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Hey guys with the recent event of hl2 going gold. . .and christmas approaching. I figured it was time to upgrade. AAAAnyway my current System is:

AMD 3200xp
gig of ram
nf7-s mobo
120 gig harddrive
geforce 5700 256 meg
SB live

Now I can run CSS with settings at medium without ever going below 60 fps. But i want better than that and I want to run everything in high. So if I wanted to see an increase in performance what should I upgrade? Im upgrading for HL2 not css. Im going going by css framerates.

While were here, i got this neat screenshot in css and i hit printscreen, but i cant seem to find it. Where do my screenshots go?


Thanks
 
All you need is a new video card.
A Geforce 6800 GT or X800 Pro will do you good for about $400.
 
You never go below 60fps? uhhh... why would you want to upgrade then? Kind of a waste of money right now. I'd stick with that setup for about another year or so. Or atleased untill you play a game that drops you below 30fps.


And your CS:S screen shots are in: \Steam\SteamApps\[your login name]\counter-strike source\cstrike\screenshots
 
damn, im sorry guys. I didnt mean to post this in the HL2 discussion. I usually only post here and cs source forum. Never knew about the hardware forum. Feel free to move it mods.

The reason I want to upgrade is so I can run it in high.
 
Most of your system looks pretty good already. For a nice speed boost, simply consider upgrading your video card to one of the cheaper ATI X_ line of cards or go for the full-blown X800. Another good one would probably be your sound card (since new drivers for SB Live haven't been released in ages and you'd be better off being able to stick with the latest EAX stuff). Remember to look for a card with 512mb of RAM on it if you can (the video card, that is) so that games can load as many textures into it as they can. ;)

After that, reinstall windows from scratch, run through a couple of optimisations: http://www.tweaktown.com/articles.php?dCategory=guides&sortMeth=&sortYear=all
And make sure you defrag your drive. Also consider getting a nice fast SATA Raptor if you want insanely fast load times. ;)
 
SATA raptor? Is this a hard-drive? Yea, I usually defrag once a week. I reformat once a month. I use tweak xp. So i know how to tweak everything. Do I really need to upgrade my sound card. I can probably afford the x800. But im not sure if i can get everything hard drive and sound card.
 
10,000 RPM hard drives ftw!

And you dont need a soundcard upgrade unless you plan on getting a 5.1 speaker setup.
 
I would recommend getting a 9800 Pro 128 (Ati) off of newegg.com for around $200 ... very nice card and around half the price of top of the line x800
 
@ TAB, whats your budget? If that were my sys I'd update the video card, if you, 6800GT is the best bang for the buck IMO, the only other think I would do is if you have sata, grab a raptor 10krpm drive, throw your games on it, you'll cut your load times.
 
My budget is pretty Low. I might JUST have enough for that x800. I hear the geforce is a huge card though. Requires another power source?! I mean, if its that big. That means it generates heat. Last thing I want to do is add more fans.
 
I personally got the 9800 Pro 128 (ICEq model) so it runs real cool

I would like a x800 but not gonna blow $400 on a video card (or for the 6800, that thing IS huge...)

Besides i'm not playing doom3 i'm playing hl2... lousy 6800 :-P

my 9800 pro 128 requires a connector from my power supply also... IIRC a lot of the newer line of cards require that don't they? Maybe mine just because it has that big cooler block on it
 
dont worry about it, 60 fps is awesome, i only get 15, ALSO if you hit printscreen then it saves to your clipboard, you need to go open paint or an image program and hit ctrl+v (paste)
 
In half-life and all of its mods you put "net_graphX" into the console. (replace X with the numbers 1-5)
 
Only the top-of-the-line 6800's need the 2 powerslots.
The plain 6800 will be much better then your 5700 -- or you can go ATI for a similar price.
 
Do not upgrade that system untill you can get a 6800 or x800 for 200 bucks. doing it now would be a huge waste of money.

Spending $400.00 on a video card at any time is a waste of money, just incase anyone didn't know.
 
good point... almost makes more sense to get a 2nd generation video card for a whole lot cheaper but still get excellent performance
 
Homer said:
Do not upgrade that system untill you can get a 6800 or x800 for 200 bucks. doing it now would be a huge waste of money.

Spending $400.00 on a video card at any time is a waste of money, just incase anyone didn't know.
Click to expand...

That's rather subjective don't you think, it depends how much value you put on playing your games maxed out at high resolution with lots of AA and AF. It was worth the money for me, but i do like my games. :)

Just a quick edit to add that paying the full price for new hardware means you get to enjoy it for a longer period, you're paying that premium for being able to play at such high settings before the hardware becomes so much cheaper. For example in 6 months when the 6800/x800's are only $200, i'll have had 9 months gaming bliss out of mine already.
 
just get a new vid card, everything looks fine to me. i'd wait until the pci-e gets stable, thats when i'm goin to go and upgrade
 
i would choose a geforce 6800 Gt or a radeon 9800 or higher a 9600 xt will work but your best bet if you want high is 9800 or higher or geforce 6800 gt or higher because before 6800 cards the Direct x wasn't very compatible with them models...also for sound that looks good but you can get a audigy 2 just about as good as price go to newegg.com and good luck and GAME ON
 
Yeah well you don't have the problem of your monitor turning all yellow and stays like that for a long ass time!!!!11! :angry: :angry: :flame: :flame: IT'S NOT EVEN WORKING RIGHT EITHER!!!!1!!! :angry:
 
Can i leach onto this thread as well?


I have a great system, but ever since service pack 2 has been loaded on, my CS textures have started going abit crazy. The walls will be all glittery and colourfull like a disco ball, and the hand first person model will similarly be effected.
 
6800 GT from Leadtek is probably the best overclocker, so if you really want a new graphics card, then use that one.
 
urseus said:
Can i leach onto this thread as well?


I have a great system, but ever since service pack 2 has been loaded on, my CS textures have started going abit crazy. The walls will be all glittery and colourfull like a disco ball, and the hand first person model will similarly be effected.
Click to expand...
That's the disco funk modification. Have the CT models been replaced by pimp masters?
 
urseus said:
Can i leach onto this thread as well?


I have a great system, but ever since service pack 2 has been loaded on, my CS textures have started going abit crazy. The walls will be all glittery and colourfull like a disco ball, and the hand first person model will similarly be effected.
Click to expand...


uphrade graphics, display and motherboard drivers. problem will be fixed 99% of the time
 
The 9800 Pro graphics cards represent great value at the moment, and are worthy of the £140 if your system is 3.0Ghz or less.

Also, these X800 and GeForce GT crads are great, but I can't see the point in forking out all that cash for them, if you've only got a monitor that supports lower resolutions.

I'm sure it's great having 120FPS in 1024 x 768, but to get the most out these monster cards, you really should be running games at 1600 x 1200 or higher without having to squint to see anything.

I've decided to wait for at least another 6 months and see what happens with the new form factor (ATX2?) and PCI Express before considering another upgrade.

My current system:
- Northwood P4 3.0GHz
- 1024 Corsair XMS (2 x 512MB)
- SB Audigy 2
- Crucial Radeon 9800 Pro

This is more than enough for now, and I can always overclock in the short-term if required.
 
czrsink said:
The 9800 Pro graphics cards represent great value at the moment, and are worthy of the £140 if your system is 3.0Ghz or less.

Also, these X800 and GeForce GT crads are great, but I can't see the point in forking out all that cash for them, if you've only got a monitor that supports lower resolutions.

I'm sure it's great having 120FPS in 1024 x 768, but to get the most out these monster cards, you really should be running games at 1600 x 1200 or higher without having to squint to see anything.

I've decided to wait for at least another 6 months and see what happens with the new form factor (ATX2?) and PCI Express before considering another upgrade.

My current system:
- Northwood P4 3.0GHz
- 1024 Corsair XMS (2 x 512MB)
- SB Audigy 2
- Crucial Radeon 9800 Pro

This is more than enough for now, and I can always overclock in the short-term if required.
Click to expand...
It's BTX.
 
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