Upgrading my PC for Half-Life 2 and other games question.

[commOdog]

Specs now:

Dell Dimension 8200
2.4Ghz P4 @ 400 mhz bus
640mb Rdram pc800
GFti4200 w/64mb ram

My motherboard will only support a 2.6 CPU, so I don't think $270.00 for a 200mhz increase is worth it.

SO my question is: If i spend the money on a ATI 9800 pro, will I get decent performance in Half-life 2 and other games for another year or so? I really don't have the money to do a full rebuild right now and must work with what i got to the best of my ability. Any ideas welcome.

Thanks

 

[NFS4]

How about waiting for HL2 to come out before making a decision...

 

[buleyb]

Nah, just preorder hardware that will be released in 2 years and by the time you get it installed, HL2 might be on the shelves

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: NFS4
How about waiting for HL2 to come out before making a decision...

Exactly. no one knows how well that combo will run with a HL2 engine that's anywhere from 6 - 12 months newer than what was tested last year.

Unless there is a game that's not running well for you now you should save your money and not buy any graphics card until you need it.

 

[Dman877]

Remember how quake3 ran on state-of-the-art hardware when it was released? If you had a GeForce1 back then, you could run it at 1024/768 with medium details and get low framerates in the the 20's in big battles and open maps. Well a 3gig w/9800 XT is prolly gonna be slow in both HL2 and D3 so don't bother upgrading, that's my advice.

 

[commOdog]

well, i can run most games with good frame rates with all details set about midway in the games, if i crank them up, then it bogs down.

Far Cry Demo is a good example

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: NFS4
How about waiting for HL2 to come out before making a decision...

 

[BD2003]

Based on the alpha, Id say youre already fine. If you absolutely must max everything out, then youll have to be on the bleeding edge of everything.

 

[Tom]

Your computer would benefit from a faster video card, even with games already available.

 

[txxxx]

Originally posted by: Dead Parrot Sketch
Your computer would benefit from a faster video card, even with games already available.

Most games run fine on my own Ti4200 (clocked up) so it can stay for now.

 

[boran]

man, I got about the same specs as you (check sig) and I'll definetly stay put for quite some time, maybe I'll upgrade vidcard around summer, but no really big upgrades till BTX your 4200 handles every game just fine (well the ones I play at least) maybe not with all bells and whistles, but the only card that's faster is the 9800 and that is such an expensive card (for the relative performance increase) that it's just not worth it. stay put untill u really must upgrade (games get too slow)
and never upgrade for something. because only god knows when HL2 will arrive.

 

[Overkast]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: NFS4
How about waiting for HL2 to come out before making a decision...

Exactly. no one knows how well that combo will run with a HL2 engine that's anywhere from 6 - 12 months newer than what was tested last year.

Unless there is a game that's not running well for you now you should save your money and not buy any graphics card until you need it.

Ditto!

I especially don't understand why anyone bought the 256MB Radeon 9800's when they first came out after it was discovered you can't harness their power until HL2 (most likely)... by then, people will have used up 1 out the 3-years of warranty that came with their cards!

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Overkast

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: NFS4
How about waiting for HL2 to come out before making a decision...

Exactly. no one knows how well that combo will run with a HL2 engine that's anywhere from 6 - 12 months newer than what was tested last year.

Unless there is a game that's not running well for you now you should save your money and not buy any graphics card until you need it.

Ditto!

I especially don't understand why anyone bought the 256MB Radeon 9800's when they first came out after it was discovered you can't harness their power until HL2 (most likely)... by then, people will have used up 1 out the 3-years of warranty that came with their cards!

Warranty? What's that...In three years it will be a boat anchor anyway.

 

[EeyoreX]

How about waiting for HL2 to come out before making a decision...

A few months ago people were asking this same question in preparation for the "imminent release" of this and Doom III. Now people feel silly for upgrading just for a game, as they will be able to get the same, or most likely better, hardware for far less money. Save some money, wait for the game to see if you need to upgrade. If so (even if not) get the best available hardware at that time, for a better price.

\Dan

 

[JEDI]

p3 1.1Ghz
512megs ram
gf4 4200 64megs

(See my Heatwave. I put a link to my specs there cause I had no room in my Sig.)

I'm playing Max Payne2 at 1280x1024 with 2xAA/8xAF, it runs at 24fps which is the BARE minimum for me. at heavy firefights, it slows to the mid teens.

I plan to upgrade everything and just keep the case and hd when hf2 comes out. but i'm waiting till they announce it goes GOLD b4 i even spend a single penny on new hardware.

as for your system OP, if you're not having problems now just wait. when it does come out, buy the best-bang-buck video card at that time. if my gf4 4200 is choking on max payne2 now, then no way will it handle hf2 with the bell/whistles no matter what mobo/chip i have.

all your other specs should be fine even at 1280x1024 with 2xAA/8xAF.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: Overkast

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: NFS4
How about waiting for HL2 to come out before making a decision...

Exactly. no one knows how well that combo will run with a HL2 engine that's anywhere from 6 - 12 months newer than what was tested last year.

Unless there is a game that's not running well for you now you should save your money and not buy any graphics card until you need it.

Ditto!

I especially don't understand why anyone bought the 256MB Radeon 9800's when they first came out after it was discovered you can't harness their power until HL2 (most likely)... by then, people will have used up 1 out the 3-years of warranty that came with their cards!

Warranty? What's that...In three years it will be a boat anchor anyway.

Hah. boat anchor

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: NFS4
How about waiting for HL2 to come out before making a decision...

 

[ViciouS]

Half Life 2? ha ha ha! Buy dual Intel Extreme 3.2ghz processors, 4gigs of the most expensive Ram you can find and a PNY QUADRO FX 3000G 256MB. Send me all your credit cards they will be safe with me. THEN GO INTO YOUR BOMB SHELTER make sure you bring enough food to last you 2 or 3 years. After playing half life for the first 10 minutes, come out of the bomb shelter and you should have enough time to watch Olsen twins show a boob on the 2006 Superbowl half time show. This out does Janet Jackson?s 1 boob incident by exposing 2 boobs. 2 boobs = 1 rack

 

[imported_Phil]

What?

 

[EeyoreX]

What?

Exactly...

????

\Dan

 

[high]

Ahhh I though ti twas funny Vicious....by the way I would love to slam Janet Jackson