will computer work on new games?

[cyberman13]

i have a old computer and wanted to know will it work on new games such as half-life 2 ,halo 2, and doom 3
specs are

1.3Ghz P4
Geforce 4 64mb
some old mobo with RUMBUS RAM
and 640MB of RAM

 

[Praetor]

Halflife 2... maaaaaaybe but really crappy settings but realistically prolly not.
Halo 2 ... wouldnt think so but it's not out yet so i dont know
Doom3.... not a chance in hell.

 

[cyberman13]

well i am thinking of buying some new things from my computer not really sure if to go with AMD or intel anyways what i have planed is :

Kingson 512mb (2x256mb) DDR400
ASUS "P4S800" SiS648FX Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU
Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8 A GHz 533MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache
Info-Tek ATI RADEON 9600 PRO Video Card, 256MB DDR, Model "R96P-CSD3H"
Xblade case with 2 120mm fans + fan controls

all for $550 form newegg

not sure if all of them will work together got to ask my friend but it is or that or i am geting a AMD althon XP 2800+ and a different mobo

so what u guys think ?

 

[Praetor]

1. You might want to stay away from 3rd party chipsets as the Intel ones seem to be quite exceptional... at least with the Canterwood/Sprindale platform. You can get a decent Springdale board for not all that much

2. I could be wrong here but doesnt the NorthwoodB have 512K L2?

3. You might want to consider getting different/better CPU cooling

4. As for the AMD option, you'll definitely save money and OCing will be easier to do (provided you've got the nForce2 based board... the Via's dont quite hold up)

5. When you get the new system you'll have to get new memory as the NorthwoodB/AthlonXP dont use RDRAM

 

[cyberman13]

ok so what to u think about this will it be better for gaming?

Kingson 512mb (2x256mb) DDR400
ASUS "A7N8X-X" nForce2 400 Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor
Info-Tek ATI RADEON 9600 PRO Video Card, 256MB DDR, Model "R96P-CSD3H"
X-blade case

all for $550
i am not sure if it will all work i still need to dubble cheak and shit and this is what i found for a good price

not really sure if thats the best mobo so if u have anything better under $100 plz list it thank u

 

[Praetor]

1. Is $550 your budget?
2. No need to get the XP3000... the XP2500 and XP2800 will OC just fine
3. In either case you're prolly better off getting a non-stock HSF
4. Of the two there I'd think the AMD route is better but if you got a Sprindale board I'd vote the other way

Specifically in reference to HL2 and more importantly, Doom3, you might want to see if you cant jolt the system memory to 1024MB (even if it means dropping the video card to 9600Pro 128MB model)

 

[cyberman13]

1.my budget is around 550-650
2.ok i will get a XP2700+ or even less
3.didnt really understand what u said
4. what is a sprindale board?

i might get more ram but first i want to start with 512mb

oh and really sure how u OC ??

 

[Praetor]

- With a budget in the sub-1000 box you'll definitely have to cut a lot of corners in order to get a next-gen-game-capable machine
- Id reccomend you get the "Barton" XP2500 ... cheapest one of the Barton series and can OC virtually as much as the rest of the family
- By "non-stock HSF" I meant get an aftermarket cooler for your CPU. Now there are two points to this: (1) Since you are on a limited budget you may not want to do this however (2) With a good cooler you can OC your CPU by quite a bit and thus make it more gaming-worthy
- By Springdale I was referring to motherboards based on the Intel I865 chipset but since you're on a limited budget I wouldnt look past AMD (unless you want to go Celeron but that wouldnt be a very good call for gaming)

Best I can come up with:

Baseline
MOBO: ASUS A7N8X-X (~75USD)
CPU: AMD AthlonXP2500+ (~85USD)
RAM: Stock 512MB PC2700 (~95USD)
VIDEO: Radeon9600/GFX5700 (~100USD)
HSF: Polo735 (~30USD)
HDD: 80GB 7200rpm 8MB (~85USD)
CASE+PSU: Chenming 601+Enermax400W (~70US)
ADDITIONAL COOLING: 2xStock 80mm fans (~10US)
Baseline Cost = $550USD

Potential Upgrades
Upgrade the RAM to 1GB PC2700 (~175USD)
Upgrade the RAM to 1GB PC3200 (~200USD)

 

[cyberman13]

i dont think i am going to oc bcz i have no idea how to do it and it sounds kinda risky to me
so if i dont oc should i get a higher CPU?
and do i still meed the Polo735 HSF if i am not going to OC will it still help ?