jason

Here's my dx diag:

Machine name: P4P5N5
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600)
(2600.xpclnt_qfe.021108-2107)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: VIA Technologies, Inc.

System Model: VT8363

BIOS: Ver 1.65

Processor: AMD Duron(tm) Processor, MMX, 3DNow, ~700MHz

Memory: 320MB RAM

Page File: 230MB used, 352MB available

Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS

DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)

DX Setup Parameters: Not found

DxDiag Version: 5.03.0001.0902 32bit Unicode

Display Devices

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 100/200

Manufacturer: NVIDIA

Chip type: GeForce2 MX 100/200

DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC

Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0111&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_B2

Display Memory: 32.0 MB

Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor

Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200

Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll

Driver Version: 6.14.0010.4523 (English)

DDI Version: 9 (or higher)

Driver Attributes: Final Retail

Driver Date/Size: 7/28/2003 15:19:00, 3902603 bytes

WHQL Logo'd: Yes

WHQL Date Stamp: n/a

VDD: n/a

Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys

Mini VDD Date: 7/28/2003 15:19:00, 1341339 bytes

Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4251-11CF-1B72-0A2013C2CB35}

Vendor ID: 0x10DE

Device ID: 0x0111

SubSys ID: 0x00000000

Revision ID: 0x00B2

Revision ID: 0x00B2

Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_B ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D

I realise I need a decent amount of memory - would a 128MB Geforce 4 MX440
+TV+DDR be sufficient?


--
Jason

marshall

Tad low. Not sure what the 'low-end' required spec is going to be
for HL2, but I'll wager it's definitely going to be over 1 GHz. If
you're thinking of upgrading for the game, I defninitely wouldn't
get anything less than a 2 GHz CPU, these days. And there really
isn't that much of a cost jump by going with 3 GHz rather than
2, anymore (I'm thinking Pentium, but if you're fond of AMD, then
convert that to whatever their speed ratings are). Try not to get
into the upgrading pitfall of only buying 'minimum spec' to just get
by- spend a few shekels more if you can, and get something really
good that will last you for much longer.


Windows XP on its own requires around 256 MB of RAM, just to
load and operate semi-effectively. You're definitely pushing the
low end on the system RAM, and will likely suffer severe page-file
swapping slowdowns, when playing HL2. Wouldn't go with less
than 512 MB of RAM anymore, 1 GB is preferrable if you're
looking to the future at all. Also, I'm talking about faster DDR
or DDR2 RAM, at the 333MHz bus-speed or better. If you're
running older 133 or 266MHz RAM, that will go even worse for you.


Add those two numbers together, and you'll have the total
*system* RAM you should have (minimum)- your swapfile
should be at least twice that size. Play HL2 for a short while,
and you'll likely be experiencing a lot of harddrive grinding and
long pauses while different things load up.


That's ok with an older card, the current version is 9.0c... but
you'll need a lot newer card to utilize it.


Ow. That is so old it hurts. A card that old can't even take ad-
vantage of many of the features enabled with DirectX 9. Search
around in recent past posts on this ng, and you'll find a lot of talk
about good video cards of all types for HL2 and other modern games.


128 MB is the minimum video RAM on most cards nowadays,
and the visual quality of modern games on anything less is
going to suffer to some degree. Get a good quality video card
that does DirectX 9 and has 128-256MB of video RAM, if you
are looking to the future.


60Hz, yipes! My eyeballs would bug out after looking at that
flickery screen for 2 minutes. Most monitors from the past five
years are capable of doing that resolution at at least 85Hz refresh
without popping any sweat. Can you go into the Display Properties
and turn it up any? It's under Settings tab>Advanced button>
Monitor tab. A monitor upgrade isn't necessary for HL2 of course,
but if that's the best refresh you can get at 1024x768x32, it sure
wouldn't hurt your visual enjoyment any! :-)

Anything with 'MX' in the name is sub-par, second-string, a cheaper and less
capable version of the better model. You haven't told us what kind of a budget
you have for upgrading, but if all you can manage is a video card, I don't think
anything that would work on your older system is going to significantly improve
your ability to play and enjoy HL2 all that much, by itself. Also, I'm not sure what
AGP architectures your mobo can support, but you'll want to be sure your older AGP
slot will even fit the current AGP cards. I had a Pentium mobo of similar vintage
to yours a coupla years back, and when I went to upgrade it to a newer video
card, the dang thing wouldn't even fit in the AGP slot! <grrr>

A whole system upgrade, on the other hand... your motherboard probably isn't
capable of being upgraded to modern parts that will play HL2 well and last you
into the next year or two, so unless you can afford to do a general upgrade or
buy a new system, I wouldn't waste my money, if I was you. Someone here
more knowledgeable about your overall system may be able to recommend a
part or three that could possibly get you in the general neighborhood of being
minimum-spec (read: lowest resolutions and graphics quality settings, barely
playable framerates, none of the pretty stuff that the game is all about- a rather
poor experience overall) for HL2, but if you were paying me as a consultant for
your situation, I'd be negligent if I didn't say "upgrade the whole thing, or buy a
new system, or forget it."
-Marshall

warty

Wow! Marshall, you have outdone yourself.

Jason, Marshall's reply is spot on here, so take his advice and try not to
read any other post that may get you confused.

Warty

peter lykkegaard

Looks much like our boxes at home

I'll have to do a totally agree here
Auch that hurts :-)

However watch out for the PSU
modern PC's demands some muscles from the PSU

- Peter

jason

Thanks for the lengthy post. I guess I will need to buy a new machine!

I'm such a fan of the original half life, and online mp, I need to get HL2.

Thing is, my budget would cover a decent graphics card and memory upgrade
but probably not a suitable new desktop!


--
Jason

marshall

Yeah, and I don't see that trend going away soon, either. A new
system should be built with no less than a 450W PSU, 500W+
to get comfortable.
-Marshall

warty

Jason,

Try scrounging around to see if anyone has any spare parts or try eBay.

Warty

marshall

Welp, dunno if you could afford it or not, or if you are a do-it-yourself PC
builder, but here's what my semi-automatic upgrade-o-matic dohickey would
put together, if I was in your situation (I'm pretty ignorant of AMD systems,
so this is an Intel-based rig):

Mobo: $110-$160+; Asus, AOpen, Abit, many others; price depends on what
features you want on it, and what brand and quality it is. You can
hunt out lots of much cheaper mobos out there- but it is going to be
the foundation of your PC- and with mobos, you *definitely* get what
you pay for. Don't put a cheapie foundation under your gaming PC.
If you don't want to have to spring for a new sound card for your sys-
tem, many newer mobos even have pretty decent onboard sound chips.

Power Supply Unit: $40-$80+; can get a decent 350W PSU for under $50, but
if you want longevity and dependability, go with a better unit at a
higher wattage from Antec, Enermax, etc. I wouldn't get less than a
450W unit myself, anymore. Again, it's a buy-for-the-long-term foun-
dation component.

CPU: Like I said, dunno about the AMD side of the business, but you'll likely
get equal power for less money, by shopping with them. As for Pentium
CPU's, depending on what mobo you decide upon (Prescott, Northwood,
different pin-grid mounting arrays, etc.), you could get a 2.4GHz P4 for
as low as $120, up to a 3.4GHz P4 for $270 (I'm deliberately skipping the
CPU's in the high-end/more-expensive range). Be sure to get an 800MHz
front-side bus CPU, if at all possible; and you'll probably pay a bit more
for going with a CPU in the 'Retail Box', vs. the OEM jobs which don't
come with a heatsink/cooling fan unit (a must!). Otherwise, you'll have
to dig up your own heatsink/fan and learn to use thermal paste ;-) What
you choose to go with in your CPU, will be the primary factor in deciding
exactly which kind of mobo you'll end up getting. It's a synergy thang :-)

RAM: I like Corsair and Kingston, but they are not cheap. You can get a real
good deal and pretty good quality with Crucial, though. I've bought from
them a number of times, with good performance and no problems. I'd
recommend going with at least PC3200 DDR400 RAM (you'll need to plan
on a mobo that also supports a 400MHz+ RAM bus-speed), which you can
get from Crucial now for $100 for 512MB. There are plenty of online sites
who'll probably give you an even better deal than that on various makes
of decent RAM, if you want to shop around.

Video Card: ATI Radeon's are supposed to work best with HL2, and I see you
can pick up a good 9800XT or 9800 Pro in the $180-$200 range, on
Pricewatch.com. The newer X800's would be the best, but are a lot
more expensive, in the $350-$450 range. But the 9800's should do
just great in HL2. If that's still too steep, you could get by ok with
a Radeon 9600 in one of its better flavors, in the $130 range. The
video card is the easiest part to upgrade later, when you can afford
a swankier one. All of these cards will give you the full benefits of
DirectX 9.0c, I believe(?).

Harddrive: If you have a decent harddrive right now, then you're set. But if you
want a better/faster/bigger/newer one, perhaps in SATA flavor, you can
get lots of good deals on 80-120GB HD's, both serial and parallel ATA, in
the $80-$100 range. I'm partial to Maxtor and Western Digital, myself.

So, if you were to go with all the lower-end prices/parts I mention above, you
could upgrade your PC into a decent HL2 rig for not much over $500, do-it-yourself
fashion. Heh, just the GeForce 6800 Ultra video cards are going for more than that,
still! And for another $200-$400, you could have a very nice machine, indeed.
This assumes you can continue to use your current case, CD-player, modem, etc.
The key piece though, is your motherboard and the component architectures that
it supports- which will determine the future upgrading possibilities for your PC. Try
not to go cheap/low-end on that, if at all possible. Hope that helps- if not, it was
still fun putting it all together! :-)
-Marshall

sleepy

minimum requirements

steve

Well done Marshall - most intelligent and informative newsgroup postings I
have read in a *long* time!

S.