Trading Off Video Quality for FPS?

by unum

Most of us hate to admit it, but a lot of us gamers usually play at sub-optimal video settings to attain a decent gaming experience. I know we are not supposed to talk about he who must not be named, but let me introduce you to "lag" (a.k.a. the highest player ranked on any server by measure of kills alone). This guy seems to come out of nowhere after you agreed to a 1v1 to prove yourself on the battlefield, and flips the switch on you right as victory is in your grasp. Incase you have repressed this beast by invoking "circles of protection" (ohh yeah I said it) it is an easy thing to blame for your troubles when playing with your "real?" friends online. We make due with these low settings settings in order to "even the playing field" so we don't feed that imba lag guy cause you know he's already winning the game.

Do I need to mention Lower Guk?


Ohh yeah, good times have been spent running bodies or back to them (c'mon Illy I thought they nerfed you last patch?) after you lag out and miss a stun/heal. Personally I am a fan of the run naked back to your body concept as it really gave you time to think of the lag spike that killed you besides the fact it IS the healers fault 105% of the time. The mental pain and anguish this causes has negative externalities on your loved ones (sorry mom) cause I know you nerdrage like no one's business.

Time to DO something about it

Now that I have brought up fond memories of the past, we are going to break this cycle of ragequits and yelling on vent (remember these are your real friends). Most of us can not afford new computers every 2 years as we do not have a job (insert excuse here), or did to much yelling at mom (from earlier). This is where your friends at Plus1PC come in (shameless? you bet!)

Many of us run with what's known as "integrated graphics" which boils down to low end graphics performance. The new stuff from Intel a.k.a. "Sandy Bridge" combines this work into the CPU itself however has yet to come down in price to fit the budget for most of us gamers. With that said, our only option left is to find a good aftermarket graphics card unless you can patch things up with the folks or just like getting PWN'D.





The key is to find out what brand and model your motherboard is or just open it up and take a look for PCI-E slots. If you have AGP slots, it is time to get a new comp, I'm sorry but you're living in the ice age.







Keep in mind not all motherboards are compatible with all brands of graphics cards. We are currently working on a tool to help you find the best graphics card for your particular system and budget but until then if you're uncertain about an upgrade feel free to ask us through email at support@plus1pc.com or through 1Forum.