I finally got Half-Life 2.

[Parker03GT]

The game is great but it's a little choppy gameplay. Also, the load times on it are horrible. Each time the game is loading, I wait (and I'm not kidding) 1-2 minutes. I know my computer isn't exactly the best gaming rig but is this an issue of RAM or video card? If it is the RAM, I'll hold out until I buy a new mobo just so that I can use different RAM than my RDRam. Also, I wouldn't spend more than $200 on a video card, if that is the problem.

[sdkfz]

it is a bit of both, I'd shut down as much as you can to free up resources, and lower the settings in the game.

Signed
"My last two computers were bought specifically to play HL and then HL2"

[flawedreality5]

I wouldn't say it's the video card. I had a 9600xt in my parents Dell 2.4ghz P4 machine with 512mb PC-2100 DDR ram and it ran fairly well. I'd say the processor looks to be the biggest bottleneck. Also, do you have alot of backround programs running?

[(51)]

Its a great game, but get used to "LOADING..." you will see it often.

More memory might speed things up, but I have a gig and still had to wait.

[tigstah]

there was a lil load time...probably 30-40 seconds at most...
great game....aftermath is schedule to be released in april.
also the neil manke they hunger mod is coming out retail later this year (hopefully) cant wait for that.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Your CPU is quite auld.

[Mag00n]

Yea your cpu is really old. Just an old setup in general. My last pc had similiar specs as yours, even teh same ram. Dont waste your money on more RDRAM its still really expensive and no modern boards use it.

My load times are like 10-20seconds just to give you an idea.

[juppy]

Probably your best bet is to do as mentioned above and lower some of the settings, especially in the Video section of the Options area.....like maybe the water reflections, shadows, and model textures. I've been running HL2 on an AMD 1600+ (which is actually a 1.4GHz chip) and a Radeon 7000, and even though the settings are lower the game still looks great IMO, and isn't what I'd call choppy. Yeah, the load times are a pain, but after it's loaded it goes pretty good considering my hardware.
Only real problem I had with it was the auto setup kept recognizing my card as a DX6.0 card instead of DX7 and it made my in-game flashlight not work. Quick fix for that was to just force it to use DX7 with a command line parameter though.
One other thing you might check is to make sure you're running DirectX version 9.0c. I think HL2 comes with it ready to install so it should be on there unless you told it not to install it or something. Won't hurt to run dxdiag just to make sure of your version though.

[Parker03GT]

I never have programs open when I play games. HL2 ran a search and found that I already had the right DirectX version.
I guess it is about time to upgrade though. I just need to get a new mobo, processor, better ram. Would I have to get a new case for the mobo though or would it fit in my Dell tower?

[sdkfz]

Dell tower?

I'd not bother with keeping that. For about 50 US $ you can get a new case and quality power supply. The Dell's PS is likely a lower wattage (just enough for the unit is was installed in) that is not enough for the demands of new PC's plus it will be missing plugs that are now standard for the new motherboards and video cards.

Also - the motherboard is likely a bit of a pain to get in since the Dell is probably not an ATX standard.

At this point, you are basically building a whole new unit so keep the Dell for a linux firewall, back up PC, internet only, hand me down etc.

[flawedreality5]

Originally Posted by sdkfz At this point, you are basically building a whole new unit so keep the Dell for a linux firewall, back up PC, internet only, hand me down etc.

I agree. Don't bother with the Dell system. Unless your desk is short on space or you have nowhere to put the system, then I would rip out the hard drive, optical drives and floppy and reuse them.

[Parker03GT]

Yeah there's not a whole lot that's original Dell equipment in the case now. I guess it's just about time to "think outside of the box." When I'm ready to do so I'll ask for a good mobo / pc case combo.