Tech Advice on Running GWX 2.0

[astroglobe]

Hey folks

Wondering if you might have some advice on running GWX 2.0 on my system.

I have a Dell Dimension 4600 with Pentium r4 CPU with 2.4 GHz, 1.50 GB memory (of which 63.3 GB is free) and an Nvidia GeForce 6200 card. It works pretty well for the most part but it can start to lag when some of the action gets heavy (especially with big fleet action combined with air attack).

Any suggestions on how I might tweak my system to speed things up and run GWX 2.0 at optimum - or do I need to bite the bullet and upgrade to a new machine? (ps I've also got SH4 which barely works on my system).

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.....:sunny:

[Zantham]

Your computer definitely meets the recommended requirements for SH3 stock (which are a P4 - 2.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 128MB DX9 video card), but I think GWX bumps up the requirements. I don't know if you are running the resolution fix for the game but if you are, then lowering your resolution will give you better framerates. Otherwise I have no other easy suggestions for you, other than checking to see whats running in the background on your computer to see if there is something else gobbling up your system resources.

edit: You can run the 'Lite Harbor Traffic' mod in JSGME to get a significant performance boost when you're exiting/entering your harbor. Also not enabling the 16km Atmosphere mod will help gain some performance. Neither of these mods will really help if you are in the middle of a convoy tho.

For Silent Hunter 4 since you mentioned it... it is still possible to upgrade your video card, which I'm assuming is AGP, but that money is better used on a new system. I'd recommend a Core 2 Duo e6xxx series (SH3 and 4 benefit nothing from Quadcore, believe me I know), 2GB RAM, and a GeForce 8800GT 512MB (you can go AMD CPU but be careful with Phenom as they have 'issues', as well from what I read SH3 and 4 prefer GeForce video over ATI.) I don't notice any performance drops using Vista... it's generally easier and safer to stay with XP.

[TarJak]

I'd defintately get another half gig of RAM. 1.5gb is OK but 2 is better.

From your description it sounds like RAM usage is more of a problem than how much you have. When completed Windows start up what else is running on your system?

My advice would be to shut down everything else that's running including background tasks and then use a memory optimisation application to clean up any leaks before running SHIII.

Take a look at the size of your swap file and see whether you can set it so you have a 2gb swap which may help out if you really can't do without the background tasks.

[bert8for3]

Ditching unnecessary services and processes to free up ram made a considerable difference for me on 1G ram. I use FSautostart, which is at http://www.majorgeeks.com/FSAutoStart_d5746.html . I have roughly 640M free on normal startup, but get 850 after running FSautostart. The game ran with 640 but with a bit of sluggishness at times, since running FS it's nice and smooth all the time. I just run FS each time after a reboot before starting the game.

You have to configure it on which services and processes to stop, and there's a bit of trial and error, but the interface is very good with advice on what can be shut down and what should not. Save your config as eg "SH3 autostart" with a shortcut on the desktop and it's a snap to run.

Edit: Note that AFAIK FSautostart is for XP only. MajorGeeks shows a 1.0 ver build 8, but Softpedia shows a 1.1 ver at http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/FSAutoStart.shtml , ... they may be the same as believe my ver 1.1 came from MajorGeeks, but just in case.

[T.Von Hogan]

I was running a 2.3gig athlon with 512 ram and a ati 9200 128mg card and the game was a tad sluggish so i used the lite harbour mod. Added a 1 gig stick for christmas and the game plays quite well now without the lite harbor mod. Of course i did change my paging file from windows controlled to a permenant size and use Ken Saltars FS Autostart to free up memory years ago :know:

[astroglobe]

Thanks for the help

I think I will try and add more memory to see if we can speed things up - as well the FS autostart.

Meantime I might consider of new system - anyone had any experience with the new Dell XPS 420?