Halo 1 & 2 for PC
This topic has moved here: Subject: Building Your Own PC Gaming Rig: A How To Guide.
  • Subject: Building Your Own PC Gaming Rig: A How To Guide.
Subject: Building Your Own PC Gaming Rig: A How To Guide.
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Ahhh Moriarity, you speak the truth. I hate playing staring wars with my comp for 5 hours before I figure out what the hell I/it did wrong. Second, I havent been on in a while, but I am noticing a peculiar trend. People must realize that CPU upgrades are "usually" not as important as any other type of upgrade. IMO, most games nowadays can be run on a 2ghz processor (or the AMD equivelant). The most important thing is your GPU. However, in something like Pinks case, he definitly could stand to get a faster processor. As the gaming world evolves, gfx become nicer and nicer, and as such, a better gpu is very beneficial. Just thought I would clarify this, as a CPU upgrade can be pretty substantial if for PIV (AMD's are cheap, that why I like them! As well as more work per cycle etc). Any comments on or if I have leaky knowledge would be appreciated.

  • 07.16.2004 12:22 PM PDT
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Thanks letmelive your input is great. Its true that many overlook the CPU as the root of thier poor gaming experience problem. Most of the time it is the graphics card, though some times it is even deeper. A man came into my shop and asked me why his computer bogged down when he tried to use teamspeak with his games running at the same time. He had a decent graphics card and a fast processor with plenty of RAM. After giving his machine the once over I found that his FSB (front side bus) speeds were VERY slow (133). Unfortunatly all I could recommend was that he buy a new Mobo (motherboard) that all of his existing hardware was compatible with. So he did, and that was the end of his problem. Pink definately needs to get a better graphics card and CPU/motherboard. Unfortunatly he has opted not to post in this thread so I am no longer able to help him. Thanks again for the great input and keep it coming!!

  • 07.16.2004 8:53 PM PDT
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-Sony Vaio RZ 40.
Specs:
-C drive 20 GB
-D drive (2nd HD) 120 GB
-CR-R/RW Drive at 48x
-DVD/RW/SC/RW Drive at 16x
-Pentium 4 at 3.0 GHZ
-ATI Raedon 9800 PRO w/ 128 mb DDR
-Sound Audigy Blaster Sound Card
-1 GB RAM
-7 USB 2.0 ports
-1 Firewire Port
-1 iLink Port

  • 07.20.2004 8:31 PM PDT
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Nice system. Have you done Tweaktown's reformat to relax and relax to righteous guides on it yet? My system rocks cause of those guys. They deserve a big thanks. (Wish I had the money for a system like that :( Mabye post some 3dmark01 and 03 marks for it. That'll chear me up. Nothing better than beating a system ruthlessly.

  • 07.20.2004 9:41 PM PDT
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im thinking about building my own pc and was just wondering about which fan/heatsink is best and compatible with the AMD 64 3400 cpu?
What's better, AMD or Intel?
nVidia or ATI?
What wattage should the PSU be?

Thanks

  • 07.21.2004 4:59 AM PDT
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The following is the upgrades to my existing system and I'm wondering what you people think about it. I am definately going with this system as I have already paid for it, I'm just wondering what problems, if any, should I watch out for. I plan to play Halo PC on this.

ABIT "IC7-G MAXII ADVANCE" i875P Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON "9800 Atlantis" Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out

Antec 430W Power Supply, Model "TRUE430" -RETAIL

Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8E GHz 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Prescott

Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM

  • 07.21.2004 7:32 AM PDT
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well, the 9800 atlantis is a rip off. The speed /performance of the card is comparable to a 9600pro thats oc'd. For an extra couple of dollars, you could have gotten the 256bit version. Otherwise, the system kicks ass. Very nice.

Exerophon-
The stock cooler should be fine, and its probably the quiestest.
Amd or intel, it doesnt matter. Intel will cost you for the name. AMD64 woops equivalent.
I dont want to start a gpu war. Some tests have been posted of Doom 3, and the 6800gt stomps the X800XT PE :( A 5950 beats the 9800pro. (Barely).

For the system specs you say, I would recommend 400w PSU, unless if you are going with a new gen card, then a 450w at least.

[Edited on 7/21/2004 7:25:13 PM]

  • 07.21.2004 7:21 PM PDT
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Posted by: masterchief58545
-Sony Vaio RZ 40.
Specs:
-C drive 20 GB
-D drive (2nd HD) 120 GB
-CR-R/RW Drive at 48x
-DVD/RW/SC/RW Drive at 16x
-Pentium 4 at 3.0 GHZ
-ATI Raedon 9800 PRO w/ 128 mb DDR
-Sound Audigy Blaster Sound Card
-1 GB RAM
-7 USB 2.0 ports
-1 Firewire Port
-1 iLink Port


Nice comp specs.. do you need any help? doesnt look like it..

  • 07.22.2004 2:32 PM PDT
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Posted by: Xerophon
im thinking about building my own pc and was just wondering about which fan/heatsink is best and compatible with the AMD 64 3400 cpu?
What's better, AMD or Intel?
nVidia or ATI?
What wattage should the PSU be?

Thanks



Ok first off the AMD CPU cooloer that come bundled is a more than adquate cooler. If you want to get fancy Thermaltake has a cool duct mod that screws onto the heatsink between the fan and the heatsink. It helps to provide better airflow over the whole heatsink without the fan creating a "dead zone" over the center of the heatsink. I just got one and it dropped my overall CPU heat marks about 3 degrees (which is alot). By far AMD (in my opinion) is the best choice. They have a great 64bit platform with many mobo (motherboard) choices from many manufacturers. If you are wondering what mobo to go with,; My personal choice would be the A8V from Asus. Now as far as Nvidia or ATI... that depends on your preferences. If you want a direct X 9.0c -10 compatible chipset that takes advantage of the newest shader model 3.0; then definately go with Nvidia Geforce 6800. If your price range is lower than the newst tech. Then I would still stay with nvidia geforce FX 5700 or better. I have a geforce FX 5950ultra and play everything at 1024x768 with everything turned on and I have never had any problems...ever.

You have to realize that the AMD vs Intel, and Nvidia vs ATI are the two most vicous fights in the computer technology war waged between new tech companies. Also this war transcends into message boards (like this one), and people get outright pissed over the fact another person chooses the other card. So in the end just try to find what card makes your palms sweat when you read the reviews (look at the toms hardware link on my original post) , and decide for yourself.

Always (as I have said in my original post) get a PSU with more wattage than you will need. This is because newer tech hardware that is always coming out seems to be more and more power hungry. Antec has always done me right as a PSU manufacturer. They also have a nice collection of cases that many other companies have clamored to copy (chieftec, Vantec) because of the high quality construction and rigorous testing Antec has. I personally run a True Blue 480w PSU in my antec Super LANboy aluminum case. It has never had any problems.

I hope this helps you and look forward to any other questions you may have.

  • 07.22.2004 3:13 PM PDT
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Thanks alot, ill take that all into consideration. oh, and one more thing, wats the best sound card on the market?

  • 07.22.2004 4:05 PM PDT
Subject: notebook?
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i'm pretty new to computers and i was wondering if it is possible to find/build a notebook with good gaming capabilties for LOTS of halo

  • 07.22.2004 7:35 PM PDT
Subject: Building Your Own Gaming Rig: A How To Guide.
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THANK YOU im buildin a pc and i was about to get a mobo with a crummy vid.card attatched now ill get a radeon 9800

  • 07.24.2004 11:01 AM PDT
Subject: Building Your Own PC Gaming Rig: A How To Guide.
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At first i thought that building a custom pc was gonna be a challenge but after a while i got used to it.

When I put it together it didnt work because my cpu heat sink wasnt touching the thermal paste on the cpu. It took me a week to realize that I needed to take off the plate.

I would have got it on the first try if it hadnt been for the copper plate.

If I were to build another pc, I could get it right on the first test

My parts:

Raidmax Scorpio 868w case-blue
Raidmax 420 watt PS
Mach Speed n2pap lite
AMD athlon xp +2400- Cooled by a Jet 7 by coolermaster
Ultra pc3200 512mb ram- not a generic brand, this ram works very well
ATi Radeon 9600 xt
hitachi deskstar 160 gb hard drive
Creative sound blaster live! 5.1
Logitech z-5300 5.1 surround 580 peak watts

I think that building my computer was really fun. I learned sooooooooooooooo much and Halo plays Really good.
Screw pre built computers, build a good one yourself! Youll thank yourself and feel great about it.


[Edited on 7/24/2004 10:36:37 PM]

  • 07.24.2004 10:33 PM PDT
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On the back of the box for halo, it says it requires 32mb graphics card, one word WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I dont know why they even that spec on the back for it, it doesnt make any sence to me anyways. What you need is nice ATI card. Im not a big fan of Nvidia. I like ATI more. You need at least 9600 pro. Or if you want very good game play performance and some good lookin graphic eye candy then get a 9600xt. Amything above that is even better. But if your low on cash then you want a pro or an xt.

CPU-

I am running with an AMD athlon xp +2400 at 2.0ghz which is playing halo great.

I suggest an athlon xp if ur low on cash. If you have alot of cash then go and get an athlon 64.
I dont think you should get a p4, for one reason, p4 are more expensive. You can find the same exact CPU that im using for 80 bucks. Its great!




  • 07.24.2004 10:46 PM PDT
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listen sound cards arent a big deal, they are just there to get the processing for audio off the cpu.
I personally have a Sound blaster live! 5.1 which works great with a Logitech z-5300 5.1 surround speaker set. If you really want to get something a little better than go ahead im not stopping you. the best sound card on the market would be a creative audigy2 zs platinum pro. it is probably around 200 bucks

  • 07.24.2004 10:53 PM PDT
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You should have a ps more than 400 watts. I have 420 and havent had problems.

For a cpu i would reccomend a AMD because they are cheaper than intel. perdormance between the two is probably not drastically different. AMD athlon xp +2400 is what i have, never had any problems at all.

For a graphics card, there is a different story. ATI vs Nvidia, they are neck in neck, fighting for the best of the best. Nvidia makes fast cards. ATi makes cards that are a little slower but have very nice graphics like the 9600 xt. I have a 9600 xt and a good nvidia card would be a gf fx 5900. I would recomend the 9600 xt becasue i havent tested the ge force fx 5900. i havent had any problems with the 9600 xt.

  • 07.24.2004 11:04 PM PDT
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I have heard that gigabyte and Asus are very good mobo companies. I would chose one of these companies. anything from these guys and youll be fine. I have a Mach Speed n2pap lite which my friend told me it isnt that good, but i havent had any problems.

Ram you should a minimum of 512 mb and go for around pc 3200 for the speed. I have an Ultra 512mb pc3200 ram. If you want good ram get dual channel ram with at least 512mb. Good brands of ram are kingston, corsair, uuuu not sure about ocz but ive heard that its good. The more memmory the better of course. Try to get dual channel ram.

and of course the AGP slot for the video card (8x speed) most mobo's come with 8x speed agp slots, no worries or problems about that.

  • 07.24.2004 11:14 PM PDT
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some help for ghost_89
my comp

mach speed n2pap lite with (make sure you have this) nforce2 mgp go to www.tigerdirect.com and get the AMD cpu with this for a good price =)
AMD athlon xp +2400
Ati 9600 xt
ram by ultra 512mb pc 3200, try to find a good dual channel ram deal
doesnt matter what kind of hard drive you get only on what your going ot store on it
get a sound card- creative sound blaster live is only 30 bucks
if you have this stuff you will be ok. no problems at all

  • 07.24.2004 11:26 PM PDT
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Posted by: NARK04
I have heard that gigabyte and Asus are very good mobo companies.

Gigabyte are lame, I have one of their boards and it's the worst thing ever. I have to now buy another board, an Abit NF-7S to be precise. If I can be bothered, I'll tell you how it performs.

  • 07.25.2004 9:13 AM PDT
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hey by the end of the summer ill have $2000 and i wanted to know what would be the best pc for my money to assemble.

  • 07.25.2004 12:48 PM PDT
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will someone PLEASE tell me if it is possible to have good/decent gameplay with a laptop set up THNX

  • 07.25.2004 3:07 PM PDT
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Hey are the gaming computers on Tiger Direct any good, or should i save my money for making my own?

  • 07.28.2004 10:34 AM PDT
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First, Tiger Direct is just like Futureshop. You should only buy a comp from them if it is on sale or clearance, than it is usually a good deal (like my comp). Here is an article to clear up for people wanting a BRAND NEW PC http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2138&p=1. I am getting ready to build the Value OC alternative. Anybody running AMD should seriously think about getting a 2500+ mobile, that thing oc's friekin awesome. Oh yea, all prices= US!

EDIT-
Not that I am saying buy stuff from these places, but if you are on an EXTREMELY tight budget like i was, sometimes their quality can suprise you. My comp can run Halo PC, and thats pretty damn good when it cost $750cdn with taxes, monitor, wireless logitech keyboard and mouse. It was a fairly good value (at the time).

[Edited on 7/29/2004 9:51:02 PM]

  • 07.28.2004 9:36 PM PDT
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i got an emachenes t2200 around january of 2003 and since then i upgrated my graphics card to a geforce 4 5600 and sometimes when i play a game that is of a really high quality like gta vice city halo pc or call of duty my screen goes black in the middle of a game when im playing so i would like to know what the problem is and how do i fix it

  • 07.29.2004 12:34 AM PDT
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You need at least 9600 pro. Or if you want very good game play performance and some good lookin graphic eye candy then get a 9600xt. Amything above that is even better. But if your low on cash then you want a pro or an xt.
Actually, I play Halo PC on a geforce3 and i get an average of 30fps at 800x600 everything turned up except textures at medium.

  • 07.29.2004 9:58 PM PDT