noobie graphics question

[NeptuneUK]

I have a question!! im a serious noob with PC hardware!!

if i upgrade my economy class Geforce 4 mx 440... to say a:
DX9 128mb Geforce FX5700LE....
i know this will allow me to have better graphics ni my games (mainly HL2)
but how much will it increase the performance by?
will my pc still be held back by my mere 1.6GHZ processor?

would it be worth it?
thanks!!

neptune

 

[Evolution_rulz]

hi neptuneuk, first things first, that will be a upgrade in performance graphical wise and u will certainly be able to bring ur settings up in ur current games. about ur proccessor...yes it will bring down the performance even though u will have more power in ur graphics section. wat is ur overall budget that u are prepered to spend on this card?

 

[NeptuneUK]

im looking at buying a RADEON 9250 right now.
but im not prepared to spend money on one if i may still suffer from choppy performance!

 

[Evolution_rulz]

ok wat is ur full system? u may still be able to get a better cpu and gpu for a good price if ur willing to pull out the money, if not i sugest saving and getting a new pc

 

[NeptuneUK]

i found a cheap 256mb Geforce FX5500 on ebay. me wants

 

[NeptuneUK]

hmm i only have a 1.6ghz athlon processor with 512mb RAM. uprading processors can be very awkward

how about i buy another stick of RAM with the card? assuming that may help a bit??

 

[Evolution_rulz]

well not its nessecerally best to buy some more RAM, im some cases this may speed things up, but u will lag and still have slow moments with that amount of speed on ur cpu. I see ur intrested in ebay? might i suggest looking at the cpu's aswell, there are some great sellers, i recommend PC Modz, even just getting a P4 2.4ghz will speed it up, 512 RAM should be ok, games today will still play on that

 

[NeptuneUK]

yeah but wont i need to get a new motherboard aswell etc?

being stupid sucks!

 

[Evolution_rulz]

ummmm that may possibly be a problem, hhmmmm well if ur will to......(not trying to get u to spend all ur money as i see u just want to get performance and mainly a new GPU) u could just buy a new mobo cpu and graphics card, wat is ur budget? BTW being stupid and saying "stupid" things can lead to a greater ammount of knowledge, thats what im doing at the moment :O

 

[NeptuneUK]

im not sure exactly how much i have. ill have to wait til after christmas!
im just looking for quality components at a low price!

that mobo idea may be quite good! but im not sure where to look

 

[Neutrino]

I just bought this card and am reasonably happy with it:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-164-021&depa=1

There's also this one:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-410&depa=1

 

[Evolution_rulz]

ah i wise person u are, i just (yesterday) purchased a X800 XT then to find out i saved about $200-300 cause it turned out to be a Platnium Edition, but try looking around there are always those deals that most people dont bother about, but ebay is very good for quality parts and at a low price, if u have any questions about to product make sure u ask the owner, that helps alot, and yes just after chrismas (lol in half-an hour) prices will start to drop with specials

 

[NeptuneUK]

will a nice graphics card be sufficient enough to run HL2 with decent graphics and performance on my pc?

no?

 

[Evolution_rulz]

well yes a good GPU will run half-life2 on high (a 9600 series or higher 128bit AT LEAST) but again, its ur processor everything else would be fine with the exception of a new graphics card

Edit: try this page on ebay, this is a decent computer with a 1gb of Ram p4 2.8ghz radeon 9600XT, check it out for urself http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14294&item=5150079940&rd=1

 

[NeptuneUK]

well if i can run HL2 ok at my current settings... then it cant be so bad right?

 

[Evolution_rulz]

technically u SHOULD be able to run the game as it scales back for lower end systems, YES u should be able to play the end, but expect lag and not all the high detailed textures and graphics, if not a good time at the moment i say save up and buy a new pc sooner or later then. BUT my mistake apon just checking my HL2 box its says minimum require ments are a 1.2ghz cpu directx 7 graphics card 256mb RAM etc....so yes u maybe should get a new gpu i apoligise for not reading the box before, BUT keeping in mind games like far cry and doom 3 require more cpu usage so for just HL2 u should be fine, others like those i mentioned will most likely require an upgrade

Well im off for the night, merry christmas to all and a happy new year!

 

[NeptuneUK]

merry christmas to you! i have another 10 hours to wait!
well thanks anyway!
i will save up for a decent CPU later on!

 

[niLeGreatFun]

same here cant wait though

 

[Phisionary]

I still haven't found a good article on how CPU scaling works with HL2, but I've heard that a good CPU is necissary to get the good graphics. I would guess (purely a guess) that you have enough horsepower to drive a 9600 though.

 

[sinkoman]

I still haven't found a good article on how CPU scaling works with HL2, but I've heard that a good CPU is necissary to get the good graphics. I would guess (purely a guess) that you have enough horsepower to drive a 9600 though.

I don't exactly know what a cpu does and what a graphics card does, but I would say, a good graphics card would help with speeding up your gameplay when you've got lots of things to be rendered onscreen at once, then when the action starts to heat up (barells falling, people dieing) then your cpu will need to be able to make all the calculations to keep your fps up. So a good gpu can be useless without a good cpu in those high action areas.

Don't mean to turn you off though buddy on getting just a new gpu. What cpu do you currently run? By those ghz, I would guess maybe a sempron. If so, then if you've got the cooling, I would say overclock that baby. Semprons are supposed to overclock verry well.

 

[Phisionary]

do you know what motherboard you own? It's usually too expensive to be worth what gains you get, but you could try upgrading to the highest speed CPU that your Mobo will support.

If you don't know what it is and don't know how to find out:
1) If you bought a complete system, try to find it in the documentation.
2) If you built it or someone built it for you, try to find the Motherboard box. Most system builders will give this to you.
3) Failing that, pay close attention when you boot up: when it shows the prompt 'Press del to enter the bios' or whatever, it shows either the model name, or the model number at the bottom of the screen. you can google this number and find out what it is.

Don't get your hopes up. Usually you can only upgrade a couple hundred MHz, and it's just not worth it.

Just as a general note: we can help you best if you give us all the information you have about your computer. i.e. CPU type, speed, motherboard model, ram speed, pre-built/custon-built, etc. etc.

esp. if you wan't advice on upgrading. otherwise... meh.

GL

 

[spin03]

it seems that hl2 is pretty dependent on your cpu, but if u are on a tight budget, first upgrade your video card. look for a 9600 or better.

here are 2 processors that will work well for you:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-116-178&depa=1

or

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-104-217&depa=1

here is a good video card for 100 bucks:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-408&depa=1

 

[NeptuneUK]

I THINK my mobi is an ms-6590
from looking around.... :S
i think its a crapz0rs one