Who Upgraded for HL2?

[Cunni]

I haven;'t read the thread, but here's my 2 cents. I will upgrade for Half Life 2. In fact, I intend on buying a whole new system, monitor, speakers etc. I'm just not going to until I KNOW its going to be out SOON. I may even wait until I have bought the game and have it in my hands. I would be willing to have to drool over the box and manual for a couple of days, in order to avoid the same mistake many people made last September when they bought brand new top of the line video cards.

On that note, I went into EB Games today. A year ago, I had reserved a copy of the game. About 6 months ago, I went in to clarify that I want the Collectors Edition. At that point, there were no defferent "editions." Well today I went in and was able to change my reservation to the Collectors Edition, and the CE was apparently a new listing. The release date they had was November 15, but even they said that that is not reliable.

 

[Alec_85]

I bought a R9800Pro last August/September for, now, no apparent reason. Can't say I feel cheated. Just stupid Mostly because of the high price (compared with today) & because of the act that it doesn't fit i very well with my other Dell hardware... Oh well it works better than my old GF3 luckily.

 

[Kazuki_Fuse]

I reckon all up I've spent around $1600 in order to just play HL2 on high settings on both my computers, the main cost was the X800XT VIVO. But I've bough an extra gig of ram for HL2, new processor and a 9800XT in addition to the X800XT-PE. I couldn't stand it if my ridiculously, unnatainable high standards for that game were let down. I've been tryin' to convince myself that it won't be all that good just in case. Ah hell, I'll love the game even if it turns out to be crap.

 

[hilly]

Yea i have upgraded,

Spent like £2000, FX-53(939), 6800GT overclocked to ultra speeds. 1 Gig of PC3700 EB OCZ Ram, 17" TFT, are the main parts, other than the case, sound card, drives, motherboard e.t.c

 

[Yellonet]

Since 1998 Half Life was my life. Dedicated much time to the game itself, the mods, it's community. To me it was more than a game. It was a lifestyle. Something only I could never get my friends to understand. They just couldnt see it. But I connected with HL. The game ran beautifully on my 1.8 mhz Voodoo 3, 128mb ram system. So I won't play HL2 on anything but the best. I decided to get a little self indulgent yesterday at work. I ordered a new Alienware.

Heres the specs.

Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Saucer Silver
Power Supply: No Power Supply Upgrade
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor w/ HT Technology 2.8GHz
Motherboard: ASUS® P4C800-E Deluxe - Intel 875P Motherboard
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR PC-3200 SDRAM at 400MHz - 2 x 512MB
Video Card: ATI RADEON™ X800 XT Platinum Edition 256MB DDR3 w/Digital and TV Out
System Drive: High Performance - Serial ATA - 80GB Seagate® Barracuda 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Optical Drive One: Lite-On® 16x DVD-ROM Drive with Software DVD Decoder
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 High Definition 6.1 Surround
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Intel® Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
Display One: NEC 17" LCD 1760NX MultiSync - Black
Speakers: Logitech® Z-640 5.1 70-Watt Speakers
Home Networking: D-Link® 802.11G Wireless Base Station

The total just almost hit 3 grand, but I figured what the hell. I was tired of skimping out on previous computer buys. Maybe cutting back on the graphics card to save money, or not getting the monitor I wanted. I've waited for HL2 since the day the first screens came out last year. I love HL, I love HL2, I owe it to myself to be able to enjoy this game to it's max. I love video games.

So who else updated? When? Why? Last year before the infamous Sept release date? Who bought XT cards just to get the voucher? Tell me your stories. I love hearing them Later duuudes. HL2 is nearing. :cheers:

Why didn't you build your own computer? that way you could have saved $1000.
I've never bought a brand-computer, and I don't think I ever will. It just feels better to put it together yourself...

 

[maff63]

New machine

I built my new machine just last week - Altogether ive prob spent just over £1750 on it. Here are the specs :

Intel Pentium 4 3.2Ghz Socket LGA775
Sapphire ATI x800xt PCI-express (256Mb) GDDR3
Geil 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 RAM running at 533Mhz

Abit DURAMAX Motherboard
1 DVD R/RW drive
3 hardrives including :
120Gb Western Digital 7200 RPm SATA 150
36Gb Western Digital 10000 RPm SATA 150
30Gb WD 7200 RPm SATA 133
Logitech MX700 cordless mouse
Coolermaster Aluminium Keyboard


I got a real nice (£200) LanLI case for it too. And a nice 17" Viewsonic LCD - which has a response time <13ms

I would post some pics but Im at work.

I get max frame rates reaching 150-185fps in the HL2 stress test demo. In the demo Minimum frame rate is around 80 - with an average frame rate score of 92fps

I find it strange some people are paying > £1750 for a new setup

 

[Dr0ndeh]

i built my pc for all the new games that were comming out this year (i upgraded back in december 03) tho yes hl2 was high up on that list of games, im glad i did it when i did becuase of all the games that have come out in the meantime (farcry especially, and doom3)

upgraded from a pentium 1.0, gforce4MX, 128 mb ram to..

amd xp 2800+ (now at 2.3 ghtz)
9800 pro (xt speeds now, naturally)
1 gig-o-ram (nothin spesh)

it was an entirely new setup and cost £800 (not including new tft monitor)

i cant see me upgrading now until 2006, when the unreal3 engine games start filtering out.

 

[kaellinn18]

Sorry to resurrect this dying thread, but I just had to share. After a couple of weeks of nagging and a couple of budget sheets, I managed to convince my wife to let me buy a new PC. Hopefully I won't have to upgrade this baby for a looooooooooooong time. Here's the specs:

3.40GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 550 (Prescott)
Asus P5AD2 Premium 925X PCI-Express Motherboard
1GB PC4200 DDR2 RAM
(SATA) 160GB Seagate 7200rpm Serial ATA-150 w/ 8MB Cache
Toshiba 16X DVD ROM/48X CD-ROM Drive (Black Bezel)
ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum PCI-Express 256MB (w/ DVI, TV Out & Dual Display)
Innerworks Active Video Cooling
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS (7.1)
Hypersonic Silencer Package for Reduced Fan Noise
SONICWAVE Aluminum Tower Case (Black)
Enermax 431W PEG465P-VE ATX 12V Switching Power Supply
Logitech MX500 Optical USB (Black/Silver)
Logitech Elite Keyboard (Black/Silver)
Logitech Z-640 5.1 70W Surround (Black)

I can't wait for this baby to arrive at the office. I think I might come down with the flu that day...

Muahahahaha it's supposed to get here this week!!

 

[NeLi]

[edit] DOUBLE POSTING FAILURE!! WHOOOO!!

 

[NeLi]

I did upgrade for HL2...and I earned money on it too

I bought a 9800PRO back when they were the new hot stuff, and later sold it off to some moron who payed me way more than the card was worth. So, when HL2 ships, I'll get to waste the cash on a 6800GT instead

 

[BigWalnutZ]

My new system:
Description
Maxtor 250GB ATA133 8MB Cache HD
AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512k L2 Cache
ASUS K8T800 Chipset Mobo for AMD Socket 754
UBI SOFT FarCry - PC Game
AMD SPP MB/CPU BUNDLE ** PROMO **
Thermaltake Xaser III V2000A Aluminum Tower Case
Antec 480W Power Supply w/ Blue LED Fan
Corsair XMS 1GB (512MBx2) DDR PC-3200PRO
Lite-On White 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive
SONY Beige 1.44MB 3.5Inch Floppy Disk Drive
Rush Processing for CD Drive and Floppy
12in Dual Cold Cathode - Blue
KDS® XF-9B 19" CRT Monitor
ATI RADEON X800 XT PE 256MB GDDR3 AGP


I have had that damn x800xt on order now for months, actually 2 of them currently. Also I am looking to grab 1 or 2 WD Raptors for the OS and programs and just use the Maxtor(s) (i have 3 of the 250's) as storage space.

My total system price after buying a complete new system...$1,520.05 Other than not having a sound card (built in 5.1 surround) I think this comp smacks the original poster's around with a large trout, and for half the price

 

[Bobcat]

I didn't upgrade for HL², I upgraded because I busted my 9800 Pro, so I'm eagerly awaiting an X800XT in the mail.

 

[oldagerocker]

Now hl2 is near gold, i just ordered my 5.1 speakers i need these anyway, but still..

 

[gweedodogg69]

I'm tryin to upgrade, I wanna get an AMD 64 PC...need dinero though...or at least a Circuit City card so I can do monthly payments. Or...if there's a way to upgrade a laptop video card (which I doubt) I'll do that.

 

[enternaL]

I bought a BFG nVidia 6800GT/OC the other day. I upgraded from a PNY nVidia Ti4600, finally. If I were building, or buying, a new system, I'd wait for the PCI-Express video cards to be plentiful.

 

[RoyaleWithCheese]

I upgraded them all. I used to wear white ones, but with hl2 and all you can see all the stains in them so I bought a dozen brown ones

 

[Ecthe|ioN]

I upgraded for HL2, specs are in the sig but I can still give a systematic description Not just the upgrade .. I'll share everything..

Chassis: Thermaltake Xaser III with UV lights, etch, round UV-IDE cables, some dead bugs that got inside somehow. A bit of dust. 7 x TT 80mm fans. 4 replaced by Papst 12db fans. FAN-Control also included. UV-Powercables ++
CPU: Pentium 4 "Nortwood" 3.2GHz OC'ed up and down every now and then.
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS7000A
Goop: Arctic Silver 5
MoBo: ASUS P4C800E-Deluxe
RAM: 4 x 512MB Geil Golden Dragon PC3200 (I didn't know too much RAM was overkill at the time ) I get about 4800 / 1900MB/s in AIDA32 Benchmark
GPU: Connect3D X800XT Platinum Edition 256MB
Monitor: 3-4 years old Hitachi CM640ET 17" CRT (Incredibly dark monitor. Powerstrip is a nice application)
Mouse: Intelli3 with Hyperglide
Mousepad: fUnc 1030
Keyboard: 5 year old KeyTronic with chunks of pizza and chips and a pretty worn out Space-key. (It's the best keyboard IMO)
PSU: BeQuiet 450W Color
DVD/CD: Nec 16x DVD-Recorder (Dual Layer)
Hard-drives: 1 x WD 80GB (P-ATA), 1 x 200GB Seagate Barracuda (S-ATA)
Floppy: Sometimes-working-standard-floppy-thing.
I use the Zalman 5.1 Surround headphones with the integrated soundcard. Good enough sound.

 

[Paladin]

I have upgraded for HL2.
Last year in June or so i bought a Geforce 4 Ti 4200, because i thought that my good ol' Geforce2mx won't be able to handle HL2 anymore.
Additionally i recently bought another 256MB DDRam and now have 768MB.
Processor is a AthlonXP 2400+ on an old but good asrock mainboard.

And No, I don't have much money to spend on Computers

 

[Annihilator_91]

I'm gonna upgrade me in December!

Specs: Intel Pentium 4 Processor 3.4 Ghz
Nvidia GeForce FX 6800 Ultra 254mb
512 DDR SDRAM
7.1 Sound Card from Creative Labs (Have already)
7.1 Surround Speaker system from Creative Labs (Have Already)
Logitech MX500 Optic Mouse (Have already)
Some Dell Keyboard
250gb harddrive Memory

That's all that is über about my computer upgrade!

 

[i386DX]

I did a little upgrade for HL2

I changed my Geforce 2MX with a Geforce 3 Ti500

The rest of my system: AMD Thunderbird 1,3 Ghz
512 Mb Ram. So i should be able to play it. Maybe on a low quality setting but who cares!

 

[Sucky Ducky]

Upgraded... To a Geforce 6800 Standard =)

 

[rascal72]

not really i dont think graphics are really that important as long as it plays i mean if you have got a shitty processor then it just runs slow