My comp. please help!!

[bobhund 0]

Hi!

I have a athlon k6 500 mhz. 128 mb ram. nvidia tnt2 m64

the game runs a little slow on my computer. will it be really really great if i upgrade my graphic card to a geforce 3? will the game run as smooth as it can or do I have to upgrade somethingelse you think? im thinking of buying the elsa 920. what is your recommendation on graphic cards?

[EveronVetsAgainstTheWar 0]

This game runs slow for pretty much everyone. You need a faster processor, I'd day over a gig. More ram too. Video card fast too. Ya. There's posts like this all over the forum. A debate will probably spawn about which is better, Radeon or Geforce.

[EveronVetsAgainstTheWar 0]

Oh sorry, I forgot to give you some helpful advice. If you don't want to spend money on upgrading your computer just so OFP will run smoothly, try turning your texture settings down. I turned a couple down and my game runs decent now.

[bobhund 0]

ok, thanks. but i can still play the game and i have the settings pretty low. but thats quite boring actully..

But if i buy a good new graphic card, i should be able to "raise" the settings, right? and maybe i should have 256 ram instead of 128. then it should be much better. right?

[theavonlady 2]

256MB of RAM should make a noticeable difference.

[Krull SGC 0]

While a GeForce3 will certainly help the performance of your computer in general, you should consider that overall OFP performance seems to depend more on processor power and memory.

A graphics card like the GeForce3 will certainly allow you to use higher performance settings, but with your current processor you will still not be getting the kind of performance I think you are after. With a K-6 500 you will develop a performance bottleneck, where the GeForce3 will be unable to perform at its best because of the limitations of your processor, it literally won't be able to keep up, and as with all things a computer is only as good as the slowest componant. I recommend that you consider a processor and motherboard upgrade as a possible alternative to a GeForce3. For a little less than a GeForce3 you can easily put together a system which is well over 1ghz (especially with an AMD processor), and with plenty of memory for OFP. The good thing about this method of upgrading is that you will no doubt see better performance from your TNT2, which should be sufficient until you do upgrade to a GeForce3. Anyway I think its something worth considering, especially given the cost of a GeForce3.

However if it is the GeForce3 you want, then go for it, I got one about 3 weeks ago, (I did have a 3 year old Voodoo3 before that), and the general performance increase of my PC is outstanding, I think its the best money I have ever spent on my PC, and I am sure you won't regret it.

[bobhund 0]

ok, so your suggestion is to buy a new processor. but i dont know what i should buy. i have no idea what kind of motherboard i should buy and so on. i dont know what fits in my computer. i just wanna play.

[ScreamingWithNoSound 0]

With a system of that age, I would suggest buying a new one, rather than upgrading - keep the second one to mess about with, or sell it on as a word processor.

Personnally, I would recommend Abit and Asus as the board manufacturers to go for - they have the best reputation for performance and reliablity.

A large chassis, with a _quality_ 300W, or more PSU (this is vital)

Abit KR7A or Asus A7V266-E are both based on Via KT266A.

Athlon XP 1600+ (atleast) + BIG heatsink

512mb _UNBUFFERED_ PC2100 DDR RAM (Cas 2 if you can get it, cas 2.5 otherwise)

A GeForce 3 or Radeon 8500 - jury is still out on which is the best...

SB Live! Audigy is said to be the best, but is know to have some compatability issues.

A 7200rpm HDD (or 4 if you want to go all the way with a RAID setup)

DVD drive - avoid DVD/CD-RW combo drives like the plague (I work on a support line and I am yet to encounter one that is reliable)

Everything else is generally un-important, except for 1 thing - with PCs, you get what you pay for - if someone offers you a modem for Å15 and a different one for Å50... there WILL BE a reason... whether it is worth it, is up to you.

If you have a top notch video card, you may want to invest in a quality monitor as well.

[bobhund 0]

but i dont have the moneyt to buy all this. if i had i would. i have money for a good grapic card. or a new processor (and motherboard) if you can get that for..500 $. thats is what i have got..

[bobhund 0]

and i cant buy a new computer every 2 years..

[Krull SGC 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from bobhund on 2:32 pm on Nov. 26, 2001

and i cant buy a new computer every 2 years..<span id='postcolor'>

I completely agree bobhund, I think Screaming has got a little carried away with his list, you really don't need any of that stuff, because you will already have it. If you did choose to upgrade the processor you would only need the processor, the motherboard, and some PC2100 memory (which fortunately is very cheap at the moment, like all memory, though it looks to be going up again)

Taking a quick look at Insight.com the new Athlon XP processors are priced as follows for a boxed product (that includes the heatsink and fan, and a case sticker):

Athlon XP 1500+ USD$145.99

Athlon XP 1600+ USD$156.99

Athlon XP 1700+ USD$188.99

Athlon XP 1800+ USD$256.99

Athlon XP 1900+ USD$307.99

Now AMD use the Gigabyte 7DX motherboard in their benchmark systems, so it is probably a good one to get. Insight sell it for USD$169.99

So say you go with the XP 1700+ at $188.99, and the DX7 motherboard at $169.99 thats only USD$358.98

Add to that 256mb of PC2100 memory which Crucial sell for USD$43.19. You can have a computer which is good for a couple more years for USD$402.18.

If you shop around I am sure you can find a better price, though if you don't feel confident that you could sucessfully upgrade a computer in this way (it will involve taking everything apart and a re-installation of the harddrive), then go for the GeForce3 instead. I would think that in terms of a power increase, as far as games go anyway, it is probably just as good because it is easier to do. Anyway I think either route is a good route, and I don't think that you would be disappointed with the results of either. Good luck.

(Edited by Krull SGC at 6:05 pm on Nov. 26, 2001)

[Mister Frag 0]

Yeah, I'd split the upgrade budget between a new processor/motherboard/memory and a new mid-range video card like a GeForce2 GTS.

AMD processors in particular are one #### of a bargain these days, and memory is cheap, too. Pair them up with a decent video card like a GeForce2 or Radeon 7500, and you've got a system that will play OFP and just about any other game quite well.

Keep an eye open for deals on non-Titanium GeForce cards, since the introduction of the GeForce2 Ti and GeForce3 Ti cards is driving down the price of the non-Ti models. Also, occassionally there are some great deals on the new cards, I was able to pick up a Visiontek GeForce3 Ti200 for $99 last week at Best Buy. :biggrin: