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Need opinions on a potential new computer

A

Aja

n00b
Joined
Jun 8, 2004
Messages
6
Okay, I have around $1000cdn to spend on a new computer, and I'd like something that'll be able to play the next generation games (of course, Doom3 and Half Life 2 come to mind) at reasonable rates. I'll usually be playing at 1024x786, and full detail would be nice - I'm looking for anywhere in the 40-100fps range - meaning I won't be playing these graphic-intensive games at 1600x1200.

SO - keeping in mind my fairly limited funds, I've done some research and picked out what seems to be a decent system, so let me know what you think - especially: will it run all of the newest, high-tech games that are coming out in the next year or so?

-AMD Athlon XP, either 2800 or 3000, with the 2800 I may get some cooling and overclock it
-Asus A7N 8XE Deluxe
-ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
-PC3200 DDR400 CL2.5 (Kingson)
-Western Digital 120GB 7200rpm hard drive
-Antec Plus 1080 AMG tower with a 430w True-Power supply

Okay, so that's it, now I need some advice on whether or not this will actually do what I'd like it to, which is (what I said above), play the newest games for the next year or so at comfortable frame rates. If there's anything better I can get for the money, or maybe just a bit more money, I would love to hear about it, and what kind of benefits it'll provide.

Thanks for your help!
 
The problem is that none of us can say much about the potential performance of our computers in Doom 3 or HL2 or whatever hasn't come out with a demo or anything yet. Maximum PC had an article a few months back about big games of 2004, and recommended specs for Doom 3 was something like a P4 2.8/Athlon FX-51 class with 2 gigs of RAM, and Nvidia 6800 or ATi R420, while HL2 had recommended P4 2.4Ghz/Athlon64 something with Nvidia 6800 or Radeon 9700 Pro or better. However, that doesn't really get us anywhere.

I'm saying that if you want those kind of frames at 1024x768, you might want a new generation vid card (GeForce 6800 or X800) and for gaming purposes, an Athlon 64.

But it's all I can do, guess. That system will, however, play CURRENT games (you know, ones that are out), well.
 
get yourself an xp-m and Oc it way far. you will not bbe able to have superb details but it will play them no problems. Or you could get a cheap a64 and a x800 pro
 
That system you have there will play all the games for the this year probablly at everything set at high, And play everything for the next year quite easily. I think its all where you want to feel comfortable in your vid card range, but IMO a Radeon 9800 Pro 128 will be plenty enough for both Doom3 and HL2, but we will never know for sure
 
For a cheap solution go with a XP-M 2400+ and overclock it or for higher performance which will cost a bit more i'd get a 2.8c or 3.0c and overclock it. The 3.0c's overclock very well and you should have no trouble getting 3.6Ghz out of the new D1 stepping. Mine performs nicely.
 
Last I heard, Doom3 was somewhat optomized for the Radeon 9600 -- at least, the E3 Alpha that no one is supposed to talk about was d-: So if you have better, your chances are at least pretty good. The alpha ran slow on my current setup, HOWEVER, it is extremely unoptomized overall and inefficient with textures uncompressed and not even packed up in a PAK type file like Id so loves to do. I have confidence that it will run on a Radeon 9600 Pro with a good system (better than mine, but you might be ok already) when the real thing comes out.
 
For certain you'll probably be able to use a Radeon 9600 or lower (unless id's gonna be morons and decide to shut out the 98% of comp users who don't have Radeon 9700s, 9800s,. Geforce 5s or 6s). The only question is: how well will the game run depending on your settings? I'm pretty sure people will try running it on Geforce2s and it'll still run, but it'll look like Doom 1.
 
And it would be nice to be able to turn off dx9 effects in games, for those of us stuck with pre-dx9 gfx cards. Tbh I couldn't care less about pixel bloody shaders, they look nice, but I think that the original UT still has good enough graphics, plus it runs better too on most people's comps (not on these forums though :D, I don't know I single person irl that has more than a P4 2.4 GHz)

Also about the gfx card, I would probably reccomend either a 9600XT or a 9800 Pro. I understand they're pretty cheap in the states (like $200 for a 9800 Pro somewhere), so I would probably plump for the 9800 Pro, as it's more future-proof, but tbh you don't need to fork out for an x800 if you're on a budget. That's what I'm doing with mine.
 
These days, I would not recommend getting anything less than a 9800 Pro if you game. The 9800 Pro is practically a steal now in the States, around $210 for the Sapphire Radeon 9800, and $230 for the ATi version.

I have the 9600XT and it works fine for me since I don't really game anymore (mostly Warcraft 3, but that was a few months back), but when I bought it, it was $200. Now it's around $150, and I'd still recommend the 9800 Pro.
 
That system you have specced out will be just fine for D3/HL2/Far Cry class games @ 1024x768 with high detail at 40 fps+ (but not too much + ;) )

Just dont get your heart set on AA.... ;)
 
Thanks guys, you've been helpful.

As for AA, well, my current rig is an Xbox, so.... ;)
 
Im going to have to say its not going to be able to play a game, such as far cry, at 1280x1024 with full detail while getting 40-100fps......................... im not even sure if the X800 XT can get more then 80fps.

For your budget.... i would have to say your looking at a medium range system. I have never tried HL2, or Doom3 :D but i can venture a guess and say you won't be averaging over 40fps with full detail even at 1280x1024.

As of right now, i recommend going with a AMD64, nice motherboard.... maybe the MSI (nvidia or Via....). and get about 1 gig corsair or kingston DDR400 memory... then a nice little audigy 2 sound card, and a x800 g-card .......... but now your talking about 1500$US (not sure in CND).
 
All I can say for sure is that a 9600 Pro -- at least, in my system -- SUCKS. If Doom 3 is optomized for this thing, it will take practically whatever you throw at it.

I have played Far Cry. I had to set it down to low resolution, kill all FSAA and nearly turn off AF (can't seem to completly shut it off in that game I think) disable all effects like shadows, etc, and then finally it got vaguely close to staying around 30FPS most of the time.

I grabbed Thief 3 almost the moment it came out. The game runs smoothly at 640 with low details, but often when I move the mouse really big it slows to a crawl. Then again, for some reason when I do that, it looks like it just enabled that god-awful "bloom" effect that those people just insist on thinking is good (maybe at 1280 it might be tolerable, but at less it looks about like digitized dog crap.) The thing that SUCKS is I have to lower shadow detail to very very low. I mean, god, this game is part of the thief series. Low lighting and shadow settings ruins half the ambience.


Then again, this is a slow CPU, the memory is being heavily limited all the way down to 145x2 (OCed) and the MB only goes up to AGP 4x. ^_^
 
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