Half Life 2...Hey, shouldn't they call it Full Life?

AIDS · Post by **AIDS** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 9:21 pm

I saw some in game videos of this game in action and I have to say it looks incredible. I want to get this game as soon as it comes out, but I need to upgrade my computer first. You see, I need a better graphics card. A friend of mine recommends the Ge Force 4 ti 4600 or 4800. What are some other good cards? Or is the Ge Force 4 the best way to go?

Juan The Pirate · Post by **Juan The Pirate** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 9:59 pm

Well for 201 dollars, I picked up my new baby, an MSI FX5600.

256 MB of eye popping, heartbeat raising and other various verbs and body parts. It runs quite well, but a new graphics card isn't worth shit if your system is not up to par. I have a great sys. and I love everything about it. So, when you choose, make sure your system can keep up with it.

RurouniQ · Post by **RurouniQ** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 10:35 pm

Ooh, nice card... (Think jeans commercials.)
Juan, ol boy! Good to have you back!

Jack Burton · Post by **Jack Burton** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 11:52 pm

Gabe Newell, the project lead/head programmer/writer/director/etc. for Half Life 2 says that the best video card to get for Half Life 2 is the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. I believe it runs about $399.

He said that the game will not look near as good as it does in the e3 videos if you don't have a video card that has the ability to perform DirectX 9.0 functions, such as the 9600 Pro/9700/9700 Pro/9800/9800 Pro line of Radeons from ATI, or the GeForce 4ti/FX series from nVidia. Bottom line, the cheapest card you'll want for the game is probably about $150 right now. The GeForce FX 5200 Pro.

And oh yeah, here's the specs from the demo machine at e3:

1.8 GHz Pentium 4
Asus nForce2 mobo
1 GB DDR RAM
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB
Western Digital HDD @ 7200 RPM

At least, those are the important specs...so it doesn't look to be too much of a system hog...you're just gonna need a damn good video card.

-Jack

Juan The Pirate · Post by **Juan The Pirate** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 10:30 am

If you don't consider a gig of RAM a system hog, then I don't know what is. A gig of decent RAM is going to run you about 200 - 260 dollars. That is PC3200 with a heat spreader.

I don't know what speed the gig of RAM they were using, I am assuming it's probably only 2100 - 2700 judging by the processor speeds.

I don't mind, my new baby will run it fine. <3 <3 <3 <3

AIDS · Post by **AIDS** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 11:11 am

Hmm...well I don't have too much money to spend. Does anyone know what the minimum requirements are to run Half Life 2?

Here are some specs on my computer...
2 GHz Pentium 4 Processor
512MB DDR RAM

I don't know about my hard drive and sound card. I do know that I need a graphics card though because mine came with some crappy stuff because I got a DVD-RW drive instead. I do know that my computer has a AGP slot but I think it's only 4X and not 8X.

Post by **BreakmanX** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 3:17 pm

From the reviews I've read, the jump for 4X to 8X didn't do that much, so you should be ok.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 11:15 pm

Here's some info I've found on it...

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/halfl ... 74909.html

Realm · Post by **Realm** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 7:31 am

the demo machine only had a 1.8 gig P4? that's funny, why wouldn't they have put a better one in there? or is 1.8 everything you'll need?

AIDS · Post by **AIDS** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 9:22 pm

More info about Half Life 2 and video cards...

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/halfl ... 74973.html

AIDS · Post by **AIDS** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 1:08 am

So aparently the Nvidia Ge Force FX cards don't run Half Life 2 as good as the ATI Radeon Pro cards. But Nvidia keeps suggesting that it's because thier new drivers aren't out yet. Right now I have my mind set for an ATI Radeon Pro, but after finding out how much it costs, I think I'm going to wait and see if the new drivers for the Nvidia cards help it out.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/halfl ... 75080.html