Attila Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 Although my computer is not yet able to run it, I finally ordered Lock On - Air Combat Simulation. At £9.99 at gameplay.co.uk it was just a question of showing my support. For years, and still, my relatively weak computer has been "annoyingly adequate" for my professional work and the little gaming I do. Now, to run Lock On at all, I need a new graphics card to replace the aging TNT2 card I currently use. Problem is, my computer was built for silence, hence I want a card with no fan, able to run safely in a not-too-well ventilated, noise-isolated case. So far I've looked at Radeon 9600/9600 SE based cards. Any advice? Greetings to the developers, beta testers and especially the old Flanker Focus Group gang. Hope you are well and kudos for your hard work and impressive results.
SwingKid Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 Welcome Attila! I was wondering when you were finally going to show up. Words cannot express. :D (For others: Together with Ross MacGregor, Attila was one of my programming tutors and I am indebted to him, pretty much for life.) -SK
olaleier Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 Don't look at 9600 stuff, buy something new if you can afford it. Gigabyte has released a fanless X800, check it out here: http://www.pcstats.com/releaseview.cfm?ReleaseID=1192 Remember you need a mobo/CPU and RAM to keep up with it. :)
leafer Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 I know how you feel, man! Had a comp that could run LOMAC on medium setting, but left it with my sister in the U.S. The one I'm using now has Celeron 2.0GHz, 512 RAM and FX 5200 card and LOMAC stutters even on low! Worst, when I'm using MS word, sometimes the words don't show up right away after keyboard input! LOL!!! Sigh. ED have been taking my money since 1995. :P
Attila Posted January 21, 2005 Author Posted January 21, 2005 Thanks for the welcome and advice! I think the X800 is a little beyond my budget right now. To keep it cool it probably requires more ventilation than my case provides. Maybe at the next major upgrade. For now I think I'll go for a cheap 9600, or even 9200, and another 256MB RAM. When it stutters, I'll just try to remember I'm not alone... :-) (SwingKid, great to see you're still active in the sim community and programming. If I had more time, I'd love to have a closer look at what you and Ross are doing with your DC programs. Also, there's interesting progress over at the CSP project, where I lurk from time to time.)
Alfa Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 Hi Attila, Good to see that you around again! :D Cheers, - JJ. JJ
Attila Posted January 27, 2005 Author Posted January 27, 2005 Thanks Alfa, cool to see you're a beta-tester now! Well, I ended up ordering a DabsValue (PowerColor) 9550 128MB. The card is based on a Radeon 9550 (an underclocked 9600 chip), is fanless and hopefully cool enough to run in my current case. While not among the fastest cards today, it supports DX9, so I should at least be able to crank up everything for nice screenshots... :-)
bflagg Posted January 27, 2005 Posted January 27, 2005 Attila, I know I don't have to tell you, but I found the water and sky fixes by Hawg11 really improved my FPS in the game. They are around, but also at my site if you care to grab 'em.. http://lockon.theflaggs.com My Specs Thanks, Brett
Attila Posted January 27, 2005 Author Posted January 27, 2005 Thanks for the tip, bflagg! Neat site by the way. I liked your screenshot gallery --- very nice! I look forward to finally experience Lock On myself. My computer upgrade should arrive next week, hopefully.
SwingKid Posted January 27, 2005 Posted January 27, 2005 What do you mean, "arrive"? Do people order computers by mail now? It's been a long time since I upgraded. -SK
Attila Posted January 27, 2005 Author Posted January 27, 2005 Well, personally I've used direct and online ordering for years and years. Research the required items and reviews on the net, put in an order and have it delivered on your doorstep --- cheap and painless. For this upgrade I ordered the parts I needed (graphics card, joystick, RAM) from Dabs.com online. Unfortunately not every item was in stock so I'll have to wait a little.
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