The resolution in which you run the game will have the greatest impact on performance if you are not in the lucky position of running the latest top of the line graphics cards. Running at 640x480 in 16 bit mode or even 512x384 in 16 bit mode should provide decent performance even on older hardware. 2.2 CPU Speed ------------- The game is also very sensitive to CPU speed, memory bandwidth, and cache performance. Thus, it runs far better on leading-edge processors like those of AMD and Intel. See section 1.2 for a guideline on recommended specs. 2.3 Memory ---------- Unreal Tournament 2003's performance is highly dependent on the amount of RAM you have in your machine, and the amount of memory that is available. Machines with less memory will access their hard disk more frequently to load data, which causes sporadic pauses in gameplay. Thus, if you have a 128 MByte (or less) machine, you should make sure that you don't have other unnecessary programs loaded in memory when playing Unreal Tournament 2003. How the game will perform under different RAM conditions: * 64 MByte or less: lots of swapping * 128 MByte: minimal swapping with default settings * 256 MByte: might swap in rare cases with highest texture detail * 512 MByte or more: shouldn't swap 2.4 Considering upgrading? -------------------------- For people considering upgrading their machines, here are some tips based on our experience running Unreal Tournament 2003 on a variety of machines: 1 The biggest performance gain in Unreal Tournament 2003 comes from having a state of the art graphics chip. 2 The next upgrade that tends to improve Unreal Tournament 2003 performance is upgrading your CPU. 3 Finally, lots of RAM helps. With memory prices continually falling, it's now reasonably affordable to upgrade to 256 MByte of system memory. 2.5 Getting better performance