Game runs slow on my PC. What else can I do?

[Mercenary42]

I did the following steps to try to speed up the game, but it is still running slow.

My initial configuration.

Dell Inspiron 5150
Windows XP SP2
3.0 GHrz processor
512 MB RAM
32 MB 3D graphics card – GeForce FX Go5200
DirectX 10
40GB 10GB free disk space
Broadband Connection - FIOS
Wireless card 11MB

My computer generally ran slow so I did the following….

Ran Quick Clean from McAfee (A good thing for all computers)
Ran Disk Defragmenter from Windows

I made the following hardware changes to my PC

2 GB RAM
64 MB 3D graphics card – ATI Radeon 9000
Broadband Connection - FIOS
Connect to the Hub 400MB


My computer is lighting fast with other apps, web browsing and so on, but I still am running slowly on POTC. Now if no other character is near my character, then I can run fine with a bit of a lag, once every 5 five seconds for 1 sec, but once two or more character are close by, I slow to a crawl.

My IMB Think Pad T61, running on the same hub lags on once every 10 to 20 seconds and the lag time is ½ second at worst.

Any ideas?

[Bilgepump]

Check the game options. Set the Memory Conservation to "Default". It's probably "Aggressive".

[Chris]

yea it might also be a vid card issue

[Mercenary42]

options. Set the Memory Conservation to "Default". It's probably "Aggressive".

Did that, no effect.

yea it might also be a vid card issue

I have had two different ones in my system, I believe they were both approved my Disney.

Upgrade Ram, I have 1 Gigabyte Ram. It really has almost no lag at all.

I upgraded to 2GB, still an issue.

[shadowypirate]

I see 2 things that would help.

1. Memory, you got 512mb. Your system is a 3.0 ghz, so will probably hold more. Memory is not too expensive at all.

2. Video memory. System requires 32mb, you got 32mb. Pop in a video card with more memory will help. You can get a 128mb video card at walmart for about $30-$40.

Always check the specs on your computer before buying new stuff, you may already have the maximum memory the system can hold, may not.

NVM, isee you already upgraded. Is there a certain time when it runs slow? Certain areas you enter or tasks you do? Are you on a quiet server? You may go to dslreports and run a speedtest on your connection to see if there's any slow downs there.

[Mercenary42]

Originally Posted by shadowypirate

I see 2 things that would help.

1. Memory, you got 512mb. Your system is a 3.0 ghz, so will probably hold more. Memory is not too expensive at all.

2. Video memory. System requires 32mb, you got 32mb. Pop in a video card with more memory will help. You can get a 128mb video card at walmart for about $30-$40.

Always check the specs on your computer before buying new stuff, you may already have the maximum memory the system can hold, may not.

NVM, isee you already upgraded. Is there a certain time when it runs slow? Certain areas you enter or tasks you do? Are you on a quiet server? You may go to dslreports and run a speedtest on your connection to see if there's any slow downs there.

I generally run slow when other players are on my screen.

[shadowypirate]

Have you upgraded your video card drivers?

[HaveAMagicalDay]

I'm having the same problems, and I get so laggy in like 1 and a half hours. I'm way above the requirements, and I'm still getting it. I've looked at what has been said here, and that hasn't seem to help me.

~Cpt.Sea

[shadowypirate]

If it gets bad after about that long, just reboot, i reboot about 2 or 3 hours after playing, to clear up the memory. Guess there's a memory not being cleared by potco.

[ChipJr3]

I am also experiencing these problems? When I first signed up for POTC in ran like a champ. I experienced no lags at all. Now it lags a lot, especially in areas where that are a lot if other people. It is also slow in displaing the buildings and other stuff. My wife's computer, which has less RAM but a little more power in the CPU runs well. I have thought about uninstalling and reinstalling to see if that helps.

[Chris]

yea i do that when playing for long periods of time i find it useful to do a compleat system re-boot in other words re-start your computer

[Eloricth]

Would you be more specific on exactly what kind of processor you have? 3GHz could be a LOT of different ones. An easy way to find out is to click on Start > Run, and then type in "dxdiag" without the quotes. A dialogue should pop up asking if you want the utility to scan your drives. Press "Yes," and it will bring up a new window listing a whole bunch of computer specs, including your processor type!

Also, a 64MB video card was powerful in 2000...By today's standards, it's pretty, well, substandard. I agree with a previous poster in recommending going up to at LEAST 128MB. I'm also guessing that it's either a PCI or AGP card, and that your motherboard does not support PCI-E cards, but without knowing your motherboard it's hard to say.

I've yet to crash *knock on wood*, and I've ran the game for hours upon hours at a time. Here are my specs:

OS: Vista Ultimate
CPU: AMD Athlon64x2 3800+ (2.5 GHz)
Video: nVidia 8800GTS 640
RAM: 2GB
Sound: Audigy2 7.1
HDD: 250GB SATA II

Good luck!

-Eloricth

[Jack Seawalker]

get more ram... 512 is the minimum needed and it is already being used partly to run the computer.

[Bloody Charlie]

Hello, I realize this may be old, but I have the same problem. I have 512 mb of Ram, and a Mobility Radeon 9000 on my laptop, but it goes really slow most of the time even on lowest settings. Should I upgrade my Ram or what? Thanks.

[Eloricth]

Originally Posted by Bloody Charlie

Hello, I realize this may be old, but I have the same problem. I have 512 mb of Ram, and a Mobility Radeon 9000 on my laptop, but it goes really slow most of the time even on lowest settings. Should I upgrade my Ram or what? Thanks.

Yes. I would recommend AT LEAST 1 gig of RAM for any current system, even a low-end machine.

-Elo