Is my computer ready for hl2 and doom 3

[Hikaru IchijoSL]

I have an
ati radeon 9700 maybe I will upgrade that to a x800 pro

and 256mb rdram will I be able to survive with 512mb or do I need 1gb

[TpGun2424]

I would go for a gig. The rest of your system specs will help. If you don't have the proc you'll end up with a bottleneck on the x800.

[Hikaru IchijoSL]

I have a 2.4 p4

since a gig of ram for that computer is going to cost $520 should I just build a new computer.


I need many opinions.

[kram 2.0]

I think that your computer will perform fine - the Intel P4 2.4 (presuming its 800 FSB) should perform fine especially with the nice Radeon 9700 in there. I'm presuming it's a non-pro - still a very good card - after all, it's 256-bit. A bit of overclocking, if needed (likelynot), should do it.

The RAM definately needs to be upgraded. I'd recommend 512 for right now, then get the money to get a gig. 512 should work fine IMO, I think.

Hope that helps,
kram

[bigandy]

$520 for a gig!!!

You can get 2 sticks of Kingston Value RAM PC3200 for about $160. And if you wanted some more expensive stuff, like the Corsair XMS, it still wouldn't coust you much more.

[Spartan]

I would build another. If you use parts from the old one you could probably put the new one together for about $900. If you start from scratch you will spend about $1200-1500, but still have the old computer to use how you will. These prices assume you want a gaming oriented computer with not alot of frills. Check www.newegg.com for prices.

-Spartan

[TpGun2424]

If you have the funds it would be a good idea since you want to play the latest games and want an x800pro/xt. The p4 2.4 would likley be a bottleneck with the x800 and it costing $500+ for ram go for a new build. All you will need is a new mobo, proc, ram, and vid card. You should be able to re-use your HDD, but can still get a new one. It then all depends how much you want to spend.

Bigandy he needs rdram not sdram, thats why it cost so much.

[tomster2300]

Isn't rdram practically gone from the market? I would replace your mobo with one that supports DDR ram. This would save money in the long run...$500 for ram is a ridiculous price to have to pay.

The x800 can be preordered at Best Buy for $399 (as of last nignt). I found this amazing since Best Buy is usually a lot higher than anything, esp. Newegg.

Now that I think about it, it might not have been a x800 pro, might have just been an x800. (Do they make non pro x800s?)

[Hikaru IchijoSL]

this is the card http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....9&type=product

[TpGun2424]

That's a good deal from Bes Buy. The only thing I think I've seen better was a few months ago when they had a $100 sale on the 9800Pro.

[tomster2300]

Originally posted by Hikaru IchijoSL this is the card http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....9&type=product

Yep, that's exactly what I saw last night. It is a good deal actually, but I think $400 is still to much -- though it's better than the usual $500-$600 top of the line cards usually are.
(Notice I still game with a geforce 4).

[TpGun2424]

I bet your GeForce4 is better than my 5200.

[BryanMan]

i bet it's even better than 5600, i regret being video card stupid before buying a computer

[BryanMan]

but not to start another conversation, of course

[tomster2300]

Sorry to break it to you, but Geforce 4s outperform most of the FX cards until you get to around FX5700. The FX cards are basically underclocked Geforce 4s with direct x 9 support.

The FX line was just a last attempt by nvidia to squeeze the last bit of money out of the faithful Geforce chips until they made their jump to the 6800 cards.

[mystvearn]

I would rather go with the 6800 GT. Great high end card, not as expansive as the 6800 U

[tomster2300]

Im not recommending buying a Geforce or anything, just showing you why you shouldnt buy a FX card. If you have the money then the x800 pro/xt or the 6800 GT are the cards to get.

If you dont get either then get a Radeon 9800 pro / xt -- but the x800 is going to blow it away once all the new generation pc parts come out and into one computer (ex: pci express, 64 bit processor, etc.)

[tomster2300]

Originally posted by TpGun2424 I bet your GeForce4 is better than my 5200.

Yep

[bigandy]

Originally posted by TpGun2424 Bigandy he needs rdram not sdram, thats why it cost so much.

Ah, now I see why he was saying it was going to cost so much. Didn't register at first. Thanks TpGun.

[TpGun2424]

If you can't afford a high end card you should go with the 9800 Pro. The XTs still as much if not more than the x800 Pro so that would be a very bad buy.

NP bigandy, I do the same thing sometimes.

[Driv33R]

BTW the card from best buy X800 one for 399 does not have DDR 3 ram thats y its so cheap, and geforce fx 5200 is better then GeForce4 it was build with DX 9 in mind unlike geforce 4 hehhehe. NEWEGGG

[nooblark]

System Requirements

From what John Carmack has said the minimum specification for running DOOM 3 will be a:

1000Mhz Athlon/Pentium CPU.
256MB of RAM
GeForce 1 / Radeon 7xxx level of graphics card.

'Full impact' based on some estimates (not official):

1400Mhz Athlon / 1800Mhz Pentium 4 or higher speed CPU.
256MB of RAM + again quite dependant on how memory hungry your OS is.
GeForce 3 (original or Ti 500).

John Carmack long ago (QuakeCon 2001/2002?) said that the GF3/Xbox level of hardware would be full impact, in that dynamic lighting could be enabled and quality would be nearing the maximum, at 30fps and in relatively low resolution (we're talking 640x480).

Current (June/July 2003) high-end systems should be kicking ass:

Athlon XP 3200+ 3.06Ghz Pentium 4
512MB of RAM
Radeon 9800 Pro or GeForce 5900 Ultra

We've got benchmarks showing the kind of performance and we're talking 'good' performance from these kinds of systems, so hi-end today can manage DOOM ok with full on detail and 1024x768 resolution and higher.

Most people today (June/July 2003) have systems in-between 'full impact' and 'kick ass', as we don't have performance numbers you'll have to make a guess as to where your system would lie in-between what we have estimated 'full impact' to be and 'kick ass' systems.

In March 2004 some new requirements coming from a German magazine PCGames Hardware popped up these were totally false and id have denounced them as bogus, they were:

A video card with at least 128MB RAM and Pixel Shader 1.1 support is required for DOOM 3.
A 2.5GHz CPU should be enough for the stencil shadows and physics calculations.

Hope this helps......
-noob

[Hikaru IchijoSL]

Hey Driv33r this is the same card it says here and at ATI website it has gddr3

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4042522