Halo 1 & 2 for PC
This topic has moved here: Subject: X300 SE
  • Subject: X300 SE
Subject: X300 SE
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Hey Anyone out there, i might be getting a new comp with an ATI Radeon X300.
Will it work well for Halo PC?

  • 01.08.2005 7:44 PM PDT
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Well, in ATI terms SE means "-blam!- edition"...see, whenever one of their cards has SE, it means that it's worse than its regular counterpart - not to disclaim the x300, though.

Everything but the memory is different between SE and the regular for the x300 series. The SE has 64-bit memory...which isn't great, but it's what I'd call a value card (the regular has a 128bit memory setup).

Your resolutions won't be high, but you will get stuff lke lighting and nice textures. Just don't expect the framerates to be great. My 9600XT runs on par with the x300 series, and it's already 3 years old. However, the x300 is PCI express - you can upgrade to the next generation's cards that will utilize pci express to its max, much than today's cards. Read my explanation of graphics cards here, especially the "interface" section for more details.

Basically, the x300 is no speed demon, but will get you by with under maximum settings but above low settings. If your budget is tight, then yes, it's a good value. If you have extra cash to burn, say another 100 or 200, get a better card and be happy for another year or two with good graphics, because the x300 will only keep you happy for another year, and then it won't work that well.

  • 01.08.2005 8:39 PM PDT
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Heyyo,

eek, SE, avoid those like the devil himself. If you can, aim for an nvidia 6600GT PCI-E. Can't beat it in preformance for that pricerange. ;)

Yeah, agp has seen its glory days, but support for it will dwindle, BUT not die. To this day there's still PCi videocards for sale, so I'm sure for another 3 years we'll still see some agp cards out there. =D

  • 01.09.2005 2:18 AM PDT
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Ok, thanks for your advice. I'm just trying to get a good comp for about $1,500. Do u know a good brand that can sell a good comp for 1,500?

  • 01.09.2005 6:48 AM PDT
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Heyyo,

For that price? hmm, not really.... You could buy a Hewlett Packard (HP). They're one of the best cheap bigname companies that sell PC's. After you buy it you'd probably still wanna get a new videocard cause they tend to just put inna Nvidia GeForce4 MX440....

OH, avoid Dell, and Compaq. They're both really, REALLY ghey. Dell? lame, no agp slots, hard to upgrade, and intel celerons (I call them celery, cause they're flakey and I'd rather coat it in peanut butter and rasins than have it plain, lmao...). Compaq? well, they're just like, the prositute of the computer companies. LOL, they've been bought out by 2 companies. Right now HP currently owns them. ;)

[Edited on 1/9/2005 10:27:41 AM]

  • 01.09.2005 10:25 AM PDT
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Yeah, dell is terrible, and compaq - exactly, they are overpriced street hookers. Avoid sony, they're overpriced, I had one of their Vaio's, and man was it terrible. Only one fan in the whole case!!! Gateway may be the most reliable company, but they are way overpriced - by far, out of your range. No major manufacturer of PC's will allow you under 1800 for a halfway decent machine.

If you can get educated on the issue, you can build your own. I found that I can get a nearly top-of-the-line comp for about 1600 if I build it myself.

www.tomshardware.com (this site has good guides to do-it-yourself stuff)
www.tigerdirect.com (they have a guide to buying/installing hardware - just don't order stuff from them :)

Otherwise, HP is okay. I really don't trust any PC manufacturer. There are some smaller companies at various websites that allow you to customize a pc from scratch, with a list of options, for very cheap, and their warranty and service is as good as any major company. Their customizable options are more advanced, such as choosing your motherboard and such, and their selection of customizeable parts is much better. Also, they have some pretty awesome cases, and they will install everything for you, including the OS.

If you want a cheap PC, HP is good. Otherwise, if you have the time to learn about it, building your own can be fun and rewarding - you'll know what goes into your computer.

  • 01.09.2005 11:43 AM PDT
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build one yourself

i can get a amd 3000+ 64 bit
asus sli mobo
512mb ram
x300
80 gig hd

for just under 600 bucks

  • 01.09.2005 11:51 AM PDT
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Yeah, the AMD 64's are great, mainly because you can overclock them fairly far. That graphics card...if you're gonna get a new pc, get a gigabyte x800 series card. The x300 is exactly like the 9600XT, except more expensive.

If you need help building one, we can help you choose hardware.

newegg.com and zipzoomfly.com are great places to get cheap stuff, mainly because they're just a huge warehouse.

  • 01.09.2005 2:18 PM PDT
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Heyyo,

davis, you use tigerdirect too!? w00t! :)

Actually, for new cards, that Nvidia 6600GT is one great card. If a x800's out of your price range, try to get that 6600GT cause yeah, I'mma little upset ATI (I prefer over Nvidia btw due to bad past experiences with the GeForce series..) diddn't lower their price on their budget cards and their 9800 PRO to combat the extra power the 6600GT pumps out, ESPECIALLY for the ATI Radeon 9800XT... I mean, wth? costs waay too much considering it's not much better than the 9800 PRO... also, to combat nvidia's main move which was lower their budget priced cards by about $20 CDN cheaper than the ATI equivalents.. but oh well, in the end I'd rather pay the extra cash for reliability.

  • 01.09.2005 4:46 PM PDT
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The X300SE will give you steady framerates at 800x600 resolution with high settings. Use those settings and it should run fine/good. If you want to upgrade get a ATI X700 Pro or Nvidia 6600GT. Both cost the same, but ATI cards are better with DirectX and Nvidia cards are better with OpenGL, so ATI cards would be ideal for games like Half Life 2 and Far Cry, while Nvidia cards are better with Doom 3. Though DONT ever buy an Nvidia Geforce FX series card, they are horrible.

  • 01.09.2005 6:11 PM PDT
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Okay Thank you so much. I'll try to get an HP because ill build my own comp when the one that im getting soon gets old.

  • 01.11.2005 12:41 PM PDT