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  #1  
Old 09-16-2019, 09:55 AM
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strugglegenerator
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Question How can I load Everquest faster?

From the time I click my EQ icon to the time I get in game is roughly 20 seconds. It's fast, but I'd like it to be even faster. I've optimized everything I can think of and I have a pretty high end custom gaming PC with the following specs:
32GB of SDRAM DDR4 3000
8GB GDDR5 graphics card
Intel Core i7-7700K Quad-Core 4.2 GHz
500GB 3D V-NAND Sata III SSD
Windows 7 64-bit Professional

What else can be done to increase the speed that Everquest loads? The longest delay is from the server select to the character select. That takes anywhere from 8-10 seconds, sometimes only 6 seconds but it's never 100% consistent.

Specifically, if I upgraded from 32GB of RAM to 64GB of RAM, in theory it should make loading the game even faster, yes?

What assets can I safely remove from Everquest (either server side or client side) to decrease loading times during initial character logins?

Any tips are greatly appreciated!
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Old 09-16-2019, 10:30 AM
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Thalix
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More RAM won't help. But upgrading to an M2 SSD like the Samstung 970 Pro and upgrading to Windows 10 helps. And of course a low latency, high bandwidth network connection to the server you're connecting to. You can also add the EQClient directory as an exception to your virus scanner.
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  #3  
Old 09-16-2019, 07:09 PM
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One thing you neglected to mention is whether you're playing on your own server or a hosted one.

Server specs and setup also play a role in that '8-10 seconds..sometimes 6' factor.
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  #4  
Old 09-16-2019, 07:19 PM
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Thanks Uleat. I am playing on my own private login server. I am the only player. The server and the client are both located on the same PC on the same network.
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  #5  
Old 09-16-2019, 09:16 PM
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Whether a zone is already running or has to be spun up is key to additional loading times.

At that point, it's really a matter of increasing the shut-down delay of the zone and increasing the number of dynamic zones available.


EDIT: I want to revisit my Map MMF (pre-transformed maps in binary files) project at some point..but, I'll have to learn the new system first.
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  #6  
Old 09-16-2019, 11:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by strugglegenerator View Post
From the time I click my EQ icon to the time I get in game is roughly 20 seconds. It's fast, but I'd like it to be even faster.
Faster than 20 seconds ? I would recommend to anyone, reduce their sugar intake and/or lay off the energy drinks, lol (kidding) I have a few puters, but I also have an OLD client-only box, 16GB ram, 3.5 GHz chip, 2 GB graphics card and a simple 250GB HDD drive in it. It takes roughly 20-30 seconds from icon click to in-game. That's just barely enough time to grab a coffee while it loads. But one of the more modern boxes I have, (I use for testing), 4.5 GHz chip, 32 GB ram, SSD drive, etc. I have both server and client on it and it STILL take that 20 seconds from icon to in-game. I'm not concerned about it, myself, it's fast enough for me.
My point is, hardware is the least contributor in many cases, but many things you can do on both client and server side to help. Here's one thing I did, that I read about somewhere, with the RoF2 client, I pruned it right down, getting rid of anything/files the client didn't need to log onto my own server. (zone files, etc). It made a remarkable difference in how long it took loading and getting into the game.
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  #7  
Old 09-17-2019, 10:28 AM
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Thanks for the suggestions everyone =)

I tried removing everything that was not needed from both the client side and server side but the loading times remained the same.

Looks like the only way to get it even faster is with a faster SSD. 20 seconds isn't too long so I'll stick with what I have.

Was just curious. Thank you all for the help.
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  #8  
Old 09-20-2019, 07:40 AM
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Thalix I took your suggestion and upgraded my 500GB 850 EVO to a 500GB 970 EVO. The 850 specs say 500/mb read/write speed and the 970 EVO says 2500 read/write speed. However, I have both installed now and the actual performance tests show the older, 850 model is faster than the newer 970 model, unless I'm completely misunderstanding the results (see below);





Can anyone shine some light on these numbers? My goal in purchasing the new hard drive was to make Everquest load faster, but I notice absolutely zero difference in speed with the new drive. In fact, transferring an 8GB file took 8 seconds on the 850 EVO and it took 25 seconds on a 970 EVO. The new drive is much, much slower.
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  #9  
Old 09-20-2019, 09:03 AM
jaspen
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I think in order for someone to properly help you they would need to know model of motherboard, what ports the different drives are on, if you have updated firmware or drivers, are you doing this through a VM, and so forth. There are so many variables at play here. In short, more information is needed.
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  #10  
Old 09-20-2019, 09:20 AM
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UserBenchmarks: Game 89%, Desk 155%, Work 97%
CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K - 89.5%
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1070 - 80.2%
SSD: Samsung 970 Evo NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB - 363.6%
SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 500GB - 1,210.7%
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 4x8GB - 73%
MBD: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7

I have updated the drivers but not the BIOS.
Not doing anything through VM either.


Even userbenchmark.com shows the 850 Evo as being 1200% faster than the 970.
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  #11  
Old 09-20-2019, 02:52 PM
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https://forums.tomshardware.com/thre...peeds.3387498/
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  #12  
Old 09-20-2019, 05:17 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by strugglegenerator View Post
My goal in purchasing the new hard drive was to make Everquest load faster, but I notice absolutely zero difference in speed with the new drive. In fact, transferring an 8GB file took 8 seconds on the 850 EVO and it took 25 seconds on a 970 EVO. The new drive is much, much slower.
Something on your system seems to be wrong. Are you sure your M2 is running in PCEe 3.0 x4 (see CrystslDiskInfo)? You can also try to disable XMP(2) in your BIOS. Check if there is an heat issu on your M2.
Oh and use a 32GB test file with CrystalDiskMark to make sure you are not only testing the cache of your operating system

https://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compar.../m493995vs3477
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  #13  
Old 09-20-2019, 09:22 PM
Maze_EQ
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You're not using x4 bud, ain't no way.

My 970s are 900% faster than my slave raid0 850s
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  #14  
Old 09-21-2019, 07:22 AM
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strugglegenerator
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Thank you for all the suggestions. I followed up with each one carefully.

My motherboard supports the following M2 slots:
2 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA & PCIe x4/x2/x1 SSD support)

My M2 can be connected in either of these 2 M.2 slots on my motherboard:
Dual PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 Connectors with up to 32Gb/s Data Transfer (PCIe NVMe & SATA SSD support). The motherboard instructions say: The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the M2H_32G connector. The PCIEX4 slot will become unavailable when an SSD is installed in the M2H_32G connector. I tried both slots just for the hell of it, but noticed no difference.

x4 is turned on in the BIOS (x2 wasn't even an option) for the M2 slot.

I'm not sure how to test for a heat issue.

CrystalDiskMark seems to be showing accurate data, compared to Samsung Magician which appears to be wildly inaccurate:

970 EVO:


850 EVO:


Is CrystalDiskMark the trusted source here? Maybe Samsung Magician just has a bad speed performance test tool?
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  #15  
Old 09-21-2019, 08:13 PM
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You probably have RAPID mode enabled on the 850.

Iirc, you can only have one drive with that enabled at a time.
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