The Kestrel Minority

Hey all!
I was just wondering, I'm not very good with understand lots of these requirments for graphics/video cards and all that jazz, so I was wondering if anyone could give me a hand with it?
Okay so this is my system stuff...
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: SG3-130UK-m
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 215 Proccessor (2 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 3072MB RAM
Page file: 2159MB used, 3469MB avaliable
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Graphics: ATI Radeon 3000 Graphics

Sorry if I have given rubbish you don't need to know, don't have a clue what I need to tell you etc...
Ahaha! Thanks for any help guys!

This is the listed req from the SW:TOW website if that helps any


Processor:
•AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better
•Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz or better
Operating System: •Windows XP or later

RAM:
•Windows XP: 1.5GB RAM
•Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB RAM

Note: PCs using a built-in graphical chipset are recommended to have 2GB of RAM.

Star Wars: The Old Republic requires a video card that has a minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM as well as support for Shader 3.0 or better. Examples include:
•ATI X1800 or better
•nVidia 7800 or better
•Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better
DVD-ROM drive – 8x speed or better (required for installation from physical editions only) Internet connection required to play.

I would say yes you can.
If you have any worries try this Can you run it?
Go to the drop down and scroll about 75% down the list and you'll find Star Wars: The Old Republic. Then just click the 'Can you run it' button. It'll probably ask to install and run an active x thing; it's perfectly safe. After that it'll give you a report on if you can run it and what you might need to upgrade.

Hope that helps

Velorius wrote:I would say yes you can.
If you have any worries try this Can you run it?
Go to the drop down and scroll about 75% down the list and you'll find Star Wars: The Old Republic. Then just click the 'Can you run it' button. It'll probably ask to install and run an active x thing; it's perfectly safe. After that it'll give you a report on if you can run it and what you might need to upgrade.

Hope that helps

Thanks, I've had a look and it says I'm right at the top yet I was told on the SWTOR forums my graphics card was on the very edge of making it, so I would either not be able to run it or be on very low and with a high possibility of lag. So perhaps can any of you offer some cheap suggestions of graphics cards I could use that could run it on medium spec-ish, not bothered about super high, just want to be able to raid/play flash points easily!
Again, thanks for any help!!

Kensertim wrote:This is the listed req from the SW:TOW website if that helps any


Processor:
•AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better
•Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz or better
Operating System: •Windows XP or later

RAM:
•Windows XP: 1.5GB RAM
•Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB RAM

Note: PCs using a built-in graphical chipset are recommended to have 2GB of RAM.

Star Wars: The Old Republic requires a video card that has a minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM as well as support for Shader 3.0 or better. Examples include:
•ATI X1800 or better
•nVidia 7800 or better
•Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better
DVD-ROM drive – 8x speed or better (required for installation from physical editions only) Internet connection required to play.

Thanks, I'm just unsure about what half of that means, especially the graphics card stuff!

An ATI Radeon HD 4850 or 4870 is pretty good, and I guess affordable as well (seeing as it's about 3 years old)

I tried that test and my computer went off the charts. Apparently I could play 3 SWTORs at once!

Kaetha wrote:You shouldnt have any issues running it Dargon, my only piece of advice would be to get at least 1 more gig of ram as your using a 64bit OS it should improve things no end.

Thanks Kaetha, can I ask, how exactly can I get one GB of RAM extra? I always thought I would have to purchase a new computer to get more RAM? I can't imagine it being cheap either
Thanks for the help guys!

Dargon wrote:

Kaetha wrote:You shouldnt have any issues running it Dargon, my only piece of advice would be to get at least 1 more gig of ram as your using a 64bit OS it should improve things no end.

Thanks Kaetha, can I ask, how exactly can I get one GB of RAM extra? I always thought I would have to purchase a new computer to get more RAM? I can't imagine it being cheap either
Thanks for the help guys!

Because I am awesome I spent some time researching your pc. Just double check for me and see if thats right.

According to what I was able to dredge up your motherboard is using the 760g amd compliant chipset. (just like my old one) It's a good chipset only downside is it sucks for core unlocking, but you should have the ability to OC your cpu a little without any major system issues. (Disclaimer: You oc at your own risk and kaetha will not be held reposnsible for nuclear meltdown)
I reckon you could probably get your cpu running at 2.8-2.9 maybe even 3.0ghz. You might need better than a stock cooler though as it will increase core temps.

It also said your system is using DDR3, this is good news.
A single 4gb stick of DDR3 budget memory will set you back the grand total of £20! from ebuyer.
If you replace the 1gb stick that will take you up to 6gb of ram. It's not the fastest ram in the world but its not bad.

In regards to your graphics radeon 3000 is pretty standard stuff. I dislike radeon intensely from when I used to play wow when it first came out. My card couldnt render anything properly. So I tend to stick with nvidia. Saying that the 4xxx series aren't bad for entry level gaming and a friend of mine has a 4750 which runs very well on her system. And a 5450 only costs about £20-£30 these days. Make sure to get one with as fast a core clock as possible, this value outweighs the size of the memory buffer generally, theres no point having a huge pool of water if you can only fill it with a teacup right?
I would still generally advocate nvidia cards.
What you may find is people suggest you get an ATI card and crossfire it with the onboard graphics. While in theory this sounds like a great idea in practice it would be like welding a petrol lawnmower to the back of a Harley. It's only going to add weight.


You may now fetch me some tea.
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