What to upgrade?

H

hellocomputer

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
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I'm looking to update my computer so that I can run F.E.A.R. better.

I've got:

Pentium 4 2.4Ghz Socket 478 Northwood
1 GB PC2100 Ram
Geforce FX 5900 Asylum (AGP)
ASUS P4P800 Motherboard
40 GB 5500rpm Hard drive

I don't have the money to upgrade all my stuff to PCI-express. I was thinking of replacing the video card with a 6600 GT. Any suggestions?
 
batmanwcm said:
The 6600gt will give you the best performance boost for the money.
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You wont see a HUGE difference with the 5900 and 6600gt.. I would go for a 6800gs.
 
I don't want to spend to much money on an AGP card since it's becoming obsolete. Is the 6600 GT good enough for F.E.A.R on my computer?
 
i say you wait it out a little till you have the money to change to pcie and get a good pcie video card along with an AMD processor until then i wouldnt bother upgrading
 
Well I got F.E.A.R. today. It plays and looks like crap on my Geforce 5900. Guess I'm going with the 6600 GT. Are the 256 MB GTs better than 128MB ones? I've heard some say the 256 MB cards are a marketing ploy.
 
For playing FEAR anything that you can get away with (more memory on the video card, and your system) will help.

I'd suggest getting a 6800, it doesn't have to be a GT. If your motherboard supports it go from your 1GB of 2100 to 2 GB of 3200. Can be Corsair Value Select or known manufacturer's "value" line.

I played FEAR on my 6800 GT OC, 1.5GB of "value" ram, a AMD 64 3000+ on everything high (except for shadows) and it was acceptable. Resolution was set to 1280x1024..if you run it lower you can better performance but I did have instances where it would drop down below 25 fps. You can't help it that game is a monster.
 
It doesn't even make sense why the game runs so slow. It seems to have less physics than Half-Life 2 and about the same shading as Far Cry (both of which ran just fine on what I have). I've read reviews saying how scary this game is but all I've seen so far are soldiers and this ridiculously modeled character straight out of "The Ring".
 
i would go with faster ram first, because a faster gpu might not do anything because the gpu might have to wait for the ram. I run a amd 2400 at 2.3 ghz 420 fsb with 3200 ram (basically) and a 6600gt and i run fear flawlessly on medium settings 1280X1024. and medium looks goods enough.
 
There is alot of reason it runs slower than HL2.

First is the higher poly count. Then you have the gratuitous use of shadows everywhere. The larger textures and wait until you get inside the coporate building. Once you start shooting frantically at everything you're computer will come to a crawl with all the particles flying around.

Can't really compare both games. And yes Half Life 2 ran way better with that set up than FEAR.
 
hellocomputer said:
It doesn't even make sense why the game runs so slow. It seems to have less physics than Half-Life 2 and about the same shading as Far Cry (both of which ran just fine on what I have). I've read reviews saying how scary this game is but all I've seen so far are soldiers and this ridiculously modeled character straight out of "The Ring".
Click to expand...

No, it does not have the same level of shaders as FarCry. F.E.A.R. has some of the most beautiful shaders in a computer game thus far. Espeically late in the game...
 
You cant compare HL2 or CSS to FEAR. Fear is one of the high end games out currently along with cod2. BF2 used to be but now with the 7800 and 7900 out its not really a problem as i said before i suggest you get a 7900gt itll handle just about anything you throw at it.
 
crazymonkee84 said:
You cant compare HL2 or CSS to FEAR. Fear is one of the high end games out currently along with cod2. BF2 used to be but now with the 7800 and 7900 out its not really a problem as i said before i suggest you get a 7900gt itll handle just about anything you throw at it.
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You can't put a 7900GT in an AGP mobo...
 
It's an AGP 8x motherboard. My Geforce 5900 tries to run it at 1024 X 768 but in some areas of F.E.A.R. it just turns into a slide show. I didn't want to throw more than $200.00 into the machine since it's not a PCI-express.
 
I personally wouldn't suggest any AGP cards for FEAR, but that doesn't help :(
 
schonsnow said:
i would go with faster ram first, because a faster gpu might not do anything because the gpu might have to wait for the ram. I run a amd 2400 at 2.3 ghz 420 fsb with 3200 ram (basically) and a 6600gt and i run fear flawlessly on medium settings 1280X1024. and medium looks goods enough.
Click to expand...

What ^ said. If you wait to upgrade to PCIe, you'll be upgrading mb/video_card/ram/cpu, and it will be WAY more than $200. Like others (many, many--HINT HINT) have posted, FEAR runs fine on medium settings with a 6600gt AGP card and faster ram. Easiest and cheapest upgrade.
 
cyks said:
I personally wouldn't suggest any AGP cards for FEAR, but that doesn't help :(
Click to expand...

Given that ATI cards generally handle FEAR *much* better than nVidia cards, and still have plenty of AGP models, that may not be good advice.

X800XTs in AGP can be found for around that price point - now and then - and perform VERY well in FEAR.

Indeed, even X800XLs do, and those are easy to find in AGP at that price point.
 
O my bad he said he doesnt have hte money heh i thoguht he said i have the money woops well then scratch my thought
 
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