Will I be able to play HL2 @ 1024x768 with these specs?

[SonicIce]

I just tried 1024x768 4xAA/8xAF. The framerate in some areas was a constant 35fps, but with AA off you would get 50fps. To each his own.

 

[Crescent13]

I play HL2 on my 6600GT OCed to 585/1220 at 1280x1024 with 16xAF and it runs perfectly smooth. 4xAA starts to push it a bit, 8xAA is simply unplayable. (this is at the same resolution with 16xAF)

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: RobertR1

Originally posted by: nitromullet
From my experience, you will get stuttering pretty much no matter what you own. I got stuttering on my P4 3.4/1GB/6800GT rig, and I get stuttering with my current rig. It's a known issue with HL2, and one that doesn't seem to have a "throw more hardware at it" fix. Some people never get the stuttering, and those that do can't seem to get rid of it. Not sure why this is, but it is kind of a shame because HL2 is one of the best games out there IMO.

I noticed stuttering on my x1800xt when I turn on 6xAAA and 16HQ AF with AI at advanced. It's actually in CS:S. The model movement stutters. The guys skip around the nades seems to trail. What's weird is that the FPS stay high. At 4x AAA, this seems to go away but the FPS is around the same.

In BF2, no such isses.

The stuttering I'm talking about is not a video card issue as far as I can tell. HL2 stutters on occasion right before scripted events take place. I actually have a save point that I have played from over a dozen times (good spot for IQ testing), and the stuttering happens at exactly the same points everytime I go through the same sequence. I set the cpu affinity, which helped a bit, but it still has the stutter.

How can it be game of the year if you can't play it smoothly? I have seen conflicting opinions and has me even more confused! I want to be able to play this game smooth, but from what you guys say, its a hit and miss type thing. Does the stuttering make that big of an impact on the game?

Honestly, no it doesn't. Since the stutter generally happens right before a scripted event, it doesn't interfere with the event itself. I also tend to notice the stutter more on parts that I am very familiar with (and can go through quickly). On the first time though, if you are somewhat into the game and not just running through it, you probably won't be bothered by the stutter very much. At least, this is my experience with HL2. Even with this issue, HL2 is my favorite PC shooter to date.

Edit: It never stutters for me in multiplayer, which is another reason I don't think it's a video card issue.

 

[SonicIce]

Originally posted by: Crescent13
I play HL2 on my 6600GT OCed to 585/1220 at 1280x1024 with 16xAF and it runs perfectly smooth. 4xAA starts to push it a bit, 8xAA is simply unplayable. (this is at the same resolution with 16xAF)

once again man, nice overclock :beer:

 

[NoStateofMind]

Anyone have screenshots of HL2 with and without AA & AF ? I would appreciate that very much!

 

[Steelski]

man wants non crazy res for HL2.
I know that most people are throwing things into the equasion.
get any card for this game that is a
X800(better than x800gt)
x800GT(better than 6600 for budget and image quality)
X800GTO (overclocks nice)
X800GTO2 (overclocks very nice)
X800pro
X800xl
X800XT
X850 pro
X850XT
X1600pro/XT
6800GS
6800GT/ultra

they should all be able to offer you smooth gameplay with high AA
I have a card that is lower than all of these. The 9800pro but am able to play with 4xaa(most of the time) at 10x7 res
try to get a card with 256mb ram.
1 gig (system ram) will improve performance

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
Anyone have screenshots of HL2 with and without AA & AF ? I would appreciate that very much!

No AA/AF Bilinear

No AA/AF Trilinear

4x AAA/16x AF

These images are uncompressed jpegs @1680x1050, so they aren't small. Make sure you expand them to the full size to make an IQ comparison.

 

[SonicIce]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
Anyone have screenshots of HL2 with and without AA & AF ? I would appreciate that very much!

No AA/AF

4x AAA/16x AF

These images are uncompressed jpegs @1680x1050, so they aren't small. Make sure you expand them to the full size to make an IQ comparison.

how do you make an uncompressed jpeg? thats not fair theres no trilinear in the no aa/af one

 

[VIAN]

I'm changing my position from X850 Pro.

The reason is that I remembered that I couldn't do over 4xAF without a framerate drop when I looked at water with my X800 Pro.

So my recommendation is to get either a 7800GT or a X1800 XL.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: SonicIce

how do you make an uncompressed jpeg? thats not fair theres no trilinear in the no aa/af one

The images are not re-sized or compressed to be more web friendly. I think you can do that stuff with Photoshop... Maybe not... I'm a gamer... I don't know a ton about image manipulation. Just wanted to clarify that the screenies had not been messed with.

You're right about the trilinear, guess I got a little carried away with making the IQ look bad (it really worked quite well though). Anyway, I added one with trilinear as well.

 

[thejetsaddict]

This is amazing............I have a leadtek 6600gt oc to 610 1.15v 1GIG OCZ and a *cough*p4 3.0*Cough*

I dont have nearly as much success as some of you with similar or even worse set ups.
In short I would like to take my machine and smash it against the wall when I try to play CS. 1024x768 is just barely playable wih around 60 fps and drops to about 20 sometimes. This is with no AA or AF on. I even had to lower some of the detail settings just to be able to play smoothly. So all I can say is my next build will involve an AMD64 and no more Leadtek products as I have been dissapointed to many times with them. In the mean time I am trying to snake a 7800gtx out of my dad for xmas (good luck to me).

 

[Steelski]

Originally posted by: thejetsaddict
This is amazing............I have a leadtek 6600gt oc to 610 1.15v 1GIG OCZ and a *cough*p4 3.0*Cough*

I dont have nearly as much success as some of you with similar or even worse set ups.
In short I would like to take my machine and smash it against the wall when I try to play CS. 1024x768 is just barely playable wih around 60 fps and drops to about 20 sometimes. This is with no AA or AF on. I even had to lower some of the detail settings just to be able to play smoothly. So all I can say is my next build will involve an AMD64 and no more Leadtek products as I have been dissapointed to many times with them. In the mean time I am trying to snake a 7800gtx out of my dad for xmas (good luck to me).

I am really sorry to hear that.

 

[VIAN]

If you just want AA though, I'm sure a X850Pro will do the job.