What computer is good enough for HL2

[GeZe]

Hi, my old computer is crap and I need to get a new one to play HL2. What computer would be good? Dell XPS?

 

[SaltyCrackers]

Get at least a 2 ghz with at least a Radeon 9800 Pro and 512 ram if you want to enjoy HL2 in all its glory.

 

[aeroripper]

"good" as in able to play the game around medium settings and have it run smoothly?

I'd say at least 2 ghz, 512ram, Radeon 9800 Pro video card, ... that should be okay for a "good" play experience


But if you want to run the game with all the graphics to the highest, i'd get either a pentium 4 3.0ghz+ (or AMD 3.0ghz and above, don't remember what model it was)
1gig of ram (DDR 400mhz), Radeon x800 PE (i think that's the latest, hard to get even now)

a Radeon 9800 Pro should be just fine if you have a fast processor though and lots of ram (1gig)

If "dude! your getting a dell!" makes your computer tell them to put in a Radeon 9800 Pro and other good components...


EDIT: Same what the guy above said... he posted while i was typing this :frog:

 

[aeroripper]

ANd some more:

This all depends on how much your budjet is... if you got the money to blow get this

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&kc=6V412&l=en&oc=DXPS3RS&s=dhs

Get the x800 128 or 256 model (256 will cost more, and i think it's got little availibility right now)

or if you know a friend or someone that can build a computer get a AMD athlon 64bit... pretty much the best for gaming right now

How much are you looking to spend... and what all do you need... a whole new computer (monitor and all?)

 

[iamaelephant]

We have a hardware forum. Use it.

 

[P43.2/1Gig/X800P]

get what my my user name is and you will be fine

 

[g-lude]

Get at least a 2 ghz with at least a Radeon 9800 Pro and 512 ram if you want to enjoy HL2 in all its glory.

thats my computer. good to hear....

 

[aeroripper]

I got a 2ghz, 1 gb ram, and a Radeon 9800 Pro too... i can run doom3 in medium with good fps so i'm sure it'll be fine for HL2 (i doubt full graphics though without chopping)

 

[Rafa 5.0]

Well Valve said that a 2.4 ghz was "recommended", so I'm guessing a 2.0 and above would be fine.... but then again...

 

[Roland Deschain]

All I know is that HL2 is highly highly optimized, so that's good.

 

[Gajdycz]

i feel happy

3ghz intel
1gig ram
9800pro

and ill ive been doing is playing cs till hl2 comes out...

 

[Waffles]

AMD 64 3400+
2Gb RAM
x800 pro
200 GB MAXTOR HD
Sony CD/DVD RW
all under 1800.

Dell, alien, falcon, all those companies are WAY overpriced. Sure they have nice cases, I will admit some do have very col things (alienware water cooled system), but go to ibuypower.com or cyberpowerinc.com and configure your own. They assemble and test it, then send it to you.

Once again www.ibuypower.com or www.cyberpowerinc.com (where I got mine)

Only downside is it take like 2 weeks to ship because it's custom, but wtf, what a deal.

 

[The Terminator]

(or AMD 3.0ghz and above, don't remember what model it was

Id like to see this 3 Ghz AMD you speak of.

 

[Malfunction]

He probably means 3000+. I used to think that as well.

 

[Malfunction]

Once again www.ibuypower.com or www.cyberpowerinc.com (where I got mine)

Only downside is it take like 2 weeks to ship because it's custom, but wtf, what a deal.

Go to http://www.resellerratings.com, and look up cyberpowerpc (where I was going to get my PC) and be afraid. On the other hand, ibuypower (where I'm buying from) has a much higher rating, and they basically sell the same products at the same prices.

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

Get the x800 128 or 256 model (256 will cost more, and i think it's got little availibility right now)

X800 comes in only 256mb models right now.

 

[AlaskanStewie]

Hey, Waffles, thanks for the websites! I'm gettin a new computer soon and these are just what I need =]

 

[Half-death]

the "AT LEAST" list

2.0GHz . . . . . . . check
512MB . . . . . . . . check
9800 Pro ?????????? uncheck uncheck!

for medium smooth gameplay? and THAT is the "AT LEAST" specs for medium SMOOTH?!?!?

what if i have a 5900XT. Do i play on low or something?

 

[JimmehH]

5900XT should be able to run it on medium.

 

[Roland Deschain]

Didn't HL2 vouchers come with a 9600. Kinda unfair that you bought that card specifically for HL2 and then all those delays occured and now you have to play in on medium

But again, I don't care, I got a 9800Pro, but my friend is steaming.

 

[TheRook]

Didn't HL2 vouchers come with a 9600. Kinda unfair that you bought that card specifically for HL2 and then all those delays occured and now you have to play in on medium

But again, I don't care, I got a 9800Pro, but my friend is steaming.

9600xt's are a midrange card... buying a mid range card means you cant play things at a high end standard... sad to say but its true...

Andy

(its getting so close i can taste it... *licks HL2*)

 

[Waffles]

Go to http://www.resellerratings.com, and look up cyberpowerpc (where I was going to get my PC) and be afraid. On the other hand, ibuypower (where I'm buying from) has a much higher rating, and they basically sell the same products at the same prices.

Hmm, honestly, I don't trust sites like that. What if 1000 people had a great experience, but just never went to the site? Then, say, the 10 people who didn't went and posted bad reviews?

And how do you make it say like: originally posted by whoever over the quote?

 

[iamaelephant]

Yeah it pissed me off when I bought my 9600xt hoping for HL2 within 3 months or so, and now that peice of shit card would be lucky to play on medium. I have since upgraded to a 9800 pro.

 

[Roland Deschain]

Doom 3 is very GPU dependant (at least that's what the benchmars say) and 512RAM or 1024RAM make almost no difference in frame rate, can we expect the same from HL2 or could it be more CPU or RAM dependant.

 

[iamaelephant]

I disagree lazicsavo, I think a gig of RAM is very important for Doom 3. At least I'm pretty sure it is, but I'll let you know soon, as I'm upgrading from 512mb to 1024mb some time this week.

 

[Half-death]

Everything is important.

Though, considering everything meets the minimum to recommended requirements for the game, the order of importance goes like GPU > CPU > RAM

 

[Roland Deschain]

I disagree lazicsavo, I think a gig of RAM is very important for Doom 3. At least I'm pretty sure it is, but I'll let you know soon, as I'm upgrading from 512mb to 1024mb some time this week.

They did extensive benchmarking and for the 9800 series at least (and lower), upgrading to 1024 increased the frame rate minimally (nothing you would notice).

 

[ComradeBadger]

Funny how I can play Doom 3 on High at 1024 x 768 on a 9800SE with all the spinky things turned on.

Just remember, a 9600 Pro/XT will be fine for high detail even.

People seem to be expecting a hell of a lot more from Half Life 2. It's still a DX9 game, you do not need anything above a 9800 Pro to get the full experience.

 

[B.Calhoun]

I dont think you will deffinatly need a 9800 pro, i may be wrong. But no worries for me im getting one anyway.

 

[crabcakes66]

9600xt's are a midrange card... buying a mid range card means you cant play things at a high end standard... sad to say but its true...

Andy

(its getting so close i can taste it... *licks HL2*)

wrong
:thumbs: