I need computer advice for DAOCFollow

Hello Everyone,

I recently purchased the gold edition of DOAC to make my first foray into the PC MMORPG arena (actually my first PC gaming experience in 10 years). Unfortunately, my computer isn't quite powerful enough as it is now to run DOAC since a friend helped me build it without gaming in mind. We built this machine about 1.5 years ago and he is not an easy person to get in touch with sometimes so I am asking for help from you guys! I have been able to log into the server and create my character. Gameplay is slow. Sometimes I can run around for a little bit but eventually the game freezes (this happened a few times once I started to battle). I am sure that part of the problem is RAM deficiency as I only have 256 right now. The other may be my video card, however it does meet the minimum requirements stated on the package. Basically, I don't know much about computers so if someone could, in plain English, describe exactly what I need for an upgrade to make DOAC playable, I'd appreciate it. Also, I might want to invest in the TOA expansion if I enjoy what I find. Please recommend a decent but reasonable video card upgrade.

Here's some system spec's:

Motherboard: P4vxasd2 (1 AGP, 4 PCI, 4 ram expansion slots)
Main Processor: P4 2.0 GHz
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce4 MX 440
Operating system: XP
Monitor: CRT Sony Trinitron (DELL)

Since RAM is the most likely problem, here's what my motherboard instruction manual says about installing new memory.

I can accomodate 168-pin 3.3V/184-pin 2.5V unbuffered SDRAM memory modules. CPU "supports 100MHz system bus". "The SDRAM DIMMs and DDRs can synchronously work with 100 MHz or operates over a 133 MHz system bus." I talked to a nice kid at CompUSA and he warned me about adding another 256 mem stick in addition to the one I already have unless they are both matched for the same speed. I didn't save my paperwork so I don't know the speed of my ram right now. He recommended just getting a 512 mb stick from PNY which ran about $100 after a $20 rebate. I checked newegg.com and found 512 sticks from other manufacturers (which were well rated by users) for $80.

I don't have a whole lot of money to dump into my PC just to game and as my computer useage is on a very basic level, I won't be needing the high RAM and fancy videocard for anything but DOAC. So please recommend which RAM stick I should buy and what videocard you would get in order to make things run better and look more appealing.

Thanks,

Greg

I wouldn't go with SDRAM if i was going to upgrade, It just outdated technology. He is right about buying matching sets though. My recomendation would be to buy two sticks of 184 pin DDR at PC2700 or better (however much your wallet can suffer). A good website for this type of information is Overclocker's Club
Check out the messages under the memory discussion and you will have a host of RAM knowledge at your fingertips. Good Luck!

great, glad it helped. side note about ram. before you go spend any money on the faster ram, you need to verify what speed your MB can handle.

if your system is more then 1.5yrs old it may not take the 2700 speed ram, in fact it may not even handle 2100 speed ram, thus limiting you to 133 speed ram.

so make sure to check the specs of your MB before buying any ram.

that is only semi true if you start off with a low end system to begin with.

when i build cutome game boxes for ppl that are not unlimited in their funds i try to convience them to go with the 2nd best CPU, max amount of ram, higher end HD, top end MB, and 2nd or 3rd top vid card.

reason:

simple. if you do that you will save anywere from 500-1500$ in the build out, and that system will last you with only a vid and ram upgrade for 2.5-4years before it is out of date with then current games.

my last system (right at a year old now) has following specs:

p4 2.4G 800Mhz FSB
Asus P4P800 deluxe MB
1G pc3200 ram
ati 9500 128M vid card
Seagate SATA 80G HD
winXP pro (corp. edition)

this system with nothing more then a vid card and ram upgrade will last me at least an other 2years before i have to completly replace it.

in all i spent roughly $900 for that system as i already owned the vid card, but even with that vid card i would of only spent 1k for that system.

in the last year i have had to make no adjustments so far as hardware is concerned, and the next upgrade will be to the next gen vid card. post the ati9800 of gfx 5900 cards. once the 512M vid cards are out in force and the price drops below $200 ill upgrade that.

then last upgrade will be up to 2G ram. with those 2 upgrades this system will still handle even the higher end vid games that will be released until 2006 and maybe even as far out as 2007.

my MB can take up to 4G ram and is AGP8x so im set for a bit, and even with the 64bit CPUs coming out now and the 2nd gen. vs of them out this summer i will not fall behind until the games start REQUIRING 64bit systems to run.

linux already has a 64bit OS, but Microsoft does not yet, and all the best games are built for M$ OS.