Valuable Questionaire

[morocomojo]

Hi. it would be helpful if some of you might help put together a couple posts to explain (based on how HL2 runs on your PC) various factors which may affect gameplay and how they may do so. For example:

How would a PC with 256 MB of RAM run HL2? How about 512?
How would a PC with a 1.5 GHz Processor run HL2? 1.8? 2.4?
How would various Video Cards run it? Raedon 9200? 9500? NVIDIA Cards too if you have one.

Also giving your FPS and the settings your game is running on may help. Opinions are welcome.

Stuff like that. I know its alot of work but it would help to redeirct people who have hardware problems, me included.
Thanks guys.

 

[Zento]

Here is something to note: Look for the system requirements and if your specs are higher than minimum, congradulations.

 

[destrukt]

or look at one of the many threads about this.

 

[chriso20]

more RAM = quicker physics simulations and less or no 'lag' when turning a corner has graphics card isnt storing data on hard drive because the graphics-ram and system-ram is full up.

more CPU = quicker physics simulations and lower CPU's will cause graphics lag, low fps, laggy physics, stuttery sound and other such non-game related problems.

more graphics ram = Textures and model details go in the graphics ram, so the more you have the better. Eg. with less, for example, 9800pro's got 128mb, you may stutter when turning corners because its loading new textures into the ram which it needs and so, lag. If it doesnt have enough it'l use system-ram, which is much slower.

more graphics pipes = better framerate mainly, as its got more 'room' to render.

more graphics clock speed = much like cpu clock speed but only for graphics processing, eg. lots of high-quality models will struggle on lower clock speeds. It's basically the speed your graphics card processes the rendering.


I'm pretty sure they're what they do but sum1 can correct me if necessary

 

[WhiteZero]

I love this guys round-about way of asking the age old question "will HL2 run on my computer?"

BTW: Welcome to the forums, morocomojo.

 

[jacen]

a few errors i spotted :

more RAM = quicker physics simulations

ram size dont improve/decrease physics simulation rendering speed. its ONLY dependent on the CPU clock speed.

more graphics ram = Textures and model details go in the graphics ram,

while textures do get stored in the vram, the geometry doesnt.
neither the level nor the model geometry or any of the animations reguarding this geometry get stored on the vram
system ram -> geometry + animations + sounds + engine code + textures (if vram is full) + scripted sequences (only the script code, since the textures/models/sounds should be stored seperatly .. but this may vary from engine to engine)
vram -> textures

so the more you have the better. Eg. with less, for example, 9800pro's got 128mb, you may stutter when turning corners because its loading new textures into the ram which it needs and so, lag.

i dont think hl2 will store more then 128mb texture data for one level. u only get performance increases on newer cards for their faster gpu and shader pu´s.
however, source engine games released in the future MAY need more then 128mb vram to display all the detail

more graphics pipes = better framerate mainly, as its got more 'room' to render.

pretty vague explanation.
more render pipes assure u playable framrates at higher resolutions.
the reason for this is, that more render pipe do increase your overall fillrate and your shader rendering speed.
so if u are running at high resolutions and or high shader density, more pipes pay off.

more graphics clock speed = much like cpu clock speed but only for graphics processing, eg. lots of high-quality models will struggle on lower clock speeds. It's basically the speed your graphics card processes the rendering.

cpu clock + render pipelines = fillrate
so cpu clock affects ur fillrate (but NOT ur shader render speed)
and therefore pays off at higher resolutions (it WONT help at high shader density)

but sum1 can correct me if necessary

been there
done that

edit: added sripted sequences

 

[morocomojo]

Thanks for the input guys. In your opinion would a 256 MB video card outperform a video card of a newer make? (Radeon 9700 w/ 256 MB or a 9800 Pro?) Does it really make a difference in gameplay? Would it make a difference compared to a Radeon X800 XT?