one fast question

[Takiri]

will i lag with this computeR:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...duct_id=5007578

i use high speed internet and i used to play on ps2 and only lagged in crowded areas on the ps2

[Matera]

Re: one fast question

ONE FAST ASNWER!

From what I know about laptops, most of them aren't made for gaming.

The Processor is probably a tad slow, and the built in video card might not be up to snuff.

As well, there could be a lack of RAM.

[Takiri]

Re: one fast question

ONE FAST ASNWER!

From what I know about laptops, most of them aren't made for gaming.

The Processor is probably a tad slow, and the built in video card might not be up to snuff.

As well, there could be a lack of RAM.

yeah you didnt answer my question and you spelled ANSWER wrong

[Mhurron]

Re: one fast question

Every system will lag in crowded areas.

[Takiri]

Re: one fast question

Every system will lag in crowded areas.

i understand that. thanks but will i lag in other areas on this computer?

[Matera]

Re: one fast question

Sorry, missed out the "will".

[DakAttack]

Re: one fast question

Yes.

Bold and italics are to mimic speed.

[Murphie]

Re: one fast question

Yes.

Bold and italics are to mimic speed.

Needs more anime speed lines.

[Feba]

Re: one fast question

Yes.

Bold and italics are to mimic speed.

Needs more anime speed lines.

三ｙes二

[neighbortaru]

Re: one fast question

generally you should be fine.

my recommendation is to download the ffxibenchmark from POL and try it on your PC. If it scores Even-Matched, you should be fine most of the time (crowded areas not withstanding).

[Lunaryn]

Re: one fast question

I would add that there are a few considerations of spec that have varying degrees of impact on FFXI:

Processor Speed: Most commonly cited, and of high importance. Even a mediocre video card, if supported at all, can be made up for in many circumstances by a fast processor. How fast you need depends largely on the capabilities of your video card, other system bottlenecks notwithstanding. I've run FFXI reasonably well on as low as 1.2GHz processors w/ good graphics cards, and some people get away with less than that. On a system w/ a mediocre graphics card, 2+GHz would be recommended.

Memory: Largely unimportant at modern capacities. I've seen no noteworthy difference between 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB.

HDD Speed: Hard to control, but a noteworthy factor. I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as your HDD is not extremely old.

Video Acceleration: Good video acceleration can make a dramatic difference in how much FFXI demands of your processor. The onboard video of my parents' machine can support running FFXI in low res at good speed, but this is on a 2.4GHz system. My Radeon 8500 LE, a high-end but slightly underclocked Radeon 2 (FFXI starts testing compatibility at Radeon 3) allows a 1.3GHz box to keep up with this at both low-res and high-res. The most noticeable difference between good and poor video acceleration is that rendering speeds (as can be seen in benchmark scores) vary by relatively small amounts w/ good accel and by large amounts w/ poor accel. The 1.3GHz w/ Radeon 8500 LE scored only about a hundred points higher on Low-res than High-res, while the 2.4GHz w/ onboard scored over 500 points higher on Low-res than High-res.

Front-Side Bus speed: A devastating and often hidden bottleneck, a system w/ low FSB will demonstrate much clunkier and less responsive interface and more effects-related slowdowns than a system w/ the same processor speed and higher FSB. The worst part of this is: it is not reflected much at all in the benchmark. Whereas processor speed tends to vary depending on whether a system is high or low end, FSB speed is usually more indicative of the age of a system's mainboard. The FSB speed is most commonly referenced in determining what kind of memory you need to buy for the system.
For comparison, I get mostly comparable performance from a 1.6GHz system w/ 100MHz FSB and a 1.3GHz system w/ 266MHz FSB (running memory at half-speed), while a 1.2GHz system w/ 400MHz FSB (I think) outperforms both fairly significantly in interface response (though it's somewhat poorer at video rendering speed)

The benchmark is going to be your main indicator, but watch for the FSB issue if your equipment is at all old.

[PTT]

Re: one fast question

yeah you didnt answer my question and you spelled ANSWER wrong

He did answer your question through implied meaning. He implied that because the processor is a tad slow, and because the video card and RAM might not be up to snuff, that yes, you will probably lag on this computer in games. Also, what's a typo or two between people? It's not like a wall of text where everything was spelled incorrectly.

Anyway, here's my take on it.

Laptops aren't built for longevity. They will become obsolete faster due to being A) slower compared to desktops in the first place, and B) due to not having upgrade options for the future.

With that in mind, I would recommend getting a desktop computer, if your living space allows for it. Not only will it overall perform better, it will have better airflow than a laptop, keeping the very very expensive components safe. I've fried two laptop motherboards because the cooling fan wire shorted out, and nobody caught it at the computer repair place. It was not good times.

Also, if you care to try, I'd recommend building the computer yourself. Not only do you get to add only the parts you want to the computer, but you can probably assemble a good-enough computer for cheaper than you can buy it. Just remember to use one of those anti-static wristbands.

The computer I play FFXI on is store bought (2.6 Ghz Intel 4, 512 MB Ram, ATI Radeon 9800 vidcard), but since then, I've built a computer for my father, and I gotta say, I don't believe I'll go back to store-buying computers. So if you feel comfortable building one yourself, I'd recommend it.

[Lunaryn]

Re: one fast question

There are a lot of considerations about notebook computers that are problematic, but FFXI is not as demanding as some things, and a reasonably fast processor, 400MHz or better FSB, and decent graphics accel can make a notebook a reasonable FFXI box even if not a general gaming box.

I have a dual 2400 (or something like that) notebook w/ Radeon X1400 and 400MHz FSB and even Earth Weather doesn't phase it. It's probably a tad overkill, but I wanted to be quite sure it would work w/ FFXI when I bought it. It's not my main FFXI box by any stretch of the imagination even though it's much faster than my desktop, but it's a good way to keep access to FFXI on the go, especially for gardening and solo xp sessions.

[Palom]

Re: one fast question

for you're own good do not buy a Compaq

[rsironko]

Re: one fast question

for you're own good do not buy a Compaq

What is wrong with Compaqs?

Anyway... this is my laptop. http://alienware.com/product_detail_...de=SKU-DEFAULT