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Im really wondering on how good everyones cpu specs are and the speed of gta3 on their machine........Im on a K6-2 and my game is running at anywhere from 15 fps up to 60 in some places......the bobcat on the sand area......rez is at 800x600.....using a geforce 4 pci card (I know my geforce2 AGP runs it faster but it caught on fire)......I wanna know cuz i need to know how cheap i can be at upgrading to something better.

I'm looking at an older Athlon XP 2000. Trying to determine if thats good enough to run the furture release, Vice City.

(sorry fo the long post.......heh heh heh....dude where's my car?)

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I have a:

AMD XP 1800+

Asus A7V266-EX

256DDR 266Mhz (upgrading to 512 next week)

Club3D ATI Radeon 9700 - 128MB AGP (€ 280,- only)

I run all my games 1024*768*32 with 4xAA and 16xAF. Everything runs at least 40FPS up to 120. And in GTA3 I have trailing ON :P

It's definitely your CPU that's the problem. Basically anything above 1Ghz will run the game just perfectly.. What REALLY makes a good difference is a good motherboard + RAM and a decent videocard.

You want to go for a DDR system with at leat 256MB, and you could get a cheap XP 1500+ for now.. that will last you at LEAST another year. Then when you have more cash just buy a 2.4Ghz or something.. It's pointless getting 'the best' since the price/speed ratio is absurd..

Since you are going to want to upgrade later, you have to make sure your motherboard will be able to handle stuff 4 years from now. I suggest getting one which supports all the latest features like DDR400, UDMA133, FireWire, HighSpeed USB and a CPU of 3Ghz and if possible over... That would last you years!!

Your harddrive is also important, if you are looking into one of those, look for 7200RPM drives with UDMA133 support, since your mobo will support that. Also 8MB of cache on HDD's is VERY good!!!

If you don't have much RAM (256MB is the minimum!) your system will use your HDD as RAM in a swapfile.. If your HDD is slow it will make your system lag badly. Even a 1Ghz+ with crappy HDD and RAM will be slow then..

A good cheap system right now would be:

AMD XP 1500+ € 50?

MSI KT4V, KT400, 333 MHz, DDR400, 8xAGP, Snd, Usb 2.0 € 99,50

256MB DDR400 € 45?

ATI Radeon 9500PRO or higher (leaving nvidia out since they are right now much more expensive compared to quality) € 210 and higher

Maxtor 80 GB, 7200 rpm, 8 MB Cache, UDMA 133 € 125

You will also need a new powersupply then, and possible a case..

Of course, you will need to get a CPU + MOBO + RAM + PowerSupply + CASE then in one go!! That will still be € 250+ You can then save the other upgrades for later.. That's basically what I do, make a list and then buy it slowly..

Wow, I really let myself go on this one.. Hope it helps LOL! :P

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currently...

AMD 1.2ghz

512mb SDRAM

40gb Seagate 7200rpm

80gb Maxtor 7200rpm

ATI Radeon 8500 64mb

SB Live Platinum Audigy

17" flatscreen CRT monitor

I run all my games at 1024X728 as well, never check my FPS but I only have a little lag in intense situations with a lot of action on screen on GTA3. Other games such as Hitman2, SOF2, RTCW, BF1942, etc. I am able to run at high resolution without problems or lagging, GTA3 is a resource hog, I hope Vice isn't that much worse...

I am upgrading to at least 2.4ghz AMD, hopefully 3.0ghz with 512mb DDR once Uncle Muthafuggin Sam sends me this damn tax return check!!!!!

I will also be upgraded my ATI video, give me some suggestions, I need something more powerful for under $300.00 (USD) if possible....

Also getting a flat panel monitor, what's a good reasonably priced brand? Viewsonic, Samsung???

.peace.

I'll be moving my drives over and using my old PC for other projects...

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AthlonXP 2100+ stock

A7M266 (Soon to be a A7N8XDeluxe)

512Mb PC2100 RAM (Soon to be 512Mb dual channel DDR PC3200 setup)

40Gig IBM Deskstar 60GXP

40Gig Seagate Barracuda IV

ATi Radeon 9700Pro

i think thats most of the important stuff

1152x864 for just about everything, 6xAA and 16xAF (GTA3 doesnt like AA tho too much) and everything runs fastass. Id be running higher except my monitor is the limiting factor D:

If your looking at getting a new processor (like the one you mentioned, not a bad choice either), you would need a new mobo(Asus A7N8X), and memory(512MB PC2700), and most likeley a new HD(your choice), and why not get a new Video Card (GFFX mainstream line, or the ATi mainstream).

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  • MTA Team

AMD XP 2600+/333

ASUS A7N8X (nForce2)

2*512 MB DDR333 in Dual Channel

MSI GF4Ti4600

17" TFT Samsung SyncMaster 171s

Logitech Cordless Desktop

WLAN for inet connection

i only use 1280*1024 cause that's the best res for my TFT monitor, never check fps, but prolly high. Play all games with max. detail

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PIII 1000 MHz, 256 MB SDRAM, GeForce 2 GTS, motherboard unknown, soundblaster 128 pci, 19 inch monitor

Should be enough I think, and other people who can know, geforce 2 GTS is old but still not that bad. I run at 800x600x16 though, I don't know the framerate. I'll download the program to do that tomorrow or something.

ps: Yes, pc bought at aldi.

ps#2: I don't own it, it's my father's pc.

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thanks FLiP, I'm not sure what kinda motherboard I am going to get, basically I am just taking my cards and drives outta my PC and putting them into a new box with a faster CPU, better mobo and DDR Ram, I might just keep my Radeon 8500 for now anywaize until i can afford a new one...

Wezz6400, Aldi in the United States is a cheap ass grocery store, like salvaged groceries and generic shit. You can't even get a Commodore 64 there...

* load, 8 , 1

hehe...

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actually Aldi just had a VERY good deal! about $1300 for a 512MB DDR system with 2.4Ghz, Radeon 9500PRO, 80GB 7200RPM UDMA133, DVD-R/RW + CD-RW!!

Btw, you don't want to waste your money on flatpanel screens.. they suck for displaying of colors, especially on nVidia cards..

But, the best brand for monitors is: liyama.. No question about it.. Then comes CTX.. Anyway, get a monitor with high refresh rate (75Hz+) at the res you want to run at and make sure the dot-pitch is low (.25 is nice, lower is better though.. I have a .24)

One thing, don't get a Geforce FX, they are way overpriced... Your best bet will be a radeon 9700 I think.. The FX is at least € 450,- up to € 650,- whereas it barely outperforms the 9700pro, which goes for about € 380,- If you have good cooling you can get a 9700 and OC it to PRO specs, in which case you only pay € 280,- :P

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im running a P4 1800 with flash intel mobo, 256mb RD ram and a shitty 64mb GF2 MX400. The graphics card is the only thing that needs replacing really, never measured the Frame rates. but it runs real slow unless i put it on the minimal settings.

Also got 3rd party on-board sound (does everything quite well, and beats an SB value card =), intellimouse explorer, 56k modem (slllloooowwwwwww), and a whole lot of random cables which don't fit anywhere =) j/k

Anyone with a 128mb GF4 they wanna give to me? =)

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:?: how do i check my framerate?? :?:

well i have i nice PC.

:arrow: AMD Athlon XP2000+

:arrow: 256DDr ram

:arrow: GeForce 4 MX440

:arrow: 80 GB western digital

:arrow: cordless logitech mouse and keyboard

CarStone...

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GTA3 has problems with a lot of soundcards.. If you have a SoundBlaster 128 PCI or one of those CMI based onboard ones I really suggest you upgrade.. A friend of mine had problems with GTA3 after upgrading everything except for his soundcard.. He bought a SB Live 5.1 and all his lagging disappeared..

It's really the combo of hardware which makes the difference.. One crappy component can screw it up for the rest of the system. One of best advices is: Don't use any onboard things, they are always lower quality than a decent card.

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66mhz Intel 486 Dx2 Dinosaur, Windows 95 Plus (Upgraded from Windows 3.1), 8mb of RAM, 2mb OnBoard SuperGrfx Accelerator, 500mb Hard Drive, Super Density Floppy Drive, 1x Cd-Rom Drive, 14k X-treme modem....

I just copped this hot deal!

computerdeal89.jpg

What?!? Monitor and Mouse not included?!?....dude you got ripped off..................;)...

thanks to all those that helped. I see that most you have an AMD base board. So this makes it easy for me now to purchase "cheap" quality parts........another question....those of you who can...do you get way more speed from AGP 1x,2x,4x than PCI cards? I mean is it that faster for ur system? And DDR memory......I don't really know much bout them cuz my mobo sucks.....but r they really a difference maker? Im thinking bout purchasing a MOBO that supports both DDR and SDR slots so i don't have to spend money on new ram till I can balance my spending.

I ask too much...........

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LOL yeah I bet it inly sucked......it prolly can't fuck u but perhaps u can fuck it......where as a car?!?......the only car u'll see are 8bit bitmaps of one........ :D where'd u get that ad from NEways? Its pretty cool how the prices changed through time.........those where the days.......

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Yea AGP makes a huge difference, especially 4x or higher. I have GeForce3 Ti500 running at 4x on an Asus A7V333 and I can play pretty much any new game just fine (though I am thinking about getting a 9700 Pro, I can get any ATI or nVidia card for 40-50% off). If you get an Athlon CPU (Which I would highly recommend, they are cheaper, and in my experience, run the best), then you are going to want to get an XP chip. You can get a 2100 or even higher for pretty damn cheap (http://www.pricewatch.com). And if you have an XP, you are going to get DDR RAM, its a must for any Athlon system. I have PC2700 DDR RAM and it runs very nicely. There is even faster DDR RAM out now though. I would recommend Crucial RAM (http://www.crucial.com).

My recommendations:

CPU: Athlon XP 2100 or higher

Motherboard: ASUS something. The A7V333 supports PC2700 DDR and is pretty damn cheap too.

RAM: At least PC2100, but 2700 would be even better. Make sure to check what your mobo supports (Once you choose one). Also, DDR really isn't that expensive, and you can pick up a stick of Crucial 512 MB PC-2700 DDR for about $100.

Vid Card: GF4 Ti if you are on a budget, or if you can afford it, go with a ATI 9700 or a 9700 Pro.

Sound: Get an Audigy, or if you can afford it, an Audigy 2. The SB Audigy cards are available for easily under $90, and are pretty much your best bet.

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Specs:

Pentium 3 1 Ghz cpu

Intel 520 mobo

256 mb

Hercules 4500 card (Kyro 2 64mb)

Soundblaster Live

40 Gb hdd

60 Gb hdd

Runs GTA3 pretty well in 800x600. Runs everything else nicely in 1024X768. GTA3 is the only game i have to downgrade the graphics for.

Perhaps one of you could suggest a mobo that will work for a P4 cpu (2.6 and upwards) and will work with sd and ddr as i need to keep costs down.

Laters

One.

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  • MTA Team

For those of you who want to buy a new pc, some simple rules:

:arrow: AMD is better when it comes to price/performance

:arrow: u get the best performande on a AMD with an nForce2 board. e.g. the ASUS A7N8X. It has most things onboard

:arrow: If possible get Dual Channel DDR ram for better performance, it needs 2 DDR, but improves speed

:arrow: DDR333 is better for games than DDR400

:arrow: make sure you get a flatscreen, it is better for the eyes, if possible a TFT screen

:arrow: don't buy the newest graphx card. u can play every game there is out now with even an GF2MX400

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Epox 8K3A (NB Modded)

CAK38 II HSF

AMD Athlon XP 1600+ @ 1771~MHz (168*10.5) (AGOIA 'Y')

256MB PC2700 DDR333

GeForce Ti4200 @ (320/640)

Western Digital WD600 7200RPM 60GB

LG Studioworks 575N 15" Gameboy Style Monitor :(

3 x Delta 80MM Fan

12,086 3DMark's (2001SE)

3000 3DMark's (2003)

GTA3 Constant 100 - 150 FPS (1280x1024x32)

My previous Rig was a Kettle.

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and er.... Intel own AMD.

Get a Granite Bay setup, DDR400, massively high benchmark scores.

NForce is basically AMD's answer to Granite Bay, which performs nowhere near as good as Granite Bay. Yes, the price difference is rather large, but, Intel systems are always better.

Nothing wrong with a good AMD setup, altho, to get anywhere near Intel performance, your gonna have to fork out almost as much. I work for a performance PC company, we build and stress test all our systems, if anyone is in need of a high performance, cheap ass system, overclock-ready, just let me know ;)

Also, if you intend on playing games on anything higher than 800x600, a high end graphics card is a must. Ti4200 is a nicely priced, high performance card. benchmarked against other cards in its price range, it comes out top. Beating the R9500PRO even.

Note: my Ti4200 is overclocked all shapes, perhaps thats why it ownz ;)

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