Nice question on an older PC (fsb clock?)

pureleven · 28th Feb 2008, 06:04 AM

Hi and greetings to my Thread,

I am out of a job and have no cash at the moment to build a new system so Im dealing with an older computer and Had a curious question on a few ways to make my games run smoother.

I am running a asus a7v8x with an athlon xp 2200 throbread a

I just recently took out 512 and placed 2 512's of ram . Im running a 6200 geforce by bfg tech.

I am running at 133/33 x 13.5 = 1.8

I think that it might be possible to go from 266 FSB to a higher level, or justify a clock rate that is stable, is this a good idea or a bad idea.

What are the safety limitations to having a higher FSB. And to do this if it is safe will I need to underclock my cpu and is underclocking safe for the chip.

I am trying to get as much squeez out of this old machine as possible. Does anyone know any possible ways to get my game running faster. *neverwinter nights 2*

Thank you.

jasperchc · 28th Feb 2008, 11:44 AM

If your motherboard support overclocking, i am sure you can play around with the multiplyer and FSB setting to get the most out of your rig. However, i know that some desktop version of the Athlon XP had their multipler locked, if you have one of those then you can only play around with the FSB and will put some limitation on your overclocking.

Higher FSB or higher clock rates, that is the question, both however will generally translate to better performance, as long as your CPU can handles it just go for it. If you wanna know which setting works best for your PC, then you can try out the two different approach and use software such as sandra sisoft to rate the performance of each approach and determine which is better.

And remember stability is key when you overclock so you will need to stress test your CPU using program such as SP2004 for at least 8 hours to make sure its stable at that setting.

And ya, NWN2 is a resource hog

sg168 · 28th Feb 2008, 04:00 PM

Your cpu is still ok for most games. The reason why your NWN game is running slow is because of your graphic card. BFG 6200 should be a turbo-cache card, not the real 6200 card. Meaning that the BFG 6200 turbo-cache behaves like GF3 card when playing games (only 700Mpixels/sec), compared to real 6200 which is at 1200 Mpixels/sec. Also, 6200 turbo-cache is using 64bit memory interface, that is not recommended for playing most games, at least it must be 128bit memory, so, try to get yourself a 6600GT if you have the money, not anything lower, and not those 7100-7300 series either.....

Chai · 28th Feb 2008, 04:26 PM

Is NWN graphics intensive?

sg168 · 29th Feb 2008, 04:11 PM

NWN2 system requirements :

CPU looks ok, your graphic card is the limiting hardware, get a 6600 and above and update your dx, or get a second hand fx5700 and above, not those fx5200 or 6200 or 7100-7300....

Recommended:
3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
1 GB System RAM
ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, 256 MB, or higher video card

Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP, Windows 2000
512MB System RAM
2.4 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
Hard Disk Space: 4.9 GB free hard disk space
128MB Direct3D compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver;
DirectX 9.0c (included)
DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
DVD-ROM Drive: 6X speed or faster
Keyboard, Mouse

Supported Video Card Chipsets:

ATI X1950 series
ATI X1900 series
ATI X1800 series
ATI X1600 series
ATI X850 series
ATI x800 series
ATI x700 series
ATI x600 series
ATI Radeon 9800 series
ATI Radeon 9700 series
ATI Radeon 9600 series
ATI Radeon 9500 Pro
NVIDIA GeForce 7950 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or above

jasperchc · 29th Feb 2008, 04:34 PM

nwn2's graphic aint that impressive, infact its quite dated compare to those new titles but alot of people with 8800 are complaining that they cant run the game smoothly at max setting.

Chai · 29th Feb 2008, 10:40 PM

NWN is the game that doesn't work properly with 8 series, right?

pfelelep · 1st Mar 2008, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pureleven

I am trying to get as much squeez out of this old machine as possible. Does anyone know any possible ways to get my game running faster. *neverwinter nights 2*
Thank you.

even if I don't have a clue about tech, maybe you can find a good driver for your graphic card?

look here
(this link will drive you to the laptopvideo2go forum, look for neverwinter nights2 issues, advices on your graphic card)

good luck.

pureleven · 2nd Mar 2008, 07:02 AM

Thanks for the information!

I guess ill upgrade my fx card!

Thanks again!

28th Feb 2008, 06:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
pureleven Newbie Join Date: 28 Feb 2008 Posts: 4 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	Nice question on an older PC (fsb clock?) Hi and greetings to my Thread, I am out of a job and have no cash at the moment to build a new system so Im dealing with an older computer and Had a curious question on a few ways to make my games run smoother. I am running a asus a7v8x with an athlon xp 2200 throbread a I just recently took out 512 and placed 2 512's of ram . Im running a 6200 geforce by bfg tech. I am running at 133/33 x 13.5 = 1.8 I think that it might be possible to go from 266 FSB to a higher level, or justify a clock rate that is stable, is this a good idea or a bad idea. What are the safety limitations to having a higher FSB. And to do this if it is safe will I need to underclock my cpu and is underclocking safe for the chip. I am trying to get as much squeez out of this old machine as possible. Does anyone know any possible ways to get my game running faster. neverwinter nights 2 Thank you.

28th Feb 2008, 11:44 AM	#2 (permalink)
jasperchc Active Join Date: 25 Aug 2005 Location: Kuching, MY Posts: 542 Reputation: 48 Rep Power: 4	If your motherboard support overclocking, i am sure you can play around with the multiplyer and FSB setting to get the most out of your rig. However, i know that some desktop version of the Athlon XP had their multipler locked, if you have one of those then you can only play around with the FSB and will put some limitation on your overclocking. Higher FSB or higher clock rates, that is the question, both however will generally translate to better performance, as long as your CPU can handles it just go for it. If you wanna know which setting works best for your PC, then you can try out the two different approach and use software such as sandra sisoft to rate the performance of each approach and determine which is better. And remember stability is key when you overclock so you will need to stress test your CPU using program such as SP2004 for at least 8 hours to make sure its stable at that setting. And ya, NWN2 is a resource hog __________________ "There is nothing to fear but fear itself" (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

28th Feb 2008, 04:26 PM	#4 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,114 Reputation: 3845 Rep Power: 70	Is NWN graphics intensive? __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

29th Feb 2008, 04:34 PM	#6 (permalink)
jasperchc Active Join Date: 25 Aug 2005 Location: Kuching, MY Posts: 542 Reputation: 48 Rep Power: 4	nwn2's graphic aint that impressive, infact its quite dated compare to those new titles but alot of people with 8800 are complaining that they cant run the game smoothly at max setting. __________________ "There is nothing to fear but fear itself" (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

29th Feb 2008, 10:40 PM	#7 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,114 Reputation: 3845 Rep Power: 70	NWN is the game that doesn't work properly with 8 series, right? __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

28th Feb 2008, 04:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
sg168 Newbie Join Date: 5 May 2004 Posts: 2 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	Your cpu is still ok for most games. The reason why your NWN game is running slow is because of your graphic card. BFG 6200 should be a turbo-cache card, not the real 6200 card. Meaning that the BFG 6200 turbo-cache behaves like GF3 card when playing games (only 700Mpixels/sec), compared to real 6200 which is at 1200 Mpixels/sec. Also, 6200 turbo-cache is using 64bit memory interface, that is not recommended for playing most games, at least it must be 128bit memory, so, try to get yourself a 6600GT if you have the money, not anything lower, and not those 7100-7300 series either.....

29th Feb 2008, 04:11 PM	#5 (permalink)
sg168 Newbie Join Date: 5 May 2004 Posts: 2 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	NWN2 system requirements : CPU looks ok, your graphic card is the limiting hardware, get a 6600 and above and update your dx, or get a second hand fx5700 and above, not those fx5200 or 6200 or 7100-7300.... Recommended: 3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor 1 GB System RAM ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, 256 MB, or higher video card Minimum System Requirements: Windows XP, Windows 2000 512MB System RAM 2.4 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor Hard Disk Space: 4.9 GB free hard disk space 128MB Direct3D compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver; DirectX 9.0c (included) DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card DVD-ROM Drive: 6X speed or faster Keyboard, Mouse Supported Video Card Chipsets: ATI X1950 series ATI X1900 series ATI X1800 series ATI X1600 series ATI X850 series ATI x800 series ATI x700 series ATI x600 series ATI Radeon 9800 series ATI Radeon 9700 series ATI Radeon 9600 series ATI Radeon 9500 Pro NVIDIA GeForce 7950 series NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series NVIDIA GeForce 7600 series NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or above

2nd Mar 2008, 07:02 AM	#9 (permalink)
pureleven Newbie Join Date: 28 Feb 2008 Posts: 4 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	Thanks everyone who replied! Thanks for the information! I guess ill upgrade my fx card! Thanks again!