Buck531 Posted January 19, 2005 Report Share Posted January 19, 2005 I can't believe this. I've been out of the loop for 4-5 years on hardware, and I got stupid.. So here goes. I have an Athon 1200 (clocked to 1300). It's been doing ok, but HL-2 SUCKS on it. With the ATI 9600 I got, I'm still getting 20 fps in the game. Now, should I: a: upgrade the processor and if so, how fast can I go on this board? b: get a new mb/cpu.. if so, what should I get (under $150). Any help would be cool. Btw, I already have a gig of ram, and I'm STILL getting crap on Hl-2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excell Posted January 19, 2005 Report Share Posted January 19, 2005 Lazy ass. tongue.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2005 Yep. it just sucks that I don't do hardware at work anymore.. but, what should I do? I've heard it's the CPU that's killing me. But how far can I upgrade this thing? or should I just dump it and get a new mb/processor? Then I have to buy memory.. etc.. ARGG.. I told myself I would NOT upgrade my fucking PC to play a god damn game.. but damnit, this is a good game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMeanGreen Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 HL2 is a DirectX 9.0 based program. 9.0 utilizes the video card more than it does the CPU. Buy a better video card, even though you'll still be band-aiding the problem. Ultimately get a new mobo/CPU. You can now pick up a micro ATX board with AGP and Sempron CPU for $100. Check Micro Center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drunkendubber Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 for how fast your processor is, unless you have bought a new mobo in the last few years, i have to ask... do you have a 4x maximum AGP slot? if so that is why your fps are down because the bandwidth is not what it could be. I would get online and just get a new board for your current proc. you can get upto a 2600 xp with that style board also and they are relatively cheap. Check out that 1st. If you have 8x make sure its enabled in the bios. just my drunken idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
still2hi Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 we just built a comp. for a buddy and he had the 9600 to begin with. It played like crap. he bench marked a 486 on 3dmark05. we put my 9800 pro in it, and it went to 2550 with only the card difference. we have upgarded to this card on two computers and both made a huge differnce. if you would like, i will put my 9800 pro card in it, to see if it makes a differnce or not, before you purchase it. brandon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritas Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 you can slap my 6800 gt in there to check also if it's card related but last time i checked if you had a decent mobo/cpu and a 9600 pro or xt, you'll be fine. A friend of mine has the barton core 2500+ oc'd to 3200+ speeds and he's running the xt card, runs 60-80fps without problems. T.c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Well, it's an Athlon 1300. 1 gig of ram. 4X agp . Could I put in a MB that will support my current CPU and then upgrade to another CPU later? If so, will I need to upgrade the ram as well? btw, I went from a geforce 4 64 mb.. I was getting like 20 fps.. dipping down to 5 and ONE with action. Then I got an FX 5200 128 mb. FPS went up a tad, still chunked when a lot of action was around. Then I sold that and got a 9600. A little better, but still gets shitty 20 fps. I don't think it's the card though. If I put a bigger/badass card in it, yeah.. it'll probably run faster, but I like Kyle's idea of a MB for 8x agp. But will my current CPU work in it and can I upgrade it later? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinner Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 HL2 plays fine on my thunderbird 1.4. I have 9600 pro with 256 mem running at 8x and 512 of pc 3200 ram. only problems i have are load times which are kinda long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaSSon Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 If you're using DDR ram now, then you'll be able to use that ram on a new motherboard (barring any goofey brand-compatibility issues) If you upgrade your mobo now but keep the processor, just get a socket A mobo. When you're ready to upgrade your processor go pick up a barton core athlon XP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinner Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 I picked up a ATI KD7a MB from newegg for 30 bucks i think it will support your currect PRO plus with will surrort up to a barton support agp 8x and 3200 memeory and will run a 400 FSB its what i run now also you can pick up a mobile 2600+ pro for under $100. the pro is a unlocked and declocked barton 3200+ so you can up the voltage and run it at he higher speed. Only down side is there were limited numbers that are unlockable. [ 20. January 2005, 10:34 AM: Message edited by: Speci@lized. ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Hmm.. so if I picked up this: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-157-031&depa=1 I only have PC133 memory now. I'd have to upgrade memory eh? Should I get the DDR400? http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=20-223-009&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE $100 bucks and I'll be able to use my old processor eh? hmmm.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drunkendubber Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 well this is where it all gets tricky, buying a board that has ddr but still supports your old chip is going to attach a ceiling that will bite you sooner than you think. I would 1. buy a board that is just good enough and allows you to transfer over all you exhisting hardware as well as allow an up grade up through the majority of the athlon xp procs, which would probably limit you too 266 fsb, there are a # of boards that support both sdram as well as ddr sdram. 2. buy a board and proc combo that doesn't accept your old proc or memory but will provide you with more room to grow, ie: anything with a 333 fsb or higher as well as 8x pro agp, and the cheap route being the sempron or the more expensive athlon xp. its totally up to what you want to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMeanGreen Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Shawn, wanna go PC parts shopping? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Originally posted by Regulate: Shawn, wanna go PC parts shopping? Na.. I'll do it all online.. I HATE shopping at stores. No sales fuckers to deal with smile.gif . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Originally posted by Drunkendubber: well this is where it all gets tricky, buying a board that has ddr but still supports your old chip is going to attach a ceiling that will bite you sooner than you think. I would 1. buy a board that is just good enough and allows you to transfer over all you exhisting hardware as well as allow an up grade up through the majority of the athlon xp procs, which would probably limit you too 266 fsb, there are a # of boards that support both sdram as well as ddr sdram. 2. buy a board and proc combo that doesn't accept your old proc or memory but will provide you with more room to grow, ie: anything with a 333 fsb or higher as well as 8x pro agp, and the cheap route being the sempron or the more expensive athlon xp. its totally up to what you want to do with it. So get me something for $100 that will work.. and in the future as well smile.gif . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaSSon Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 ohhhhhh, for some reason i thought you had an athlon xp chip. In that case, i would go with: -a socket A mobo the one you posted will work fine. Although i hear asus boards are VERY picky about ram. Might want to pick out a different board. (Asrock="value" asus boards) -ram i bought this ram I'm very happy with it, and it's the cheapest PC3200 2x512 that newegg carried (when i bought at least) -new processor: GO with a 2500 barton this is the cheapest barton Anthont has that same processor over clocked to 3200+ speeds. your graphics card should run the game. I believe it's roughly equilivent to my OC'ed 4600ti. And according to netgraph_1 on hl2 the framerates were suprisingly very impressive. smile.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMeanGreen Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Originally posted by The DropTop: ohhhhhh, for some reason i thought you had an athlon xp chip. In that case, i would go with: -a socket A mobo the one you posted will work fine. Although i hear asus boards are VERY picky about ram. Might want to pick out a different board. (Asrock="value" asus boards) -ram i bought this ram I'm very happy with it, and it's the cheapest PC3200 2x512 that newegg carried (when i bought at least) -new processor: GO with a 2500 barton this is the cheapest barton Anthont has that same processor over clocked to 3200+ speeds. your graphics card should run the game. I believe it's roughly equilivent to my OC'ed 4600ti. And according to netgraph_1 on hl2 the framerates were suprisingly very impressive. smile.gif I can actually OC my Barton to 3800+ speeds if I desire (I've done it several times), but my temps get over 50*C consistantly. If I go liquid cooled, then I could do this 24/7 smile.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Well, Nate hooked me up. For now I'm just going to get a new gigabyte MB, and 512 mb of ram. JUST to see what that does. If it doesn't do much, then I'll get a new cpu later on . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate1647545505 Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 ]I can actually OC my Barton to 3800+ speeds if I desire (I've done it several times), but my temps get over 50*C consistantly. If I go liquid cooled, then I could do this 24/7 smile.gif [/QB]You can only pedal a bike so fast... ... before you need to switch gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMeanGreen Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Originally posted by Deals On Wheels: You can only pedal a bike so fast... ... before you need to switch gears. Trust me, an Athlon 64 is in the works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritas Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 wait, bucks you only are using a 9600? NOT a 9600 pro or xt? You're video card is going to limit you hard still. You're going to need to spend a couple bucks on a video card to play any of the next gen ones. as far as games go. The cheap cards (the regular 9600, the 5200 FX card, things like that) Aren't going to be able to handle anything. True story. T.c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Originally posted by Veritas: wait, bucks you only are using a 9600? NOT a 9600 pro or xt? You're video card is going to limit you hard still. You're going to need to spend a couple bucks on a video card to play any of the next gen ones. as far as games go. The cheap cards (the regular 9600, the 5200 FX card, things like that) Aren't going to be able to handle anything. True story. T.c. Well, I didn't want to spend an assload of money just go to play a fucking game . This "should" get me by for a while. I'm not looking for anything really specatular. just something better than 20 fps and dipping into the single digits when more than one person shoots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 Originally posted by Veritas: wait, bucks you only are using a 9600? NOT a 9600 pro or xt? You're video card is going to limit you hard still. You're going to need to spend a couple bucks on a video card to play any of the next gen ones. as far as games go. The cheap cards (the regular 9600, the 5200 FX card, things like that) Aren't going to be able to handle anything. True story. T.c. Well, I didn't want to spend an assload of money just go to play a fucking game . This "should" get me by for a while. I'm not looking for anything really specatular. just something better than 20 fps and dipping into the single digits when more than one person shoots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maro Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 V I D E O C A R D Get a 9800Pro or better.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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