Can someone give me advice on running Trainz faster? (Specs in Sig)
- Thread starter nuni727
- Start date
Retro00064
New member
Hi all, Can someone give me advice on running Trains 2009 SP3 faster? Also, which is better? Direct X or Open GL? Specs in Sig. Thanks!
It is hard for me to know, when I wish I had your specifications!
I have only about 890 megabytes of RAM in my Dell computer (probably advertised by Dell as 1 gigabyte). :'( :n: Regards.
I'm running TS2009 on a five year old MacBook Pro.
The best thing I did was to switch to windowed mode. I average 30 to 40 FPS with what I have. Tidewater does suffer bad on my system. I never get above 8-12 FPS on it. That route has to be the worse running route for some reason.
No offense to the builders, it runs great in 2006, a dog in 2009. Other built ins fare way better than this though.
Try windowed mode, but don't expect to much from Tidewater. All other routes perform pretty decent in windowed.
Dave...
The best thing I did was to switch to windowed mode. I average 30 to 40 FPS with what I have. Tidewater does suffer bad on my system. I never get above 8-12 FPS on it. That route has to be the worse running route for some reason.
No offense to the builders, it runs great in 2006, a dog in 2009. Other built ins fare way better than this though.
Try windowed mode, but don't expect to much from Tidewater. All other routes perform pretty decent in windowed.
Dave...
Retro00064
New member
What irony, considering that I doi not remember having poor performance on the Tidewater Point Railroad! 
Regards.
Regards.
OverlordNZ
Grumpy Old Bastar*
Hi all, Can someone give me advice on running Trains 2009 SP3 faster? Also, which is better? Direct X or Open GL? Specs in Sig. Thanks!
Dell Inspiron 531 AMD Sempron Processor LE - 1300
2.31 GHz 1.93 GB of RAM
Single core processor? not a Celeron equivalent? (sorry,I'm Intel and don't know about AMD)
Dual/Quad proccessors really helps.
Need to know following..
OS (Win XP? 7? Vista? Yucky Mac?
)Video Card Make and Model
- Pentium IV 2.2GHz (or equivalent)
- 1GB RAM
- 64MB 3D Graphics Card (NVIDIA GeForce2 or equivalent)
- Windows XP Service Pack 2
- 1024x768 display resolution
hope this helps
any other question feel free to ask we here at the form aim to help others and understand there problems
OverlordNZ
Grumpy Old Bastar*
Vid Card a bit low for Trainz (Min Geforce 8 I believe). I would cut down view distance, turn off shadows. turn off fog.
Game Booster
Hi Nuni,
Hey, I have a pretty decent Dell with added ram,but there are times even
then it dont seem enough. Especially when I was running Microsofts "Combat
Flight Simulator III". Well through our great bunch of guys at our "SimOuthouse" forum, I found out about "Gamebooster". Been using it
now for over a year and it seems to help squeeze the extra "oomph" needed
for those "tricksey" little things like graphics and ram.
Dont know if this will help you,but its sure worth checking out!
See this link>> http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html
Hi Nuni,
Hey, I have a pretty decent Dell with added ram,but there are times even
then it dont seem enough. Especially when I was running Microsofts "Combat
Flight Simulator III". Well through our great bunch of guys at our "SimOuthouse" forum, I found out about "Gamebooster". Been using it
now for over a year and it seems to help squeeze the extra "oomph" needed
for those "tricksey" little things like graphics and ram.
Dont know if this will help you,but its sure worth checking out!
See this link>> http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html
Hi Nuni,
I think the biggest problem with your system is the AMD Sempron Processor LE, this is the equivalent of the Intel Celeron and Trainz is very dependant on the processor.
Looking at the specs of the Dell 531 the graphics card is also integrated in the motherboard and shares the system memory which can also slow you down.
Looking around on the web I have found you can upgrade your processor to an AMD Athlon 64 X2, but you need to stay away from 125w models as they overheat easily in the 531.
You can also upgrade your graphics card as you do have a PCI-E upgrade slot so this would free up the memory that the graphics card is currently using. Also, to add to that, some more system memory wouldn't hurt, your system can take up to 8gb memory.
Here is a link to were I found the information - http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19341826.aspx
Hope this helps,
Nathan
I think the biggest problem with your system is the AMD Sempron Processor LE, this is the equivalent of the Intel Celeron and Trainz is very dependant on the processor.
Looking at the specs of the Dell 531 the graphics card is also integrated in the motherboard and shares the system memory which can also slow you down.
Looking around on the web I have found you can upgrade your processor to an AMD Athlon 64 X2, but you need to stay away from 125w models as they overheat easily in the 531.
You can also upgrade your graphics card as you do have a PCI-E upgrade slot so this would free up the memory that the graphics card is currently using. Also, to add to that, some more system memory wouldn't hurt, your system can take up to 8gb memory.
Here is a link to were I found the information - http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19341826.aspx
Hope this helps,
Nathan
I fyou plan on updating your Dell, remember to upgrade your power supply. Dell like HP seem to chince out on the power supply and give put in the machines a power supply that always is just at the minimum ratings!
Let's face it, they make these systems in Asia for about $100 or less, and sell them for $550! With this in mind, you know as well as I that they're not going to spend anymore on the system than they have too, to get the system operational. Overall these systes are great for browsing the web or running office, but not for high-end gaming. For this latter aspect of computing, either build a decent system yourself, or visit your local white box builder.
John
Let's face it, they make these systems in Asia for about $100 or less, and sell them for $550! With this in mind, you know as well as I that they're not going to spend anymore on the system than they have too, to get the system operational. Overall these systes are great for browsing the web or running office, but not for high-end gaming. For this latter aspect of computing, either build a decent system yourself, or visit your local white box builder.
John
Retro00064
New member
Thanks, Tom!
That is great and very helpful information, especially since I am planning to upgrade the memory in my Dell laptop in the (hopefully near) future.
I use Windows Vista Home Basic 32-bit. Just a question: Does more memory require a more powerful power supply, or could I just go all the way to 4 gigabytes if I wanted to, without changing any thing else?
Thanks and regards.
Actually, this depends on the version of windows you are running, Windows XP 640bit allows 128GB. Windows Vista and 7 are dependant on the version you are running -
Windows 7 Ultimate 192 GB
Windows 7 Enterprise 192 GB
Windows 7 Professional 192 GB
Windows 7 Home Premium 16 GB
Windows 7 Home Basic 8 GB
Nathan
Wessex_Electric_Nutter
Active member
They won't have much choice as by the looks of it, he'll need a low profile graphics card (half height or whaever you call them), So, that leaves them with a cheapy Geforce 210 model (which I use in my optiplex GX280 and running 2010 on it. Thats the one I used to demostrate at Warley and it did very well in doing it.), ATi Radeon 4870 (Asus model), nVidia Geforce 9600GT by one manufacturer, but I don't think they are sold any more and one manufacture Geforce 420GT IIRC.
My suggestion is fling in another stick of ram (1GB or 2GB, depending on how many slots), a half decent graphics card and leave it at that. If you want to, ebay an old Althon 64x2, but check the socket is compatible first.
If your budget is better, go and build a system by reusing some of your old components (hard drive, DVD drive, etc).
Retro00064
New member
You might have to have shelves the size of the first computers, just to hold all of that memory.
Regards.
Thanks, Tom!
That is great and very helpful information, especially since I am planning to upgrade the memory in my Dell laptop in the (hopefully near) future.
Just a question: Does more memory require a more powerful power supply, or could I just go all the way to 4 gigabytes if I wanted to, without changing any thing else?
Thanks and regards.
If you have a 300W (or more) PS, it should handle 4 GB of RAM with ease. Remember though, it is 1 GB per slot max so you would need 4 slots. I just went through this with my 2 slot system. I was thinking that I could install a 2GB stick in one of the slots for a total of 3 GB. Found out it doesn't work that way (not with XP anyway). It is those power hungry multi GB video cards that toast your PS.
tomurban
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