For HL2, upgrade video card or processor?

[vcarpio2]

I'm playing HL2. Thinking of upgrading either my video card from 9800se to 6600GT or my processor from P4 (Prescott) 2.4@2.7 to P4 3.0@??. Which upgrade would give me more framerates? Any other upgrade ideas? My budget for the upgrade is $200. Thanks!

 

[zakee00]

diffenately video card. proc wouldnt hurt, but you will get much better overall performance with a new 6600GT. can you find one that is AGP?

 

[CheesePoofs]

Video card. most new games are more GPU dependent than cpu dependent, plus the 6600gt is a bigger improvement over the 9800se than the 3.0 proc is over the 2.7.

 

[fbrdphreak]

If you'll search for the thread about spending most of your money towards the VC, you'll see that the video card is definitely more valuable than the CPU in terms of gaming upgrades. If HL2 is your primary concern and you want the best performance specifically for the HL2 engine, I would upgrade to an ATI card. Maybe the X800XL when it comes out, or an X800 Pro on a REALLY good price. However, I love the 6600GT and is definitely the best overall buy right now. GL
(P.S. Maybe upgrade any of your other cheap components to help you OC further, couldn't hurt 😉)

 

[Malak]

I have a 2ghz P4 right now and the only thing holding me back is my video card really. But that'll all change soon...

 

[nick1985]

video card

 

[imverygifted]

out of curiosity how much memory do you have? back on topic, im gonna say video card

 

[daveybrat]

buy a 6600GT 🙂

 

[vcarpio2]

I have 1Gig of ddr -- a mix of branded and generic. fbrdphreak's suggestion might improve my oc'ing if I can replace my generic ram with branded ones.

Thanks a lot for the replies! Looks like I'm going the video card upgrade path.

Originally posted by: imverygifted
out of curiosity how much memory do you have? back on topic, im gonna say video card

 

[ibbilbo]

I'm ot sure that you need to upgrade at all. I'm running HL2 at 1680x1050 on a Dell 2005FPW with an ATI 9500pro, Athlon 2400 and a gig of ddr and everything maxed and it runs flawlessly.

 

[zakee00]

Originally posted by: ibbilbo
I'm ot sure that you need to upgrade at all. I'm running HL2 at 1680x1050 on a Dell 2005FPW with an ATI 9500pro, Athlon 2400 and a gig of ddr and everything maxed and it runs flawlessly.

DX8 or DX9 mode...thats AWESOME if your running in DX9 mode. jeez how old is that card now?

 

[CraigRT]

yet another vote for video card
unless your CPU is like 1.5 or below, video card can always help (unless of course the video card is already good 😛)

 

[Creig]

I'd say it depends... Is your 9800SE a 256-bit card or 128-bit? Is it soft-moddable into a 9800/9800 Pro? If you're lucky and it's a soft-moddable 256-bit card, I'd say your processor would be the best bet for an upgrade. If you're not lucky, then I would definitely upgrade the video card.

 

[SrGuapo]

Originally posted by: Creig
I'd say it depends... Is your 9800SE a 256-bit card or 128-bit? Is it soft-moddable into a 9800/9800 Pro? If you're lucky and it's a soft-moddable 256-bit card, I'd say your processor would be the best bet for an upgrade. If you're not lucky, then I would definitely upgrade the video card.

Yeah, definately check if it is a 256bit or not. If you succesfully softmod, that will give you quite a speed boost with no money shelled out. Otherwise, I would definately get a 6600gt (though it is going to be hard to find an AGP one under $200)

 

[JBT]

def video card. those 9800 SE's were pretty lame cards if they had 128 memory busses.

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: ibbilbo
I'm ot sure that you need to upgrade at all. I'm running HL2 at 1680x1050 on a Dell 2005FPW with an ATI 9500pro, Athlon 2400 and a gig of ddr and everything maxed and it runs flawlessly.

Well, I've got a very similar setup--2400+, 1GB PC2100, 9700P--and while HL2 runs pretty smoothly at 1024x768 at default quality settings (everything maxed but no AA/AF and water set only to reflect world), I wouldn't call 30-60fps average flawless. Enabling even 2xAA hurts, though, so I'm surprised 1680x1050 works so well for you.

I'm probably just pickier with my framerate.