new pc soon! but what specs?

[NeptuneUK]

hey im wanting to get a pc soon, i dont know much in the ways of hardware. I want some basic specs i should be lookin at to run HL2 at the highest settings i can get for the lowest price. in other words the most efficient hardware financially. if that makes any sense? for example if card A costs less than card B and both cards are capable of running HL2 at optimum efficiency card A is obviously the wisest choice financially. Im trying not to break the bank!
*ramble over*

 

[the_lone_wolf]

athlon64 processor, pref socket 939 over 754 if you can afford but not vital, graphics cards vary a lot, i can run HL2 smoothly on max setings with AA and AF on 1152x854 on my 9600 pro, a more cost efective card would be the 9700pro, it's older but cheaper - if you want to run it on 1600x1200 on max settings though you'll need a much more substantial card

 

[duffers20]

skt939 Athlon 64 3200+ ~= £95
skt939 AGP board ~= £70
AGP 6600GT ~= £135
1GB RAM ~= £75
SATA HD round about 80gb ~= £40
400W PSU ~= £45
CD-RW/DVD-ROM ~= £30

Add on around £50 for case, fans etc

Total price approx: £550

You could get the price lower if you already had your own optical drives, hard drives, case etc.

 

[NeptuneUK]

thanks alot guys ill look into it!

 

[hneaz]

XFX 6600 GT cost US$149.99 on tigerdirect after rebate. pretty good deal on http://www.tigerdirect.com. but you are in UK so im not sure whats the reasonably good price for the 6600 GT...

 

[Kyorisu]

Stay away from Nvidia. I've had so many problems with Nvidia cards it isn't funny anymore.

 

[bosox188]

Stay away from Nvidia. I've had so many problems with Nvidia cards it isn't funny anymore.

No the 6600GT is a good card and the best choice for him as he doesn't want to break the bank. It will beat any ATi card in the sub $200 range, and it will run HL2 at max settings.

 

[duffers20]

No the 6600GT is a good card and the best choice for him as he doesn't want to break the bank. It will beat any ATi card in the sub $200 range, and it will run HL2 at max settings.

Yeh thats why I chose it, because I know for a fact that the 6600GT is faster than teh 9800pro, even my overclocked card, which runs HL2 and CS:S pretty well. Its also a really good price for the card.

 

[bosox188]

Yeah I don't know if it's because of my cpu but my 9800 pro really can only do 1024x768 high settings, reflect world for water, and no AA or AF to be a smooth 60fps (usually dips lower anyway) and those are the settings HL2 detects that I should run. I can do AA and AF on at 4x and 8x respectively but sometimes the fps dips pretty low, I think it's my cpu.

 

[giant384]

i think its the cpu

 

[holydeadpenguins]

Stay away from Nvidia. I've had so many problems with Nvidia cards it isn't funny anymore.

I've had so many problems with ati it's not even funny, but i still buy from ati.

 

[Ti133700N]

Stay away from Nvidia. I've had so many problems with Nvidia cards it isn't funny anymore.

What kind of problems? What was the card?

 

[J_Tweedy]

Ive had plenty of problems- im on my 5th 6800gt thanks to Gigabyte's crap cooling solution, then Leadtek's poor quality control late last year. But now i got one that works, and i LOVE NVIDIA! Go for the 6600gt man, i just helped a friend build a computer with one in it, and was extremely impressed.

 

[Kyorisu]

What kind of problems? What was the card?

GF2 series - So many gfx errors in 3d aps.
GF3 series - Same as above.
GF4 series - Average
GF FX - Don't get me started on these.
GF 6 series - Power hog, cooling, drivers

 

[NeptuneUK]

right i know what specs im looking at... but ATI or Nvidia?? argh

 

[sinkoman]

Ive had plenty of problems- im on my 5th 6800gt thanks to Gigabyte's crap cooling solution, then Leadtek's poor quality control late last year. But now i got one that works, and i LOVE NVIDIA! Go for the 6600gt man, i just helped a friend build a computer with one in it, and was extremely impressed.

Haha, I laugh at you. I refitted my Gigabyte 6800gt (i'm assuming you also have the pci-e version) with AS5 and I idle at around 47.

Pls don't hate mey J_Tweedy. You are LikE, t3#h HEaro.

EDIT: And if you want the best performance:quality ratio, i'd go with a 6800gt or a 6600gt. If you want the best bang for your buck, grab either an x800xl or an x800 pro.

Personaly, i'd go with nvidia. My 6800gt works great. BF2 all high (except for lighting. That's on medium cause I don't care about dynamic arm shadows) with 2x AA and 8x AF, awesome FPS. Best 300 dollars i've ever spent. Now my 9800pro, great card, but don't get me started with ati's shit ass drivers...

 

[NeptuneUK]

wheres the best online site to buy graphics cards from? in the UK that is.
what ill do, is get a new card.... thens save up and get a new pc. and put the card from my old pc into the new one.

this is because ic an find pcs with good specs just crap graphics cards. right i have 80 pounds for a new card!!!

hows abouts a Radeon 9600XT 128mb??? or a RADEON RX600 Pro 256mb??

i wish i new more about graphics cards. all i know is that it needs to be directx 9. and be about 128mb or 256mb

*cries*