Friend Wants Doom 3 Comp to run at High

[LordPhoenix]

My friend wants a good AMD PC that will play Doom 3 at High but has to be cheap.
So I told him...

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Mobile $80.00
ABIT NF7-S $91.00
MSI Radeon 9800 PRO $195.00
Corsair 512MB DDR PC3200 $89.00
Logitech Z640 5.1 speakers (For D3 Sound) $63.99
Current Monitor
WD 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB HD $70.00
Antec Sonata $114.00
NEC 2510A Dual Layer $69.99

Do you think this is good? Because I saw the review for Doom 3 and the AMD 3200+, 512 DDR, NF7-S, and 9800 PRO could run at HIGH. Plus, I'm going to try to OC this baby for him to 3200+. Any tips for heatsink? And I might OC the 9800 Pro to XT. Any tips for 9800 P cooling? He wants this at around $800-900 or so.

 

[So]

Thats probably going to run it at medium, at best. No way you're going to get arig to run it at high for <$1000

 

[Looney]

Which review did you see that they were able to run it on with 512mb ram and a 9800Pro? At minimum you'll need a 256mb card, probably X800. I say you'll need an A64, 1gb ram, and X800 or better for high quality.

 

[LordPhoenix]

I found it here. http://www2.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjQ0LDc=
ATI VPU Video Cards

Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB

Best Playable IQ Settings
Resolution: 1024x768
Texture Quality: High Quality

MD AthlonXP Base System Specs:

ABIT NF7-S motherboard, AMD Athlon XP 3200+ CPU, 512MB Corsair RAM XMS DDR400.

BFGTech and VisionTek video cards were used.

 

[Mik3y]

dont worry, you'll be able to run the game at high quality at 1024x768 resolution. It's posted here. it tells you how well your system will handle doom 3 with certain cpu's and video cards, so as long as you clock your system to at least 2.2ghz, then it'll run fine at high.

 

[Mik3y]

darn, lordphoenix beat me to it!

 

[LordPhoenix]

yep

 

[Regs]

1024 x 768 at High. If you want to spend 100 dollars more on a 6800 you can play it 1280x1024 at high quality.

 

[LordPhoenix]

I use 1024 x 768 and i think its fine. why spend $100 to get a 6800 to see no difference (to the eye at least).

 

[Anonemous]

Originally posted by: LordPhoenix
I use 1024 x 768 and i think its fine. why spend $100 to get a 6800 to see no difference (to the eye at least).

Because hardocp indicated that higher resolutions looked better. Like when they hit 1600x1200 in ultra quality they said it looked like a CG movie.

 

[BenSkywalker]

I'd take a look at those charts at H before deciding that a R9800Pro can handle High Quality, its minimum framerate was 7FPS- not 17, 7(with an Abit NF7S, AXP 3200+ and R9800Pro). Also, according to what Kyle wrote in the prior article they were using drivers for the ATi boards that aren't available to the public yet that improved performance a decent amount over what we have now.

I'm currently running a R9800Pro and have resigned myself to the fact that 10x7 HQ isn't going to be a viable option based on the articles over at H. If I were you I'd tell your friend to part with another ~$60 and step up to the 6800NU over the R9800Pro. For DooM3 in particular I would take a FX5900 over it too.

 

[flexy]

512mb ehrm...no..not at high

 

[SH3200]

Wow this goes to show how many people didnt read the whole article

"The fps dip you see at the end of the run-through is actually a cut scene and not real gameplay, so the impact of the frame rates there is nothing that would detract from your gaming experience."

 

[Holyhandgren]

Get the sonata from amazon, $15 cheaper due to free shipping.

 

[BenSkywalker]

Wow this goes to show how many people didnt read the whole article

Or perhaps it is people who have read hundreds of articles about the story driven nature of D3 where 7FPS- even in a cutscene- is intollerable. The 6800U by comparison was bottoming out in the mid 40s for the same segment. The R9800Pro is not up to par for DooM3 based on the H article- although hopefully I can grab a copy today and see for myself.

 

[JackHawksmoor]

I'm not sure the Sonata is really available from Amazon. I picked free shipping back at the begining of May, and 2-3 days became 3 months. I finally cancelled the order, which is probably what they wanted

 

[dmw16]

To build a high end gaming rig w/ only 512MB of RAM is silly. Also, i think you need a 256MB card to do HQ settings.

 

[RusH487]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

Wow this goes to show how many people didnt read the whole article

Or perhaps it is people who have read hundreds of articles about the story driven nature of D3 where 7FPS- even in a cutscene- is intollerable. The 6800U by comparison was bottoming out in the mid 40s for the same segment. The R9800Pro is not up to par for DooM3 based on the H article- although hopefully I can grab a copy today and see for myself.

Where would you get a copy when it isn't due for release until the 4th?

 

[imported_zenwhen]

Originally posted by: RusH487

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

Wow this goes to show how many people didnt read the whole article

Or perhaps it is people who have read hundreds of articles about the story driven nature of D3 where 7FPS- even in a cutscene- is intollerable. The 6800U by comparison was bottoming out in the mid 40s for the same segment. The R9800Pro is not up to par for DooM3 based on the H article- although hopefully I can grab a copy today and see for myself.

Where would you get a copy when it isn't due for release until the 4th?

People have been able to get copies from Best Buys and Gametops that broke the embargo.

 

[RusH487]

Damn....why does my Circuit City store have to be so damn slow....

 

[Mik3y]

do u guys think they'll make a 512mb fx 5200 this fall just to screw people over for half-life 2 and doom 3? i'm thinkin so.

 

[Corpun]

Where would you get a copy when it isn't due for release until the 4th?

Some copies of doom 3 have gone on the shelf at some best buy locations and a few other stores as discussed here OMGWTFDOOMBQ and on various other gaming forums.

 

[NFactor]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

Wow this goes to show how many people didnt read the whole article

Or perhaps it is people who have read hundreds of articles about the story driven nature of D3 where 7FPS- even in a cutscene- is intollerable. The 6800U by comparison was bottoming out in the mid 40s for the same segment. The R9800Pro is not up to par for DooM3 based on the H article- although hopefully I can grab a copy today and see for myself.

I read that part of the article and was wondering how he could ever justify anything below 15 fps, even in a cutscene. I want to play the whole game without it slowing down to a slideshow at any point.