Game running okay-ish on old laptop

[Eachna]

I sent my main gaming laptop off for repairs and decided to try PG on my backup laptop on the lowest settings.

My backup laptop is about 5 years old, has 4 gigs ram, runs linux (Ubuntu), has a quad core CPU (Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM CPU @ 2.30GHz) and has hybrid Intel graphics with a Nvidia 610M discrete card. It's not really a gaming laptop, I usually use it for web browsing and for 2D games.

Even after loading an area there's a bit of stuttering/hitching but that clears up within a minute or two. When the system is idle it uses ~ 800 megs of ram. With PG loaded and idle in Eltibule it uses ~ 2 1/2 gigs of ram. That's pretty good for a 3D game that hasn't been optimized yet.

[srand]

This is a good data point to have - thank you.

I'd also be very interested in the performance with your setup after you've been in Serbule for a while during your prime time. (That's the best place to load tons of player armor, which is some of the heaviest stuff in the aggregate right now.) We could also compare it to performance after the coming Serbule polish update and see how bad the change may be on a system like this.

[Crissa]

That's when I tend to have the spinny-around problem, where my character walks past the point I'd targeted.

The thing that gets me is that when it's doing that... It's not like leaving Serbule really helps. It'll happen anywhere, even in dungeons.

(I'm the one who runs a 1.7Ghz i7 dual with integrated Intel graphics)

[Eachna]

This is a good data point to have - thank you.

I'd also be very interested in the performance with your setup after you've been in Serbule for a while during your prime time. (That's the best place to load tons of player armor, which is some of the heaviest stuff in the aggregate right now.) We could also compare it to performance after the coming Serbule polish update and see how bad the change may be on a system like this.

I tried PG on this computer around Christmas and it was pretty brutal so I think maybe the recent memory fixes that were described as most useful for low-end systems worked as intended .

It runs very well in Serbule and Eltibule after about a minute or two. It takes more time than the hourglass (loading delay hourglass), but not much. Maybe 20-30 seconds after the hourglass disappears everything runs smoothly. I'm in Australia and play during low load hours. The last few times I connected 20-30 people were listeed in chat.

When loading up in the first zone (where-ever I disconned) no swap space is used. Every zone change uses some swap. The first is the largest (about 300 megs). The later ones are smaller (about 50-100 megs each).

I turned on the FPS counter and it's around 18-20 on average near the Serbule well with 5 people nearby. When running around alone it's around 30 FPS (it can get to 40 or drop down to 27/28). This surprised me as I was guessing it was higher. Still, movement is reasonably fluid in solo combat or with one other person in combat near me (usually all I see). During the daily system maintenance the FPS went up into the 50's.

I checked system temps before and after loading PG. When the system is at complete rest CPU cores are at 57C. With PG running they jump to 81-85C. My sensor readout advises me 87C is "high" and anything over 105C is "crit". The fans are running audibly but not blasting when PG is open (so I'd say mid speed?).

I had it set to stock lowest/minimal settings but I increased the meters on the "real" trees (instead of the billboards) displaying because the default made me queasy from all the pop-ins. I also turned off the grass for ground visibility. Everything still seems to be running well.

I went to Kur and it pretty much overloaded my computer (lots of stuttering and lagging). I would walk into an area that had been empty and polar bears would teleport in and attack me before I could react. My guess is that it was the snow storms (there was a blizzard up). FPS was down around 8-10. Maybe an option to turn off weather in lower graphics settings would be useful?

Illimari and Rahu are both good like the 'Bules. I've never visited Gazluk.

After about 2-3 hours of play the game will eventually hang on my next zone change. If I stay in the same zone it's fine (I've played 8 hours in the same zone). Closing the client completely and loading it again fixes the zone hang.

I'd be glad to post again after the Serbule update.

edit: My cpu is: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM CPU @ 2.30GHz

[Silvonis]

Just as a general information post, we will have minimum specifications for Project: Gorgon and playing on systems below that threshold will likely result in either not being able to play or a less than optimal playing experience. We will post that information in the future.

[Eachna]

(I'm the one who runs a 1.7Ghz i7 dual with integrated Intel graphics)

@Crissa You have a dual core processor with an integrated GPU and you're able to run the game? You're not using a hybrid card? (Intel + Nvidia or Intel + AMD)? How much memory do you have?

Did you have to do anything special? I have one other laptop (my backup of my backup ) and it has a quad-core CPU, integrated Intel GPU, and 4 gigs of RAM and I tried once but the game hung really early (maybe even when I entered my username/password and before I chose my character).

The same computer runs the DDO client. Now I'm wondering how low we can go and still run PG.

[Crissa]

No, I don't do anything special. Well, my Air has 8G of memory and the Intel HD 5000 seems to have a a G and a half assigned to it. The game uses 2G of memory in Serb, and I generally have textures down and grass off since that does cause frame lag. Also, the Air is an SSD, albeit not a very fast one, it's still not going to have drive lag.

I've been able to play WoW and GW2, though the former my sight-distance is severely limited now a days to the point that it wasn't fun to play anymore. But the latter ran fine, and was still a little prettier than I can get PG, but they have a huge crew doing optimizations.

When I player Stellaris on it, there's a funny effect: The UI gets laggy, but the galaxy continues to chug along at the same pace. Which means alerts come kinda late if there's a busy universe ^-^

But PG runs fine on it, and the graphics tweaks of late have meant it's run even better. I know my lappy is low spec, but because of the processor and fast memory it generally can do it. Most games use the multi-core poorly; so flat out throughput speed is what is needed, and an Air averages alright for that.

PS, my framerate is usually in the 20s.

PPS, if your processor is spiking to 80C, you should do something to make the fans more aggressive.

[Eachna]

I decided to break out my backup of my backup laptop and check all the specs in Conky. The specs were even crappier than I expected. .

This is the computer I use for web browsing when my better computers are off for repairs or I've been "experimenting" and I need to find a fix online.

Specs:

4 gigs RAM
CPU: Dual Core i5-2450m 2.50Ghz
GPU: Intel HD 3000
HD: 750 gig 5400 rpm.

It runs Ubuntu linux.

No, I don't do anything special. Well, my Air has 8G of memory and the Intel HD 5000 seems to have a a G and a half assigned to it. The game uses 2G of memory in Serb, and I generally have textures down and grass off since that does cause frame lag. Also, the Air is an SSD, albeit not a very fast one, it's still not going to have drive lag.

But PG runs fine on it, and the graphics tweaks of late have meant it's run even better. I know my lappy is low spec, but because of the processor and fast memory it generally can do it. Most games use the multi-core poorly; so flat out throughput speed is what is needed, and an Air averages alright for that.

PS, my framerate is usually in the 20s.

Compared to my hybrid laptop mentioned earlier in the thread this one runs slower but it's still acceptable. The area loading is *much* slower than the hybrid. It hangs on a blue window for about a minute when I zone. The hourglass is slower to disappear and there's about 30 seconds of lag even after it goes away.

I tend to get the mid-20's for FPS. Kur is laggy for me, but not as laggy as on the hybrid (leading me to suspect an issue on that system). I was able to run from the entrance to the Wolf Cave and reach the crafting NPC inside. I couldn't do that on my hybrid system.

RAM usage is about the same as on my hybrid system.

Also, while I tend to get framerates in the mid 20's, it will drop down to around 8-10 FPS fairly often (every couple of minutes). This happens even when standing still.

It's playable but I personally wouldn't want to play all the time if this were my main computer. The framerates in the single digits are outside my personal comfort zone. In a situation where I was on a business trip or my main computer was in the shop, this would be fine.

[Eachna]

We could also compare it to performance after the coming Serbule polish update and see how bad the change may be on a system like this.

We could also compare it to performance after the coming Serbule polish update and see how bad the change may be on a system like this.

tl;dr - game crashed after 2 mins in Serbule.

Longer - I decided to download the update and try it. I saw on the forums that other linux users and Mac users had issues with crashing so I was prepared.

I was on the hybrid system spec'ed above.

Game loaded VERY VERY slowly. I could hear the fire crackling in the tavern and I was worried it wouldn't load at all (maybe 5 mins total to load fully after character select).

I was able to run from the tavern to the garden and back towards the tavern and then it crashed. I think I crashed near the fountain on the return trip.

The textures looked awful on lowest setting (not really surprised - they looked like they had a lot more detail). It had this weird rainbowed "oily sheen" or "soap bubble" effect on buildings (which I think was light or reflections not reflecting properly).

It was nice to see the custom work on the buildings before the crash.

I'll hold off trying again until I see on the forums that the Mac client is working properly. I doubt there's much hope for the linux client build to work before the Mac client.

Edit: RAM usage was similar to before the update. swap went over a gig right away. FPS was down around 10-15.

[Crissa]

It works fine in non-serbule, although I didn't try for more than a few minutes. Without my main, I really have other things I could be doing ^-^;