Advice needed on new setup for HL2

[Valveaddict]

Hi HL2 Community,


I'm a newbie in town here, but a long-time HL fan who's
ready to step up to HL2. Unfortunately, my current set-up
(400 chip, 156 meg ram and 40 gig hd) will not
accommodate the game. So I'm taking my IRS refund and
getting a whole new system and I'm inclined to do a deal for
somewhere between $1,100 and $1,200 with Cyberpower
systems.
If anyone out there has the time and interest, I would be
grateful for any advice on my configuration.

Here's a few things I've decided already, based on my
preferences and advice from those whom I suspect are
better informed:
I don't do a lot of multitasking, therefore I'm leaning
toward AMD 64, rather than Pentium 4 for a cpu.
I want a motherboard that will accommodate a temperature
sensor since the case I'm getting features a Temp gauge.
And will all mobos accommodate IDE as well as SATA hard
drives or do I have to pick one or the other?
Finally I want a system that will accommodate HL 2 and,
hopefully a future HL 3.

Here's the specs for my Cyberpower system:
Aspire Turbo X-infinity case w/2 80mm fans
Ultra-X 500w power supply
754-pin AMD Athlon 64 2800 cpu
AMD Athlon64 Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink
754-pin Socket Gigabyte GA-K8NS nForce3 250 chipset
AGP 8x w/audio, LAN, &USB MoBo
Corsair XMS Pro (512MBx2) PC 3200 400MHz DDR Memory
Western Digital 200 GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 8MB Special
Edition
No RAID Configuration
ATI All-In-Wonder 9600XT 128 MB Video Card
3D-wave onboard 5.1 sound card
Combo drive 16x DVD-ROM and 52x32x52 CD-RW
Windows XP Professional with SP2
I plan to retain, for the time being, my Klipsch Pro-media
2.1 sound system and Sony 19-inch 420GS monitor (not a
flat screen, sigh).

Do these seem like good choices that will interact well with
each other?

Thanks for your help in advance,
Valveaddict

 

[Ames]

Welcome to the forums.

That system has a few things that are not needed and that you could save money on.

First off, the 9600 XT does not need to be an All-In-Wonder unless you want that. I believe you could get get a 6600 GT or such with the price of that card. This would run HL2 considerably faster.

If you do choose to go with the Alll-In-Wonder, then that monitor is a big problem because I doubt the card would be able to run very fast at that resolution.

I also suggest you get the cost of every part you need and add it up to see if you can save money by buying each part and building the system yourself.

www.pricewatch.com is the way to go.

 

[Shamrock]

Make sure you go with Socket 939 for the CPU and Chipset. Going with 754 will limit you when you want to upgrade in the future.

 

[oni_666]

Even though I'm pleased with my socket 754 system, I agree with shamrock, if only because socket 939 supports dual channel memory configuration, This can mean 30-50% the memory bandwidth over a socket 754 cpu and board which supports single channel only.

And the first part of your topic does'nt make much sense since the AMD 64 cpu's are brilliant at multitasking, at roughly half the cost of an equivalent Pentium 4 cpu.

If you go with 939 expect to pay slightly more, than if you went with 754, unless you can get a good deal somwhere.

But coupled with that Nforce board, which in itself supports dual channel memory, you'd get much better performance on a 939 Nforce board, cos then both the board and cpu support dual channel.
(The memort controller being on the chip in 939 and 754 cpu's, Instead of in the northbridge on Athlon XP boards).

The memory seems fine, same as mine I think, it will easily do 2,2,2,5 1CMD @200Mhz FSB.

The combo dvd rom and cd writer is asking for trouble, you can't copy disc to disc, And if either the writer or dvd rom die's you lose both.
Pick yourslef up a separate dvd rom, they can be had for £16 these days, and get a Liteon 16x dvd rewriter for about £50.

The HD I assume is IDE, whereas SATA drives are only £10 more expensive, faster and the cables are smaller for better improved airflow.

On board sound is good enough these days, and recent tests in a british computer mag have found that using onboard sound over a PCI card can actually improve framerate in games like UT2004 and HL2, Everyone including myslelf thought the opposite was true.

Like someone said, unless you specifically want an "all in wonder" for watching TV or video capture, then get something like the 9600 Pro, is that faster or slower than a 9600XT (if there is such a card).

The monitor is fine, my old 19" has been a trusty workhorse for the last 5 years and I don't run above 1024*768, (my eyes are stuffed, playing too much CS over the last 6 yrs).

Don't buy Win XP PRO, its more expensive than Home, and the only differences are some addons for business users and some additional network stuff, I've also heard recently that since it has the additional network stuff with it, it can be more prone to hackers, Unless you know specifically how to make it secure and disable some of the additional network features (includes remote desktop, amongst others).

That should help you a little!