Doom 3 and my vid card

BrandtP

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Yes, yes, another Doom 3 question. I really want to play this game, but can't afford a system upgrade. I may, however, be able to swing a vid card upgrade. I understand my computer is outdated, but here it is:

Athlon XP 1800+, SB Live Value, 512 MB RAM, Geforce 3 Ti200 (64 MB RAM).

It meets the minimum requirements per the box. I have 2 questions:

1. On my current config, will this game be an unplayable slideshow?

2. I have read the Vid Card guide in the Graphic Card forum. What would be a good video card upgrade. With my current processor I would be concerned it would be a bottleneck, so I'm not sure what too get.

Thanks in advance for advice.
 

cleeve

Illustrious
1. D3 on your system will be very playable at 640*480. (Lots of detail lowered though). Still, you'll be surprised how well it'll run.

2. Totally depends on your budget. A 9800 PRO certainly wouldn't be wasted on your system, but in certain games your CPU will show itself as a bottleneck, so you'll want to upgrade that in the future.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 329/337)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~2750+</b></font color=red> <i>(2400+ @ 2208 Mhz)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,876</b>
 

georgebeee

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and, if you can afford it, if you do upgrade to a 9800pro I guess doom3 makes good use of the 256mb which I used to hear a lot of "not worth getting" with this video card.

are there any good models of the 9800pro with 256mb of memory that don't have the cheaper memory?

amd 2000+
gigabyte ga-7va
512mb samsung pc2700(2x256mb)
maxtor 60gb 7200rpm
LG cd-r/rw 48x24x48
soundblaster live 5.1
BBA radeon 9600xt 128mb
antec 550w true control<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by georgebeee on 09/01/04 06:29 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

sweatlaserxp

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I understand my computer is outdated
Your computer is by no means outdated, but the CPU will limit performance in some situations- it's not a monster gaming rig. I wouldn't sweat it though. A 9800 Pro will have enough to work with on your system, and for the price it's a great performer.

Athlon 2500+, Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev2, 768Mb Corsair XMS 5-2-2-2.5, Sapphire 9800 Pro 128Mb, Seagate SATA 80Gb, Fortron-Source FSP400-60PFN
 

BrandtP

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It sounds like the 9800 Pro may be the way to go. I'm doing lots of pricing, mainly on eBay looking to snag a good buy. If I can't get a 9800 Pro, what about a 9600 Pro or a Geforce 5700 Ultra?

Again, thanks for the help so far.
 

cleeve

Illustrious
Doom3 is the first game I've ever seen that actually supports a different level of detail specifically for 256 meg cards. And frankly, it doesn't do all that much for IQ.

In the case of cards slower than a 9800 PRO or FX5900, 256 megs is still useless because those cards are too slow to run at ultra-high detail levels anyway.

256 megs is still very far from a "must have" feature, although at this point, it's not a bad idea if you have the choice... although 128 meg cards are far from obsolete.
But still, 256 isn't completely useless anymore, and can certainly be considered more with an eye to future titles than current titles.


________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 329/337)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~2750+</b></font color=red> <i>(2400+ @ 2208 Mhz)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,876</b>
 
Many times when I have large network games, I use my father in-laws computer for the one person who doesn't have a PC. It is a 2200 XP, with 512 MB, and a TI4400 128 MB. At lower resolutions it runs Doom3 great. No one ever has any complaints about it. I've even tried it out on there before.

TI4200, TI4400, TI4600, are all good cheap cards.

If you can swing a decent amount of money, something like a 9600XT, or a 9800 Pro, would be a great choice (I'm an Nvidia fan, but honestly I feel that ATI offers the most bang for the buck in lower end - midrange cards.).

What would be your budget? If we knew what you wanted to spend it would be easier to recommed a card.

My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>
Overclocking Results: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc2.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc2.html</A>
 

BrandtP

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My budget's pretty low: $120 to $150 US. I will probably try and get a card off eBay since I've had good luck in the past. How would Radeon 9600 Pros and Geforce 5700 Ultra's fare with this title?
 

priyajeet

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for that u can get a 9600xt, i have one to sell.
I used to get 800*600 w 2x AA, aroung 32-37 FPS. But higher reso can also be used with 25-30 FPS.

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