Are you tired of getting into your favorite on-line game, only to be soundly thrashed again? Do you wonder how much of your wound licking is due to tired hardware? There are many aspects that contribute to your computer’s performance. Let us take a trip into the depths of your machine and look at the aspects involved with multiplayer Internet games.

Processor:
This WILL determine a great deal of what your system is capable of. Getting a good combination of motherboard and processor will determine how fast all of the components can communicate with each other and how fast it can generate the huge piles of numbers that make things go. Most machines can be over clocked (configure the system to run faster than the processor was designed). However we do not recommended this because it will wear out components faster. It is also prone to errors caused by heat and the excess voltage needed to drive the chip at a higher value.

Symptoms of a slow processor are slow and sluggish performance in the overall system.

RAM:
This is the storage area that holds data for quick access for programs and your operating system. The more you have the more your programs can load
themselves from the hard drive into this area. This is much faster than continually asking the hard drive for information. Think about whether you can dial phone numbers faster if you don’t have to look up each one individually in a phone book.

We recommend different minimums for different operating systems—more about that in a sec.

Video:
This seems to be the latest craze. Bigger, better, faster... some are even using external power sources. The video quality capable of your card will never be reached if your processor is trudging through the program. We have seen lower end video cards on a very fast motherboard and processor still perform well at games. If you are concerned with the quality and speed of the graphics on your computer, you might need to check other aspects first. Also, we encourage you to play with different drivers. A lot of times, when a piece of hardware is released, the software that tells the operating system how to control it is not streamlined—it is just functional. A good example is the Nvidia chips where the first sets of drivers were slow and almost made the cards seem not worth buying. Then they wrote the drivers better and suddenly the cards performed up to 200% better.

Hard drive:
If you have an older drive, 10 gigabytes or less, it will be slower than the newer drives. Today’s IDE hard drives (the kind used in most Windows machines) use a wider communication channel, faster mechanics and built-in components that produce speeds previously enjoyed only by Mac users with SCSI drives. When considering a drive or any system upgrade, you may want to get an ATA100 controller. These new hard drive are designed to transfer data much faster than older (over 2 years) motherboards can support. A controller that supports the high-speed access capabilities of your drive will dramatically help the overall performance of the computer. Also, getting the newest drivers for your motherboard may help your current controller.

Internet connection:
Once you have all of the essentials as well tuned as you can get them for your computer, your next biggest performance impact is your connection to the Internet. If your game has a lot of detail, and a lot of people play at the same time, that can be a lot of information to keep track of for a slow connection. If you are not using a high-speed connection, get one. The ideal amount of time for data to be generated at your computer, reach the other computer and come back is between 20-120 milliseconds. This can be obtained with DSL or cable. For all “Always on” connections, we highly recommend a good software firewall like Norton’s firewall, or Zone Alarm from Zone Labs. (See last issue’s article about security at www.quidnunc.net/Whatnow/No32)

And last but not least, Operating systems:
The operating system you choose should depend on what hardware is installed in your computer. Having enough RAM for your operating system makes life lot more enjoyable. Windows 95 is old and can be made to work, but doesn’t handle games nearly as well as Windows 98 or Windows Me. For Windows 95 have at least 64 MB of RAM for good results. For Windows 98, anywhere between 64 and 128 MB is good. You will notice a significant performance jump from 64 to 128 MB. Windows 98 and Me have great performance streamlining but it isn’t as stable as the Windows NT type platforms, Windows2000 in particular. Windows 2000 loves RAM though so be prepared to install 256 MB or more. Unfortunately, many games will not play under Windows NT or 2000.

Happy gaming!

  Class Schedule

 Introduction to Computers & Windows 95/98 - Fee: $175
 Introduction to the Internet - Fee: $175

 Please call the store for schedule at (206) 932-8795.

4306 SW Oregon Street - Seattle, WA USA 98116
One block north of California Avenue SW and SW Alaska Street

Tel: 932-8795. Fax: 932-8183     quidnunc@quidnunc.net

Hours
Mon-Fri: 10-7
Saturday: 10-6
Sunday: 11-5