I'm Cheap. an den...

Ok, I was a huge fan of Halflife1 when it came out and im pretty excited over 2 coming out pretty soon, only thing is, I want a system that will be able to run it decently.

Goal:
to Run Half-life 2 and CS:Source at Full Details@1024x768(dont care about AA/AF) at an absolute Minimum of 30 FPS, anything higher than that I Dont care.
This has to be done while spending the least amount of money as possible, Don't care about upgradeability

Current System(that's just not cutting it)
CPU: AthlonXP 2000+ (palmino core)
GPU: Radeon 9500np
RAM: 1x512mb pc2100 cheap ram
mobo: Asus a7v266-c

So? How cheap can we do this? upgrade the cpu and gpu? put more ram in? start over with a new mobo? reuse some old hardware? What do you guys think(help a poor college student out)?

I'm assuming by the name of that motherboard, it only supports 266 bus speeds? If that is the case, I would probably upgrade that too...

I'd go with a Shuttle nForce2 Ultra 400 (Like 54 bucks or something from newegg)

A Mobile Athlon XP 2400+ (Barton core, unlocked multipliers, will most likely overclock to and beyond 2.2 ghZ (3200+))

Up the ram to PC3200, 512 should be enough, just needs to be quicker so it can run 1:1 with a 400 mhZ FSB processor, like the 3200+ (ebay the old ram or something)

Overclocked that video card yet? If so, how much? What mods are done to it? If no overclocking has been done, I'd find out what it can do before replacing it. Might be able to get some decent speeds out of it. If not, a 9800 pro is calling your name (128 meg).

On an extreme budget, I would replace that 2000+ with a mobile 2400+, and see what you can overclock it to sticking with a 266 mhZ FSB. Then slap some cheap cooling on that 9500np (Ram sinks, and a P4 heat sink + fan)


Just my two cents (USD)

If you are as poor as I am, then I would suggest you wait until you get the game and see what it runs like before you start buying stuff, you may be pleasantly surprised.

halflife 2 adjusts to your video card eg it switches to the video cards direct x level so a gf4mx would run it at dx7 while a gf4ti4600 would get dx8 then all the newer cards run at 9. So you could technically just upgrade the stock ram you have. and see what CPUs your current motherboard supports and get a decent priced one. (in your range of course) and you should be set with your vid card. I mean my comp in my sig has frames anywhere from 30-120 due to the fact i run 1024 w/ full detail and 2x aa and 4x ani.

Alright, Which is the better gaming(NOW) choice

getting nforce2 mobo
getting 512 pc3200
getting athlong-xp Mobile 2400 Overclock to 3200
getting geforce 6800 NU 128bit
=$400ish

OR

Keeping existing setup (above) an den...

getting geforce 6800 GT
getting athlong-xp Movile 2400 Overclock to 3200
=$400ish

??.?

bump


any ideas guys?

My personal opinion is that you'd be better off getting the more rounded upgrade, with the ram, new MB, new processor, and new video card. If you put a really high end vid card into the setup you have, with your current ram, it'd probably make a horrible bottleneck.

This is what PC Gamer suggests, for about $999 or less get:

CPU: 2GHz P4 or AMD equivalent
RAM: 512MB (1GB if you can afford it)
Graphics Card: ATI 9600 Pro 128 MB (or GeForce FX 5700 128MB)

I would either build a new budget system with say an AMD 2800+, 1 gb pc3200, and a 6800 NU, or I would follow Major A's advice and see how it runs first. If it didnt run well enough and u wanted to save money you could buy simply the video card (9800 Pro or 6800 NU) and pop it in and see if it helps. Then if that didnt, build the new system using the new gfx card u just bought and put your old card back in your old comp.

For a cheap AMD 64 setup i estimate
2800+ =140
AMD 64 nforce 3 mobo = 100
1 GB pc3200 = 150
6800 NU = 275
CASE = 75
80 GB HD = 60
DVD Rom 30
Total 800-875 not including monitor or acessories
Your other setup would be over 400 and not worth the money IMO, I would just spend more and get the full system, or save and just get a 9800 Pro. But at least wait for benchies to give you an idea of what to expect. Hope this helps.