i want to use steam, but can i?

[Seany-izzle]

K, im headin back to school and instead of doing my work, i want to occupy my time with half life 2 and counter strike source. Before i pay for it and download all the crap i wanna know if i can even run it. Im retarded when it comes to computers, atleast when it comes to hardware... now, this is what my computer has

Pentium 4 cpu 1.6 ghz
1.59 ghz, 384 mb ram
Rage 128 Pro Ultra GL AGP
Adaptor Ram: 16mb
Intel 82801BA/BAM AC'97 Audio Controller

Yeah yeah yeah, dont flame cuz i know what i have sucks, its a 4 year old computer.

Requirements for the game are...

Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP
64 MB RAM
400 Mhz processor
1GB HD space (recommended)

Now, what do i need to run this game? Do i really need a new HD? Im thinking all i need is a new video card. i dont need anything SUPER DUPER or anything, just what do i need to get by?

OH, for some reason i forget how to check to see how much my hard drive holds...

i have no clue at all about where to look for computer parts online, if someone could simply tell me what i needed and a link to it that would be awesome. Oh and did i mention im on a budget??? well i am.

ALL help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

[erikespo]

Not sure where you got those requirements from.. Here are the actual requirements for Half Life 2... The ones you have looks like the requirements for the first Half life

minimum System Configuration

1.2 GHz Processor
256MB RAM
DirectX 7 capable graphics card
Windows 2000/XP/ME/98
Mouse
Keyboard
Internet Connection


Preferred System Configuration

2.4 GHz Processor
512MB RAM
DirectX 9 capable graphics card 256mb
Windows 2000/XP/ME/98
Mouse
Keyboard
Internet Connection

YOu should be able to play though, if you get a new video card - It will probably run slow when you get into some big fire fights.. A graphics card that can handle it can be had for pretty cheap. I think I got mine from staples for $100 last year

 

[endlesszeal]

wow.. first i suggest upping the ram to at least 512mb if you can because your gaming well suffer at anything more than minimal settings. second, agp is really starting to die out, but a 9550 can be hand for 50 and it well play many current games decently.

i have the game and it takes a lot of hd space if youre under 40gb. just go to my computer and right click properties to check how much u have left. i suggest defragmenting it first and after installation to speed up the hard drive.

what i really recommend is upgrading to a new system. its pretty cheap now too. around 300 or so you can get a decent sempron based setup and get a nice graphics card. with a system that old, the memory is probably pc100 and those are expensive now. some ddr400 can be had for 20 after rebates and thats for 512mb!

either way, you can stick to what you have and just run the lowest settings and itll be okay.

 

[Battle Pope]

Toss a GeForce 6600 in there for the time being and you'll be okay.

 

[Seany-izzle]

will this be sufficient for a card? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814102528

something that is capable of dx9 and with 256?? also, im going to be going to staples anyways, would some more ram be helpful? like, getting another stick of 512?

 

[Battle Pope]

Fuck an ATI. the only good ATI cards are their top-end ones. A GeForce 6600 or 6600GT isn't that expensive really and the GT is an excellent performer. And no, more ram never hurts.

 

[endlesszeal]

you can't use that video card because it's pci-e and im positive you have an agp slot. the 6600gt are great, but aren't worth the 150, even the 6600 isnt a good choice for 100 bucks. id get a 9800pro instead. if you get the right models you can change it to a 9800xt which is a big performance boost.

for an old system like yours. and if you're using pc100 ram, those are expensive. for the same price as a quality 128mb you can get a 512 ddr. besides those kind of ram are picky. itll be a nice performance in boost though.

if u dont want to fork over money for a new computer:
100 for a 9800 pro (maybe even cheaper now since another generation of video cards are coming out)
40-50 for at least 512mb ram

oh yeah and you dont really need the 256mb for the video card. hardly any video games take advantage of that yet.

 

[xj0hnx]

Steam and valve are satan.

 

[Battle Pope]

Originally posted by endlesszeal@Aug 16 2005, 04:35 PM
you can't use that video card because it's pci-e and im positive you have an agp slot. the 6600gt are great, but aren't worth the 150, even the 6600 isnt a good choice for 100 bucks. id get a 9800pro instead. if you get the right models you can change it to a 9800xt which is a big performance boost.

for an old system like yours. and if you're using pc100 ram, those are expensive. for the same price as a quality 128mb you can get a 512 ddr. besides those kind of ram are picky. itll be a nice performance in boost though.

if u dont want to fork over money for a new computer:
100 for a 9800 pro (maybe even cheaper now since another generation of video cards are coming out)
40-50 for at least 512mb ram

oh yeah and you dont really need the 256mb for the video card. hardly any video games take advantage of that yet.

[post=540866]Quoted post[/post]​

I have a 9800XT and my brother has a 6600GT. It's AGP, and it outperforms my 9800XT.

 

[Citizen_Insane]

Wait, N/M, I can't afford a 6800GT.

Go with NVIDIA, ATI blows. Every product I have purchased from them has been poor quality. My GPU makes a shit ton of mistakes and my ATI tv card is a complete piece of shit. On the otherhand....the Geforce2 and the Quadro4 700XGL I've owned, were AWSOME cards (in their day).

I say stick to NVIDIA for graphics.


As for the rest of your computer. Just get a new comp. For $1000 you could build something pretty decent. Right now, you're not going to have any fun playing HL2 anyway. You'll get like 24FPS (even with an upgraded vid card) b/c your processor is a dog. You'll have to turn all the graphics down to minimum and the game still won't play smoothly. Its not worth the $50 to buy the game for that computer.

 

[xj0hnx]

ATi rocks, HL2 was developed on it, nVidia doesn't produce as good of results in benchmarks on it, but, since the good ones are probably more than he wants to pay, it's moot anyway.

 

[Seany-izzle]

yeah im a cheap asshole. im holding out till xmas so i can build a computer with a friend of mine who knows what he is doing (not saying you guys dont)

 

[endlesszeal]

Originally posted by Battle Pope+Aug 16 2005, 10:35 PM-->

endlesszeal

@Aug 16 2005, 04:35 PM
you can't use that video card because it's pci-e and im positive you have an agp slot.  the 6600gt are great, but aren't worth the 150, even the 6600 isnt a good choice for 100 bucks.  id get a 9800pro instead.  if you get the right models you can change it to a 9800xt which is a big performance boost.

for an old system like yours.  and if you're using pc100 ram, those are expensive.  for the same price as a quality 128mb you can get a 512 ddr.  besides those kind of ram are picky.  itll be a nice performance in boost though.

if u dont want to fork over money for a new computer:
100 for a 9800 pro (maybe even cheaper now since another generation of video cards are coming out)
40-50 for at least 512mb ram

oh yeah and you dont really need the 256mb for the video card.  hardly any video games take advantage of that yet.

[post=540866]Quoted post[/post]​

I have a 9800XT and my brother has a 6600GT. It's AGP, and it outperforms my 9800XT.

[post=540973]Quoted post[/post]​

I was talking about the card he suggested. It was X300SE PCI-E which blows. Its an onboard video now for peek says. Get a Nvidia 6200TC 128mb instead for those who need a cheap pci-e card. And of course the 6600GT stomps on the 9800XT. However the 9800pro mod to a 9800xt is only 100. A 6600gt agp is around 150 after rebates. Spending that extra 50 on a dog of a box is pointless when he's going to be cpu limited.


And you dont need to spend 1000 for a good gaming box. A 3000+ Sempron with 1GB of Ram and a ATi X800 can be had for around 600 bucks minus the monitor. That would be a good gaming machine. Probably faster than my 2.4ghz AMD 64 with a 6600gt because of the better video card.

And i say good move on waiting till xmas. By then, the old gen cards will be much cheaper and prices are starting to drop a bit for both intel and amd cpus. The only thing that seems like that will be going up in price is ram, abit its still frigging cheap. Just a year ago 1gb of any good gaming ram was 200+ Now its like 130.

 

[xj0hnx]

I'm waiting till ATi releases the Crossfire platform for their version of SLi Get another X800Pro for cheap and flash both of my cards to the X800XT PEs and go apeshit.