UT2k4, im in awe

[Nuttzy]

well i do realize the game has been out for awhile, but it is new to me,

i got it home and to my surprise it had 6 cds and took a whopping 5 gb of hd space, (and i thought diablo 2 needed alot, its only a gig) after the lengthy installation process, i finally got to play it, the game is the BEST FPS deathmatch style game i have ever played, (singleplayer belongs to halo though)

now for this threads second purpose, (the first one would be considered spam without this one) now, my computer runs this 50x better than i thought it would, as ut2k3 was hardly playable, but still there are things that i wish could run better, i run the main game at about 30 fps fairly consistentin standard deathmatch modes, (depending on how many things are on scren it can get very very choppy, so you can imagine onslaught mode)

heres my pcs's specs,

2 ghz processor, 256 ddr ram, (i got 4 gb set aside for vram as well if that matters) 64 mb ddr ram nvidia geforce 4, (dunno the exact name),

out of which one of those should i upgrade to get the most bang for my buck in ut2k4,

i do realize my videocard is crap, but at the time, for a pci mobo there was nothing better at best buy, (i dont have an agp slot so that rules out ati or any high end video card) if you know ANY good pci video cards lemme know

 

[[SAS]Orion]

Yes ut2k4 does pwn
Try this:
in the options set preload player skins (or something like that) to off
in your ut2k4.ini, find this line:

[Engine.GameEngine]
CacheSizeMegs=256

change CacheSizeMegs to whatever half your ram is, in your case 128

Ut2k4 does run better because Epic tweaked the ut2k3 engine for it, and thus it handles larger areas better.

And well done for playing Ut2k4, it truly rocks - make sure you get the community bonus pack volume 1 and 2! - http://www.planetunreal.com/cbp/maps.htm

I'd upgrade your ram to at least 512.
That should help boost performance a bit.

 

[The Cheese]

Yeah, this game runs real well with the settings set to normal on my older PC with a Geforce 3 Ti 500.

For your second question, get either memory or a new video card, i'm guessing you have a Geforce 4 440.

 

[Texas]

Yes its the GF4 440 MX.
Definately put 512 ram, although putting 1024 isnt that expensive now. Also, oyu can get a decent video card with 100-150 euro's can make you rub your eyes with ut2k4. I got 512 with 9600SE and SCT runs perfectly on 1024x768.

 

[Nuttzy]

but will that card be pci or agp, im limited to that cuz im too dumb to switch out a motherboard,

 

[Hsu]

If you are running a p4 2.0 it will have an agp slot. If you really are computer retarded then you might just want to take it in to a computer tech and get them to install it. It might cost more but it would be worth it if you really mess something up.

As for your computer, I would suggest a ati 9600xt and they are a pretty good card and pretty cheap aswell since the next gen line of cards are coming out soon. As for ram getting it up to 512 might only give you another 5 fps. The game will load faster but more ram does not give you the bang that a new video card would.

 

[Nuttzy]

im pretty sure its a pci slot, cuz thats what i had to buy to go into it to replace the factory card that it shipped with,

unless my mobo has a pci AND an agp slot that i didnt know about im stuck with pci,

 

[Hsu]

PCI slots are usually brown and the agp slot will be white... Look inside and tell me if you see a white or cream colours slot because that will be your agp slot. It is usually on the top of all the other slots. Most computers come with one agp slot and 3-5 pci slots.

 

[[SAS]Orion]

Hsu, it's the other way round in the Uk where I am - pci slots are white and agp slots are brown.

 

[Hsu]

Hsu, it's the other way round in the Uk where I am - pci slots are white and agp slots are brown.

LOL I messed up. I was looking at a REALLY old computer I have that is like the way i said earlier but most new ones are the other way around. PCI slots are white and the agp is brown. If you look at this picture you will see. http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/motherboards/shuttle/av30/IMAGE006.jpg
The apg slot is the one near the middle of the board that is off set from the rest. (the one with the CE above it)

 

[Nuttzy]

nah no agp slot, just opened er up and had a look, unless im seeing things i have 3 pci slots and nothing else, and i barely have enough room for any more ram >_< , well it is an emachines computer they arent exactly built for gaming or so my uncle (who works at ibm) tells me,

i worry about getting a new motherboard though cuz im not hardware smart when it comes to computers, and it may not fit the case of my current pc, i wouldnt know how to install it,

 

[The Cheese]

Ohhh E-Machine, sorry to hear that man. Couldn't you get your uncle to help ya out?

 

[Nuttzy]

hes said time and time again, "if you ever need a computer i can usually get you one for really cheap" but he never makes that kinda offer when i need it >_<

 

[Tassadar]

nuttz I was playing UT2k4 a while before I upgraded my RAM, before that it could take up to ten minutes to get the game running at full performance because Windows was trying to cram all of UT2k4s goodness on a little 256 stick. Anyway, once I upped to 512, I could plainly see a performance difference, and it loaded much faster because it didn't have to manage memory nearly as much.

Best thing I would suggest you do is up the RAM, then if your not happy you could go with upping the video card. UT2k4 is pretty damn flexible, if you compare it to other games like Halo or FarCry.

If the mobo you have now dosn't have an AGP then your board is most likely Micro-ATX, make sure you get that kind of board and that it supports your current processor and DDR Ram. I had a Geforce 4 MX 420 PCI back in the day and it wasn't a bad card for its time. The best PCI card you can get now is the Geforce FX 5200, you wouldn't see a MAJOR boost in performance with that as you would upgrading to AGP.

 

[Arthos]

I've seen alot on this. I'll need to get it on my New Rig that I'm going to build as a reward for getting a job.

Right now, the machine my father and I share(Both Fully Savvy Gamers,) simply doesn't have the space on the HD. Most of the data is irreplacable.....SO I'm gonna wait. But I have heard good things.

 

[SaiyanPrideXIX]

I have a friend who's been deeply unto UT since the beginning and he actually stopped playing at 2k4. Stupid reasons, though--he doesn't like more crowded games. He's always been a 1v1 player.

I, on the other hand, love crowded chaotic warfare. I'm just waiting to buy it....

 

[Nuttzy]

i hate crowded combat, cuz its skippy, specially in onslaught mode, butfor regular gameplay modes it ususally runs it just fine,

trust me you wont be dissappointed in anything this game offers, its perfect on so many levels, (plus the ragdoll effects make dying fun)

 

[SaiyanPrideXIX]

I have a pretty jacked machine. The demo was a little choppy but not so much so that I couldn't enjoy onslaught or assault matches. Did you play the demo first then the full one, cause I heard they've patched it and it might work better for me than the demo did.

 

[Final Vegeta]

I play everything @ max and its @ 60 fps you gotta love those ati 9700

(max is 1600*1200 the rest @ highest)

But yeah its a great game i like the onslaught alot aswell and the 1v1 CTF maps @ instagib O_O

edit: BTW Nutz, if i can give you one tip for your next graph card get an Ati ,ok they are not cheap but worth every little penny and beats a Gforce arse big time!

(not to start a discussion but overral Ati has a much higher preformance rate then a Gforce.)

Especially if you want to overclock em with RagePro or etc.

 

[Smith|]

I wouldn't say a "much higher performance rate," but they are a little faster and a little slower in some cases.

and it's not called ragePro, it's called Rage3d >.