UT3 runs slow but still within playing distance on lowest settings.(at least for me,you'd probably label it unplayable right off the bat)

My rig sucks,I always get the cheapest machine I can find then load it with games,any suggestion for making it run faster?(besides hardware,I'm cheap damnit)

Can't say much, figure out how much your willing to spend to either upgrade or buy a completely new computer. Then either buy off some site like Dell (Hell really) or use sites like TigerDirect or NewEgg and buy the stuff and make it yourself.

No config tweaks are going to fix that flaw.
You get what you pay for. Buy something worthwhile and the framerates will skyrocket.

In general, you can get a gaming rig that can handle UT3 on medium setting just fine for $400. I figure I could dig up a rig that would cost:

PSU: $40
Case: $50
CPU: $110
GPU: $110
Mobo: $80
Pizza to eat on the day/night of build: $10 (to make it an even $400).

You'll have to post your specs for us to make any real suggestions.

In general, you could lighten the load on your CPU by ending any processes you don't need, such as IM client, quick launchers, and such. Also, try giving your UT3 game a higher priority, which can be done by right-clicking on it in the Windows task manager under the "Processes" tab. Aside from that, there's no substitute for good hardware (which leads me back to my hardware developer and game developer conspiracy theory).

People have reported that closing explorer.exe while playing games does some good if RAM is an issue.

Specs?-crap
Cash flow?-crap(And I mean it,no new PC hardware for me any time soon)
So basically... crap

Saying specs are crap communicates nothing. SO, your system has a Pentium 2 CPU, 32 MB of DDR RAM?

Look the point is I CANNOT get anything that costs money at the moment(or anytime soon for that matter),so suggesting new hardware is going to be not much help.(unless I get REALLY lucky)

AMD athlon 64 Processor 3800+ 2.40 GHz

893MB RAM(as it says anyway,probably wrong type of RAM)

GeForce 6150 nForce 430

I'm not very good at posting my specs...

That video accelerator of yours is a piece of shit. Upgrade or you are screwed.

My graphics card?The AMD? Whata you talkin bout?

The Geforce 6150 is not a graphics card, it is an onboard video accelerator.

the AMD is the processor

Well if I'm ever to get a upgrade on this comp.It might be good to see how far I can push it.
If I get lucky and somehow manage to score the highest end graphics card to date would my computer be able to keep up with it?How much heat are we looking at?(worst logical case)

ShadowDump, I can see no way your current hardware can take on UT3. Now, I cannot tell you what minumum graphics card would be able to handle UT3, but it seems that your current video processor is not sufficient. I think you will have to upgrade your graphics card. let's break it down.

RAM: At least 512MB. You're good there.
CPU: 2.0GHz, single core. You have a single core at 2.4GHz, so you're good there.
Graphics card: nVIdia 6200 or better. Or, ATI Radeon 9600 or better.
Darn. The video card is what is holding you back the most. Upgrade your video card and you should be able to run UT3 (on lowest settings at maybe medium/low resolution). Does your computer have a PCI express X16 slot, an AGP slot, or neither. If you have neither, then we're starting to talk some big money before you can even upgrade your video card. Top of my head guess: $70 for a new motherboard and $50 for a new video card. Yes, I recognize your little money situation, but I cannot think of any way to get UT3 running any better until you upgrade your video card.


Bjossi, you kinda lost me about this whole onboard video accelerator. You're talking about ShadowDump's integrated video chip that has been soldered directly onto the motherboard, as opposed to a seperate video card that plugs in via PCI E X16 or AGP, right?

I have PCI express available.

Wait,did you say $50 for a video card???
Hot damn,if so I had no idea that was the case.
Sorry if I was out of the loop.

Yes.

You have PCI express, but not PCI express X16? There is an important difference.

If you have PCI express x16, then a good place to start is HERE. Also, look at the charts at www.tomshardware.com to see how performance stacks up against price. After maybe 2 minutes of looking, I would say that something like THIS might make a good starting point, but I only spent a minute looking.

How can I tell what I have without cracking open the case?

EDIT:just did something very funny to find out what I have,I looked through the fan port and saw that I have a PCI express 16x!(I think,it certainly is long enough)

Sweeet.

Without a comparison it is impossible to tell.

I have a old x8 long in my last computer,the shell is open so you can see it plainly,plus I googled the sizes.

well, I can play UT3 here(Nvidia 6150, 2GB RAM), but I have to play with all in the minimum.
but i played perfectly in Biohazard(the map)
I even won my brother in a match!(off-topic*2 headshots!)

Those can be categorized as comparables.