Team Fortress 2 Forces me to upgrade Help Please

Hi,

First off let me say this is an awsome site with the most helpful people I've ever found. I've been reading some of the other posts and the responses and helpfulness amaze me. nuff of that.

Here's my current config.

EMachines T4510 with some upgrades
Not sure on MoBo: MB MB/WO VG31/1.3 478P W/LAN/SOUND(2CH)uATX (not sure if this helps)
CPU: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 2.53GHz (512KB L2 cache & 533MHz FSB)
Chipset: Intel® 845G chipset
Memory: 768MB DDR (PC2100)
Hard Drive: IDE 100GB HDD
Optical Drive: 48x Max. CD-RW Drive; 16x Max. DVD Drive; 3.5" 1.44MB FDD
Video: Nvidia GeForce FX5200 (1 AGP slot available)
Sound: AC '97 Audio
Network: 10/100Mbps built-in Ethernet
Modem: 56K ITU v.92-ready Fax/Modem
Peripherals: Office Multimedia Keyboard, 2-Button Wheel Mouse, Amplified Stereo Speakers
Ports/Other: 6 USB ports (2 on front), 1 Serial, 1 Parallel, 2 PS/2, Audio In & Out, Mic-In & Head Phone jack on front

Is the above mobo a dead end?

Bottom line is that when playing TF2 there is a great deal of lag. I'm generally connected to the internet at around 2MB when I test at CNet.

So. I'd like to keep my IDE hard drive....cause tranfering all my data and programs could be a hassle. Unless you have an easy way of moving to a better hard drive.

This is a mid tower ATX case and what I'm thinking about is a new mobo, mem & graphix. If I could get this done for less than $400.00 that would be great. There are just too many choices and I get overwhelmed. So, that's it. I just want to kick some butt on TF2 now that it's finally out. Right now I'm gererally a red spot on the floor before I know what hit me.

Thanx ahead of time for the help.

Scott

I think instead of going through all that trouble building a new computer, you can buy a 110 dollar 7600gt agp and that should be able to get you some good frames. you might as well throw in a 40 dollar fsp psu to be on the safe side. That should give you an immediate boost in performance while also being way easier on the pocket. Because TF2 is based on the Source Engine, I am pretty sure that a 7600gt will be all you really need. I would almost recommend the 1950pro but that might be wayy to needy (powerwise) for your system.

Thanks Nick and Brick,

Here's what I'm considering ordering based on your suggestions.

XFX PVT73AUDE3 GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X

Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply

pqi 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 266 (PC 2100) Dual Channel

Will the memory help or should I just forget the memory and stick with the better graphix card? Also, I hear alot about the cpu being the bottleneck. Should I upgrade the cpu?

Thanks,
Scott

Team Fortress 2 is not that intensive of a game, I'd just upgrade your graphics card, if that.

I could play it at tolerable frame rate at 800x600 on my girlfriends laptop, which has a Go5700 in it...and that's below your card.

My HD 2600XT plays it "great." "Great" meaning that I COULD turn everything on, if the game were issue-free, which it's not, yet, so I often find myself with low models and sound.

The game doesn't run great yet, to be completely honest. Still a little unstable.