Profile: AgtSmith
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• • General: E3: Introduction To DC Universe Online

  • Originally posted by Hexxeity
    

    As a big superhero fan, I'm a little surprised at my utter lack of interest in this project.

    Maybe it's the console aspect, or maybe it's the involvement of SOE.  Maybe because I prefer Marvel (though I certainly don't dislike DC).

    Probably a combination of all the above.

     

    Console means dumbed down fake MMO - period, end of story.  Add in SoE and it is easy to see why nobody cares.

  • Posted: 7/18/08 3:25 PM
    General Discussion
• • The game is better, the community is still somewhat questionable...

  • Yesterday I got with a good group and had a blast so we will see how it unfolds.  I think it may come down to a bit of what happend here a couple posts ago where some of the old players are just a bit touchy, understandably, when it comes to the game.  Keeping that in mind maybe things will look a little less harsh as I think I can understand some of the vets being a bit defensive.

  • Posted: 7/17/08 1:57 PM
    Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
• • helpfest

  • Just as your computer has a volume of bandwidth to get information from the internet the CPU<-->North Bridge (Chipset)<-->RAM has bandwidth it is utilizing to share information during processing.  The more bandwidth and the faster the memory frequency coupled with the CPU FSB (front side bus) and the more bandwidth the greater the 'performance'.
    
    In simple terms, not necessarily technically representative ones think of a kid taking a math test.  The kids brain/knowledge represents the CPU.  While he is making his tabulation often times it is more information he can hold in his head while calculating the final answer so he uses scratch paper.  That scratch paper is representative of the RAM.  Having a tiny piece of scratch paper doesn't make him smarter or faster or more accurate even as it forces him to transfer information back and forth more often or maybe makes it slower to retrieve stuff as the small scratch paper is crowded and cluttered.  Increasing the amount of scratch paper he has to work with makes the task easier and let's him achieve his potential more easily, more efficiently.

    That is how RAM, specifically more RAM, helps a computer system.  In considering the RAMs speed you might think of being a faster writer and timings might represent how fast the kid can get info from his scratch paper.  It is an imperfect example but it does represent the manner in which RAM works in a system if not the precise operation.  Faster speed (DDR 400, etc) means the memory chips themselves (the black squares on the module) are faster at reads and writes while timings represent the internal delay in the chips between receiving an instruction to do something and actually doing it.  The bandwidth is just the volume of info that can go back and forth from RAM to CPU (through the north bridge of the chipset, think nForce XXX and the like).  SDR RAM (like PC100 and PC133, Single Data Rate) had one 64 bit communication channel for the CPU to get and give info from/to the RAM - DDR (Double Data rate) memory has dual 64 bit channels of communication.  In SDR info travels on the peaks of clock cycles (think of a signal wave and that is what the clock speed is - like a 3.2 GHz chip - where the 3.2 is the increment between the start of a cycle (a peak) and the end of the cycle (a valley).  DDR talks on the peak and the valley of a clock cycle while SDR talks on the peaks.  In reality, as this is a binary system it is not an analog wave like a sound wave would be but the concept is accurate.  A peak in this system is voltage rising and the peak is the voltage falling.  DDR sends and receive info on the rise and fall of the clock cycle (voltage) whereas SDR only sent and received info on the rise of the clock cycle (voltage).

     

    

    
    Back to your direct question, bandwidth in RAM is determined by a couple formulas - let me try a walk through. 

    >> RAM frequency = clock frequency (a.k.a. 200 MHz) - this is just the native clock frequency of a memory chip. 

    >> Data rate = 2 times frequency (400, or DDR400) - this is 2x as it is DDR.  Also, this is a speed measurement (a somewhat virtual measurement mind you as the real speed is 1/2 this but this number is double that representing the double data rate explained earlier).

    >> Bandwidth = 8 times data rate (3200, or PC3200) - this is the rubber hitting the road as this takes the frequency and the speed remembering the 8 byte memory bus (the 64 bit) and calculates the volume of moving date in relation to a period of time (MB/sec).   To say another way; the memory chip works at a frequency of X operations per Y time periods so that frequency times two for DDR then times the amount of data moving (8 bytes or 64bits) gives us the volume per time or the bandwidth.

    The timings get much more complex as they are measures of internal response times within the memory chips themselves according to memory architecture and I won't go in to that here.  Suffice to say if you get the above and understand timings are internal 'response times' separate from the speed and bandwidth then you got more than enough info to get the big picture of how RAM is working.
     

  • Posted: 7/16/08 6:35 PM
    Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
• • The game is better, the community is still somewhat questionable...

  • Originally posted by Perception
    

    Hey Agt, good to see you around again ;).

    You may have mentioned it, but what server are you playing on?  I have a 26 sorc on Seradon named Ruprekt.
     

     

    On Serdaon too - will add you to pals and keep an eye out as I am approaching your level with my new guy I made since the free time (Agynte).

     

    Originally posted by Perception
    
    

    I know where you are coming from when you talk about the community.  There seems to be that group of folks who were "here from the beginning" with the elitist attitudes.  They always seem to be in general chat saying "go back to WoW" and seem to want to keep any new people coming in and ruining "their" game.
    

     

    Yeah, that is what I was seeing - allthough as I said it comes and goes to be fair.

     

    Originally posted by Perception
    

    
    Personally, I love games where you see a lot of noobie questions being asked in general chat, as it always seems to stimulate some kind of conversation, and thats half the reason to play an MMO ;).  VG isn't immediately intuitive, and I cannot understand why those "founder" types get their panties in a bunch because someone didnt know about the /setfog command.   

     

    I agree here - never understood some of the attitudes because while VG is not super hard it is comparitively difficult in terms of waht many people are used to.  So a bit of confusion with quests and other such things is understandable, especially since the newbie areas really do nothing to explain the game mechanics and such.  Some people just don't get a quet that says to see Mr. So_and-So and speak the words "Praise so and so" means go stand close and target that NPC and the do a '/say Praise so and so'. 

     

    Originally posted by scorchshin
    

    Smith,

    If you are looking for a guild to help out and answer questions look at Safe Haven. I joined this guild on the free month and was level 20ish. I'm now 27 and have done so many great quest because they told me where to go. A good guild can make or break this game in my eyes.

    As for general chat I try to answer questions that I can, but at times I do see the bad comments. The few can ruin it for the masses. Try not to let the few ruin the game for you. Look me up in game if you need anything. Scorchzhin - Serdon - 27 Druid.

    
    

    I am just not a 'joiner'.  I have always done my own guilds - had 20+ back at launch of VG but all bailed although I still maintain friendships with a couple of those people.  To me an MMO needs to be group accessible even if you go indy as I just don't like joining someones else's show.  Honestly, I wish DEVs would do more with guilds allowing small guilds to band together in allilances (even if in associative way only like sharing a chat channel or extra guild alliance online list type thing) to encourage people to form their own play groups while being able to combine with other small such groups to take advantage of the stuff more accesable only to large groups.

     

     

     

  • Posted: 7/16/08 4:17 PM
    Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
• • helpfest

  • You cannot go wrong with Corsair, I regularly used those modules you cited in customer deployments - it is very good memory.  And FYI I was just showing those specs as a comparison of the correlation from speed to latency.  I
    
    Also keep in mind that RAM in an of itself will not impact system performance, per se.  RAM is a 'force multiplier' or an 'enabler'.  Systems lacking adequate RAM, or quality RAM will struggle to reach their potential whereas systems with high volumes of RAM and good quality RAM with low latency and high bandwidth will better reach their full capability.
     

  • Posted: 7/16/08 4:05 PM
    Vanguard: Saga of Heroes