Could someone help me refit my 10 year old PC for Subsim 3?

[Sandrunner77]

Hello all, long time occasional lurker here. I used to play subsim 3 years ago and I was terrible at it but had a blast anyway. Well let's get to it. I have a 10 year old PC here in great shape that's just a web surfer, printer etc. I want to see what I can do to make it run SH3 as well as possible given a budget of 100$ max for upgrades, the lower the better. I have an HP machine:

XP Service Pack 3
2.0 Intel Pentium 4
512 MB RAM (DDR SDRAM, I have to check the other number)
No video card, but I have the slots
2 spots for ram only, both currently used.
Need a sound card, the on board is really low quality.

I did try and google this, but there is just so much **** online it's hard to wade thru and you guys are on top of it.

[Gnonz]

I don't think you will have fun playing with that specifications. Onboard graphics of a ten year old mainboard in combination with half a gig of RAM should manage less than 10 fps in situations like bad weather, big convoy etc. My computer is 6 years old, 2,2 Ghz AMD 64, Geforce 7600GS overclocked to max, 2 gig RAM and with resolution of 1280x960, max particles and HQ textures, 4xAA and 4xAF I get about 35 fps in a big convoy. With a 7 year old laptop it was about 10 fps in a big convoy with no AF, AA, low quality textures and at 1024x768. Just to give you an idea how demanding the game is, it was published in 2005 after all.
This is for GWX3, which is a little heavier on RAM but otherwise designed to make it playable on the same systems that manage the stock game.
You should invest a few bucks in a new(er) system ;) Where I come from you get cheap used systems from like 3-5 years ago for less than your 100 dollars, ebay for example.

Best regards, Gnonz

[Mittelwaechter]

Check your local Craigslist?

http://youngstown.craigslist.org/sys/2904134376.html

:DL

[u crank]

Welcome to Subsim Sandrunner77. :salute:

As to your questions, some really smart nerdy guy should be along soon to answer them. :har:

[Fubar2Niner]

@Sandrunner77

Most importantly welcome aboard. Regarding the u/grade, thats a tad harder. A P4 mobo so only AGP slot, if I remember right. Could be a problem finding an AGP video card these days mate :( . RAM will be likewise a problem, ( I may be able to help out in this dept. tho I need mobo specs ). Much as I hate to say this mate, at ten years old you're going to have difficulty finding upgrades. PM me your spec I do have some old stuff here, if possible I'll try help out.

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

[flag4]

...2gigs of ram if you have the slots. might be expensive because its so old.
you'll be pushed at a $100 for an upgrade.
you need to know what your motherboard is - what make.

found this article for $300 pc in 2012...

http://tech.pnosker.com/2012/01/25/january-2012-pc-build-guide-part-1/

hope this helps
and good luck:up:

[Tinman764]

I have to agree. You can probably pick up a fairly decent lowend system for the same money and less hassle.

[Sandrunner77]

Thanks guys, I see the consensus is that it would be the equivalent of welding some scrap metal plates onto my cargo van and calling it an APC. I agree and I figured as much, but I could tell if anyone knew a way it would be here. Thank you for the input. With the economy being what it is I try and recycle and retrofit anything I can these days.

[Gargamel]

Actually, I think youd be better off building the apc.

[Sailor Steve]

I did try and google this, but there is just so much **** online it's hard to wade thru and you guys are on top of it.
WELCOME ABOARD! :sunny:

Just for future reference, because of the amount of very young members we've had in the past we have a rather low tolerance for even the impression of bad language.
Please use language that you would use around your mother. No vulgarities, obscenities, hate speech, or foul language. Do not use *******ing w*rds with aster*cks, that's the same thing as vulgar languge. Express yourself with respect to others.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_new_faq_item_language

[krashkart]

Could be a problem finding an AGP video card these days mate :( .

Newegg sells a few AGP cards:

AGP 2X/4X: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709+600007849&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=48&description=&hisInDesc=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc=

AGP 4X/8X: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709+600007850&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=48&description=&hisInDesc=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc=



@SandRunner77 - I wish I could give you advice on this matter, but I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to computers. :-?

I can say this, though: Welcome aboard! :salute:

[Sandrunner77]

Just for future reference, because of the amount of very young members we've had in the past we have a rather low tolerance for even the impression of bad language.


I was using words I can use around mom! She was a sailor ha. All kidding aside, I won't do it again, my apologies. She was an office girl in Norfolk VA in the late 70's, back in the day when they would let some Captains park their own ships. They would put her on the radio when a fleet was coming back and tell her to request their ETA in the sexiest sultriest voice possible because they had been out to sea for six months. Then they would laugh their ass off when they were practically barking back into the radio like a pack of dogs. :O:

[Sailor Steve]

Cool! I was in in 1969-70. Of course all sailors swear (hence the old saying "swearing like a sailor") but back then we had an unspoken rule: "Never in front of women and children". Of course these days I hear that kind of language from 14-year-old schoolgirls, but we try to keep Subsim special.

Thanks. :sunny:

[edit] My mom once told me that she and my dad decided to clean up their own language when I was two. I got my little pedal car stuck between a tree and a fence, and when she saw me kicking the car she came out to help. She said my first full sentence was "unprintable".

Proof that this story is true - "The Car".

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Scan0015-1.jpg

[Oh and another, on-topic edit] My own rig is now seven years old, single-core, upgraded to 4 gigs RAM, with a dedicated 1-gig video card, and it runs SH3 fine, but with the mods I have not so well, and with the mods I want not at all. It's always best to upgrade to a whole new computer if you can manage it and upgrade what part you can if you're forced to go that route. I'm still trying to get that new computer.

[Madox58]

:hmmm:
I'm thinking this is more like the car you had as a young Steve.

http://www.fugly.com/media/IMAGES/Random/flintstones_car.jpg

:D

[flag4]

Cool! I was in in 1969-70. Of course all sailors swear (hence the old saying "swearing like a sailor") but back then we had an unspoken rule: "Never in front of women and children". Of course these days I hear that kind of language from 14-year-old schoolgirls, but we try to keep Subsim special.

Thanks. :sunny:

[edit] My mom once told me that she and my dad decided to clean up their own language when I was two. I got my little pedal car stuck between a tree and a fence, and when she saw me kicking the car she came out to help. She said my first full sentence was "unprintable".

Proof that this story is true - "The Car".

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Scan0015-1.jpg

[Oh and another, on-topic edit] My own rig is now seven years old, single-core, upgraded to 4 gigs RAM, with a dedicated 1-gig video card, and it runs SH3 fine, but with the mods I have not so well, and with the mods I want not at all. It's always best to upgrade to a whole new computer if you can manage it and upgrade what part you can if you're forced to go that route. I'm still trying to get that new computer.


what do you look like now?

[postalbyke]

Right there with ya, man! I was running SH3 on a computer with 256M ram that I got for free from a friend.
I got some parts from some really nice people on this site, and I eventually broke down and got a 1G stick of ram on the web for $20us, and now it runs beautifully! don't let these guys get you down, just be choosy with your mods and (if you can) learn how to pare some of it down to fit your style.

let's see, my specs...
KT4AV MoBo
AMD Athlon 1.2 MHz
1.25G RAM
GeForce 7300GT with 512M of ram itself.

and my modsoup...
NYGM with H.Sie's hardcode fixes
MEP v3
Hires subs with waterstream
type II interior (my own and the torpedo room ported from sh4)
IABL ships for NYGM
Turms your way
and a mess of sound mods.

get to know your computer, and only load mods you actually use!
not bad for an 11 year old machine!

[Sailor Steve]

what do you look like now?
Kind of like this.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1829810&postcount=1566

And this.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1804738&postcount=34