Upgrading on the cheap

[FragFailure]

I have a three year old system.

2.8 GHZ P4 blah blah. You get the general idea. I got a nice deal at Fry's (I think.) I got a piece of 1 GB Crucial (who rated well on New Egg) memory (my mo-bo isn't dual channel) for $50. My memory is now 1.5 (512 & 1GB.) I upgraded my vid card from the ATI 9600XT (128MB) to the GForce7600 GS AGP (IE: Old Board) with 512MB. It was marked down from $180 to $99.

It's a good band-aid until being able to get a new mo-bo and proc.

Feedback?

[John Doe]

Should be able to run TF2 with that, tweak the video settings way down though.

[gator]

From the default settings that TF2 chooses for that card (I have a 256MB PCI-e 7600GS), I turned off Antialiasing and HDR. I'm able to run TF2 at 1680x1050 reasonably well.

Granted, the default options for 7600GS aren't the maximum to start with. It still looks great though.

[Gen.Ben]

I can run TF2 with a crappy X1300 @ 1200x800 and get 35 FPS with HDR off. Its defiantly playable, but I like 50+ which is why I need a new video card.

Frag, that upgrade should hold you over until you can get a complete system overhaul. Cya on TF2!

[FragFailure]

I try to keep my res lower. I'm more worried about FPS than anything graphic fluff.

[Dog]

I run an ATI XT850 PCI-e which is old by today's standards. I get 50-80fps at 1280 x 1024 with HDR turned off (only coz I hate HDR)

[Simple]

I have the card above that Frag and I get 90 FPS in game. Mines a dinosour as well. Well it's only a couple years old, but yesterdays computer is outdated 2 hours ago. I have the 7800 gs oc 256mb card so you should be good. I have everything running on full tilt though as I have 2 gigs of Corsair Dominator XMS Dual channel ram. As for the card though I just freshly did a new install and have no tweaks what so ever on it running it's straight off the driver. To lazy to tweak anything that and it might hurt.

[mujo]

I'm also thinking of slapping a 1 year band-aid on my PC. My system now:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+
2x512mb Corsair XMS DDR 400
ATI x850xt by Saphire

I was thinking of just adding another Gig of RAM to help boost performance for a bit. Can't justify total upgrading as my PC still plays games of today well, and with eye candy on med-high.

[DeafOfficeWorker]

I run TF2 beautifully with P4 3.0Ghz, 2G SDRAM, and x1600 512MB DDR2. I was afraid that my aging comp wouldn't be up to snuff too, but it runs it nicely.

[FragFailure]

From what SilverOne tells me. The code for TF2 is very good. Which would make it much like TFC. I got by on a P3 450 for years with tweaks. I'd get 60 fps in no traffic and about 30 fps in traffic. As long as I get about 70+ fps I'll be happy.

I remember Stutter having a 333 for awhile and getting by.

Even upgrading one memory stick from 512 to 1 gig has done wonders with the cpu. This game will clinch me not getting a PS3, XBox or Wii for some time.

[DeafOfficeWorker]

From looking at your system specs in the first post, Frag, you should be able to run it fine.

[l3eeron]

itll run on low settings Frag

main thing is turn HDR off and run at one of the lower resolutions 1024x768 or even 800x600.

One nice thing is they give you plenty of video options to play with. Im sure you'll find a configuration that'll work.


And I agree with Dog. the HDR suxorz dead goat nads(specially in multiplayer)I like it when I play HL1 single play stuff tho.

[DeafOfficeWorker]

[quote="l3eeron";p="42670"]itll run on low settings Frag
[/quote]

I think it might do better than you think, B. His comp is not too different from mine. I run on high settings at 1280x1024 with HDR disabled (I agree HDR has no place in multiplayer).

I'll verify that when I get home, but I'm pretty sure. Runs smooth and looks great!

[Barrel Bomber]

ive got a 3GHz P4 w/ 512MB of DDR2 SDRAM and a really bad Graphics card (ati radeon xpress 200) any1 got some recomendations for wat i should upgrade for cheap?

[DeafOfficeWorker]

[quote="Barrel Bomber";p="42691"]ive got a 3GHz P4 w/ 512MB of DDR2 SDRAM and a really bad Graphics card (ati radeon xpress 200) any1 got some recomendations for wat i should upgrade for cheap?[/quote]

Easy. More RAM and a better video card. I recommend Crucial RAM. Go to their website, and there's an app you can use to check capability. I think Crucial provides a lot of bang for the buck. If your mobo supports it, I recommend three more sticks of 512.

Go to newegg.com for your video card. Obviously, it will make a difference if you're using an old AGP mobo (like me) or if you have PCIe. I would imagine you could find a good one for about $100 U.S. I recommend a card with a minimum of 256MB GDDR3 or 512MB GDDR2. Make sure the card supports pixel shader v3.0 and dx9.0c.

If you still have cash to spend, pick up a sound card. This takes some of the burden off your RAM and CPU. You can find a Creative Labs gaming sound card for about $30 U.S. (low end). Check newegg.com again.