can you help?

[spookys_arena]

i have got a pacard bell with an intel 810rchipset graphics card( avoid if possible) i normally find that my pc struggles playing bot matches but if i play games like q3 kingpin online my pc handels it much better ...i just bought some exra memory and now my bot matches run nice and smooth however i have never been able to play inf online ...i can now play inf bot matches smoth and crisp but online is a impossible i dont understand why i can play with bots easy peasy but online my movement is j..e..r..k..y.......a..n..d.....i.m.po.s.si.b.l.e..to play i cant even walk smooth let alone shot anybody the answer must be simple but its got me stumpped please can anybody help me im useing a usb 56k modem and my ping varies from 300 - 600 but no matter what my ping i just cant move without looking like im in crippeld

hoppeing you can help .....spooky

 

[Zundfolge]

The best thing you can do is get a good video card.

You can get your hands on a 64Meg G2 based card for under $100*...that would probably solve most of your problems.

Also, Memory is cheap right now...cram as much as you can get into your machine (right now 256M sticks are as low as $40*).


*all prices US

 

[spookys_arena]

re: upgrade

yes im working on that but my crappy pacard bell has got no AGP slots ...(when i bought it new 8 months ago i never knew a thing about pc's so never knew what a bag of dog muck it was )...so im having to look for a pci i have seen a voodoo 5500 and was thinking of getting that would that do the job do you think???......re:memory yeh i know about the cheap mem and just bought some cheers but again this pb has only 2 slots for memory so illl have to get larger sticks thanks for the advice and hopefully i will be able to sort out a card soon but i still dont understand why i can play other games better online than with bots yet inf bots running good but cant play online not even walk in a smooth action??????

 

[Uppity]

How does normal old Unreal Tournament run ?

As for inf's jekyness - How much have you actually checked this out? Is it possible that with the bots you were deliberately choosing smaller maps with lower numbers of players so it would run better and let you get into combat quicker(I do this offline), but when you tried online it may have been a much, much bigger outdoor map where you could see half the map (and so your nice little gfx card had to draw it).

Some other system info would prolly help too, eg, processor speed, ram, etc.

Also your ping is a bit poor - even for 56k. You should prolly expec around 150-300 from a good ISP connecting to a nearby (in the internet sense) server. So what type of modem do you have (please don't say soft or win-modem)? A bad ping would result in jerkyness as your system would be waiting to hear from the server what to draw next.

Uppity

 

[Zundfolge]

so im having to look for a pci i have seen a voodoo 5500 and was thinking of getting that would that do the job do you think???

With no AGP, I think the Voodoo cards are excellent in PCI. The Voodoo 5 is a great card, the only problem with it is it's the last of the Voodoo cards (since 3dfx is basically no more). Keep in mind that when UT was written it was optimized for 3dfx cards, so a V5 would be awsome.

I run a V3 3000 and it's great (I have a friend who set up a V3 3000 PCI on his machine and the stats are real close, so I don't think you'll lose much by not going AGP).


But your problems sound more modem related then video card.

 

[spookys_arena]

my specs

i hace got a pacard bell celeron 533 128 ram (crappy)intel 810 chipset my modem is a usb supra max and my ping in q3 and kingpin is normally between 200-300 and i have tried small maps online but no good my pc used not to be able to run bots in q3 but i could play online fine i just got another 64 mem(now 128) and now i can run bot matches in q3 and inf but my online connection is not haveing any of it why is it thsat for q3 my play is fine yet inf not surly if i can run bots i should be able to run online as my pc is notr having to control any bots? is there any changes i could make to my ini to help? also i better mention im useing open gl to run inf not idael but it works well for bots anyway

 

[spookys_arena]

ps

i used to ping at 400 -550 in q3 useing my internal modem but when i got my external usb supra max i got pings of 250

 

[spookys_arena]

extra

i have been into my open gl in my inf and told it not to do loads of stuff and i have played a bot match and danced with 3 bots in close proximaty yet i can even camp on inf if i stay still miles away from anyone and try to snipe my sight wont even move without jerking i feel like a right jerk sitting in one spot twitching where as in q3 and kingpin a can run jump shoot dance and have very little problem caping ya ..but cant even get my gun pionting at anyone in inf before im toasted ...welll i guess its just as well id only embarrass you guys with decent connections just ya'll wait till i get it together me and my boyzz will be round to cap ya
anyinfo on editing my inf ini to help my online gameplay would be appreciated

 

[Tommy Atkins]

GFX help

Until very recently I was running a Voodoo 3 2000 PCI(stop laughing at the back there) on a PIII 450 w 128 Mb RAM. Smooth as a smooth thing. Zund's hit the nail on the head- you'd be much better off upgrading your modem rather than tweaking your graphics set-up. Your performance is good offline- why would tweaking your graphics improve your online play? same stuff to display after all...

[edit] Oops- just noticed the 'USB' word in your modem description. I thought that USB modems weren't recommended for gameplaying... I'll shut up now.[/edit]

 

[spookys_arena]

usb

emm usb is pants? i never kew that ...the reson im assking about card is my intel chipset is built into my mother baord and dynamically(haha) shares my mem and i found by helping kingpin do less it improved my connection

 

[Tommy Atkins]

not pants

Just not suited for gameplay. I have been known to be wrong before mind...
/me hides & lets someone who has a vague idea what impact a duff chipset might have on online performance say something instead.

GL though- hope to see you on a UK server soon.

 

[skwashdem]

Motherboard Chipset

Hmm... sounds familiar
Now, I have a Dell computer that runs UT & INF great. When I first got my computer it had a built in Intel 810 chipset, that was the first thing I disabled in the system profile from control panel and replaced with a Voodoo 3 PCI card. Right now I have a Voodoo 3 3500 and it runs silky smooth offline. Of course, I have a crappy ISP so I can't play online as much as I'd like till I get DSL or cable modem service. But I still get pings around 200-300 off my internal US Robotics, but a lot of servers are near me so it offsets my crappy ISP.
In general, these two things will help with better performance:
1) More RAM, more RAM, more RAM
2) Faster modem/internet connection where possible
3) If you have a Celeron or early Pentium III with an Intel 810 chipset, buy a dedicated video card and disable the 810 in CMOS

Also, try quiting any background programs you might having running. (virus scanners, schedulers, tool bars, anything else in the bottom right hand corner of your windows desktop next to the clock)

My $0.02

 

[MorphineAlien]

Yep....sounds like a 56k problem. I went through the same thing.
I'm Running a PIII/450 (SCSI) which is plenty for online gaming but sometimes it was like a slide show. So, I started with ram, 256mb...still not good enough. So, a Voodoo 5 5550 was next...wow this card totaly kicks butt. But I still had problems on line. By now I had a killer SCSI setup from top to bottom. I figured the only thing left had to be my 56k connection. Well I broke down, called my server and got 768 SDSL. YEP!.....That did it! No more slide shows for Morph.
All the v-card in the world won't do you much good if you have a crapy connection. I suggest a quick call to your ISP.

Good luck....

Morph

 

[spookys_arena]

56k

ok thanks lots for all the advice im going to be getting more mem and a voodoo 5 but as for my connection im not realy sure what to do, im in england and my server is ntl world dose anyone no whats involved (cost wise) to get cable ?....also may i ad 56 k conn is bad but i can play q3 and kingpin with it........... not a brill conn but i can play and ive even kicked a few cable guys butts even with my avrage ping of 250 in q3 ive finnished top with pings of 75 below me so if i do get a decent connection you guys best be afriad ....chears for all your help hopefully ill be poping a cap in ya ass real soon

 

[Zundfolge]

Spooky, go here...

http://www.askntl.com/broadband/default.asp
or
http://www.btopenworld.com/


That's all I found when searching for broadbandwidth in the UK.

 

[Uppity]

Spooky - I wonder if you are getting an IRQ conflict.

Check your IRQ settings (Control panel - system - hardware profile?) to see if you have any major devices listed on the same IRQ as your modem.

So for example if your modem + gfx card are sharing the same IRQ then they will both be clamouring for the same 'pipe' to get the CPU's attention. So your modem may be stopping your gfx card from talking to your CPU.

If an IRQ conflict is shown, try plugging it into a different USB port (Here's hoping you have more than one!)

Uppity

 

[spookys_arena]

yee haa im there

well it turned out to be my usb modem ive now got a com port one and im playing online and last .....thanks guys ...your dieing like dogs atlast

 

[Sphynxx]

Humph

Blah.