newchemicals

If you are wondering my 2500K system.

Cold Load 12.4s
Warm Load 9s

Ok same test with same character same location. Note that I am now at 2 GB of RAM. Cold Load 33s (Avg), Warm Load 23.8 (Avg)
Heh, Cold Character load times were actually faster with 2GB o.O

This is the closest machine I have to what Wanted has. It has a Core 2 Duo E6600 DDR2 Ram and an Ati 5750 video card. I don't have a MB that can take a P4 and Core 2 so sorry I can't test the difference with same hardware.

Hyperstrike: I'm still a fan of yours for all your help in this forum but you are wrong on this one. I'm just doing my part in helping the CoX community. So please don't take this as a forum war.
　
---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.2.0.2---
DxDiag gathered at June 11, 2011 13:49 (-07:00)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.101209-1647)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 10/26/06 20:34:04 Ver: 08.00.12
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2048MB
.Net Memory Report: 1612MB out of 2047MB available
Page File: 3594MB (345MB currently in use)
C Drive: (ST3320620AS) 128143MB out of 152617MB (83%) free
D Drive: (ST3320620AS) 106529MB out of 152617MB (69%) free
X Drive: (LITE-ON DVDRW SHM-165H6S) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DirectX Diag version: 5.03.2600.5512 (32-bit version)
Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.
Monitor: Dell U2410(Digital)
Monitor's Max Resolution: 1920,1200
Video Device Name: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Manufacturer / Chip: ATI Technologies Inc. / ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x68BE)
Video Memory: 1024.0 MB
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.7093
Driver Date: 5/27/2010 9:58:50 AM
Driver Language: English
Sound Device Description: SoundMAX HD Audio
Driver File: ADIHdAud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0001.4530
Driver Date: 5/2/2006 10:12:06 AM
Sound Device Description: ATI HD Audio rear output
Driver File: AtiHdmi.sys
Driver Version: 5.00.40001.0009
Driver Date: 7/20/2007 7:40:10 PM
　
WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: P5B
Motherboard Version: Rev 1.xx
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: BIOS Date: 10/26/06 20:34:04 Ver: 08.00.12
BIOS Version: A M I - 10000626
BIOS Release: 20061026000000.000000+000
　
Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1920x1200
3D Resolution: 1920x1200 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: No
　
Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No
　
Anti-aliasing: Off
Anisotropic Filtering: None
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: High quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High
　
World Texture Level: High
Character Texture Level: High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.000
Entity Detail Level: 1.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Shadow Mode: Shadow maps
Shadow Map Shader: Low quality
Environmental Reflections: Medium quality
Advanced Occlusion Settings: No
Ambient Occlusion: High performance
Occlusion Strength: Slight
Blur: Fast
Ambient Resolution: High performance
　
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes
Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600
Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.500
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 228856 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 2010.201105250125.1
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files\City of Heroes
Mod files in the Data directory
.\texture_library\FX\FullscreenFX has 6 files
.\texture_library\GUI\CREATION\CharacterSelect has 15 files
.\texture_library\GUI\HUD\Align_Status has 6 files
.\texture_library\GUI\HUD\Tips has 18 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Archetype has 19 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Inspirations has 51 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Inspirations\Alternate s has 1 file
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Origin has 5 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Pet_Command has 12 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Pet_Command\ALTERNATE-1 has 6 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers has 1277 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers\ALTERNATE-1 has 32 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers\ALTERNATE-2 has 12 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\city has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Midnight_Squad has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Safeguard has 9 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\sewers has 44 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\static has 38 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\City has 1 file
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Outdoor_Missions has 9 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Static has 16 files

For my fully Purpled out and incarnated out controller. Load times in Talos. Cold Load 36s (Avg), Warm Load 23.8s (Avg)

Cold Load means first time logging into CoH from a Reboot of system.

Note that XP is only seeing 3GB.

---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.2.0.2---
DxDiag gathered at June 11, 2011 13:16 (-07:00)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.101209-1647)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 10/26/06 20:34:04 Ver: 08.00.12
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 3008MB
.Net Memory Report: 2548MB out of 3007MB available
Page File: 4542MB (350MB currently in use)
C Drive: (ST3320620AS) 127183MB out of 152617MB (83%) free
D Drive: (ST3320620AS) 106529MB out of 152617MB (69%) free
X Drive: (LITE-ON DVDRW SHM-165H6S) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DirectX Diag version: 5.03.2600.5512 (32-bit version)
Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.
Monitor: Dell U2410(Digital)
Monitor's Max Resolution: 1920,1200
Video Device Name: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Manufacturer / Chip: ATI Technologies Inc. / ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x68BE)
Video Memory: 1024.0 MB
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.7093
Driver Date: 5/27/2010 9:58:50 AM
Driver Language: English
Sound Device Description: SoundMAX HD Audio
Driver File: ADIHdAud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0001.4530
Driver Date: 5/2/2006 10:12:06 AM
Sound Device Description: ATI HD Audio rear output
Driver File: AtiHdmi.sys
Driver Version: 5.00.40001.0009
Driver Date: 7/20/2007 7:40:10 PM
　
WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: P5B
Motherboard Version: Rev 1.xx
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: BIOS Date: 10/26/06 20:34:04 Ver: 08.00.12
BIOS Version: A M I - 10000626
BIOS Release: 20061026000000.000000+000
　
Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1920x1200
3D Resolution: 1920x1200 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: No
　
Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No
　
Anti-aliasing: Off
Anisotropic Filtering: None
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: High quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High
　
World Texture Level: High
Character Texture Level: High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.000
Entity Detail Level: 1.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Shadow Mode: Shadow maps
Shadow Map Shader: Low quality
Environmental Reflections: Medium quality
Advanced Occlusion Settings: No
Ambient Occlusion: High performance
Occlusion Strength: Slight
Blur: Fast
Ambient Resolution: High performance
　
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes
Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600
Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.500
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 228856 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 2010.201105250125.1
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files\City of Heroes
Mod files in the Data directory
.\texture_library\FX\FullscreenFX has 6 files
.\texture_library\GUI\CREATION\CharacterSelect has 15 files
.\texture_library\GUI\HUD\Align_Status has 6 files
.\texture_library\GUI\HUD\Tips has 18 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Archetype has 19 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Inspirations has 51 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Inspirations\Alternate s has 1 file
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Origin has 5 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Pet_Command has 12 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Pet_Command\ALTERNATE-1 has 6 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers has 1277 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers\ALTERNATE-1 has 32 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers\ALTERNATE-2 has 12 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\city has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Midnight_Squad has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Safeguard has 9 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\sewers has 44 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\static has 38 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\City has 1 file
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Outdoor_Missions has 9 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Static has 16 files

Actually Wanted if you were willing to do a complete rebuild, it would be a better use of your money than sinking money into an old platorm.

Hyperstrike: Wanted didn't say what country he's in, so its not clear newegg will deliver there.

I'll be testing with my E6600 with 4GB of ram, Then I will rip out 2GB and retest.

That might be true if you are on the very low end of ram but not at 2GB.
Sorry, Mandu CPU does matter.

I've unfortuneately have seen more than my fair share of machines with 256MB RAM running XP.

Fine, when I get home I'll test zoning times. I know when I had my Athlon II 630 with 8GB of ram I would be the last one to zone in on lambdas. Now, with a Phenom II 965 same machine except with faster CPU I am in the first 1/3 of people zoning into Lambda.

4GB of ram won't change the fact the P4 is an awful CPU. The MB is capable of handling a much better CPU which would be a far greater benefit than extra ram.

The ram would require tossing out the existing RAM and buying more DDR2 ram. $180 is a awful lot for an old E8400/E8500 cpu since you can buy a top notch 2500K chip at Microcenter for $180.

Sorry Wanted, I assume most of the CoX players are in the US.

(Unlike my experiences in another MMO where US players are the minority and I found out most of my teammates were Romanian. I didn't even realize it at the time even with teamspeak on. I seriously thought they were all from the US. Apparently, they knew I was one of those Americans who only speak English so all of the team events were in English purely because I was there )

Some tech forums actually require the requester for help state what country they are in. Maybe that would help us Wanted. I'm sure there are fellow countrymen (and women) who can help with this.

Hyperstrike, more memory won't help much. The MB only has 2 Mem slots so more memory would require buying new DDR2 ram and throwing away the old ram. It won't make a P4 any faster

Now A reinstall of XP would do wonders that I agree with. Based on what I see, since the MB will take a Core 2 processor, I would think that would be the first step. Without knowing more specs on the machine it would be hard to say if the PSU would be up to the task of powering up the current Video cards on the Market. (also, would the video card fit in the case)

My nephew will be getting my C2D E6600 to replace the P4 based dell he's using. That Dell is awful I never tried to think about how cheap I can make a new PC for but yeah $400 is pretty tough when you start with a $100 windows 7 tax. $300 to make something workable?

Based on the OP, I would probably suggest not OC'ing. Its really a question on price. An H67 is probably good enough even if 1333 is max memory speed. If you makes you feel better then go ahead and spend for the P67 MB and K CPU. 1600 memory is the same cost as 1333 so that isn't a factor. It would really be a question of forking out extra money for the board to support faster memory.

Void, how much do you care about price? I would assume like most consumers, you want to get the most value for your money.

I'll keep poking Black Pebble about selling some of these costume codes or a costume pack for those of us who can't attend these things.

Oh well, another costume code I would love to have but Marketing won't sell it to me.

If you wait til the machine breaks down, you might be like my dad who is still using a 486 DX 25. No joke he still uses the thing.

Of course he uses my old Core 2 Duo for that "silly internet stuff" but most of the time he's there on the 486 using all dos based programs.

starcloud: I bet if he opened up the machine it would not have any of the parts he bought.

void: if you properly care for a machine and use good quality parts, they tend to last a long time. Electronics keep getting faster, cheaper and smaller. Most of my older equipment goes to family members who need a PC. My sister is still using my Pentium 150 (OC'ed to 166) with Win 98 still. (Yeah, I have family members who like old stuff I guess) She uses it to play Solitare and Sudoku.

Oldest part on my computer....a $14.95 Keyboard which is 12 years old.

Those video cards would give a slight increase in fps but would be massively held back by that slug of a CPU called the Pentium 4. A total waste of time and money. So unless you upgrade the CPU, don't bother.

The best performance gain for the least amount of money would be to upgrade the CPU. 775 based CPUs are quite old and should have been phased out. (will be soon now that cheap SB based CPUs are on the way)

Compatability list for come CPUs that are compatable with your MB. Your board will take Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quads assuming you flash the bios to a version that supports them.
http://processormatch.intel.com/Comp...ardname=dg31pr

Something like this would be a possible choice
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116347

The better solution of course would be to get a newer setup.

Drop dead date for windows xp is April 8, 2014. Then all leagacy support from Microsoft will end.

(5) Monitor: I am thinking of between 22" and 24". I guess I will ask the shop what it recommends.
(6) Cooling System & Case: I want a good cooling system. I guess I will ask the shop what it recommends.
(7) Power supply: 80Plus rated, maximum wattage at 12 volts to be at least 80% of the total wattage of the power supply.
(8) Motherboard: I'm not tech savvy enough to follow your above explanation. In simple terms, what should I tell the shop about the motherboard to use for this build? Is it that the motherboard should use a P67 or Z68?

Hope you really trust your shop Looking at the OP it would be like asking a used car salesman what a good used car would be.

5. Monitor: There are lots of cheap monitors out there I don't like them because I prefer 16:10 vs the 16:9 which is pretty much the bulk of what is for sale. Do a little research on this. The Dell U2410 is a great 16:10 IPS monitor but goes in the $500+ range. Your going to stare at the thing for a long time, don't be cheap out it.

6. If you are not going to Overclock, the stock heatsink and fan are enough for the CPU. There are plenty of $30 3rd party parts that do a very good job and are much quieter.

7. Power Supply. The Heart of your computer. Don't make the mistake of buying something cheap here. Get something from a reputable company. Like Antec or Seasonic.

8. It would depend on if you are Overclocking or not. Sounds like you are not. In which case the H67 is more than good enough.

Given some of the parts from the shop that were suggested such as....
1GB EVGA GeForce 9500 GT Video Card
·Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
·Two DVD-RW Drives

I would not trust that person's hardware advice at all....I'm sure they would be more than happy to sell you an ECS motherboard, with a phoney 80 plus certified PSU with old slow RAM.

Do a little more reseach before making an impulse buy. Its a pretty big investment of funds. I'd hate to see someone piss away money on awful equipment. There are lots of good hardware folks like "Santa" to help you.

Buying anything for your current system would be a waste of money that would be better spent on the replacement.

Lots of things can determine zoning times: (in no particular order)
1. Internet connection
2. CPU Speed
3. Ram Speed
4. Hard Drive
5. Graphics Settings

Most users are using SATA2 Hard Drives, while there are a few people with SSDs the vast majority use the same drive. So spending while spending big bucks on an SSD will help some, that level of cash would be better spent on a better CPU & GPU.

Your RAM is maxed out. Spending on old dead end DDR2 Ram is a waste of time and very little gain. Also, with 32 bit windows XP you are already at the end of what it can handle. Sure you could double your RAM to "4GB" but you will still be complainig about long load times.

Best best for not spending money is lowering graphics settings.

Its not that expensive to replace MB/CPU/Mem to get something a bit more current. Then a decent enough GPU to keep up. The cost of replacing those parts to something entry level would run about $350 + tax

Just my 02 INF

Have you tried -verify or reinstall the coh client?

I'm sure some of the issues come from the re-skinning of mission interiors.

Could try using AE to make lag friendly missions.

Only other things I can suggest is lowering your resolution.

Resolution: 1680x1050

try 1280x800?

The video performance is probably expected with the IGP you have.

Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce 6150SE nForce 430

That IGP is almost 6 years old, a newer discrete graphics card would help your fps.

I have two machines running 7 SP1

Yes, just add -verify to the end of the shortcut on your old coh loader.

So on the Target line it should say: "C:\Program Files (x86)\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -verify

Could try uninstall and reinstall.

Re Motherboard: If its working, great. It just looks weird, its like buying a Chevy and finding a Ford Engine.

Heh, the first thing that jumped out at me is probably not related but your Gigabyte motherboard is loaded with an Asus bios.

Motherboard Product: EP45-UD3P
BIOS Version: _ASUS_ - 42302e31

So what steps have been taken? Have you run -verify on the coh loader?
Have you tried a complete uninstall and reinstall?

Has there been any other posts in the gameplay/tech issues forum with people who had the same problem?

Its generally not a good idea to tell someone to flash their card like that. That trick works only with the 2GB card. If it blows and the user is unable to get into the card when it has the out of spec BIOS, well. they are out $$$.

I too crashed with 11.5b I've reverted back to the fairly stable 11.3

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownloa...spx?os=Windows

Try this driver.

It really helps if you give us more info to work on.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=231628

I've found 11.5b to be buggy and I would crash in 10-20 minutes 11.3 seems fairly stable. I have a 6870 and 5770. YMMV

This pretty much put my one level 50 stalker in perma retirement and I deleted all my other stalkers.

I'll care again when they decide to buff stalkers.

23: You didn't say what case you have So its possible that some video cards won't fit in it.

So the safe choice would be the nvidia 560 Ti. Its just over 9" and should fit in most cases. Note the "Ti" after the 560 and don't try to save a few bucks on the weaker 560 card. 560 Ti is running about $230 AR

The ATI choices are long cards which might not fit. (Lack of info) Suggestions would be for the 6950.

6950 1gb is selling for about $230 AR. 2GB versions are about $40 more.

Either of these cards should be more than enough and well under your budget.