Computer Upgrade for Gaming?

[knucklez]

I am going to upgrade my old computer for gaming.

Is this computer suitable for playing games like Doom 3, Sims 2, Half-Life 2 and next generation games:
-Intel Pentium III 897 MHz
-512 Ram
-Diamond Viper Radeon 9600XT 256MB AGP Video Card
-Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
-Samsung 40 GB HDD
-Windows XP: Home Edition

 

[xotix]

not really. u'll have to get a mobo processor and memory and you should be alright. if u can get a sata hard drive.

u could run it, but u'll have to turn off many effects thats not going to make it as much enjoyable for u.

 

[knucklez]

Thanks, but could I play Sims 2 though?

 

[xotix]

i think you can. but you can't run it on the highest settings.

 

[The Merlin]

The CPU is your bottleneck........

512mb is enough, and the GFX card is pretty good

 

[Nubius]

The CPU is your bottleneck........

512mb is enough, and the GFX card is pretty good

Yeah what merlin said

With an Intel processor I'm going to say you'll need atleast anywhere between 2-2.5GHz to run it efficiently. Even 2GHz on an intel machine is kind of slow now a days being that a 2GHz AMD will be more powerful than a 2GHz Intel, but you can't compare hertz per hertz with those brands. But yeah overall you got a good system it's just that processor that is killin ya

 

[Comparisonman]

Make sure that you get a good motherbaord with a good chipset as well. That is one of the most overlooked details. Do some research on different motherboard brands and chipsets before buying. The i865 and i875 chipsets are some of the best ones for Pentium 4 right now. Of course, with a new motherboard you will have to buy new RAM as well. Compare brands, models, and speeds of memory as well. Then check compatibility between motherboards, memory, and processors.

 

[The Merlin]

Well, if he is gonna change the mobo and CPU it might be more cost efficient to get an Athlon XP setup

 

[Nubius]

Yeah, for basically $175 you can get the ABit NF7-S version 2 board and the 35w 2400+ XP-M like I did and OC it, I got it at 2.3GHz, stock speed is 1.8 and I haven't even tried REALLY pushing it yet. I just wanted to go from 133FSB to 200 to be able to utilize my RAM.