Woe is me! First game I can't play!

Gwalchmai · Post by **Gwalchmai** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 12:26 pm

It finally happened. I found a game my PC won't play. KotOR.

Here is my system.

The game crashes on start up. Apparently, it doesn't like my RAM and would prefer a better graphics card. I doubt I would want to upgrade the graphics card anytime soon (unless I'm buying a whole new computer which won't be for a couple of years yet), but I would be happy to upgrade the RAM. Will an idiot like me be able to do this? Was my original SDRAM choice a good idea? They haven’t done away with it in the last year or so, have they? I haven't cracked open a computer in about 3 or 4 years, and I assume everything is different now....

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 1:41 pm

RAM is easy to change, no sweat.
Just make sure to place them in the right position, then they aren't much harder then your average plug-in card.
Most things in a computer can only be placed in one position, unless you apply exessive force. Of couse, for the inexperienced, it is hard to know when you are using exessive force, because some things need to be pushed hard to get into position

But changing such things is rather easy, it is just about being nervous, wich we all were the first couple of times we had our fingers inside a computer (now on the other hand - I'm almost careless when I mess around inside computers

)

But before upgrading anything - make absolutly sure you have some of the latest drivers installed.
I had major problems running KotOR, because of the new Direct X wich didn't like my graphics driver much, but it worked after upgrading drivers.

Gwalchmai · Post by **Gwalchmai** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 3:12 pm

Originally posted by Xandax
But before upgrading anything - make absolutly sure you have some of the latest drivers installed.
I had major problems running KotOR, because of the new Direct X wich didn't like my graphics driver much, but it worked after upgrading drivers.

Good advice that. I'll upgrade the drivers first thing! Thanks.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 6:25 pm

I hate to say it, but you may find your graphics card may not be up to the challenge. I've just replaced my GF4 Ti4200 with a Radeon 9800XT because KotOR was running too slowly. Well, not too slow to be unplayable, but it was a good excuse to get a new toy

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 10:52 pm

Like our friend Mr Flibble, I have a GeForce4 Ti 4200 and KOTOR had a few spots where it lagged, nothing serious, but noticable.

If you still only have 256 MB of RAM, you should get more regardless of whether RAM is the root source of your issue or not; either buy it from Dell or go to a website like Crucial and get at least 512 MB more. Check with Dell to see how much your computer will support.

You might try updating your video drivers at support.dell.com and dialing back some of your video settings, and if that makes a difference, it's probably your card. You can try overclocking your card or just replace it (assuming that it's not integrated on the motherboard).

Gwalchmai · Post by **Gwalchmai** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 9:57 am

Okay, I updated my Nvidia drivers and turned off the virus program (to open up a little more RAM), and was able to run KotOR! I only got as far as the cantina, so I haven't hit any major graphic-heavy battles yet, but I didn't see any lag. I have the graphics dialed down, though. I still hope to upgrade my RAM pretty soon.

Thanks for the help! I'll let you know when I start seeing lag.