Since I don't wanna hijack any other threads..

I need your opinion and suggestion to which graphic card to buy for me to play BF2142 smoothly, with a little eye-candy.

Current rig:

AMD XP 1800+ .. ATI 9550 SE(AGP), 512 MB ram.. and that's about it. (not my rig either )

Should I upgrade all 3?

Do you think upgrading one section would help improve framerates and load times?

I'm thinking of getting a new GPU, and a set of 512 ram.. Does processor speed play a very big role? Or do you think 1800mhz is about enough?
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If so, which card? I'm looking for something budget priced, not TOO budgets, but good enough to run the game smoothly.

Wow, no-one got suggestion meh?

I was thinking of something under 1k..

ATI X1600 XT 590/690 @ RM500

ATI X1650 PRO 600/700 @ RM540

ATI X1600 PRO 500/400 @ RM400

I'm still on AGP.

I'm on AMD XP 2100+ ATI 9600Pro.. online play is still choppy. I suggest you upgrade your CPU+ add another 512 ram.



This post has been edited by scaygoo: Oct 19 2006, 11:16 AM

So you think the 3d card is not the problem?

The first time I saw the clock timings I was horrified.

Infact, I was using a 9600 pro on my other comp till it broke down

Thanks for the reply, will consider upgrade on CPU.

better prepare RM1.5k+ to upgrade whole set

You could get a decent AMD 939 (or AM2) for about 250+; then 300+ for the mobo. The remaining RM1k could be used to get the RAM (1GB for RM400+) and GC (RM500+).

Should at least gives you decent FPS..

I think in the mean time, u should upgrade your ram to 1gb first. Then save enuff funds to get a new pc.

Thanks for the info.

Infact, I'm ready to spend and hold-out on purchasing the Wii and 360 now, for BF2142

I have been out from CPU hardware a long time, so please navigate me in the right direction

You mean to say that I should change to PCI-e mobo now and upgrade the processor?

I think RAM I may be able to manage.. Just simply pick one lah

Which GC do you recommend? From the ones I selected in my previous post, X1650 Xt/PRO seems the most suitable for me.

[Edit]

@ Redbull: Aiyak, new PC ka?! I'm not rich wei! Terpaksa sell my DS phat now, anybody?!

This post has been edited by sihumchai: Oct 19 2006, 11:34 AM

X1600XT shud gives you decent performance, although its better if you can forked out a little more to get 7600GT

IMO, I think you shud really upgrade to PCI-E and if possible; to DDR2 as well. But if you want to save your RAM money, upgrading to AMD 939 is good enuff.

What exactly is a 939.. I'm using a XP Sempron IINM.

If you were me, and had RM1500 to spend on upgrade, what would you get in order to run BF2142 properly?

You suggested XT1600/1650 and I agreed.

But what about mobo proc.? What speed/type?

Sorry, but I have not educated myself in hardware for awhile, so I appreciate you guys help

[Edit] 7600 GT, prices a little higher, but seems that over-all performance is better. I'm an AMD/ATI supporter, but don't mind changing wagons now.

This post has been edited by sihumchai: Oct 19 2006, 11:54 AM

939 is the socket type for AMD64 (newer than your current AMD XP )

Well, last time I also spent liao RM1.5k to upgrade my P4 to AMD64.

CPU : AMD64 939 1800+
mobo : Asus mobo
RAM: 2x512MB Kingston DDR400
GC: Sapphire ATI Radeon X1600XT 256MB

With the above setting, I could play FEAR with moderate setting smoothly without any problems.

As for now, I think its best you go to lowyat and get the latest pricelist. Price shud be around the same; although I think the RAM price is getting higher and higher >_> Better get your new RAM before the RAM price hitting the roof

This post has been edited by Cyrus2k: Oct 19 2006, 11:59 AM

If you're going to upgrade to PCIE, may as well get a whole PC.
Your current processor is a big bottleneck though.

u can run most of the game u find but you may experience a very low framerates even the game graphical settings are set to Low .
if i were u , i'll get a
AMD X2 3600+ / 3800+ and ( make sure its socket AM2 , why ? 939 procs
already stop production its lucky if u can find one )

any mobo that supports either SLi or crossfire

2 gigs of rams if possible , even BF2 runs slower with 1gb compare to 2gb
another reason for choosing 2gb coz sooner or later u will need it , why not getting it now .

VGA , if you want a mid range vga card : ati 1650 series or 7600gt

unfortunately you are at the junction.

If you gonna get new processor, the new board will have PCI-e which will force you to buy new GC.

If you buy new agp GC, you cant use it when you upgrade to new processor as newer board using pic-e. also agp now cost more expensive then pci-e.

simply not worth it to get an old tech by buying new processor or GC.

@ sihuchai

respect bro... apart fromt hat u also having problem with ur jaring wireless right, since u cant really get a good ping in GA, but u still willing to play eh... well i hope u can join us last nite in GA.

My connection ain't much of a prob, only the servers kick me out because of ping over 300 When I'm used with 350-500 ping, it's no problem.
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On-topic: From the info gathered here, I have decided that all 3 must go.

This setup looks great. Maybe 2gb RAM if I have the extra cash. But you're comparing FEAR and BF. Doesn't big maps require extra horsepower and ram in order to run smoothly? (faster calculations)

What's the difference between AM2 and AM2 X2? I'm looking at compuzone price list.

My target:

CPU: AM2/X2 2.0++ (most likely 2.2) @ RM330
Mobo: Something that runs the CPU (M2N4-SLi @ RM430?)
RAM: Some 1gb RAM or 2x512.. Kingston eh? @ RM400+
GPU: Either X1600XT, X1650 Pro, or 7600GT @ RM450-750

Rough expense: RM1800 (TRYING to target RM1500..)

SLI mobo means can do Crossfire also right?

Another note: I'm just getting mid-range stuff 'just to play' BF2142.. I was planning for a high-end rig by mid 2007, when Vista and DX10 cards to come out. So this means that I'm not looking for a SUPER CPU to run Huxley, Alan Wake, or UT2k7 for that matter. Just BF2142.

Many thanks guys!! I'm still very open to suggestions, and objections.

for all intents and purposes if u want to get smooth gameplay under full load of a 64 player server with decent graphics, get 1GB RAM. But keep in mind you won't be able to get full settings. 1.5 to 2 GB RAM is a must if u want to push to max.

My rig

AMD64 3500
Nvidia Geforce 7800GT
2X512 RAM Kingston (Dual Channel)
Asus Motherboard.

even this I could only run smooth with DL off, AA off, DS medium, Geometric detail high, texture high. effects medium. and still laggy on titans.

well hopefuly, the singapore server will be up, so then u cna play in lower ping, but the be honest, u will enjoy the game even more.

hehehe..

X2 is dual-core

Well, your target rig is nice enuff but I would suggest the following : (price taken from Viewnet)
CPU: AMD64 AM2 3000+ @ 1.8GHz = RM254
Mobo: Biostar TF550 = RM329 (My current mobo as well )
RAM : 2x512MB Kingston (dual-channel) DDR2-667 = RM224 x 2 = RM448
GPU: HIS X1600XT = RM539 or XFX 7600GT = RM609

Total = RM1570 (ATI) or RM1640 (nVidia)

The reason I choose AM2 3000+ are because you could overclock your CPU to 2.4GHz+ easily with the biostar TF550 mobo. You could take a look at the Overclockers forum and see many people OC AM2 3000+ and get super nice results. Its a very worth for its price.

Well, since I'm not much of a CPU OC'er, should I be getting a faster processor? Or should I learn to OC it to 2.4ghz?

Nice, this is excellent; And I shall now base my purchases on this set-up.

But my sempron 1800+ vs. AM2 1800+ .. AM2 wins by large margin? Because I feel like I'm buying the same speed Should I not at least get something like double that speed? I see no-one here recommending a faster processor.

get a nvidia sli capable card as you getting sli mboard. at least in future you can buy another nvidia card to do sli. unless you go sli now.

i am using 6800gs and the performance is quit good, but no sli option as i am using agp.