Upgrading for Saints Row 2 (yes, TWO :) )

[ganymede]

I have a fairly old desktop PC that I mostly use for work, and it's doing an excellent job at that. I use it for occasional "retro" gaming (i.e., games as old as or older than the computer 🙂 ), and while I've been putting off an upgrade for a long time, Saints Row 2 absolutely requires it. I'm thinking GPU (details below), but I'm open to suggestions. Budget is approximately 200 USD. I will be buying parts from Hungary, which may limit my options. If you have suggestions, I will get back to you about what's actually available.

Here's what I have now:
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
AMD Athlon64 3000+ S939 cooled by a Thermalright XP-90
2x512MB DDR Infineon 3-3-3-8
Leadtek A6600GT 128MB cooled by a Zalman VF-700Cu
CoolerMaster RealPower 450W
Casetek 1026-9


The minimum and recommended system requirements for Saints Row are:

CPU: 2.0 GHz Dual-Core (Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2), Recommended: 3.2 GHz Dual-Core (Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2)
Memory: 1 GB, Recommended: 2 GB
GPU: 128 MB Card w/Shader Model 3.0 Support (Nvidia GeForce 7600 / ATI Radeon X1300), Recommended: 256 MB Card with Shader Model 3.0 Support (Nvidia GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD3850)


I'm thinking about upgrading the GPU to a HIS Radeon HD4670 IceQ or a Sapphire Radeon HD4650. Here's a quick comparison of them against the recommended HD3850:

HD3850: RV670 GPU @ 668 MHz, 1024 MB GDDR3 @ 500 MHz (256-bit interface)
HD4650: RV730 GPU @ 600 MHz, 1024 MB GDDR2 @ 500 MHz (128-bit interface)
HD4670: RV730 GPU @ 750 MHz, 1024 MB GDDR3 @ 873 MHz (128-bit interface)

All of them support Shader Model 4.1 (DX 10.1).

Will upgrading the GPU run Saints Row 2?

 

[sm625]

A HD4670 meets the minimum but it falls short of the recommended. It should definitely run it though.

You're going to need a new cpu. It says dual core in the minimum requirements. I would get this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-ATHLON-...ore-/140524761092?pt=CPUs&hash=item20b7edb004

If you can actually get it shipped to you...

It is a drop in replacement. Your Thermalright XP-90 should keep it cool enough. I wouldnt expect to be able to overclock it much.

 

[mfenn]

Really, you need three things:
- A better GPU (4670 would be decent)
- A better CPU, sm625 is right that your best bet is to try to find a used Socket 939 Athlon 64 X2 for cheap
- More RAM (2GB total), though you will probably need to buy used since DDR1 is hard to find these days

 

[ViRGE]

Have you ever tried the PC version of Saints Row 2?

It's a complete and utter disaster. It's one of the worst PC ports of this console generation. I wouldn't spend a dime on trying to play it on a PC, it's not worth it.