- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Okay, dude, here's your rundown:
Compaq-Good, could be better, but a decent brand. I've got one myself.
AMD Athlon 64-VERY good, actually.
RAM-More than enough if you wanna run a simple game of halo.
PCI Express-Good if you want to get a Vid Card
XP Media Center-Pretty good...but you do realize that the new OS, Vista, is gonna come out next year, right?
ATI Xpress-Very good for your purposes. Halo and UT04 won't have a bit of trouble. I know this because I have the exact same as yours. Just be aware that the chipset will share RAM with your computer, meaning a fair amount of your RAM will already be occupied. Meaning that your 1GB will actually be more like 800-something MBs. See if you can get a real graphics card instead.
A few other notes: Realize that Vista will come out, and when it does, you'll probably want to buy a graphics card with DX10 technology. DX9, which is enabled on your ATI Xpress card, is fully capable of running Vista at full, complete with Aero Glass, but you'll need DX10 for future games.
Second, you might want to consider building your own computer. It'll save you a lot of money, and you'll know exactly what's going into your computer. Plus, there's OverClocking avalible for you.
Third, you may also want to consider holding off on buying a computer right now altogether. Windows Vista will come out soon, and with that, Halo 2 for PC (which WON'T run on WinXP). When H2PC rolls around, you'll need a computer with DX10 technology to run, meaning you'll have to shell out 300 for the new OS. Even if you buy a computer with "Ready for Vista" stickers on it, that only guarantees that you can run the most basic version of Vista, the dumbed-down version, not necessarily anything higher than that. If you buy a computer in about a little more than a half-year's time, you'll get Vista, plus a graphics card with DX10 tech. Otherwise, you'll be paying for WinXP OS and then have to pay for Vista OS to play H2PC.
Here's my setup for reference:
Compaq Presario v2000 (Notebook Computer)
AMD Turion 64 MT @ 1.8
Mobility ATI Radeon Xpress 200
DX9
512 RAM
Halo runs with a bit of lag on my compy...I've gotta upgrade the RAM, but aside from that, it'll run Halo and UT04 fine.
[Edited on 5/11/2006]