Interesting behavior when graphics turned down

Hey,

First of all these are my machine specs:

Processor:
Intel Pentium D 2.66Ghz

Graphics Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 7100GS 128MB

RAM:
2GB

Now with guild wars at max resolution and with textures at medium, i get an average ping of about 300-400ms (I live in New Zealand). However when i turn down my graphics to 800x600 and textures to minimum, my ping falls to 200-300, camping mostly around 200 end.

I could never get 1 sec casts with any interrupt with my previous settings, but now with crappy settings there is much less delay and i can interrupt 1 sec casts a lot easier.

I thought maybe it was a temporary green ping day, but i tried turning up the graphics again and interrupting the Master of Healing, and i couldn't do it. So i came to the conclusion that turning graphics down somehow helped my ping. Or did it?

So my question is, do i need a new computer? or by turning graphics down did i somehow reduce the amount of information being transfered?

Thanks.

Pretty much that's what you did. Your CPU speed is a little on the low end, and your graphics card isn't helping offload work from the cpu, both are trying to keep up effectively just bogging down performance. So when you lower the graphics it's actually allowing your video card to keep up on the graphic side of things, thus off loading work for the cpu.

What are the fps differences between the two settings you've tried, and what is "max" res compared to 800x600?

I'd agree with Ecoman - your CPU and GPU are both low powered by today's standards, even for GW - so lowering the settings should indeed improve your performance, client side, server side I doubt it affected anything, but the end result is what matters.

As to whether you need a new computer or not is up to your current needs (work or gaming) and your budget....?

Well at max settings, i get 25-40 fps, with min setting i get like 80-120fps . So if I get a good graphics card will this fix the problem? If so, so should I also get a new CPU? And what are some examples of good graphics CPUs that are affordable? I know my motherboard can take core 2 duo 1066FSB or watever .

Thanks.

Do you normally play at 800x600 res? If you are getting 25-40 fps at a more "normal" resolution, ie. 1280x1024 - 1400x900 or above then you don't need to upgrade your video card.... I'm going to assume that you get those FPS marks at the 800x600 res, in which case you would benefit from an upgrade. For $200 you could get a modern era CPU & GPU that would eat GW alive. What you get depends on the money you want to spend and on the Games and Applications that you typically use or want to get in the future.............

I meant i get those FPS ranges at 1280x1024, at 800x600 i get 80+ FPS. So if i don't need a new Gfix card, what should i do to have less delay at high resolution?

id say you should get a better cpu and video card if your trying to get get the better fps at the higher resolution. i think elder was pointing out you could play at the lower resolution and have those already but if you want em at a higher resolution you gotta buy both id say or at least a higher end video card will improve it somewhat