Halo 1 & 2 for PC
This topic has moved here: Poll [9 votes]: Upgrade current PC to P4 or build new mid range PC?
  • Poll [9 votes]: Upgrade current PC to P4 or build new mid range PC?
Subject: Upgrade current PC or build new mid range PC.
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Poll: Upgrade current PC to P4 or build new mid range PC?  [closed]
Upgrade current PC to P4:  22%
(2 Votes)
Build new mid range PC:  78%
(7 Votes)
Total Votes: 9

I have a Compaq Presario SR1103WM Desktop PC with an Intel Celeron D processor. To play Halo, I have to have all the settings at their lowest because of the PC's performance capabilities. I have 1 gig of RAM (PC2700) and a 128 MB video card. Would you upgrade the processor to a P4 (3.0 GHz) for $200 or start from scratch and build a new PC. Does anyone have a similiar P4 PC that can comment on performance when playing Halo? I could probably invest $800 towards building a new PC.

Motherboard specs http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?dlc=en&lc=en& amp;product=424182&lang=en&cc=us&docname=c0006324 4

  • 02.17.2006 9:55 AM PDT
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Heyyo,

First thing's first. What is your vidcard? unlike what everyone thinks, the VRAM on your vidcard AIN'T the most important part about it. Sure, it helps, but the GPU is waaay more imporant than the VRAM. Cause for eg. a $100 cdn 128MB ATI Radeon 9200SE will easily be crushed by a $160 cdn 128MB ATI Radeon 9600 PRO. Why? the GPU in the 9600 PRO is actually built for decent gaming.

Then, 2nd thing is your CPU. It is indeed you game-killer. A celeron has what? a 128KB-256KB L2 Cache? That's just unbearable for gaming. Can't handle the massive amounts of info a gaming computer needs. So yes, getting a better cpu is highly reccomended. You have to make sure that first off the CPU you're upgrading to is the same socket as your current cpu. Which's Socket 478.

I diddn't get anything to pop up on the link you provided, so here's a nother..

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?dlc=en&lc=en &product=424182&lang=en&cc=us&docname=c000632 44
Ah, that was your prob, you had a space after the 2nd 4 on your link. ;)

here's the cpu I'd reccomend to get:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=11787&vpn=BX8 0546PG3000E&manufacture=Intel

or if too expensive get this one:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=11402&vpn=BX8 0546PE2400E&manufacture=Intel

Now I think they're prescott cpus, so warning, they get hella hot. You're definately gonna wanna use some artic silver 5 compound for cooling, or even a custom heatsink & fan.

But yeah, I fear that for your vidcard you're refferring to the built in intel extreme crappy one. If so, then all you need is a decent vidcard to get decent visuals, the CPU will only boost your preformance gain.

Also note, NCIX is a canadian computer shop. Nice one, I buy from them all the time cause they're a computer warehouse shop that give you good rates.

Here's the vidcard I reccomend you get if you wanna upgrade it:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=13575&vpn=128 -A8-N350-TX&manufacture=eVGA
Incredible vidcard. Works great for the price.

[EDIT]
WHOOOA! just noticed your mobo doesn't have even an AGP slot! crapola! You'll need a new mobo. I say build a midrange computer whilst keeping parts from this one. The RAM in your compaq is salvageable alongside the HDD and DVD Drive, and case if you wanna keep it.

Here's a decent mobo you could use:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=14190&vpn=P4S 800D-X&manufacture=ASUS
Great bargain mobo that works great. Asus, it's got SATA, an AGP 8x port, and 4 RAM slots. Done deal man. ;)

[EDIT2]
Oh, I also suggest you upgrade to 1.5GB of RAM, just to keep up with your vidcard n' cpu if you get the ones I reccomend. After that you'll have a plenty sweet gaming rig man. =D

If you can, get 2GB's of RAM just to totally null out the chance of Framerate studders caused by not enough RAM.

[Edited on 2/17/2006]

  • 02.17.2006 10:28 AM PDT
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Wow....a lot of great advise. Thanks. My video card is an ATI 9250 PCI 128MB. Is it any good? It was about $70. If I upgrade the mobo, what is best for the video card (AGP, PCI or PCI express?)

Thanks again

Cosmo

  • 02.17.2006 10:42 AM PDT
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AGP is being phased out, so you should go with PCI-Express. The budget's the limit.

  • 02.17.2006 10:45 AM PDT
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The 6600gt is a great card if you have a agp slot. My buddy has one and it play's Halo awesome on 512 mb of ram. I am runnin' a 9600 radeon in my dell with 768 mb of ram, and have most of my setting's on low. Kind of suck's, but it work's.

I am waiting on about 1100.00 of part's from newegg, and decided to go pci express. Xfx's 7800 gt (factory overclocked), 1 gb of corsair xms series, dual channel, sli mobo, 7.1 channel sound card, and Amd's 3700, 2.2 "sandiego" cpu. I already have a good keyboard, mouse and a monitor from my current pc. Speaker's, tower, and os cost about another 300.00. If you have 800.00 to work with I think you could build a decent rig for gaming. Be patient and watch for deal's.

Good luck.

  • 02.17.2006 11:29 AM PDT
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Posted by: Anton P Nym
who says you have to be an ace to have fun?

Posted by: TUI_Obi_Wan
Stupid parents let their stupid children play games that are rated M when they should be playing Big Birds Spelling Adventures

Posted by: Kira Onime
Also the AR is actually good in CQB now and no longer a glorified baseball bat.

What is your budget for building a PC?
I built mine for a little over $1000 including Windows XP MCE and a second hard drive.

  • 02.17.2006 12:19 PM PDT
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My budget is $800. I don't need a monitor or operating system. Can you recommend any hardware?

  • 02.17.2006 1:46 PM PDT
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not sure on prices in the US, but if you're thinking high-mid range, then i'd recommend a socket 939 SLI motherboard, an Athlon 64 San Diego core 3700+, a single 7800GT (or a 7800GTX if your budget will allow it) and apossible second in the future, and at least 1GB of good ram. For the power supply, i highly recommend the Hiper 580W Type-R modular PSU and for the CPU heatsink, anything zalman will do the job perfectly.

  • 02.17.2006 1:52 PM PDT
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sadly in my quest for knowledge i havnt learnt nearly as much as i would like, but for a good and professional information on pretty much anything computers www.tomshardware.com, and for a guide for a nice midrange computer for around $500, dont you can adjust and improve at your budgets allowance.

-Fooluaintblack

also, i voted for build a new one, for assorted reasons that are all pretty much mentioned, and go with AMD lower power consumption, less heat, and more bang for your buck. and i prefer nVidia but mostly because i am biased.

[Edited on 2/17/2006]

  • 02.17.2006 2:18 PM PDT

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Here is what you want to do for a new system.

Start with the motherboard. This needs to be the best possible because when you have to upgrade this component your buying another system, so you want to make it last as long as possible. Your going to want to get a motherboard that has PCI-Express slot for the video card, because AGP is phasing out and PCI-EX is just getting started. Your chipset should be the latest so make that nVidea Gforce 4. SLI wouldn't be a bad idea because in the future when you need more video power you can throw in an second card. The processor should be the lowest speed of the best socket available. I don't know what the new sockets out there are but you definately want a 64bit chip and you may want to look at the dual cores out there. AMD chips generally perform better in games then Intels. Either go with 512MB of really nice memory or 1GB of value memory. Vid card try to get the best with what you have left to spend. I ended up getting a 6600 PCI-EX, I really wanted the 6600 GT because it has 16pipelines to the 8 in the 6600, but it wasn't in the budget. Stick to your budget. Good luck!

  • 02.17.2006 2:24 PM PDT
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actually i wouldnt worry about a really nice mother board just yet, the new processors that will be coming within a year or so will have a different number of pins (i think), that and then there is dual chip, all the way up 16 chip (which seems alittle bit much, even for me). but if you are going to stick with that system for some time, atleast get acouple of PCI-Express slots, that way you can SLI a second videocard should your income allow.

  • 02.17.2006 2:44 PM PDT
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Heyyo,

ATI 9250 PCI 128MB? that's your main reason anything will run like crap. You get what you pay for really. That vidcard's really meant to play games from like, 1998. It's a really low budget card. I'd say for those who just wanna use microsoft word or watch a movie. :P

It's true that PCI-Express is the future of gaming, but if you build a nice PC now, it should last you a few years, and by then you'd wanna build a whole new computer anyways I bet. Hmm, your budget's a pretty nice one. Here's my new reccomendations:

Motherboard: ASUS A8N5X ATX AMD Motherboard $86.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813 131569

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor San Diego $233.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819 103539

RAM: CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory $220.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820 145574

Vidcard: ASUS Radeon X1600XT EAX1600XT $192.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814 121548

Or if you like Nvidia: eVGA Geforce 6800GS 256-P2-N391-AX Video Card $184.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814 130265

That comes to around $800. If over your budget just get a smaller cpu like this one:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Venice Core $160.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819 103537

Or just get 2 sticks of Kingston Value RAM 1GB each stick. That could save you a few bucks too. Newegg's prices for kingston ram's messed up. Lol. I paid $130 for 1 stick, newegg asked almost $170.. USD I think.

[EDIT]
NOTE: These are special lowered prices that newegg sells stuff, so if you don't buy from them n' get it from a retail shop add on an extra $100. So you might wanna get a different vidcard if so. :P

[Edited on 2/18/2006]

  • 02.18.2006 10:04 AM PDT
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Thanks for all the great advice

  • 02.19.2006 4:51 PM PDT
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Posted by: OmniosSpartan
Posted by: Mr MA5B
AGP is being phased out, so you should go with PCI-Express. The budget's the limit.


thats why the GeForce 7 series is on AGP right?


Wrong. The 7800GS, a watered down version of the 7800GT that's on AGP, simply because a proportion of the market is behind with the times and is still using AGP, nvidia are just being smart and thinking "ok, let's take a £200 7800GT, remove some of the pipes, tone down the clockspeeds, make it even slower by installing a pcie to agp bridge and sell it at £250"

And the best thing is, people are buying it, because the next best thing they can get is a 6800Ultra, and the AGP versions of those are currently eBaying at £350+ as they're not being made any more.

  • 02.19.2006 7:31 PM PDT