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Please help me!

This is where you can discuss your homework, family, just about anything, make strange sounds and otherwise discuss things which are really not related to the Lancer-series. Yes that means you can discuss other games.

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[SGC]Jack

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 4:42 pm

Please help me!

Ok this may sound slightly informal, but thats because i copied it form the forum my FL server uses and we know eachother pretty well:


Ok heres the deal, im on my laptop at my dad's house(my parents r divorced) he doesnt have a comp so i brought my laptop and i loaded FL and Dld the mod, the reason i havent done this b4(i come here every other weekend) is cause i never knew i could access the web from here(appartently a coffe house from down the street has free web access) so the signal is really strong and i can tap in from my room

ok so i have FL installed and the mod DLd etc. but i went to play FL and it said that my graphics card was not 3D capable or something, so anyways, im trying to get a good graphics card for this comp, and im hoping to go and get one tomarrow lol, cause i wanna b able to play this weekend, so here are some of my system specs

Gateway laptop, about 3 or so years old
pentium 2 proccessor(hey its old what did ya expect?)
256 mb RAM
18.6 GB memory- 3.97 GB used- 14.6 GB free

ok so what i think im trying to ask here is, what can i do/get to make this able to play freelancer well, that 1) costs under $380 US 2) consists of easily store-not internet order)purchasable parts and 3) can be installed by a person with limited computer know how(me)( i have done RAM before on my desktop, but that is all lol)

i want to get started on this by tomarrow so please respond quickly if you can, thank you


You can run, but run fast.... 1 shot is all I need.

[SGC]Jack

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 6:23 pm

Doesn't anyone have any idea about this

You can run, but run fast.... 1 shot is all I need.

H.Q. Victor

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 6:39 pm

Both ram and cards are different for Laptops. Only upgraded ram on a laptop once, no vid though. Sorry.

Zapp Brannigan

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 6:59 pm

Generally the only things that are user-replaceable on laptops are the RAM, battery and PCMCIA cards. If you're lucky you may have replaceable disk drives.

Processor - forget it. Usually integrated.

Video - On something that old, no chance. Again, integrated/shared.

I just tried playing GTA3 on my IBM A22m - it took so long to load and made it so hot I never even got into the game.

You're probably out of luck.

[SGC]Jack

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:01 pm

Ok thnx guys, ill just save up for a couple months and try and get a new laptop

Ok, so after your replies, i have given up on the idea of upgrading this laptop, so if i wanted a computer thats not too expensive, but can run games well, what should i go for, i have almost no technical knowledge lol, I am totally incapable of putting a computer together lol, i dont really care if my new computer is a desktop or a laptop, but i need one that runs games well, and is under $1000 US. This probably takes laptops out of the picture, any ideas?

You can run, but run fast.... 1 shot is all I need.


Edited by - Chips on 11/6/2004 9:04:21 AM

H.Q. Victor

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:31 pm

US wise, to get one under $1000, watch for a sale, as gaming laptops are more expensive, and have seperate vid cards. I will be after a reg one for writing in Tax Time, So you have my sympathys.

Also, go to Comp USA, Best Buys, ect to price out a few and get a general idea of costs. There is the option of having some one build one. Don't know the cost option there.

Edited by - Finalday on 11/5/2004 7:32:13 PM

ww2jacob

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:36 pm

Did it give you a thing that looked like this?

Your graphics card is under the capabilities of this program.
Do you want to continue?

Yes No


If it looked at all similar, just hit yes, and the game will load all the same. It does that on both my computers, and on one there is a change, and on the other, there isn't. The difference wasn't big, I just couldn't read some of the text boxs and inforcards. No problem with in-game graphics or cutscenes.

[SGC]Jack

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:41 pm

Yes that did happen, but once FL loaded up, this message came up:

"Windows does not detect a 3d capable video card." then some stuff about if you know you have one click help or something, but i know i dont have one, i have been trying to find the card model but i cant seem to locate it, isnt usually above RAM on system properties?

You can run, but run fast.... 1 shot is all I need.

opensourcelinux

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:42 pm

Freelancer should run on that laptop anyway. I found that it doesn't need much 3D acceleration at all - My primary Freelancer computer for awhile was a 700MHz Duron with a GeForce video card. No, I'm not being inspecific here, I mean THE GeForce. The original one. Just max out the RAM and turn all the video settings down. You should also set your display to 16-bit color for a few more FPS.

Edit: Ack. I didn't read that last post. Ok, forget everything I just said if it won't even run at all.

Edited by - opensourcelinux on 11/5/2004 7:43:51 PM

Indy11

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:46 pm

<Edit>

Never mind you know it won't work. You might get a good buy on a reconditioned Gateway from a model line that just ended. But it probably will be just at or a little of $1K. The newer laptops have more capable integrated gpus.

Hand builds can get pricey too. Since you aren't too savvy in this department, it'll cost you about as much to have someone do the hand build for you so this prolly isn't much of a cost saving option for you. Advantage to it is that you can dictate what video capability is installed.

Edited by - Indy11 on 11/5/2004 7:49:55 PM

ww2jacob

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:47 pm

Well, if it won't load up, then I can't help you.

[SGC]Jack

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:58 pm

Hmm, just wanted to thank you guys for helping out a guy with no computer skills at all lol. And now that i think about it a desktop may suit my needs better, ill kepp this laptop, cause it works well for word processing and internet stuff, etc, but what do u guys think i could get in the way of a desktop with good gaming capabilities in my price range?

You can run, but run fast.... 1 shot is all I need.

opensourcelinux

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 8:45 pm

I've been a strong hater of Dell for awhile, because they used sub-par parts such as Pentium 4s and nVidia video cards, but my parents just got a Dell Dimension 3000 as an billing/bookkeeping PC - they own a small business - and I'm surprised. The thing is bloody fast. It uses the first "efficient" processor EVER to be in a Dell computer, the Celeron D, which is FINALLY a mix between performance and price. Uh...hello, Intel, take some hints from AMD. I loaded up some games on it, even with integrated graphics, and they run superbly!

Basically, the Dell Dimension 3000 is a good buy. It's $400-500 depending on how you customize it. Remember, more RAM and a faster CPU is always better! In the future, some games might need more graphic horsepower, so you can get a PCI Radeon 9200 for pocket change (the Di. 3000 hasn't an AGP slot)

The one drawback is, shipping for a Dimension 3000 is one hundred clams.

(and you can tell, I'm just a little bit biased against Intel. )

Indy11

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 8:51 pm

For about $1000, probably a P4 3.2gig or Athlon 64 3400 with a midrange video card like a Radeon 9600 XT, 512MB of RAM, with a 17inch CRT monitor and a good sound card but with 2.1 speakers.

[SGC]Jack

Post Fri Nov 05, 2004 9:14 pm

I was looking at the alienware site and they have an Area 51 and anothther model just like it, except it uses an athlon processor instead of the pentium, that the area 51 has, after the $500 rebate these both come to $899, i found this hard to believe, but its right off their own site, so if i can get $500 together in the near future and convince my parents to pay the $500 that ill give back to them from the rebate i may have my next computer . Does anyone have anyhting negative to say about alienware, and not being an expert on this stuff, should i go for the pentium 4 or the AMD Athlon 64 3500+ ?(this is assuming i can get the money, if not i may go with that dimension from dell, although the shipping is a bummer, and i hear their customer support and service is rather bad as well)

You can run, but run fast.... 1 shot is all I need.

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