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D2 STILL runs slow on this computer...
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: SlickDaddy16
Hey everyone, haven't been on the boards in a while, jeez, well, anyways, to the question!
I have a dilemma. I am 16, and my parents have 2 computers: This really old desktop and the very sleek and hip laptop downstairs(I live in a two-story house). Now, get this: D2 runs like crap on this computer, yet my parents refuse to let me borrow the laptop at any time during the day to play any D2, even though it runs like crap on this computer and they don't use the laptop for anything other than checking their mail(on AOL, mind you. We were smart enough to get AT&T Cable, yet we were stupid enough NOT to put it downstairs at the same time we got it upstairs) or looking at beach houses(yuck).
To the real point, I am forced to play a crappy D2 on an otherwise good connection. I installed Cable on the laptop, but they insist on using AOL because, get this, my mother is too lazy to CLIMB UP THE STAIRS TO GET E-MAIL. I know some lazy parents, but I've NEVER EVER known one to go buy a $1000 laptop so they wouldn't have to WALK UP STAIRS. :: sigh :: The reason I wrote all this out is because I need help, big time. I have tried the D2 Accelerator, doesn't help that much. Tried putting the video settings on the lowest level(Lighting Quality Low, no blended shadows, in 640x480), got new video drivers(Sadly, from a company that speaks bad English, SiS), and anything else I could get my grubby little hands on. Yet, still, STILL, my computer goes to almost 0 fps whenever there is any action. Please, any help would be MUCH appreciated, and if it involves getting proggies, not a problem. Here's the specs for this crappy computer in case you want to laugh(or tell me it's crap, or actually help me, :: shrug :
Processor - AMD K6-II 480MHz
Memory - 88 Mb
Video Card - SiS 530 (8.00 Mb): 1024 x 768 - High Color
(16 bit)
Sound Card - C-Media Audio Playback
Operating System - Microsoft Windows 98 U.S. English 4.10 (build 1998)
There you have it. Any help you guys can give would be much obliged. Thanks and later!
Posted by: Gunslinger
 Quote:
Originally posted by SlickDaddy16
Memory - 88 Mb
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That's going to be quite a bit problematic.
There are other things involved, though.
Diablo 2 is heavy on the hard drive reading and writing. A slow hard drive (in terms of read/write speeds) will cause the game to run slow. This slowness is further maginified by the lack of system memory (88 MB is not sufficient for Diablo 2).
You're not going to get very good performance out of Diablo 2 with your current system configuration - in my opinion.
*edit*
If you know what your virtual memory settings are, I ask that you post them. Thanks.
Posted by: SlickDaddy16
Dang, I thought that would be it. Ya know, it says on the package 64 MB and all? Oh, well. Virtual Memory? Let me go get it right quick:
Virtual Memory.....I'm letting Windows manage it right now, do you suggest I should do something to make it better? I have a decent amount of HD space left, so go ahead and tell me if I need to change it.
Thanks for the help, and later!
Posted by: Gunslinger
The general rule of thumb is to set your virtual memory to twice the amount of physical memory you have (RAM). Windows will do this automatically, approximately. Increasing the page file won't really increase performance, because the page file, while serving the same purpose of physical memory, is much, much, slower.
Just leave it the way it is. I was merely curious.
Yes, the box says 64 MB minimum, but, well, performance isn't going to be stellar. Diablo 2 is a resource hog. On my old system with 128 MB, it would use all physical memory available, and another 300 MB of the page file. Even a system with 512 MB, the memory was totally allocated, with still a high amount of page file usage.
You really do need a siginificant amount of RAM to run Diablo 2.
May I ask what video mode you are running in (I'm assuming direct draw)?
Posted by: SlickDaddy16
Yes, I have DirectDraw going on, it's the only one that works. I don't know how I could help it, but if you have any ideas, I would appreciate it! Later.
Posted by: Gunslinger
I was just making sure. I assumed that your video card was not Direct3D capable, and that is just as well, as Direct 3D sucks up more memory itself.
My advice is to upgrade.
Second opinions are invited.
Posted by: AngstMerchant
Slick, your video card isn't exactly tearin' the roof off either. Check your video performance in the game by typing "FPS" at the chat prompt (no quotes). This will add a performance readout to your normal D2 display. The top left corner is going to be what your interested in. . .
XX FPS YY SKIP
XX is your FPS or frames per second and for 'passible' performance it should be somewheres around 20 or more. Higher values are, of course, preferred. . .but you work with what you got, huh?? YY is the number of frames your video card is not displaying or 'skipping' and if thisnumber is around or grater than your FPS, you really need to think about adjusting your video settings. If you go to Video Settings in the Game Menu, you'll find a whole battery of adjustable settings that could be set to lower performance levels to decrease the display quality but increase refresh, which will give you smoother continuity. And, of course, you can always upgrade your video card. . . .and while you're wishing, you could ask for a pony and a million bucks also, huh?? 
Posted by: SlickDaddy16
I've done the FPS thing, known about it for some time now, and yes, I get about 15 FPS at the most, about 13 Skip at the worst. This menu you speak of, with the myriad of adjustable settings, where is it? I've gone to the game menu, and all I get is the Blended Shadows and the Lighting Quality. Could you give me some insight? Thanks and later!
P.S. Thanks for the humor, I needed it, especially when I think of this summer. I have a Student Ambassador thing where I have to go to Australia for 3 weeks.....3 weeks! I'll be away from D2 and everything civilzed(well, not EVERYTHING) for THREE WEEKS! Err, I'll stop now, it's just scary, lol. Later, man.
Posted by: AngstMerchant
Quote:
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you go to Video Settings in the Game Menu, you'll find a whole battery of adjustable settings that could be set to lower performance levels to decrease the display quality but increase refresh, which will give you smoother continuity.
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Yeah, I'm guessing you found it, then. If what you mean by D2 is 'running slow' is that the graphics are choppy, my experience has been that this is due to a poop-stick video card. And if your video card is shoddy, all the memory tweaking in the world isn't gonna do the job. (Not to slight Gunslinger: thine musings are masterful and brimming with wisdom.) If you upgrade your video card and have a HD with a bus that doesn't suck, you should be cool. . .
Posted by: Gunslinger
Agreed. Upgrading my video card early on (on my old system) helped quite a bit with video performance, average framerate and somesuch. The rest, however, load times, things like changing acts, and using waypoints, were still horrible.
Diablo 2, I guess, has a myriad of hardware considerations.
*edit*
Turning those video settings to low should increase your framerate a bit, but the big one is perspective. Have that one disabled.
Also, in sound options, having 3D sound/environmental audio disabled will increase your performance a little (assuming you have them enabled to begin with).
Posted by: SlickDaddy16
Thanks, guys, I'll look for all those settings. I've changed some of them, but if there's anything else you think of, that'll work. Thanks again, guys. Later!
P.S. I'm on the laptop now(Stole it away to my room, lol.) Now time to do some actual gaming, yay! Thanks again and see ya!
Posted by: sonia-icemaiden
well, it seems you have had a pretty lengthly discussion, but I might have a few things to add. Here is your biggest problem, your video card is el crappo!! I will illustrate with an example. mimimum requirements are 12, count em, 12 megs!! I had a 12 meg card, worked pretty good, I thought, until i played on my nephews computer with 16 megs, It wasn't even the same game!! So I switched to a voodoo2 with 16 megs, made a world of difference. Also, you just do not have enough memory. Ram is still cheap, and you come up with that weird amount of ram, perchance is your video card not really a video card, but a chip on the board? That bites the big one. GO NOW-BUY VIDEO CARD!!! You have 88 megs of ram? Guess what, it doesn't come in that size. Sounds to me like you have a 64 meg stick and a 32 meg stick, that comes to 96 megs. Take away 8 megs and give to the on-booard sis video chip and you are down to 88. Shared memory!!What a terrible thing to do to a computer!! Your biggest issue is the video card. A 16 meg 3d video card is dirt cheap now, easy to install, and is the best bang for the buck. You also get to disable the on-board video chip that will then free up 8 megs of ram. Now, onto virtual memory. Do you have win 98 or higher on your computer? Well, win 95 uses 4 to 8 megs just to run, but win98 or higher starts out at 24 megs, just to crank up!!! Now, your computer only wants to use 50% of available ram, before going to virtual memory. So you start out using 24 megs to run the OS, then you have all that other crap turned, real player, IM, spyware, cookies, all kinds of stuff. Before you even turn on the game you are probably at 50% ram useage. That's when virtual memory kicks in, it is on your hard drive, and it is SLOW!!
So, your next best band for the buck, is more ram. Rip out that 32 meg stick and put in 128, its cheap now, office max has it on sale (or did) for 25 bucks. Hard to beat that, even with a stick. I play D2 expansion pack with a 233 mghz computer, with 16 megs video card, and 256 megs of RAM. I don't lag, everything is smooth, and the bad boys fear the ICE QUEEN! As it should be.
Of course, it doen't hurt that I am lvl 93, but I got that way with my 16 meg card. Now, I know you are young, and probably a male chauvenist pig, but if you don't mind taking advise from a GIRL, do as I say, you will see a vast difference. And by the way, your 480 mghz computer is plenty fast, its just the stuff that goes with it
that is messing you up.
Posted by: Darky!
Quote:
Originally posted by sonia-icemaiden
well, it seems you have had a pretty lengthly discussion, but I might have a few things to add. Here is your biggest problem, your video card is el crappo!! I will illustrate with an example. mimimum requirements are 12, count em, 12 megs!! I had a 12 meg card, worked pretty good, I thought, until i played on my nephews computer with 16 megs, It wasn't even the same game!! So I switched to a voodoo2 with 16 megs, made a world of difference. Also, you just do not have enough memory. Ram is still cheap, and you come up with that weird amount of ram, perchance is your video card not really a video card, but a chip on the board? That bites the big one. GO NOW-BUY VIDEO CARD!!! You have 88 megs of ram? Guess what, it doesn't come in that size. Sounds to me like you have a 64 meg stick and a 32 meg stick, that comes to 96 megs. Take away 8 megs and give to the on-booard sis video chip and you are down to 88. Shared memory!!What a terrible thing to do to a computer!! Your biggest issue is the video card. A 16 meg 3d video card is dirt cheap now, easy to install, and is the best bang for the buck. You also get to disable the on-board video chip that will then free up 8 megs of ram. Now, onto virtual memory. Do you have win 98 or higher on your computer? Well, win 95 uses 4 to 8 megs just to run, but win98 or higher starts out at 24 megs, just to crank up!!! Now, your computer only wants to use 50% of available ram, before going to virtual memory. So you start out using 24 megs to run the OS, then you have all that other crap turned, real player, IM, spyware, cookies, all kinds of stuff. Before you even turn on the game you are probably at 50% ram useage. That's when virtual memory kicks in, it is on your hard drive, and it is SLOW!!
So, your next best band for the buck, is more ram. Rip out that 32 meg stick and put in 128, its cheap now, office max has it on sale (or did) for 25 bucks. Hard to beat that, even with a stick. I play D2 expansion pack with a 233 mghz computer, with 16 megs video card, and 256 megs of RAM. I don't lag, everything is smooth, and the bad boys fear the ICE QUEEN! As it should be.
Of course, it doen't hurt that I am lvl 93, but I got that way with my 16 meg card. Now, I know you are young, and probably a male chauvenist pig, but if you don't mind taking advise from a GIRL, do as I say, you will see a vast difference. And by the way, your 480 mghz computer is plenty fast, its just the stuff that goes with it
that is messing you up.
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*Edit I'm not going to waste my time with this*
Posted by: Gunslinger
*blink*
I thought this chick downstairs was the Ice Queen.
I better tell her that she was mistaken....or.....something.
Ummm....like....fer sure sista!
Posted by: Shalome
Quote:
Originally posted by sonia-icemaiden
I don't lag, everything is smooth, and the bad boys fear the ICE QUEEN! As it should be.
Of course, it doen't hurt that I am lvl 93, but I got that way with my 16 meg card. Now, I know you are young, and probably a male chauvenist pig, but if you don't mind taking advise from a GIRL, do as I say, you will see a vast difference. And by the way, your 480 mghz computer is plenty fast, its just the stuff that goes with it
that is messing you up.
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I didn't know PITBULL had a sister...
As for the technical advice offered in that post.. well, THAT I'm not gonna touch with a ten-foot pole...
Posted by: Mystique
Dang, It's pretty hard to play with 88 mb, I only have 128, with an Athlon 1.4ghz (I need to buy DDR, but I'm short on money). It lags alot. A RAM upgrade would cause the most improvement in performance. Your processor is decent enough. No need to change settings!
Posted by: SlickDaddy16
Just an update here: I now have 344 RAM now, got a 256 for 60 bucks at Circuit City (Best Buy was out, oh, well.) So everything's fine, now I just need to work on everything else, lol. Later everyone!
SlickDaddy16
P.S. If anyone knows where to get a decent vid card for cheap, tell me. I have some friends with some extras but I would really like my own. Thanks and later!
Posted by: justinious
Quote:
Originally posted by SlickDaddy16
P.S. If anyone knows where to get a decent vid card for cheap, tell me. I have some friends with some extras but I would really like my own. Thanks and later!
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http://www.pricewatch.com/
Posted by: SlickDaddy16
Whoa, nice prices! I could really use some of this stuff, and it's affordable! Sweeeet......thanks man! Eat lots of cookies and later!
Posted by: Mystique
Watch out for shipping charges. If a price seems too good to be true, most likely the shipping is high.
Posted by: justinious
Quote:
Originally posted by SlickDaddy16
Whoa, nice prices! I could really use some of this stuff, and it's affordable! Sweeeet......thanks man! Eat lots of cookies and later!
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Make sure you get products that have adequate tech support. Got burned on a vid card. Got my money back, but was still a pain having to re-ship.
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