Graphic card advice?

[RedRock]

Hmmmmm...........
Now what could, I say, what could I just be thinking, hmmmmm???

[Woody]

I just got COD2 yesterday and I have the same problem with lagging. I have a NVIDIA geoforce 7300LE (whatever that means). The east indian guy at the store that couldn't speak english mentioned it is probably because my graphics is "shared". Can anyone put this into layman terms for me because the abbreviations etc used in this thread may as well be another language.

[Death's Shadow]

sould be working woody... looking at recomended chip sets on cod2 package right now says recoments geforce series 7 or higher... could be that your graphics card is built into your mother board then it would share your system memory to power the graphics... look in your bios settings (when you boot comp up you will see screen that says press del or F1 to enter setup) check and see if you can increse the amount of ram you can use for graphics in there.. if that dosent work( mine does not have the option) you may have to get a diffrent graphics add on card.. then it would have its own memory built into it.. i want at least 128mb graphics card but tempted to spring for the 256mg card.. COD2 is very picky for what card it wants i c.. look at the back of your game box it lists supported chipsets. i would choose from those options.. hope any of this helped..

[Marauder(CDN)]

a 7300LE is a standalone video card, it is a weaker card but still is not a built in unit...that is it is not incorporated into the motherboard.

Also it would recommend the 7XXX or higher as Nvidia had some input into the making of this version...it is optimized to run in Nvidia SLi.

[Death's Shadow]

yea what mar said lol

[Woody]

Thanks fellas. If I understand this correctly then really it should not be a video card problem with my cod2... Even though my card is a weaker one it should still run the game?? If that is the case any other ideas as to why it would lag?? I shut off firewall etc so that should not be the problem.

[Death's Shadow]

;D finaly got a ati x800xl .. found it on ebay for $44 USD got it yesterday installed it (in less than 5 min, drivers included) and it rocks hard.. dont know how I ever played before the graphics rip right along now at 90+ fps and no vid lag.. now I have to learn to lead my targets all over again as I dont have to guess were a player will be "jitter jumping" around on my screen..

[RedRock]

Good, DS.
Now you can play COD2.
And may I suggest you keep your eyes out for a cheap copy of COD1 with UO also? They are different from COD2 in several ways, and there are good, fun servers for all 3 out there, with games ranging from pure fragfests to pure one-spot sniping to mixed sneak and snipe!

[RedRock]

woody said:

Thanks fellas. If I understand this correctly then really it should not be a video card problem with my cod2... Even though my card is a weaker one it should still run the game?? If that is the case any other ideas as to why it would lag?? I shut off firewall etc so that should not be the problem.

Woody, did you ever get your situation figured out?

[Death's Shadow]

Thanks Red I have all 3 cod games .. have tried out cod2 now that I can play it. its ok but no moh.. guess I miss killing you guys too much while I'm there..

but now I have the capacity to use the game should Lam decide to run a cod2 server on the old LK server now that we are back in his house on LP.

Got to find that mod to make the xhairs not disappear when you move too that sux.

[a Silly Person]

Okay. Here I am, again, showing you guys just how illiterate I am with computers. (most people would feel embarrassed about this, not a silly person though)


First of all, what is the game COD and is there a longer name for this that might help me figure out what you guys are talking about?

The other question I have for, well, anyone who will reply is:

Just how old and obsolete is my Nvidia GeForce4 MX420?
I really have no idea, I just use what Dell & Microsoft give me.

<laughing> I know that Red Rock is going to have a "field-day" with that one.

[Urumii-Previously ThePresident]

Silly:

COD = Call of Duty

And your vid card is a couple years old, but nothing to be embarrassed about. Its only 64mb, compared to most casual gamers 256 to the crazy peeps with 512 or 1024mb. It wouldn't be ideal for any high powered game (ie Battle Field 2). But should be more than enough for most games.

I'm sure Red will give you 70 links, and 2 hours of his own writing, but I actually have a life

[a Silly Person]

Thanks Prez!

I guess this old card is going to have to serve me for another year yet. Gotta conserve the cash since the house-building business is a bit slow.

Someone else, a while ago, tried to get me to buy and play that COD game. Heck I barely have enough time to get on to the Playground, let-alone start playing another on-line game.

Until then, I will just play with what Dell and Microsoft gave me with this (2-year-old refurbished Dimension 4550) computer, lol.
Right Red?

[RedRock]

thepresident said:

...
.
I'm sure Red will give you 70 links, and 2 hours of his own writing, but I actually have a life

Oh, wow, now if you only had brains, personality, looks, and maturity to go with that life......

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Silly, try just doing google searches when you have a question and want a possible quick answer. For example, go to google.com and type in "what does cod stand for" and and hit go or return and you'll get a page of hits, some of which will be obvious to you that it's the wrong cod, and others will mention games (about 4th or 5th entry down the page) and you'll have the answer. Alternatively, type in more words in your search string and get a better answer--"what does cod stand for game" gives the answer at the top of the listings.

About your graphics card: you can do the same (do some searches), but you'll not change anything knowing that your card came out NOT a couple of years ago, as someone with a life said, but instead in 2002 (in public schools in Florida, as opposed to Minneesoooduh, apparently, 07-02=2.5 x a couple), and it MIGHT have 128 Mb VRam on it (or you MIGHT be able to add or switch VRAM chips with it). You'll have to check your hardware with "get properties" on "my computer" on your desktop, to see what you really have. Anyway, google something like "Nvidia GeForce4 card comparisons MX420" and look at a few answers, for example, the wikipedia listing en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_4_Series (now wikipedia is not necessarily authoritative, but it can at least give you basic ideas and starting points for further, more refined searches), to learn more about your card/chip. But as I was saying, so what? If it runs your game to your satisfaction, you don't need anything different. If you have a lot of lag and have to turn down graphics settings to be able to play, then you'll know it's time for a new card, more RAM, more VRAM, new computer, or new life. The proof is in the pudding, not the mouthful of letters and numbers that you can try to recite (they leave a bad taste in my mouth, anyway, don't know about you; on the other hand, Mac is just so clean and simple and tasty, but I digress).

As usual, I have tried to be helpful and informative. Compare the alternative, and I'm sure you'll come back and shop with the RedRock Store of Knowledge again in the future.

[a Silly Person]

Hey Red. Thanks for taking the time to help me out.

I would use Google, but my answers get back to me with a little more explanation on the "Lamron help-site".

That and the fact that Lamron's site doesn't try to add anything to my browser like Google did.

I will check that out to see if I can, cheaply upgrade my vid memory. I am pretty sure that I upgraded my computer memory a while back, yep, upgraded that to 1 gig. It wouldn't hurt to buy a newer monitor as well because the settings and adjustments are quite limited with older monitor models.

Those monitor prices are dropping pretty fast too what with the next generation of monitors and TV's that are coming out.... Laser, is it?

So much for LCD and Plasma screens.

Thanks again, you guys are always eager to help a poor sap out, lol. I appreciate that, so.... I will let you guys beat me in a few games. ;D





Well, back to work.