I'm new and I need help

[hardcampa]

You should patch it to the latest version if you haven't yet.
The earlier versions had some problem with particles on GeForces.

For a quick no-fuzz link to the patches you are welcome to use my server, where I store them:
ftp://gibbage.mine.nu/Silent Hunter III/Patches

Just pick the right one for you.

[HunterICX]

ti 4600 GF4 Gfx card (Sparkle)

Now tell me, how much MB does it has?

also when occuring graphical problems like LAG or something you might consider updating the Driver software of you Graphic card.

And also....I,m not really into DELL computers...my friend had one...but that thing had more ****load craptastic problems then an IIA boat having problems with an TASKFORCE with 30 meters depth underneath him while V&W and other Elite class Destroyers Depthcharging the hell out of that small sub.

But If i,m right thats an Nvidia right? Geforce 4...
how much ram does it got?
so:

-Update your Vidcard Driver
-Download latest patch of SHIII 1.4b

Good luck

[Mooncatt]

i did a little research on ya gfx card i think i found the right one which didnt tell me much about it only that it has clock speed of 240mhz and 250mhz mem. i dont know if this is good enough to run sh3 is it???

[U-Bones]

Just for kicks, try turning all your sound down/off. On some computers, a cheap $19 sound card can make quite a bit of difference simply by offloading onboard sound. I will assume no money means anything more than that is out of the question

The ti4600 is going to be pretty slow, but it should be functional. Definately need to use low particle settings in game. On my old 5600, whch was only a little better than the ti4600 it replaced, an older driver was also very helpful. (version 43.45 and 61.77 worked well for SH3), but try the new drivers first.

Ctrl-F8 in game will display your FPS for a point of reference. I spent quite a bit of time playing 10-15 FPS, occasionally frustrating, but still enjoyable. This was by choice, stock SH3 I could get 35ish FPS.

Just to avoid the wrong impression - I never played SH3 with the ti4600, but never found the 5600 to be dramatically better in anything else with low settings, it only became a better card when you cranked things up.

[Mooncatt]

yeah true. i have an ATi x700 agp 256mb and it does seem to struggle sometimes especially in the docks, i also know when there is a convoy near by coz again it goes slow (ish)so i might even need to turn down a few settings

[UnterSeeTub]

Wow -- wasnt expecting responses so soon -- Thank you all for chipping in to help a n00b like meh.

Yeah Dell aint the hottest machine but it woz all i could scrape together out of pocket munneh.

ti 4600 is Nvidia 128Mb -- I dl'd driver from guru3d - it made a bit of difference. I guess GFX card is as old as steam, but it works fine with the other games.

I have not patched yet -- thx for pointing that out, Hardcampa I'll try diddling about with things and see wot happens.

I could probably get enuff together for sound card -- but new GFX would probly take ages for me to save up for.

thx all

[Mooncatt]

yeah you can pick up cheap enough sound cards from pretty much anywhere get a sound blaster they are pretty good and cheap enough too

[UnterSeeTub]

Thanks Mooncatt

For some reason the patch seems to have done the trick and I'm running it back at 800x600 -- which has taken some detail away but its much more playable.

I managed to get the sound going but it sounds gritty and distorted. I read in another thread about Sound Accelleration -- I turned it off and it kind of works - YeeeeeeeeHHaaaaaaaw!

I went to the downloads section here in subsim -- OMG -- I am going to be downloading my ass off - this place is crammed fulla stuff