How much RAM is needed to run ET smoothly even at the beginning of the round when map has changed? Is there a REAL difference between SDRAM and DDR?
i have 256 Mb sdram and it lags after map has changed for another 5 minutes at least, spinning the hell out of my HDD. Other specs: Athlon XP 1600+, GF3 ti200 with 64 MB DDR on board, 7200 rpm quantum fireball HDD
Your problem maybe punkbuster related!
Is it the same on non punkbuster servers? I had the same problems in the early days of vanilla wolfy!
What I did was disable indexing services.
IF you wanna try it go to the control panel > DOuble click Administrative tools > Double click services > Find Indexing services >Right click and change it to Disabled.
If this kills your PC then I am not responsible 
Honestly it wont hurt it just dont mess with any other services unless you know what they do
Also whats your \com_hunkmegs set at?
Me thinks its the indexing services though
It might be what Colic says, but I would get more RAM if I were you anyway. Infact a few hours ago I just ordered some for my computer and some for my old computer that I gave to my parents. 512 MB pc2700 DDR was only $65 bucks or so and 256 megs of SDRAM was only around $30. Windows uses around 128 by itself leaving just 128 for your games.
Dark
yes, - it seems it is somehow connected with pb. i have the same problem in rtcw but as there each map is played 4 times i close my eyes to it.
as i just found out indexing service is not running on my comp - at least it says i can only start it.
i use 160 for com_hunkmegs.
some time ago i tried to search on the web for pb related hdd lag but could not find anything.
Disable indexing service as PB can start it going. Not started simply means it is not running when you are looking at it when you are at your desktop doing nothing.
Just click on it and disable it. Its a common prob people get. I have played with both 256 and 512 RAM both ET and normal wolf with indexing services not started and also disabled. The problems only arrise when the indexing services is NOT disabled.
Once an ET or wofl map has loaded up which is in the most simple terms getting the map from your harddrive to your RAM then your harddrive no longer needs to be accessed. But the indexing services and PB seem to kick this indexing service into action and basicly make your game jerky.
Or another solution use Linux 
Forgot to say as for searching the web for hdd lag. Last year you would have found some info on the evenbalance forums but they have taken them away now! But they also said the indexing thing causes probs along with flaky hardware! Also make sure your harddrive is not totaly fragmented!
The hard disk thrashing certainly sounds like low memory.
Turning your texture detail down can help memory usage and load times, even if it doesn’t improve your FPS. Setting your hunkmegs high on a system without much memory can actually make load times worse. I found (in RTCW, not ET) that leaving it near the default gave best results with 256 megs.
If you have programs running in the background, closing them can help quite a bit.
OTOH, another 256 of SDRAM isn’t going to cost you much. If your board supports DDR as well (a few do support ether, many don’t. None will support mixing DDR and SDR) then 512 of DDR would be a better choice. An athlon XP can certainly use the extra bandwidth.
Assuming your are running win2k or XP, you can look in the task manager and see how much memory you are using.
Thx, colic - know he problem seems to be gone!
i disabled indexing service, uninstalled Norton antivirus and added pb_system 1 cvar to my cfg.
256 Mb of SDRAM seems to be ok even with all the details set to high
Just today, I upgraded to 512MB from 256MB and the lag issues I’ve been plagued with are now gone. ET now runs very smoothly for me. I can’t stress enough that your first move should be to get more RAM.
You don’t need a p4 2.6 with a Geforce Ti 4400 to enjoy this game.
My rig specs:
p3 700mHz
512MB RAM
Radeon 7200 64MB
I don´t understand.
I have a P III 1,1 GHz
512 ddram
Radeon 9500 pro
and my FPS goes down to about 10 on some places, when theres big fights, for examble Goldrush, in front of the bank; or battery at the beach
it´s horrible
other games like BF 1942; RTCW; UNreal 2003; C&C Generals and MoHAA i could play with highest settings and I ahve always konstant FPS, but ET.
hard times…
Hmm, try reducing some of the visuals to lower quality, in the prefs area.
I have all tried.
set to the lowest settings etc
800x600 has bring my computer some frames on some places.
but all the other things has brought nothing.
ET uses the same engine like rtcw
RTCW i could play in the highest settings with konstan frames all over the map.
:???: :???: :???:
Have you tried giving your box a really good kick, with a steel-toed boot?
Seriously, with your hardware and a good internwet connection, you shouldn’t be having these problems. Doy ou have the latest drivers for all your hardware, including motherboard? Are you running anything in the background that could be using CPU and/or bandwidth, while playing ET?
Ok,
I have the newest driver.
I could play all other games with no FPS-Probs, only ET make me sick.
I´ve tried really all
I format my computer,because I thought this could be the prob.negativ!
I´m absolutly frustreted.
I love this game really
Minimum System… for ET:
32 MB Graphikcard I have 128
128 MB Ram I Have 512
P III 600MHz I have PIII 1,1GHz
where is the problem?
How I said, I don´t understand it.
With the processor you have got it is not ideal for the card you have TBH I would imagine their is some bottlenecking.
But one thing you should do is allocate more memory to your video card from your BIOS. It might be set to a low amount. I would set it to 256 meg!
In a big fight especialy with smoke flying around (smoke is a real FPS eater but looks so pretty) Bullets flying around players running around in front of you and also fully lightmapped maps which is very harsh on FPS will eat away at your FPS.
Compare it to RTCW and its a totaly different game FPS wise. The maps are very wide open which lead to more air strikes (more smoke) and the maps being fully lightmapped. This is totaly different to RTCW where most maps had alot of small areas and not wide open areas.
The minimum specs always make me laugh for games. Ok what is the minimum you need to make the game load up and play a 1 v 1 their will not be much action alot less to draw etc.
You are playing the game now so your system matches the minimum spec even though you may find that it does not play nice at low FPS.
But I am suprised that a “Recommended Specs” are not mention anywhere TBH.