9800 Pro on older machine

[Rickyohead]

athlon xp 1800+
1Gig pc2100
AGP 4x mobo

I bought an ATI 9800pro with hl2 yesterday. I know the card is too advanced for my setup, but I wanted to buy a graphics card I could take with me to the next computer upgrade.

The card install went fine, connected to power supply, installed drivers from CD, installed and unlocked hl2.....played the first minute to test settings. graphics were all screwed up.

I then downloaded the latest catalyst drivers from ati.com and that seemed to fix the problem. For the most part, the graphics look awesome (lighting, detail, reflections), however sometimes I get "see through walls" effects at certain angles or lazy objects that trail for a second when I turn quickly.

Since I have a slower processor, FSB, and RAM, what video settings do you recommened for me at 1024 x 768? (anti-aliasing, filtering, wait v.sync?)

Also, how can I monitor my FPS while I play? Thanks! this game is awesome.

 

[BIG]

I've got nearly the same setup except 512 megs of 2100 ram and an AGP 8x mobo. I use no anti-aliasing, and leave all the rest to what HL2 tells me. Seems to work fine for me.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Could be due to an inadequate PSU. I just got my 9800 pro today but I'm not gonna risk using it till I replace my cruddy old PSU...

 

[The Hulk]

Also, how can I monitor my FPS while I play? Thanks! this game is awesome.

Go into your console dropdown (in keyboard properties, hit the advanced button and pick the Admin box) - bound key is "~".
type:
cl_showfps 1

This will show your FPS in game.

 

[Subatomic]

Did you UNINSTALL your old drivers?

You need to do this, especially if your last card was not an ATi.

 

[Rickyohead]

yes i definitlely uninstalled my old drivers (nvidia) before installing the ati card.

my PSU is pretty old (300w max), but the fan is definitely spinning on the card. should i get a new PSU?

thanks for all the advice.