Halflife 2 - which card should I buy.

FRAGgleROX

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I was wondering if anyone could help me out, Halflife 2 is coming out soon (9-30-03) and I was thinking about upgrading my video card. Obviously I would like the best, but on my budget I don't think that can happen. So in the $150-$250 Range, which card will be the best for the game. Thanks for your help and opinions.
 

ufo_warviper

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Radeon 9700 non-pro. Buy from either "Built by ATi", Saphire, or Hercules. Make sure the Memory, the VPU core clock, & the memory bus-width are up to par with standard specs. I'll go dig up these specs, I'll be back ina jiffy.

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ufo_warviper

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Graphics Chip Cock Frequency Speed: 275 MHz
128 MB DDR Memmory @ 270 MHz
Memory Bus Width: 256 bit
Memory timing & latency: ??? (Need some input here for the guy)

With these specs You should do just fine & you can definitely find one in your price-range. This is a <b> VERY VERY</b> fast card. It won't be any more than 10 - 20% slower than the currently fastest offerings. Whatever you get, don't get a GeForce FX card. Recent discoveries have unveiled that ALL FX boards will have very mediocre performance IN DirectX 9 applications. If the $250 is a little high for you, and all you want is decent directX 9 performance, then the Radeon 9500, 9600, & 9600 Pro can all be had for less than $150. If your a real cheapskate, you can actually attempt a softmod on a (9500 Non-pro) to turn it into a 9700 non-pro although I wouldn't reccomend it because it doesn't always work and you might be left dissappointed if you don't get the highend performance your wanting. However softmodding won't void the warrently like overclocking will & if it fails it won't damage your card in any way.

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Best bet.... WAIT 'til the game actually is benchmarked with current cards; THEN, and ONLY then, will you know what you SHOULD buy.

Can't say that enough it seems!

But other than that I'd go with seconding UFO's recommendation.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK :evil:
 

flamethrower205

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I've got a bad feeling that game will no way in hell run well on the best cards of today at best graphics mode (that is fullest detail, no AA or Aniso!) I mean when HL was released, heellll no, it ran terribly on most comps...

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confoundicator

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Somebody around here (I think it was GW) posted a link to an interview with Gabe Newell at Valve where he said the demo running at E3 was running at around 60 frames/sec at 1024x768x32 with no AF or AA. IIRC he said it was running on a 2.8GHz P4 with an 800 MHz fsb dual DDR mobo, 512MB RAM, and a Radeon 9800 Pro.

This would suggest that the game simply won't run on today's hardware at better than slide show speeds with AF and AA cranked up.

I beat the original Half Life (the first time :cool: ) on a 380MHz K6-II, 64MB of PC100, 4MB of video RAM, playing at 800x600x16 with no filtering or AA and it FU<KING ROCKED!!!
 

flamethrower205

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Ha! I beat it on a 200Mhz P1 w/ 32 megs edo and a 2MB Cirrus Logic at 640x480! l337! Beat it on difficult too, tho it was a slideshow in some parts. Now on my current comp, mwahaha.
I'll need to be running it at 1600x1200 tho, on account of the LCD I'm getting. Hope a GeForce 7 will handle it ok....

The one and only "Monstrous BULLgarian!"
 

eden

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I'd bet the FX line will suffer more in HL2.

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eden

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Damn it I so wish I could dig back up my rant on asking such thread questions! :mad:

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ufo_warviper

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I beat Half-Life on a Pentium 166 MHz (Non MMX- I think). I had 64MB of 72-pin EDO RAM, & I had a Maxi Gamer 3D 2 Voodoo2 12MB and I played it on 512x384. And yes, I beat it on difficult, (don't know how I did it on THAT system). It was soooo slow. I actually wished I could have played the game on the original 4MB Voodoo so I could crank down the res to 320x240 instead having 512x328 as the lowest to make the framerates more fluid in certain parts of the game where I had severe slideshows. Afterall, I think my CPU would have been a bottleneck for even the original 3dfx Voodoo. Did anybody beat HL the first time on a lower system than mine?

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eden

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Flame, two nVidia users here who nearly swore by them switched and could not be happier.

I dare ya to get a 9800 and tell me it ain't good.
Your next card is gonna be an ATi, I can almost tell.

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ufo_warviper

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Actually, you got a VERY good point there. I can't beleive I overlooked that. Your system would count as lower. I'm wondering how yoou could have beatin' that on the "difficult" setting at 640x480 software rendering on a 2meg card. How did you do it man?

Anywayz did anyone have a lower CPU than mine when they played HL?

My OS features preemptive multitasking, a fully interactive command line, & support for 640K of RAM!
 

eden

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*DELETED FOR CRAP MATHEMATICAL MISCALCULATION REASONS*
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<A HREF="http://www.lochel.com/THGC/album.html" target="_new"><font color=blue><b>Are you ugly and looking into showing your mug? Then the THGC Album is the right place for you!</b></font color=blue></A><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Eden on 09/06/03 01:00 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

eden

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Prove me wrong?

Have you seen the latest DX 9 results?
nVidia's going down, their drivers got even more bugs lately. So many FX users come here with probs. Give it up Flamey.

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ufo_warviper

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I feel like being mean tonight :evil: :

Eden basicaly posted a LONG A$$ thread proving why a 166MHz non-MMX CPU is at least 350% faster than a 200MHz MMX. :wink:


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eden

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That's it!
You're going down!


*Honorary Forum Veteran fireball attack!*

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ufo_warviper

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OUCH!!!!!!!!! Your roasting me into a charr-broiled burger patty! Ay the FLAMES, the FLAMES! Somebody help me!!!!!!!!!

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ufo_warviper

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Thanks GW, that fire was almost as HOT as the chick that's sitting on my lap right now as I type (I wish! :frown: }

My OS features preemptive multitasking, a fully interactive command line, & support for 640K of RAM!
 
You know you wouldn't be feeling burning in your lap if you wore protection before dating!

Sounds like you need to visit your local clinic. :evil:


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK :evil: