System recommendations for playing CS:S

[Ritz]

Hey all (my first post here...)

I wanna play CS:S and get good framerates without tweaking...

That means hardware.

I have the following components:

Albatron Intel Mainboard Px848 Like series motherboard
2.0 Ghz Pentium 4 processor
VTek Xtasy 9600 AGP Vid card
1.25 GB RAM

tell me which of those would you prioritize for improving? I suspect the processor, which prolly means a new motherboard. But I wanted your opinions on how best to improve it one step at a time (so please list your suggestions in order of importance... I AM going to college, so I got little money and less time(which means tweaking is out)).


Thanks!

 

[Pesmerga]

CPU all the way.

 

[joule]

Zomg Teh Ritz1111111

 

[Ritz]

So... any recommendations for a CPU to replace mine? Preferrably an economical one that still gets the job done. (my 2.0 Ghz RUNS CS:S, but its really crappy 16-19 FPS) A better definition of getting the job done would be 40-60 (even up to 80 + FPS)


Thanks again.

 

[Gothax?]

Alright. I myself use the AMD Athlon XP 2800 ( 2.8 ghz Intel speed )
Upgrade your video card as well... You can't get a lot of FPS with a video card as yours ( No offense. ) I have the following :

AMD Athlon XP 2800 +
Chaintech GeForce 6600 GT 128MB
1 GIG 2700 RAM ( Not enough money to upgrade in this time )

and I get a very impressive score of 144 FPS average w/ DXlevel 81 ( Mine does fine on DXlevel 9, but I only get around 90 FPS )

So, upgrade both if you have money

 

[jmjneary]

anywhere between 2.8 and 3.2 processor will do you remember its the processor that makes the video card the better your processor can preform the faster the video card can send it info

 

[Firkat54]

Alright. I myself use the AMD Athlon XP 2800 ( 2.8 ghz Intel speed )
Upgrade your video card as well... You can't get a lot of FPS with a video card as yours ( No offense. ) I have the following :

AMD Athlon XP 2800 +
Chaintech GeForce 6600 GT 128MB
1 GIG 2700 RAM ( Not enough money to upgrade in this time )

and I get a very impressive score of 144 FPS average w/ DXlevel 81 ( Mine does fine on DXlevel 9, but I only get around 90 FPS )

So, upgrade both if you have money

Man..I still get hardware lag on my Athlon XP 3000+... go for a better video card.

 

[Ennui]

lol this persons name is ritz too, I was like wtf for a second there

 

[giant384]

Man..I still get hardware lag on my Athlon XP 3000+... go for a better video card.

well its a amd xp it has lower l1 l2 cache and fsb speed

 

[Qonfused]

Only 90FPS... ONLY!

 

[The Brick]

this game needs cpu power.
I had amd 2500+ and 9600XT(256mb) and got like 60 fps. I bought a 6800 (128mb) a while ago, and it didn't really improve the fps (it runs just as slow at slow parts as before). Allthough I can now set the graphics way higher (the highest actually). So if I were you, I'd buy a good cpu (3ghz or more) and if your not setisfied, buy a vidcard too (radeon runs great on source).

 

[giant384]

wow that card is getting major bottleneck oc ur cpu if ur mobo lets u

PS: lol it said wow standed for world of warcraft

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Since it hasn't been said yet, can I say welcome to the forums?

 

[sinkoman]

anywhere between 2.8 and 3.2 processor will do you remember its the processor that makes the video card the better your processor can preform the faster the video card can send it info

Lol, where on earth did you get that?

The only time that might apply is if your CPU is currently bottlenecking your video card. But buying a better CPU isn't going to make your GPU "faster".

I'd say CPU also. I don't know much about Intel so giving the socket would be nice (although I suppose I could just look up the motherboard).

You've got an OK video card, but a HORRIBLE CPU.

 

[giant384]

Lol, where on earth did you get that?

The only time that might apply is if your CPU is currently bottlenecking your video card. But buying a better CPU isn't going to make your GPU "faster".

I'd say CPU also. I don't know much about Intel so giving the socket would be nice (although I suppose I could just look up the motherboard).

You've got an OK video card, but a HORRIBLE CPU.

the socket is 478 and sometimes u have to have the right combination to get perfect preformance because one of them will always be bottlenecked low gfx card high cpu cpu is bottlenecked high gfx low cpu gfx bottlenecked