Can anyone here confirm that having a very fast computer will not help against the lag and client crashing issues on stars with aurora? Was trying 16+ tables and my tables literally froze along with HEM3 and starscaption. Starscaption crashed multiple times and so did HEM3. Then even when I open the stars client again and log in, the tables take a long time to load and even if they load, they are frozen for a long time and then you get sat out the entire time unless some of your tables bust... so say if you now have 12 or less tables, it seem only then does the tables load correctly.



Does having a very fast computer mean you will still have these issues regardless? My laptop is an old dell xps 15 9550 with specs of


i5-6300hq
1tb ssd
8gb ram upgraded to 32gb ram



Even with 32gb ram, I still have these issues. Aurora setting should be low or high? Or does it depend on someone's computer? Also, do you need to set your video card to be your faster one? Recall a while back you had that setting change where you change your graphics for aurora... would that work now or not?



My graphics cards seem to be


Intel (R) HD Graphics 530
NVidia GEForce GTX 960M



I believe it uses the Intel (R) HD Graphics 530 as the primary but sometimes it changes to the NVidia GeForce when it is using lot of cpu? So do I make all my programs run the NVidia GEForce GTX 960M as oppose to the Intel? But this graphic card is still very old right?



Also if it matters, I use 2 monitors, one is a 32' 4k monitor and the other is a 24' 1920x1200 monitor. Is it possible using 2 different monitors with 2 different resolution could also be causing these lags? I assume not since many people use multiple monitors with different resolutions? Because stars is literally unplayable if you want to run HEM3 and starscaption and say you want to play 12+ tables. Back then before aurora, I remember 20 tabling even with HEM2 and rarely any lag at all.

your graphics card is very old, and you have all your monitors connected to the onboard graphics of your cpu?

auroa does not like old GPU's and i cannot imagine trying to run 16 tables across 3 monitors off that laptop to be honest

Hi thanks for the response. Well my laptop is pretty old. Its a dell xps 15 9550 from years ago. But people said the processor i5-6300hq should still be good when some people commented on this a while back when I asked is my laptop still good enough or if I should upgrade the ssd/ram or get new laptop and some people said it should be good enough. It's still a quad core though but that is not good enough?



I just found out recently my monitors are connected to the Intel (R) HD Graphics when I went to the monitor properties. I never ever looked at this ever. I didn't even know what graphics card you have is important related to the monitors connected to the laptop. But that is very important? I didn't even know sites cared about your graphics card and thought graphics card only mattered if you played games on the computer? I don't play any games on the computer. The thing is years ago, I used 2 24' 1920x1200 monitor on this same laptop with 8gb ram and when running HEM2, I rarely had much lag on stars back then and I remember even 20 tabling and not much lag. But once aurora came, I had issues the moment 12+ tabling. But lately it seems 12 tabling is fine but the moment there is 16+ tables, this is when all the issues occur. I have the same exact issue with 888 but it's 9 or 10 tables and this occurs.



Well I use my main 32' 4k monitor where I put 12 tables. The 24' monitor, I put 4 tables. I sometimes put 2 tables on my laptop screen monitor so I could essentially 18 table if I sometimes have lot of tables. Any more tables, its behind one of those tables in the 32' or 24' monitor. But the issue is when too many tables open up, all these issues occur so I'm wondering if its something else. Because HEM3 and starscaption crash a lot as well. So wondering if that could be the culprit.



So you are saying my GPU is most likely the culprit then right based on all this information? Could I try making the NVidia GEForce GTX960M the main GPU as oppose to the Intel HD Graphics 530 and see if that could make a difference? Again I never ever looked at what my graphics card was or anything like that until I had these issues with stars and 888 client. If you asked me what graphics card I had, I couldn't even tell you because I wouldn't know unless you told me to check device manager.



Again I'm not that tech savy but I want to know if anyone has a fast modern computer with a fast GPU and could play say 18+ tables on stars with hem3/pt and starscaption and has issues or not. Thanks.

I bought a new computer as my old one had on board graphics on an old cpu and it could not handle aurora

You are playing a high table count on multiple monitors.

Also if you are not even using the dedicate d GPU?

Maybe time to upgrade mate

Hey. What specs were your old cpu and what were the new specs on your new cpu? Do you use a laptop as well or desktop? Curious about what processor and ram you use. So having 32gb ram is useless if you are using an old graphics card?



How many tables do you play at once and what site and what programs do you use? How many monitors do you use and same/different resolution? I use HEM3 and caption depending on the site. I assume you use similar and/or PT? I stopped playing on party a while back due to the horrible lag/freezing issues and client issues. But then 888 has even worst issues with the new 888 software. And now the stars aurora is just as bad or even worst as party software which I could never imagine. Tables are literally frozen on stars the moment there is lot of tables and you using hotkeys or mouse clicking doesn't even work and you get sat out. I rarely had these issues before aurora and this was on same laptop with 8gb ram only.



Well back then before the stars aurora and that 888 new software, I remember testing 20 table stars and/or stars/888 without much lag at all and this was using HEM2 a while back. There was occasional lag but almost never when 16+ tabling I recall. I don't play that many tables usually but sometimes I do and having these issues is basically unplayable. I could handle sticky buttons on stars where you might have to click on the fold/call/raise button few times on stars...other people mention this same issue and call it that term... but when you click it 10+ times and it doesn't work due to the tables freezing and you get sat out every table, its impossible to play.



I have no idea about GPU. If you asked me what GPU I have, I wouldn't even know. I only went to device manager and checked this due to these issues. I see that the Intel HD Graphics 530 is the default one. Yea so I assume my GPU is old because well this is an older laptop. So you would suggest I make the NVidia GEForce GTX 960M as the main GPU on my laptop for everything then and see what happens? The thing is several people mentioned in the stars and even in the 888 thread that the moment they hit a certain number of tables, the client freezes and crashes. Some mentioned they have ryzen 7 laptop and a very dedicated GPU and it still happens. So I wanted to know, is there even a point of getting a new laptop with a fast processor and very good dedicated GPU if these same issues happen? Because if the same issue happens with a ryzen 7 or intel 7 and very good GPU, well there is no point of it. I want to know are there people that could 20+ table on stars aurora without any issue or even 12+ table on 888 without these issues on a fast computer with a dedicated GPU. Or you basically have to play max 12 tables.



Also is it recommended to get a gaming laptop as well? Can't believe gaming laptops seem to be recommended to play online when over a decade plus ago, I remember even a regular computer could handle lot of tables. I know gaming laptops are meant for people that play real games online which I do not etc. But is that necessary for stars aurora or 888 or party client? I even heard now the WPN software client freezes/lags a lot if your computer is not fast etc.

I'll be honest Im not getting into walls of texts and follow ups with you

Aurora does not work well on old integrated graphics on old CPUs

16 tables across 3 monitors is tough for those specs.

I have an entry level graphics card in a desktop pc - nothing fancy and it solved the lag issues I had with aurora.

Ram is less important.

Seriously just upgrade to something made this decade

Okay thanks. But how many tables do you play at once though? Could you 20+ table without any issue or do you never play anywhere close to that much tables? I don't play anywhere close to that but sometimes might occasionally.



Yea had no idea that aurora affected the old integrated graphics.



Well my laptop isn't that old, it was from the last decade as its an xps 15 9550 with i5-6300hq processor. I do know if my laptop was say an i5 but a say it wasn't quad core but those U series, then my laptop would definitely be not that fast.

I max at 8 tables

I had an old AMD CPU with integrated graphics, and it was no longer supported by AMD - no updated drivers.

So I could not even 2 table aurora.

You could try to update your graphics card drivers.

But honestly, make sure your laptop is using the dedicated GPU and make sure the drivers are updated (if still supported)

If it doesn't work you might need to upgrade.

A desktop will be a much better investment esp if you multimonitor.

You don't need a flashy GPU btw - don't overspend on this

Think mine is NVidia GeForce GT 1030 2G. Very basic entry level GPU

That + a CPU with onboard graphics and you could have 3 monitors running and I bet you would not have the lag anymore.


Your ram and CPU are not the bottleneck here imo


Look into getting a custom build, you don't need flashy case / GPU. Just something solid that gets the job done.

It seems that getting new stuff and finding specs can be quite stressful for you and you over think and complicate things. You are UK, right?
So :

Update all your driver's

Try to switch to the dedicated GPU

By a pc with at least a reasonable entry level GPU that supports 2 + monitors (preferably with a CPU with on board graphics) - you don't need to go top specs for what you need.

That's three things you should try, in order.

You are UK, right? CCL computers and punch technology are both independent builders that have great staff who I would recommend if you decide to go down the PC route.

Good luck.

Hi thanks for the response. I am not located in the UK.


Okay so you play max 8 tables so that isn't that many tables but still a decent amount. I don't seem to have issues if I were to do 8 tables of stars. 8 tables of 888 is very close to the max because the 888 client freezes and then crashes. For some reason its always when the 9th or 10th 888 table opens, this happens every single time. And when I reopen the 888 client and log in again, tables load but take a while. Annoying thing is when each table loads, the lobby for each table load as well which makes it even longer for the tables to load correctly.


I am surprised you could not even 2 table with aurora with your old pc. So your old AMD CPU is an extremely old computer? Is it a lot worst than my current i5-6300hq? The only thing I recall was back then... anything that is intel 2 duo would be very close to the bare minimum one would need years ago and quad core was preferred. But this was years ago.


I actually clean reinstalled my laptop earlier this year. I forgot to mention that. So I thought that would actually help but I don't think it did much. How do I make my laptop run only the dedicated GPU all the time which is the Nvidia? I went to NVidia Control Panel and in manage 3d settings and global settings, changed it to High performance Nvidia processor. For program settings tab, programs like chrome and firefox has integrated graphics. Should I switch all those programs to the High Performance Nvidia processor?



In the HEM thread, I was told to go to display settings and graphics settings. In the graphics performance preference, I added 888, hem3, hem.server, partygaming and even PT which I don't use now to high performance. Then when i restart my laptop, when i started running hem3 and 888, for some reason, 888 still shows GPU 0? I even right clicked the 888 client -Run with Graphics Processor - High Performance Nvidia Processor (Default) on the desktop and yet when 888 runs, it shows GPU 0 - 3D. The stars client however does show GPU 1 - 3D. So how come I can't get the 888 client to run on the Nvidia?


I haven't used a desktop in years and prefer a laptop. But I understand why you recommend a desktop.

I googled and see some video card on laptops seem to be the NVidia GEForce RTX 3050 or 3050ti. These are very good GPUs right? But other ones are Intel Iris XE Graphics or Intel UHD Graphics. I assume these last 2 are useless? So if I get new laptop, make sure it has at least something NVidia on it? The thing is besides playing on these sites, I don't do anything extreme on this computer like play games or things like that. I just web browse and youtube etc. Thus playing on these sites with HEM3 and the captions running is the most intensive thing I do on my laptop.



Well back then before stars aurora and the 888 new software, I rarely had lag or client issues on this exact computer with 8gb ram only. I remember I tested I could even 18 table and there was no issues at all. But this was with 2 24' 1920x1200 monitors as oppose to a 32' 4k and one of the 24' monitor which have different resolutions. But others say the resolution of 2 different monitors shouldn't have any factor into this.



Yea getting new stuff and finding specs is stressful for me. So for example years ago when I needed to get a new laptop, I read dell xps 15 was the best option because it was a quad core and I was told in the HEM thread threads ago, you want quad core and at least 8gb ram and ssd which is what this dell xps 15 had. So when I got this laptop many years ago, there was rarely and lag or crashing at all when playing on stars pre-aurora and before the new 888 software changes. This was the fastest computer I ever had etc. Then when aurora happened and the new 888 client software happened, I had nothing but problems with the lagging and crashing etc. Also party client for some reason always frozed and crashed etc so I stopped playing there.



So now I want to see if there are any settings I could do to test if it is indeed my laptop because of the old graphics card... or if it doesn't matter and its the stars aurora and 888 software that are causing these issues. Because if I get a new laptop and it still had these exact issues if I try playing lot of tables, getting a new laptop would be pointless since this laptop works fine for everything else... except for some reason when i use chrome and youtube... it lags a lot.



Now would a gaming laptop be recommended or not? I was never a fan of gaming laptops because... the first thing is the laptop looks like a gaming laptop which I do not like. I want a normal looking laptop which is why I got the dell xps 15 from years ago. Also gaming laptops seem to have poor battery. However, my laptop is plugged in almost 100% of the time. But I still want a good battery on it. So that means the best option would be get another Dell XPS 15... whatever is the current model/line they are selling now?

So your laptop is fine for everything except poker, chrome and YouTube?

So as long as you don't want to browse the web, watch videos or play poker you are fine?

Sounds like it is struggling tbh. They are fairly basic use cases.

Update drivers.

Try out a different machine - you can most likely get a laptop try it and return it if it doesn't work for you .

Gl dude

Hey. Well the thing is those 3 things you mention is all I do on my laptop. I either play online on the sites with HEM3 and the captions running. Or I would not be playing and youtubing on chrome and/or web browsing. I don't do anything else on the laptop... such as like how people play games or do editing or anything like that. I don't use any extensive programs or anything like that. So what I do is pretty simple on my laptop beside playing online with HEM3 and caption. That's the only thing I do on my laptop that is intensive. Back then I did use to have like 50+ chrome tabs opened though but there was not issue with it while playing or not playing.



I cannot even play youtube music on chrome anymore while playing because when I do with the poker clients and HEM3 and caption on, I notice I get lag even before I hit 10 tables etc. So because of that, I cannot even play youtube music or even have more than a few chrome tabs opened while playing. So back then I normally would have many chrome tabs while playing youtube... these chrome tabs are on sites where its constantly updating... so imagine a site that is updating constantly so it uses more cpu and ram as oppose to sites where you are on it and nothing happens much like google.com. But back then... this is before stars aurora and the new 888 software, I rarely had any issues with lag. I remember I was able to even 18+ table sometimes while using HEM2 and playing youtube music video nonstop while playing and also having ton of chrome tabs opened.



I can't even have chrome tabs opened with these sites that update anymore because the lag issues happen much earlier while playing. Also when having all these issues, lately all I have open is probably 1 or 2 google chrome tab open and that tab is on google.com... and nothing more. So I can't even have chrome tabs opened while playing anymore. Yet I still have these client issues. Also when I'm not playing, when I'm on youtube and then open new youtube videos, many times, it takes a long time to load as well. Also when web browsing other sites, I notice if I try to open several tabs, same exact issue, it takes a long time to load. The thing is if I were to use firefox, its much worst. The lag is basically unbearable when web browsing with firefox. The only other thing I could think of beside the drivers... is maybe because I have kaspersky total? Back then I did use the free windows microsoft defender but then switched to kaspersky total.

Upgrade time, innit.

Yea that is what I think I should do. I did notice however... when I had the 888 client running few tables, it uses a lot of GPU%. It literally uses between 40-50% if you play a few 888 tables. But it doesn't use much GPU % at all on stars or even HEM3.


When you say update drivers, do you mean all my drivers for everything?

Well that won't hurt.

But particularly the GPU drivers

But I think that is opening an umbrella in a hurricane if basic browsing / YouTube is beyond the machine.

Apparently it seems my GPU drivers are updated.



The thing is... does my external monitors always have to be connected to the Intel HD 530 Graphics Card? Could I connect it to the Nvidia Geforce GTX 960M or I cannot do this? So do most people have their external monitors connected to their default Intel graphics card... or the faster nvidia one? Again I never even looked at this ever. I didn't even know what graphics card you have mattered when connected to external monitors because back then I always used 2 24' 1920x1200 monitors with the same laptop with no issue etc.


Yea for some reason, chrome lags a ton especially when youtubing. If you were to open several youtube chrome videos at once... let say you search for something on youtube and then right click on a few videos to open the chrome tab for each, does it automatically play the video? For me, let say if i want to open say 3 videos at once, I have to click on that actual chrome tab for that youtube video in order for it to run. Such that the other 2 youtube chrome videos won't all load at the same time. But that is normal right? But even when i open a video, there is a lag somewhat.

It's not normal to want to run 3 YouTube videos at once, so I dont think many people will have experience there mate lol.

You are a pretty unique dude and I don't think anyone on the forum can help you, sorry.

Seems you've done all the troubleshooting you can... And then some

Just upgrade your laptop, however stressful it is for you to do this, it can't be much more stressful than what you are going through now where you are agonising over whether to use Revo installer or not, or how to navigate windows functions to set programs to high performance.

Can't imagine all this is good for your mental health tbh

Good luck, man.

Hey. Well I mean if I were to say open 3 youtube videos at once. Such as imagine you right click a few videos for it to load on chrome and have few chrome tabs where each is a youtube video. I thought even if you don't click on those youtube chrome tabs, shouldn't the videos load though say if you right click and open 3 different videos? Or it won't because of the background where you need to actually click on that chrome tab in order for the video to play? Recall there was something with background refresh in chrome.



Yea I believe the 2 graphic cards I am using are updated. But are the external monitors... suppose to be connected to the Nvidia Geforce GTX 960m though? Is your external monitor or monitors connected to the Nvidia 1650 or the default intel/amd one you have? Because I don't see a way where you could change the connection in display properties for this?



Have you ever used Revo Installer? I might have used that a while back but if I did, I remember I was told uninstall it as that isn't good etc. I mean... don't most people just add/remove programs normally on windows? Certainly doing that way is still removing everything right?



Yea this is frustrating. I mean, back then I stopped playing on party due to the software freezing/lagging and all those issues. Then with aurora and the new 888 software, literally every site will lag.



What laptop do you have? Do you recommend gaming laptop or just go with whatever is the current Dell XPS 15 model they sell nowadays? Always read gaming laptops are not that good because they get hot and battery is bad. But I have it plugged in all the time... but still wouldn't want bad battery on a laptop. I see lot of gaming laptops online and almost all of those seem to have that video card of Nvidia Geforce RTX 3050 Ti or Nvidia Geforce RTX 3060. So most important thing is the graphics card right? Then the processor... and well ram and ssd, you can always upgrade etc.

Hi everyone,
I'm a multitabler looking to buy a big monitor.
Right now I have two 27inch 4k monitors. Thing is I need to be really close to the monitors to leave them at 4k rsolution and fit 12 tables on the same screen, otherwise i have to use 150% scaling and it's not great, I end up putting 6 tables on each screens like if i had 2 full HD monitors.
My goal is to feet at least 12 (ideally 16) tables on the same screen to have them all in my field of view basically. I'm getting tired when i have to move my eyes and head from one side to another while playing very fast. Like having two rows of 6 tables is not optimal. I'd prefer having 3x4 or ideally 4x4 big tables.

Could you help me figuring out which option is best please :

1. Buy a 32 inch curved 4k monitor as this one : https://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
   The advantages is that it's a monitor, curved, and good to avoid eyestrain and fatigue.
   Problem is that it's still quite small and I feel if i put 12 tables they would still be a bit small. And defenitely couldn't fit 16 tables comfortably.
   Price in mexico 425USD
   
2. Buy a big 49inch commercial monitor as this one : https://www.sharpnecdisplays.eu/p/ee.../rp/m491.xhtml
   I would have more than enough space on screen and I could sit far away and therefore have lots of big tables in my filed of view. It has everything a monitor needs (Good response time, contrasts, anti glare, IPS,...).
   Problem is that it's not flicker-free and not made to be looked at for hours. So I'm afraid i could experience eye fatigue / head aches. I'm not too sure but it seems the only thing missing for eye comfort is the flicker-free.
   Price : I can get it at a discount, 600USD so it might be a better option than a TV at the same price ?
   
3. Buy a cheap 43inch TV as this one : https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/hisense/a6h
   On rtings they say it's quite good as a monitor but is not flicker-free. So it might also be a bit hard on the eye. And I guess the anti-glare is not that great.
   Other than than it would be a perfect size and it's cheap, easy to resell, ...
   Price 350USD
   

I don't really mind about the price differences between each option.
For each option I would sit at the right distance from the screen.
Maybe I give too much importance to the flicker-free feature ? And perhaps having a bigger screen farther is better than a smaller closer ?

There are other options, 43 inch monitors but they are really expensive and often do not have eye care technologies.
And I don't think I would like the wide screens monitors as it's an aspect ratio that would force me to move my eyes from side to side a lot.

Maybe I should look more into TVs ?

55" 4k TV is the way to go. I have four of them hooked up to my PC. Its great.

Thanks for your reply.
Could you tell me what model do you have ?
Do you experience any eye fatigue or head aches after some time ?

Cant say im an expert at picking out tvs but I recommend the cheapest ones you can find on amazon. I have a few Fire TVs and a few HiSense. I actually own 6 of them I have a dual-TV workstation for my job laptop.

No comfort issues whatsoever. Sometimes I wear blue light glasses often I dont; doesnt seem to make difference either way.