[TEC] SH3+GWX 2.0 with 3GB RAM

Graf Paper · 03-07-08, 11:15 PM

Howdy, Kaleuns!

Since I'm branching out into computer graphics and, eventually, 3D modeling, I decided to purchase some new RAM for my trusty old box. Delivery is expected on Monday.

The RAM is 3 GB of DDR 333 MHz that I found for a very good price.

Yep, time to celebrate. Ol' G.P. was able to afford an "upgrade"! This don't happen very often.

My question, as it relates to SH3 is this:

I've had to use the Lite Harbor Traffic and 8km Atmosphere to avoid lagging my system too badly. My CPU is a 2.4GHz Athlon, vid card is ATI Radeon x1650 Pro 512MB AGP, and current system memory is 512MB DDR266 RAM.

I figured that old RAM is the last major bottleneck.

Can anyone with a similar system tell me if using the regular harbor traffic and effects along with the 16km Atmosphere will still lag and make the game stutter, even with the new RAM I'm getting?

I'd like to avoid having to monkey around with ripping out mods to find out for myself. This would entail a bit of work since I merged some of the mod files for compatibility, such as the Real Weather Fix + Lite Harbor Traffic + SH4 Scene.

bert8for3 · 03-08-08, 05:59 AM

My system is very similar: Intel 2.4, same vidcard and also AGP, 1G RAM. SH3 runs very smoothly and in harbours with the full harbour traffic, there is stuttering but not so bad. Outside harbours and eg even with convoys close by, there's no stuttering at all. So I'm thinking that your upping to 3G (and I think your new RAM is better than mine) will make a big difference.

antikristuseke · 03-08-08, 08:33 AM

You should be fine with 3gb, used the 16k mod with full harbour trafic on my old 2.2ghz barton and 1gb of ram with no major issues, but at high time compression near convoys things got very laggy, then again why on earth would one sue high time compression when near a convoy.

Jimbuna · 03-08-08, 09:03 AM

You should experience an improvement

P_Funk · 03-08-08, 01:02 PM

What are you crazy? ALWAYS MORE RAM! JUST LISTEN TO THE NAME! RAM! SOUNDS POWERFUL! SOUNDS LIKE AN ANIMAL... LIKE SOMEONE'S... well can't say that BUT ITS HUGE!

More ram is always better.

...RAM!

danurve · 03-09-08, 11:20 AM

Graf Paper; IMO the light harbour traffic is a last act, you shouldn't need it.

My current system is a 939 2.0, 2-gigs dual channel OCZ, ati x1300 256 agp.
The game runs great except if I'm zoomed in with the scope on burning ships or sometimes when I ride the scope low and you have the blurring affect. Smoke and explosions are usually dealt with ok, but if the scope is on one of those intense fires, its much like loosing control of the game. I don't think that is a result of 16k. When I just had 1 gig of ram it was an issue. To be honest if I had to go back to 8k I'd feel to be missing to much.

Now back to light harbour traffic for a minute.
If you've never run another mod called War Ace before someone might not understand this. I think the current level of harbor traffic in GWX (at least 1.03) is just right. The card doesn't choke and you can pan around and enjoy it. The harbour traffic in War Ace was almost at an arcade level. So ask yourself how much time are you spending in harbours. Or, navigate out of the harbour on the map screen.

Graf Paper · 03-09-08, 09:57 PM

Casting off from the harbor is the only time I really lag in the game and only when I'm still close to the dock with the band playing and airplanes cruising overhead.

It may actually have more to do with so many sounds playing at once as I do not experience much lag from graphic effects once I'm out to sea. A ship that explodes spectacularly is about the only other choke point for me with graphics, but not by much.

Hopefully, I will have my new RAM in my eager hands in about 20 hours or less!

I feel like it's my birthday! :rotfl:

Tool · 03-10-08, 11:05 AM

The only time mine lags or hangs for a few seconds is when i'm at >128 TC and playing music.. using 16k and regular harbor traffic. I find it odd given i have a E6400 dualcore with 2 gigs of dual channel.. but given the ~1.5 minute load time with a GWX 2 campaign save, i can understand it does load a lot into the RAM.

Tool.

Graf Paper · 03-10-08, 06:23 PM

OH BOY!!

My RAM just got here!

Time to sign off and go snap these in!

Can hardly wait to see how SH3+GWX performs!

CapZap1970 · 03-10-08, 07:57 PM

don't forget to let us know how did it work...

CapZap

Graf Paper · 03-10-08, 09:56 PM

Got my RAM installed but there was only one hitch. Despite my motherboard's manual asserting it supports 3GB of DDR333 RAM, I can only have 2GB installed. System locks up upon boot every time with 3 sticks installed. None of the RAM is defective as all three work fine when swapping them.

Interesting note is the manual does explicitly state that DDR400 RAM is limited to 2GB.

The only explanations are:
a) Mobo manufacturer lied
b) RAM vendor used down-clocked DDR400 modules and relabeled them as DDR333.

Sometimes you just want to take all these hardware manufacturers, drop them on a desert island, then nuke the island.

On a more positive note, I was able to up some of my system settings with this new RAM, such as enabling the highest pipeline speed between my CPU and FSB.

First thing I did was fire up SH3+GWX2.

My detailed and concise report of my initial impression follows:

NO LAG WHATSOEVER!

The game even loads slightly faster!

CapZap1970 · 03-10-08, 10:45 PM

glad you were able to see improvement, even if you are having problems with 3 memory sticks.

Same thing happened to me some time ago, and it's because the motherboard sometimes have conflicts when trying to handle 3 sticks. It's always better to have 1, 2 or 4, but not 3. Why? I don't know... :hmm:
Anyway, glad you can enjoy the improvement.

CapZap

Sirkam · 03-11-08, 05:09 AM

I have a PIV 3,2 GHZ (LGA775), 2GB RAM DDR400 and a 7600GT 256MB AGP Graphic card. My CPU is a bit more powerfull than your CPU, i have less RAM than you and my VGA is a bit less powerfull. Maybe the problem is the DDR frequecy (333) of your RAM and your programs running in the background (like antivirus, firewalls, etc...)
I run the game perfectly with the default mods activated.

XLjedi · 03-11-08, 07:09 AM

I doubt your OS would even recognize more than 2 gigs...

Does your BIOS see the 3 gigs and then the PC just chokes when it tries to load your OS? ...or does the BIOS not even recognize it?

Jimbuna · 03-11-08, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graf Paper

Got my RAM installed but there was only one hitch. Despite my motherboard's manual asserting it supports 3GB of DDR333 RAM, I can only have 2GB installed. System locks up upon boot every time with 3 sticks installed. None of the RAM is defective as all three work fine when swapping them.

Interesting note is the manual does explicitly state that DDR400 RAM is limited to 2GB.

The only explanations are:
a) Mobo manufacturer lied
b) RAM vendor used down-clocked DDR400 modules and relabeled them as DDR333.

Sometimes you just want to take all these hardware manufacturers, drop them on a desert island, then nuke the island.

On a more positive note, I was able to up some of my system settings with this new RAM, such as enabling the highest pipeline speed between my CPU and FSB.

First thing I did was fire up SH3+GWX2.

My detailed and concise report of my initial impression follows:

NO LAG WHATSOEVER!

The game even loads slightly faster!

Pleased your sorted

03-07-08, 11:15 PM	#1
Graf Paper Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Pacific Northwest United States Posts: 1,146 Downloads: 41 Uploads: 2	[TEC] SH3+GWX 2.0 with 3GB RAM Howdy, Kaleuns! Since I'm branching out into computer graphics and, eventually, 3D modeling, I decided to purchase some new RAM for my trusty old box. Delivery is expected on Monday. The RAM is 3 GB of DDR 333 MHz that I found for a very good price. Yep, time to celebrate. Ol' G.P. was able to afford an "upgrade"! This don't happen very often. My question, as it relates to SH3 is this: I've had to use the Lite Harbor Traffic and 8km Atmosphere to avoid lagging my system too badly. My CPU is a 2.4GHz Athlon, vid card is ATI Radeon x1650 Pro 512MB AGP, and current system memory is 512MB DDR266 RAM. I figured that old RAM is the last major bottleneck. Can anyone with a similar system tell me if using the regular harbor traffic and effects along with the 16km Atmosphere will still lag and make the game stutter, even with the new RAM I'm getting? I'd like to avoid having to monkey around with ripping out mods to find out for myself. This would entail a bit of work since I merged some of the mod files for compatibility, such as the Real Weather Fix + Lite Harbor Traffic + SH4 Scene. __________________ Still sailing the high seas, hunting convoys with those who join me.

03-08-08, 09:03 AM	#4
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,473 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	You should experience an improvement __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

03-08-08, 01:02 PM	#5
P_Funk Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Canada, eh? Posts: 2,537 Downloads: 129 Uploads: 0	What are you crazy? ALWAYS MORE RAM! JUST LISTEN TO THE NAME! RAM! SOUNDS POWERFUL! SOUNDS LIKE AN ANIMAL... LIKE SOMEONE'S... well can't say that BUT ITS HUGE! More ram is always better. ...RAM! __________________

03-09-08, 11:20 AM	#6
danurve The Old Man Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Syracuse, NY Posts: 1,481 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 3	Graf Paper; IMO the light harbour traffic is a last act, you shouldn't need it. My current system is a 939 2.0, 2-gigs dual channel OCZ, ati x1300 256 agp. The game runs great except if I'm zoomed in with the scope on burning ships or sometimes when I ride the scope low and you have the blurring affect. Smoke and explosions are usually dealt with ok, but if the scope is on one of those intense fires, its much like loosing control of the game. I don't think that is a result of 16k. When I just had 1 gig of ram it was an issue. To be honest if I had to go back to 8k I'd feel to be missing to much. Now back to light harbour traffic for a minute. If you've never run another mod called War Ace before someone might not understand this. I think the current level of harbor traffic in GWX (at least 1.03) is just right. The card doesn't choke and you can pan around and enjoy it. The harbour traffic in War Ace was almost at an arcade level. So ask yourself how much time are you spending in harbours. Or, navigate out of the harbour on the map screen. __________________

03-09-08, 09:57 PM	#7
Graf Paper Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Pacific Northwest United States Posts: 1,146 Downloads: 41 Uploads: 2	Casting off from the harbor is the only time I really lag in the game and only when I'm still close to the dock with the band playing and airplanes cruising overhead. It may actually have more to do with so many sounds playing at once as I do not experience much lag from graphic effects once I'm out to sea. A ship that explodes spectacularly is about the only other choke point for me with graphics, but not by much. Hopefully, I will have my new RAM in my eager hands in about 20 hours or less! I feel like it's my birthday! :rotfl: __________________ Still sailing the high seas, hunting convoys with those who join me.

03-08-08, 05:59 AM	#2
bert8for3 Ace of the Deep Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 1,124 Downloads: 110 Uploads: 0	My system is very similar: Intel 2.4, same vidcard and also AGP, 1G RAM. SH3 runs very smoothly and in harbours with the full harbour traffic, there is stuttering but not so bad. Outside harbours and eg even with convoys close by, there's no stuttering at all. So I'm thinking that your upping to 3G (and I think your new RAM is better than mine) will make a big difference.

03-08-08, 08:33 AM	#3
antikristuseke Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Estland Posts: 4,330 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	You should be fine with 3gb, used the 16k mod with full harbour trafic on my old 2.2ghz barton and 1gb of ram with no major issues, but at high time compression near convoys things got very laggy, then again why on earth would one sue high time compression when near a convoy.

03-10-08, 11:05 AM	#8
Tool Planesman Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 189 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	The only time mine lags or hangs for a few seconds is when i'm at >128 TC and playing music.. using 16k and regular harbor traffic. I find it odd given i have a E6400 dualcore with 2 gigs of dual channel.. but given the ~1.5 minute load time with a GWX 2 campaign save, i can understand it does load a lot into the RAM. Tool. __________________ 309th Wild Ducks www.56thvfw.com

03-10-08, 06:23 PM	#9
Graf Paper Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Pacific Northwest United States Posts: 1,146 Downloads: 41 Uploads: 2	OH BOY!! My RAM just got here! Time to sign off and go snap these in! Can hardly wait to see how SH3+GWX performs! __________________ Still sailing the high seas, hunting convoys with those who join me.

03-10-08, 07:57 PM	#10
CapZap1970 Sea Lord Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: La Paz, Bolivia Posts: 1,965 Downloads: 275 Uploads: 51	don't forget to let us know how did it work... CapZap __________________

03-10-08, 09:56 PM	#11
Graf Paper Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Pacific Northwest United States Posts: 1,146 Downloads: 41 Uploads: 2	Got my RAM installed but there was only one hitch. Despite my motherboard's manual asserting it supports 3GB of DDR333 RAM, I can only have 2GB installed. System locks up upon boot every time with 3 sticks installed. None of the RAM is defective as all three work fine when swapping them. Interesting note is the manual does explicitly state that DDR400 RAM is limited to 2GB. The only explanations are: a) Mobo manufacturer lied b) RAM vendor used down-clocked DDR400 modules and relabeled them as DDR333. Sometimes you just want to take all these hardware manufacturers, drop them on a desert island, then nuke the island. On a more positive note, I was able to up some of my system settings with this new RAM, such as enabling the highest pipeline speed between my CPU and FSB. First thing I did was fire up SH3+GWX2. My detailed and concise report of my initial impression follows: NO LAG WHATSOEVER! The game even loads slightly faster! __________________ Still sailing the high seas, hunting convoys with those who join me.

03-10-08, 10:45 PM	#12
CapZap1970 Sea Lord Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: La Paz, Bolivia Posts: 1,965 Downloads: 275 Uploads: 51	glad you were able to see improvement, even if you are having problems with 3 memory sticks. Same thing happened to me some time ago, and it's because the motherboard sometimes have conflicts when trying to handle 3 sticks. It's always better to have 1, 2 or 4, but not 3. Why? I don't know... :hmm: Anyway, glad you can enjoy the improvement. CapZap __________________

03-11-08, 05:09 AM	#13
Sirkam Frogman Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spain Posts: 289 Downloads: 9 Uploads: 0	I have a PIV 3,2 GHZ (LGA775), 2GB RAM DDR400 and a 7600GT 256MB AGP Graphic card. My CPU is a bit more powerfull than your CPU, i have less RAM than you and my VGA is a bit less powerfull. Maybe the problem is the DDR frequecy (333) of your RAM and your programs running in the background (like antivirus, firewalls, etc...) I run the game perfectly with the default mods activated. __________________

03-11-08, 07:09 AM	#14
XLjedi Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Palm Beach, Florida Posts: 1,243 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 8	I doubt your OS would even recognize more than 2 gigs... Does your BIOS see the 3 gigs and then the PC just chokes when it tries to load your OS? ...or does the BIOS not even recognize it? __________________