minimum system requirements

[uncadonego]

I'm getting 6 frames per second, maybe 24 if I walk into a corner and stare at a wall.

AluminumHaste recommends I get a new rig

 

presario, AMD Athlon 3400+, 1.81Gig processor, XP SP3, ATI 9000 Pro 128Mb vid

 

 

It just ain't cutting it. If I get another rig, what would you recommend as a safe minimum set of specs?

 

OOPS: sorry.......forgot. 2 gig 'o ram. And yes, AGP 2.0

Edited August 26, 2010 by uncadonego

[Komag]

You just need a new vid card, for now, that's all. The 9000 is a VERY old and wimpy card. You could even just up it to a 9800 for very very cheap and would improve things a TON, or get an old Geforce 6800GT or so for similar price range

[Mortem Desino]

Yes, your graphics card right now is the biggest crutch to your system. My old desktop worked quite well with a Radeon 9600 Pro, and the 9800 is another little step up.

 

The next crutch would be RAM count. If you have less than 1 GB, it's time to upgrade.

[Xarg]

One thing to keep in mind is, if your hardware is that old, you are probably running 1-2 standards behind the norm currently.

 

By standards I mean:

 

Your graphics card is probably AGP - the norm is PCI-E

Your ram is probably ddr1 - the norm is ddr2 becoming ddr3 (if it isn't already ddr3)

Your processor sounds like a single core - the norm is dual cores and will soon be quad cores

 

What I'm getting at here, is it might be cheaper to do a full system replacement. A couple of years ago I was in a similar boat, and wanted to upgrade to a AGP radeon HD 3460 or something, I don't remember exactly which. It was going to be something like 350-400 dollars. For 650, I bought a new case, power supply, hard drive, core2duo processor, 3 gigs of ram, new motherboard, and a geforce 8600gt PCI-E. Obviously those prices are in NZD so it won't be as high for USD, and it might be much cheaper than that if you're comfortable building your own computer from scratch, but my advice would be to take a good look at how much a new AGP card is, and how much a full new system is with ddr2/ddr3 and pci-e hardware standards, you, like me, might up pleasantly surprised, and paying a bit extra for a completely new system.

[uncadonego]

I'm looking at $100.00 or less for an upgrade to my AGP card, plus I'd get a new power supply. My current supply is only 250W.

[aidakeeley]

Well you probably aren't going to find a power supply that cheap unless you buy a cheap PS ...and you do not want to do that, I promise.

 

I would say buy one of those cards recommended here. And save what's left for a piecemeal system. A whole new system asap, that is; but for now take the recommended VC upgrade route.

Edited August 26, 2010 by aidakeeley

[uncadonego]

Are OCX power supplies considered reliable? How about ULTRA? Corsair? Because there are some decent deals on them right now.

[nbohr1more]

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102814

 

HD 3650 AGP (should be a BIG jump from the 9000)

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102851

 

HD 4650 AGP (about the best price for performance AGP card... you may be able to find a deal out there and get for less than the 3650)

 

These are both mutant PCI-E to AGP cards so there may be some driver issues or motherboard compatibility issues (BIOS updates usually help). I have the 4650 AGP but it's paired with a weaker Intel P4 3.0ghz CPU.

 

The gold standards for quality AGP would be an nVidia 7600GT or 7950GT but they are way overpriced for their performance segment these days... (You cant really find them new anywhere). If you are switching to Linux they are an excellent choice, but either one would be above your $100 budget.

 

OCX has OK supplies. Most people will say Antec but those are pricey. As long as you dont get an ATI HD 3850 or nvidia 7950GT any 400w supply should work

Edited August 26, 2010 by nbohr1more

[Bikerdude]

Are OCX power supplies considered reliable? How about ULTRA? Corsair? Because there are some decent deals on them right now.

 

Ive had various OCZ ( I assume thats what you meant) power supplies and the Q/A isnt upto snuff, so avoid. Corsairs customer support is now what it should be so take your views on them. Ultra never heard of.

 

I have a Nexus (RX-1K) atm and its been solid from day one and they have massive support in the UK and europe. And the reason I chose it, re:- my old PSU replies over at ttlg is as follows -

 

Multi year warranty - this is std these days though.

Single 12v rail - far more robust & less susceptible to voltage droop - great for pc reliablity/oc-ability.

80+% efficiency - in the middle of the power curve where most psu's spend most of thier time.

Silent single fan - in my case a large 13.5cm single fan, even under full load I can hear it.

Modular - great for keep the inside of the pc tidy.

Active PFC & Overvoltage/shortcircuit protection - also fairly std these days.

 

the smallest single 12v rail PSU they do is the 530w - link

Edited August 26, 2010 by Bikerdude

[Komag]

Or just order from eBay a nice used GeForce 6800 for $15-20 or so, and save spending $400 right now

[SneaksieDave]

Bingo ^ That's what I did for three of my systems (one 6800, and two 7600s)

[uncadonego]

I checked one of my old rigs, and it has a Dynex 400W power supply, so if a card recommends it, I guess I could switch out the 250W in this rig for that one. Are Dynex OK?

 

Here are the cards I'm looking at....

 

http://www.tigerdire...&Sort=0&Recs=10

 

 

 

And this is the one AluminumHaste (in his Haste, he forgot the "i" in Aluminium, hence, I guess AluminumHaste) is liking.....

 

 

http://www.tigerdire...6197&CatId=2234

 

I'd be OK if the Dynex is an OK power supply. Note if you click the "more info" button, one of the specs is minimum wattage for the power supply. This one recommends 400W.

 

Maybe get one of the GeForce? I've casually read here and there that there are some issues with ATI and the mod.

Edited August 26, 2010 by uncadonego

[nbohr1more]

Geforce\nVidia is best for Doom 3 for AGP users... If you can find them...

 

 

The best "new" AGP cards at retail are the ATI 46xx series.

 

 

Oh... those 6200's at TigerDirect are a bit weak if that's what your asking... (but better than your current card)... You'd want a 6600 at least.

Edited August 27, 2010 by nbohr1more

[SneaksieDave]

Quite weak, yes. Bottom of the line for that series. I've learned during the upgrade process that for nvidia, the initial digit (6 in this case) is the series (4000, 5000, 6000 etc) and the second digit (2 in this case), the member number of the series, places it in the family in terms of power. A 6800 is not just a bit, but actually much more powerful than a 6200. In some cases, from comparison charts I've read, a low member number will even place it below previous series high member numbers (e.g., a 5200 having poorer performance than a 4600).

[lost_soul]

I agree with the guys who said to just try and build/get a new system. Buying anything AGP these days just seems like "beating a dead horse". The AGP cards are usually more expensive than the PCI-E counterparts, and so is DDR 1 memory. My backup machine has an Athlon 3200+ with 1.2 GB of ram and a 7600GS. Though TDM is playable, some missions like NHAT3 make this thing beg for mercy at about 10-15 FPS.

 

I also have a P4 3 GHZ with a gig of RAM and a Geforce 6200 that I was given for free. That gets about 5-6 FPS in the same area, so I would stay away from NVIDIA's low-end parts. I'm not a big graphics fanatic: 640x480 is good enough for me. I tend to get annoyed when FPS drops below 20 or 15 though.

[Baddcog]

I can understand the desire for a cheap quick upgrade, but as stated you can build a pretty decent rig from New Egg fairly cheaply and instead of getting slightly better performance in TDM you'd get much better performance all around. Plus you'll be future upgrade ready.

 

But if you just upgrade, I have an ATI card and haven't really had any issues that I can attribute to it over the nvidia card I had. The Nvidia 8600GTS was actually fairly laggy in a few games. (My ATI 5850 is quite an upgrade but still, I think the only real issue is making sure you have a good driver and catalyst AI turned off).

 

And since you're gonna start mapping for TDM you'll probably be using it alot

[uncadonego]

The best "new" AGP cards at retail are the ATI 46xx series.

 

I made a mistake in my original post. The 9000 is only 64Mb.

Anyway, I ordered the HD 4650. With the rebate it's only 80 bucks, and like I said I have a 400W PSU in another rig. Even if it doesn't help, at least it's only 80 bucks to find out.

[nbohr1more]

Congrats on your purchase. I think you'll find that card is a nice boost. Lemme know how NHAT 3/3 and Betrayal run. (I love having FPS results to compare).

[uncadonego]

No problem, but it may take me a while. AluminumHaste suggested I play them in order to get a feel for the game and at the same time see the progressive improvements in editing.

[lost_soul]

I too am interested in what results you get. I was under the impression that performance is very CPU dependent too, because the number of AIs added to a map can really bog things down.

 

EDIT: Now I have my eye on this $500 kit. It is a Phenom x6 1050T, 4 gigs of ddr3, 650 watt PSU, and all I would need to get is a decent video card. I have a spare HDD here. How does this look?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.473044

Edited August 29, 2010 by lost_soul

[uncadonego]

I too am interested in what results you get. I was under the impression that performance is very CPU dependent too, because the number of AIs added to a map can really bog things down.

 

Yes, AluminumHaste warned me that a vid card in itself may not help much for that very reason. He ultimately suggested just getting a new rig. I'm just giving this a shot. I haven't got my shipment yet though, hopefully tomorrow.

Edited August 31, 2010 by uncadonego

[AluminumHaste]

I checked one of my old rigs, and it has a Dynex 400W power supply, so if a card recommends it, I guess I could switch out the 250W in this rig for that one. Are Dynex OK?

 

Here are the cards I'm looking at....

 

http://www.tigerdire...&Sort=0&Recs=10

 

 

 

And this is the one AluminumHaste (in his Haste, he forgot the "i" in Aluminium, hence, I guess AluminumHaste) is liking.....

 

 

http://www.tigerdire...6197&CatId=2234

 

I'd be OK if the Dynex is an OK power supply. Note if you click the "more info" button, one of the specs is minimum wattage for the power supply. This one recommends 400W.

 

Maybe get one of the GeForce? I've casually read here and there that there are some issues with ATI and the mod.

 

Those are just the cards I picked EDIT: after looking through the prices, you sent me the tigerdirect link remember? I was just looking on the same site.

So which did you end up getting?

 

Also it's only Aluminium in Europe, in North America it's Aluminum =D

[uncadonego]

So which did you end up getting?

 

The ATI HD 4650. It's being shipped from the U.S. I should get it in another day or two.

[AluminumHaste]

The ATI HD 4650. It's being shipped from the U.S. I should get it in another day or two.

 

Nice! that should be a HUGE upgrade, you were probably also getting huge lag from the frame buffer being so small (64 MB) on your old card.

Although, just out of curiosity, what is the price difference between the HD 4650 AGP and the HD 4650 PCIe?

[uncadonego]

Well, with the rebate it's about 80 bucks, but the PCIe version has so many different companies using the card it depends on what brand you buy. The price depending on what tweak of the Radeon HD 4650 PCIe you buy ranges from 63 bucks to 188 bucks. I got the XFX version, and it's PCIe counterpart from the same supplier is 75 bucks, but no rebate is being offered. I guess I hit a little serendipity spot there.

 

Addendum:

 

Hey, BTW, I don't have Catalyst installed on my comp, just the ATI Display Driver. When I get my new card and install the new driver before putting the card in the slot, will it cause problems if I don't uninstall this display driver?

Should I uninstall this display driver, install the new display driver, then shut down and change cards? Or is leaving the old driver until later no big deal?

Edited September 1, 2010 by uncadonego