i am sure i have read something stating the benifits of playing q4 with 2 gig of ram instead of only 1

I'll do some digging and see what gives

Post by **Oeloe** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:46 pm

I've read those same articles and you've got the numbers mixed up. The title was something like "2 GB too much, 1 GB not enough" and pointed out that 1.5 GB was ideal for BF2. Loading times were noticeably improved compared to 1 GB. 1 GB is the standard amount of ram you'll want when you play today's 3D games. When you have a top notch GF 7800/7900 or Radeon 1800/1900 vidcard you should have 1.5 or 2 GB with it.

Post by **I cant spell u** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:25 pm

The highest card I can go without upgrading something else in my pc would be like a 6600.

Post by **{uZa}FreakOfNature** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:58 pm

Bueller wrote:
I cant spell u wrote:Well I always put performance over graphics, I ran it on slow and it was acceptable. So I'm sure if I got a gig of ram and maybe like a cheap 6600 card it would run better. I need to find out my mobo specs though, any advice on that?
I don't have the article handy, but I did some research prior to building my rig and it specifically stated that the only game that was hot on the shelf at the time it was written that would benefit from 1 gig of ram over 512meg was BF2. Q4 specifically was mentioned that it did not benefit hardly at all.

A better vid card will increase your performance drastically. Geforce 6800 GT PCI Express with 512 pc-3200 ram and an athlon 64 2000 gives me 60 fps solid.

Please locate the article and point it out to me. I'd like to write a letter to the author and laugh at him.

Post by **Oeloe** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:42 am

I cant spell u wrote:The highest card I can go without upgrading something else in my pc would be like a 6600.

Why? The fastest AGP card currently available is the GF 7800 GS. Sells for a bit over $300.

Post by **K-mart Shopper** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:47 am

I cant spell u wrote:The highest card I can go without upgrading something else in my pc would be like a 6600.

That should work fine, and being around $100 (maybe cheaper now?) its a great deal.

I just prefer games at 1024x768 and it lags a bit in Q4 at that resolution, while 800x600 runs just fine. However if you have an AGP slot you can go up to a 6800 GS and that will run Quake4 perfectly... I think.

Post by **Bueller** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:25 am

Oeloe wrote:I've read those same articles and you've got the numbers mixed up. The title was something like "2 GB too much, 1 GB not enough" and pointed out that 1.5 GB was ideal for BF2. Loading times were noticeably improved compared to 1 GB. 1 GB is the standard amount of ram you'll want when you play today's 3D games. When you have a top notch GF 7800/7900 or Radeon 1800/1900 vidcard you should have 1.5 or 2 GB with it.

Oeole, your right. I had the numbers off. Good catch. The title was similar to what you said. Believe I found it in a review on http://www.warp2search.net

Post by **DooMer** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:48 am

If i had a shit computer I'd stick with q4max and vertex lighting. Dont even bother with q4base.