Will upgrading RAM help?

[Gibril]

I'm ready for a new system but in the meantime should adding more Ram help my situation as far as playing HL2 is concerned?

System: Dell Dimension 8200
256 MB Ram
Vid Card: GeForce 3 64 MB
1.8 Ghz proc.

I tried it last night and it lagged a bit.

Is it a waste of time/money upgrading the Ram or do you think my video card needs to be upgraded? Thanks.

 

[giant384]

ya both video and ram need to be upgraded
i play with 384 and i do just fine

 

[Maelstrom116]

YES IT WILL
Upgrade that RAM man, thats a major problem. HL2 recommends atleast 500 MB of RAM and a new video card is in need. Go for a ATI Radeon 9800x awesome card expensive but you'll be good for about 2 maybe 3 years.

 

[freeman2]

Depends how long you intend to keep your computer, bear in mind if you buy a good video card you can put that in your new system. People have been able to play HL2 with 64 MB of ram on the video card but that is a bit low.

Also bear in mind what ever you spend on extra ram you may not get your money back if you intend to sell the computer, also the type of ram you use now may not work in your new system. If you intend to keep the computer as a back up that will not matter of course.

 

[wick]

I was using a Geforce 2 32mb graphics card and was running HL2. It was choppy here and there but not unplayable. I just got a Radeon 9550 256mb card and i still have the choppy here and there, but everything looks a hell of a lot better as far as graphics go. The water looks amazing now, before it was just a blue texture i couldnt see through.

I have 512mb ram coming in the mail to add to me 256 i currently have. Hopefully this will get rid of the choppyness.

 

[Dill0n]

if you're gonna replace the video card, determine what AGP you have on your mobo (4x, 8x, etc), and get a card that matches it exactly. there's no point purchasing an 8x AGP card if your mobo only supports 4x. the card will still work, but you won't be able to take full advantage of the 'speed', therefore causing a bottleneck and in essence making your video card a 4x. no point in spending the cash on something that is more 'powerful' than what your current machine is capable on handling.

 

[Warbie]

New cpu too m8 - u really need to upgrade ram, cpu and gfx card to get HL2 running well.

 

[Gibril]

Thanks everyone.

How do I check which AGP slot I have on my mobo? Is this something I can look at to tell?

 

[Unfocused]

I heard on these forums that there is no big difference between x4 and x8 AGP.

 

[Dill0n]

Thanks everyone.

How do I check which AGP slot I have on my mobo? Is this something I can look at to tell?

yeah, it's pretty easy to do without having to open you machine up.

right-click on desktop>properties>settings tab>advanced>click on tab with name of video card (GeForce 3 in your case) ...

under the "adapter information" it should list the bus, and to the right of that might say AGP 4X (or whatever). well, that at least tells you what your card is ... the mobo MIGHT be different.

heard on these forums that there is no big difference between x4 and x8 AGP.

no difference how? in performance in-game? if the mobo is only 4X compatible, an 8X card will work, but not to its full potential.

 

[Gibril]

OK, RAM is on the way.

Anyone have an opinion on the ATI Radeon 9600 XT? Yeah, the 9800 X would be nice but it's a bit high for this time of year with the countless other expenses in my life.

Also, I'm also thinking of upgrading my CPU from a 1.8 to a 2.6 400 Mhz. Yeah, I know it would help, but do you think it's really necessary right now?

Thanks in advance. I really appreciate all of your feedback.

 

[d'keesto]

I have a 9600 pro which is one step down from 9600xt. I can run the game at high settings (high tex. resolution, med. models, 6x AA, 8x AF, VSync on, water Reflect All) at 800x600 with a framerate that's usually at 60 or more but drops to 40 if there's a lot of water.

 

[TEDR]

if you're gonna replace the video card, determine what AGP you have on your mobo (4x, 8x, etc), and get a card that matches it exactly. there's no point purchasing an 8x AGP card if your mobo only supports 4x. the card will still work, but you won't be able to take full advantage of the 'speed', therefore causing a bottleneck and in essence making your video card a 4x. no point in spending the cash on something that is more 'powerful' than what your current machine is capable on handling.

please know what your talking about!! 4x 8x are compatable and the difference even with the best cards are like 1-2 fps between the agp 4x and 8x. more powerful ?? a better card results in better performance more fps.

 

[Dill0n]

i know what i'm talking about ... an 8x video card WILL work on a mobo with a 4x AGP slot, but you won't be using the card to its fullest potential.

 

[Kyorisu]

Please when posting info about your ram, also provide type and speed.

 

[HalfLife2Addict]

768MB of RAM *AT LEAST*.

 

[Gibril]

Update:

I installed 512 more MB of RAM (ooops sorry, 2 x (80455-8) Samsung Rambus 256MB 16bit 800MHz 40NS Memory) and the game ran great even without upgrading the video card. That brings me to 768 MB 800MHz. But I really didn't get that far into the game yet. I'm currently using a GeForce 3 64 MB Ti200 and I'm wating for an ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB DDR AGP8X w/ CRT, TVO, & DVI - OEM to arrive.

Thanks for all of your input.

 

[TEDR]

both ram and video card. agp x4 or x8 there is not much difference as they dont utilise the whole bandwidth of the x4 even. i know i got x4 motherboard and x8 and i put the same card in both motherboards 9800xt 256mb without much difference between the boards