What should I get first?

[_ZeTh_]

Now that Half Life 2 isn't so far away i am considering a small upgrade for my pc. My specs:

Athlon xp2100+
Powercolor 9800pro
512ddr ram pc 2700
WD 80gb 2mb cache

It's clear that is has to be either the cpu or more RAM, my motherboard can only go as high as an xp3000+ because it only supports 333mhz fsb (Abit nf-7 v1.2).

So what do you guys think??

 

[Nex321]

Now that Half Life 2 isn't so far away i am considering a small upgrade for my pc. My specs:

Athlon xp2100+
Powercolor 9800pro
512ddr ram pc 2700
WD 80gb 2mb cache

It's clear that is has to be either the cpu or more RAM, my motherboard can only go as high as an xp3000+ because it only supports 333mhz fsb (Abit nf-7 v1.2).

So what do you guys think??

Cpu definitly, since you won't need more than 512 mb ram on hl2

 

[B.Calhoun]

well i would upgrade the cpu because 512mb of ram is good for hl2, then again some hot shot hardware guy will come in here and say that im wrong...

 

[_ZeTh_]

Some friends of mine told me that more ram would be better, don't know what they based that argument on, but anyway i'm a little confused. In doom 3 I had really no problems with slowdowns or anything cpu related. The only thing that really made the game run slow was disk swapping, whenever I went through a new door the fps went drasticly down, but after a few seconds it ran great (this is on the high setting). Will my computer suffer the same with HL2 with a new cpu?

 

[Nex321]

Recommended settings are:

Video card that supports dx 9.0
512 Mb RAM
2.7 ghz

The only thing you're missing is cpu.

 

[blahblahblah]

Buy an Athlon 2500+ CPU. I have a feeling that HL2 will be more CPU bound than video card bound because of the physics engine.

Anything higher than an Athlon XP 2600+ is not very good because of the ridiculous prices they are charging for them. Save your money or get the XP 2500+.

 

[Pøîñtßlåñk]

Go out and grab yourself a AMD 64.
You will not regret it.

 

[Subatomic]

Actually, the recommended processor is 2.4GHz, not 2.7. And, dont worry about the slowdowns in Doom 3, I get them too.

 

[Subatomic]

PointBlank, he would need a new mobo, and I dont know if he wants to do that.

 

[KagePrototype]

Just get a CPU upgrade, you really don't need to upgrade any of the other components to enjoy HL2.

 

[_ZeTh_]

I really dont see any point in upgrading from a 2100+ to a 2500+, so i wont be doing that. If i'm upgrading to the 64bit platform i would have to buy new ram 'cause my current isnt supported(I think). And suddenly i'm looking at spending a little more cash than i'm interested in doing. I wont be doing that either. So it's either going to be a athlon 3000+ or 512mb more ram...

I think i'm going for the ram, those slowdowns in doom 3 were really annoying (<---two "n"'s or one? i'm norwegian) and in farcry i really felt the need for a bit more ram.

And last. Didn't doom 3 also only require 512mb ram at the high setting? and look how that game played if you went through a door....

 

[Nex321]

Doom 3 has 1024 mb ram as recommended. And that with door thing its only in doom 3

 

[Pøîñtßlåñk]

3000+ should be a nice upgrade and another 512 would do justice.
I think that route is the way to go.
But if you have the extra cash i recommend AMD 64.
Thats gonna be the future for gaming.

 

[_ZeTh_]

3000+ should be a nice upgrade and another 512 would do justice.
I think that route is the way to go.
But if you have the extra cash i recommend AMD 64.
Thats gonna be the future for gaming.

I would really like an 64bits cpu and i know its the future and all, but if i know the game industry right it will take at least a few years until a full transition to that platform has been completed.

Probably gonna buy one next year, because i'm not a big fan of wasting money on the newest hardware when waiting a few months saves you a whole lot of money. Just look at the Radeon 9800pro! they're practicly giving it away
And the 3000+ is still a good cpu to power the newest games...

 

[blackeye]

I would upgrade the cpu first and then if you still have money left over an extra stick of 512 ram is pretty cheap nowdays. Videocard will be just fine.

 

[bosox188]

I would really like an 64bits cpu and i know its the future and all, but if i know the game industry right it will take at least a few years until a full transition to that platform has been completed.

Probably gonna buy one next year, because i'm not a big fan of wasting money on the newest hardware when waiting a few months saves you a whole lot of money. Just look at the Radeon 9800pro! they're practicly giving it away
And the 3000+ is still a good cpu to power the newest games...

Well if you're gonna get an Athlon 64 later then yeah get the 3000+ now and another 512 ram maybe.

 

[cylyk]

the reason i got an a64 now is because i only upgrade once every 2 years and by upgrade i mean buy a new computer and throw my old one in the trash

 

[Subatomic]

Okay, PC2700 speed RAM is definatly supported for A64, so you would only need to worry about upgrading the mobo+ processor. A64 is not JUST for 64 bit applications, it has a much faster architecture than AXP, so you are getting a big speed increase. A 3000+XP is slower than an A64 3000+, and I have no idea if this post is coherent because I am really tired.