Right now I currently have a GeForce4 440 Go GPU. Not that Half Life 2 isn't stunning to begin with bit this GPU only supports DX7 hardware levels. DX7 does not natively support pixel shaders. I was thnking of upgrading to a Mobilty Radeon 9000 which supports DX8.1 hardware levels. Do you think that this is going to make a big difference in HL2 or would be upgrading memory be the way to go. They would be simialr in cost. I already have 2x256MB modules so i'd have to buy 2 512MB modules. What is the best thing to do?
Half Life 2 Graphics question
- Thread starter inspiron8200guy
- Start date
Mr. Lennon
Diamond Member
- Jul 2, 2004
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He cant. Not without replacing the whole thing. Some laptop maufacturers like Aienware and Voodoo have some models with modular video cards that can be upgraded, but not Dell.
A little OT but anyways .... Is the poor performance for Nvidia in HL2 going to change with future driver upgrades -- I have a 9800 pro and am thinking about getting the 6800gt -- but in HL2 the gap is only small..... yes doom 3 it is huge but wont the HL2 engine be used for future games also?
actually the 9800 series also seems to perform good in older games as well..... just want to know more info about if its worth it to upgrade
actually the 9800 series also seems to perform good in older games as well..... just want to know more info about if its worth it to upgrade
I wouldn't recommend it... IMO you should wait until the new generation of gpus come out (I don't really look at upgrading at all until 2-3 generations later... it seems like such a waste of money to upgrade every gen. considering currently the 9800 pro can more than hold its own and I'm sure there will be a new series of cards by August).
I have a regular 6800 unlocked and the HL2 performance was great. I don't think I was ever slowed by my video card. Granted, it might have dropped in the 20s on occasion but on the whole it was great. I have it on a 2700+ machine with a gig of mem in dual channel mode.
I have an IBM ThinkPad T41, P-M 1.6, 2x256 PC2700, ATI M-RADEON 9000 32MB (DX8.1), 1400X1050 LCD, WIN XP Pro SP2. My Dad has a T40, P-M 1.5, 2X256 PC2100, ATI M-RADEON 7500 32MB (DX7.0), 1024X768 LCD, WIN 2K Pro SP4. Both use the same latest ATI drivers and DX9.0c software drivers. I have completed HL2 on both computers. I can say without hesitation that, IF POSSIBLE, upgrade to the Mobility Radeon 9000. On both computers I played with everything turned on to the highest settings, except for shadows and reflections, which HL2 does not allow you to turn up on DX7.0 hardware. My recommendation is based on the difference in visual quality, as explained in this AnandTech article. The reduced draw distances are especially bad, as in a lot of open air scenes the 3D world will be cut off by white walls, and some times you can not see the combine until they are very close. If you want to upgrade to increase the speed of the game, then the only solution would be to run the game at a lower resolution, as the bottlenecks are the FSB, AGP and PC2100, i.e. the I/O bandwidth between the individual components, and the not the actual components themselves. Individually each can easily process the 2.3 Mega Pixels your display requires, but pushing that across these laptop interfaces at 60 fps is just not possible.
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