Wondering about my desktop

[Shamrock]

I have a desktop PC that runs an AMD X2 5200 (2.7 GHZ), 4 GB, and an HD2900XT. How will it handle current games? I was thinking of starting to use it again as my laptop is showing it's age.

I'm not sure what I'll mostly be running, but you can expect that I'll play any kind of game on it so just think anything major.

Thanks HELPLAFFFTOOODAUGHTNAUGHT.

 

[Quixoticism]

Depending on your resolution you will start to run into problems with games newer than L4D and UT3.

 

[Schall]

You should be able to play most source games, except maybe L4D. I'd consider getting a better video card if I were you. They're pretty cheap now and you could use one.

 

[Vegeta897]

Yexcept maybe L4D.

Uh, lol, what?

My computer is like 2 years older than that, single core, AGP video card, 2gb ram, and I can play L4D fine.

 

[No Limit]

You'll be fine for most of today's games. Granted you wont play some of the using the highest settings but using moderate settings you'll be fine.

 

[StarBob]

Yeah my processor is a 5000 at 2.6 ghz and I can run most anything on reasonably high settings at 40 fps+. Video card and memory are the big thing. I have a Radeon 4890. My processor is my current choke point (that and my PCI express slot not being 2.0) but it doesn't bring down games much until a lot of AI stuff is happening. I've been playing around with Crysis Warhead and I have it up on High with a good framerate and I basically run L4D2 near maxed, though it's pointless since I rarely stop to enjoy the scenery. Hm... can't think of what else I've tested out... some random games but none of them huge graphic hogs like Crysis. Basically, with what you have now, you can throw in a $150 - $200 video card and run anything on pretty high settings for at least the next year.

 

[Shamrock]

Yeah my processor is a 5000 at 2.6 ghz and I can run most anything on reasonably high settings at 40 fps+. Video card and memory are the big thing. I have a Radeon 4890. My processor is my current choke point (that and my PCI express slot not being 2.0) but it doesn't bring down games much until a lot of AI stuff is happening. I've been playing around with Crysis Warhead and I have it up on High with a good framerate and I basically run L4D2 near maxed, though it's pointless since I rarely stop to enjoy the scenery. Hm... can't think of what else I've tested out... some random games but none of them huge graphic hogs like Crysis. Basically, with what you have now, you can throw in a $150 - $200 video card and run anything on pretty high settings for at least the next year.

This is exactly the answer I was looking for! Ok. So I think I might test it out today and reformat my desktop with Windows 7 and try out a few games. I didn't expect to run games at their highest settings, but I'm glad I can still play some games fine.

I just want the game to still retain some prettiness but with playability basically.

 

[StarBob]

This is exactly the answer I was looking for! Ok. So I think I might test it out today and reformat my desktop with Windows 7 and try out a few games. I didn't expect to run games at their highest settings, but I'm glad I can still play some games fine.

I just want the game to still retain some prettiness but with playability basically.

Windows 7 seems to run games just as well or in some cases a little better than XP. I don't know if your card is DX 10, but it seems to have a slight positive effect on framerates as well. Also, a game like Crysis that has a 64 bit mode, if you're running a 64 bit Windows 7, it gives a fairly significant (10-15%)boost in framerate. I ran HL2 and possibl Episode 1 on a Radeon 9600xt just fine. I run everything in 1600x900 too, so if that's not your standard, you can grab a bunch of FPS by lowering it.

Basically the only thing that I have found to be truly limited by my processor is GTA4. Processing all of those people's AI and the car AI and all that just seems to be too much for my processor. It's not really optimized for PC gaming, but I've had to lower the graphical quality and density on it more than I wanted to in order to make it really playable.

 

[Schall]

Uh, lol, what?

My computer is like 2 years older than that, single core, AGP video card, 2gb ram, and I can play L4D fine.

Hence maybe. I struggled to run it on all max on a single core and 9500gt.