Realistic Gaming Experience

IndianScout · Apr 25, 2004

I am building my boy a new gaming box,, here are the specs

he plays battlefield, bfv, halo and such

Biostar NForce2
XP2500 Barton Core
Gigabyte 9600 pro 128
512 PC3200
5.1 sound on board

my question is...

will this be ok for a gaming system for him. or do I need to change some hardware so I am not doing this again in a year...

any help would be appreciated

OC Detective · Apr 25, 2004

I would recommend a Radeon 9800 Pro but as that is more expensive naturally it is dependant on your budget.

Silent Frog · Apr 25, 2004

With that set up you will be upgrading pertty soon. I would recommend the 2800XP (if your not OCing) or the 2500/2400XP-M (if you will be OCing). The 9600 Pro will last you for a bit, but not real long. If you have the cash, get the 9800 pro/xt. I've seen cards called "9800" no pro no xt and they are quite a bit better then the 9600pro for about twice the price. The RAM sounds ok, but don't make the mistake I made, get brand name RAM, like Kingston, Kingmax, Corsair... I don't really know any other brands :-| ... Hope that helps. Paying a bit more is worth it I reckon.

CrashOveride · Apr 25, 2004

It won't be exceptional for FarCry, Doom III, Half Life 2, and STALKER or probably any other next generation game... You really need a better video card, that will play em' but not great and you may have ot get new hardware at the end of the year. Also more memory isn't quite necassary but it would do it good, esp if he plays the games like you said, since they are multiplayer they tend to take up more memory and will lag if it goes over by much.

mcoleg · Apr 26, 2004

ojibewa, that very true what they say, a better vid card is a must if you plan to use it with any new generation games... even halo won't run too fast on that. 9800, 9800pro or at least 9700pro should go in that. if you keep an eye on the hot deals forums, you could get 9800pro for close to $200US.

or, newegg has some 9600xt's (powercolor) with 256-bit memory. should be at least a bit faster. even better, you might get lucky and it could have all 8 piplines working. that way you could just use omega drivers (to make life simple) and get yourself a 9800pro for a price of 9600. the chances are about 50-50, from what i hear.

techbota · Apr 26, 2004

Dont even bother with a 9800 or a 5950 at the moment.

The geforce 6800 is out as of now and if you go to my site at www.utmaniac.com you will find a link to see just what it is capable of.

Then IF you want you can purchase the 9800 or the 5950 as their prices will plummet!

Plus your 9600 will be just fine for the games of now and even some of the future.

The main thing is make sure your son has broadband if you want to enhance his gaming experience!!!

With all being said above I wouldnt even waste my time buying a new video card. Directx10 will probably come out at the end of the year as will DOOM and UT2k5. Then fork out the cash on a TOP of the line NV-40 or 45 if its out!!! The 9800 and 5950's will be USELESS in the new games!!!

Once again go to my site and the first news post is labled "Check out the Unreal Engine 3 video!!" go there and you understand why you shouldnt buy right now.

PS in the article about that video they said 9800 was only getting 2-8 FPS with 2k5!!!!

f012t12 · Apr 26, 2004

I would wait 'till you can afford the athlon 64 3200. A 64-bit machine with a high frequency rate like the athlon 64 will be able to handle today's games and the next generation of games.

In my opinion, in terms of video cards, my 9600 XT runs great, but make sure that if you do get one, it comes with a HL2 coupon.

techbota · Apr 26, 2004

yes at this point with your computer your CPU is more important. Once the 6800's come out all others will be obsolete. Unleass of course your playing OLD games. So much new technology is set to come out within the year it will pay to wait it out!!!

PerlAddict · Apr 26, 2004

So basically everyone is telling you to wait. So you'll wait until the new top of the line card comes out, and then you should wait to buy it until they release the Ultra version so you don't have to pay as much, but by the time that happens a new version of the game will already be out that requires you have the Ultra version to REALLY get the frames per second you want, and so it goes ...

Bottom line - if you want to play games NOW and don't want to wait nearly a year to do so, that setup will work pretty decently. If you are looking for a mid-grade video card, and you're not going to be overclocking anything, might as well go ahead and get the 9600XT or 9700Pro or XT. And I'd definitely get some good named brand memory.

No, your current setup won't let you play the latest games that come out in a year. But then, my car won't let me run off liquid hydrogen if it becomes available, either - but I still bought a car so I can drive in the meantime. It's just about priorities.

techbota · Apr 26, 2004

Well not being rude if he had a top of the line computer right now it would strugle with next years games! Atleast 2k5 and doom 3!!!

What you said is true to some extent you can buy the latest every year and have it be outdated

BUT

With Directx10
PCI-e
and NV45 coming out all within a year I would say wait.

Like I said the 9800 only pulled 2-8 FPS in the showing of 2k5! So why upgrade now!

PerlAddict · Apr 26, 2004

Well, given those of us that don't want to wait another 6 to 8 months to play games like BF:V, Halo, etc (UT isn't the end all, be all to games for some of us

), I think timeline is more important than depriving yourself of games for 0.7% of your entire life (based on an average lifespan of 72 years) because you wanted to save $200 so you could play the newest games next year, but none of the games you already love this year.

Biggles 266 · Apr 26, 2004

Ojibewa, the system is pretty much ok. I'm guessing that you are trying to build it on a fairly tight budget, but I would recommend splashing out an extra £50 (approx $90) and getting a Radeon 9800 Pro. Huge performance difference, not so huge price difference.

If you want to overclock much, yeah you probably need different components. But if you don't that would do fairly well. More RAM is better of course. Decent branded stuff is a requirement for decent overclocks as well. But all in, you should do not too bad.

russm · Apr 26, 2004

techbota said:
With all being said above I wouldnt even waste my time buying a new video card. Directx10 will probably come out at the end of the year as will DOOM and UT2k5. Then fork out the cash on a TOP of the line NV-40 or 45 if its out!!! The 9800 and 5950's will be USELESS in the new games!!!

DX10 isnt scheduled for release until Longhorn comes out, so you have no frets until the end of 2005, early 2006 at the earliest.

the system you have up there will run games decently for the most part. if hes gonna wanna go nuts with it, or run any new dx9 games as everyone has mentioned, get a 9800 pro, and i would look into a different mobo (not a fan of biostar) check newegg.com for there refurb section if you are good at assembling systems, because tehy dont include any extra parts or manuals, but you can save alot of cash. altho the 9800 pros from saphire are coming $199 US right now, in OEM packaging.

IndianScout · Apr 26, 2004

nice thoughts and thanks, I put the order in today cause he was on my butt to play, and he's not getting MY box...

went with the;

XP2600 333 Barton
Biostar M7NCD-Pro NForce2
1G DDR3200
FX5700 128

hope this will hold him thru the end of the year

thanks guys

spydeymon · Apr 26, 2004

That should be fine the only thing u should try to change is the videocard fx5700 if its not the ultra wont run as well as the 9600 pro. I'd relly look into a 9600xt or if i have some more money get a 9800 pro or even the msi fx5900xt if u o/c it its pretty much as good as a 9800 pro.
Good luck

mcoleg · Apr 26, 2004

ojibewa, good for you. good luck with the neew system man

.

twitch579 · Apr 26, 2004

SAY NO TO BIOSTAR!!!!!! PLEASE BEWARE!!!! CRAP!!!!! MAKES GOOD WALL CLOCK!!!!!

IndianScout · Apr 27, 2004

SAY NO TO BIOSTAR!!!!!! PLEASE BEWARE!!!! CRAP!!!!! MAKES GOOD WALL CLOCK!!!!!

funny I have never had a bad Biostar board and I have built tons of them...

f012t12 · Apr 27, 2004

You build Biostar boards? Wow.... JK, i know what you mean. People ask me, "You can build Computers?"

I simply say, "Not quite, I really assemble them using manufactured components."

Anyways, I would go with a bigger brand name. I've had bad experiences with my FIC motherboard.

IndianScout · Apr 27, 2004

f012t12 said:
You build Biostar boards? Wow.... JK, i know what you mean. People ask me, "You can build Computers?"

I simply say, "Not quite, I really assemble them using manufactured components."

Anyways, I would go with a bigger brand name. I've had bad experiences with my FIC motherboard.

Actually I was an Engineering Tech for Pemstar www.pemstar.com and did build boards lol

mainly the controller boards that are used in our militaries flight simulators and more..

ehe

just cause you said the Biostar wasnt any good I just had to post this..

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=2270225

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