Quick fix, worth it?

[Rubber Bullets]

Hi,

Having played CS:S a bit for the last few days it is becoming obvious that I'll be needing a new PC soon. It plays OK till I get in a shooting match and then falls down badly, perhaps to only one or two fps. I have turned all setting down to their minimum, and have dropped the res to 1024x768. I have also installed the latest drivers but it is still pretty bad.

My current set up is an XP2000+ athlon with a GF 4400ti card and 1.5Gb of RAM. I have a reasonable amont of HDD space left at the moment.

With christmas fast approaching and car tax due any day I can't spend teh £1000 or so I'd like to on a new PC so my what I need to know is whether there is a cheap graphics card out there that would improve my gaming experience in teh short term, whilst I save for a new system?

I am sure that for £50 - £100 I could buy a card that would out perform the old 4400, but would I see any real improvement or would the CPU and mobo just hold the whole thing back anyway?

My current mobo is an Abit KR7A-133 without the raid.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance

RB

 

[Ch3tan]

One or two fps? Wow, that is bad. I'd say put the res down to 800*600 and use the mat_dxlevel command to use a lower version of dx effects. (Think 7 is the lowest)

 

[Rubber Bullets]

I tried 800x600, it was just too ugly . I'd rather not play at all than at that res.

I've just played again and the new drivers may have made a difference. My stress test score has gone from 63 fps to 71 fps. I guess it isn't that stressful

1 or 2 fps may have been an exageration but it certainly slows too far to have any real idea what is happening.

I'll try the mat_dxlevel command of which you speak. Can't do any harm.

Thanks Chet

RB

 

[throdgrain]

m8, i have a xp3000+/9800pro/1024ram and wouldnt even consider playing css at the resolution you first had. I play at 1024-768. I would certainly use 800-600 if I were you.
Anyway, ignore all the graphics card bs people are bound to say in cs servers. Its your cpu thats the most important thing, followed by your card.
Assuming that link is correct your motherboard can handle a XP3000+ or even an xp3200+ .Check www.overclockers.com for prices , generally less that £100. Yeah . loads of other people are just about to give you links to god only knows what parts suppliers, thats cool, i use the above
Buy the cpu, then later on get at at least a 9700pro , currently overclockers are doing an "own brand" model for less than £100.
You wont have 100fps, but you will have a stable (ish)60 or so, which is more than playable.
(And what I get too!)

 

[Ch3tan]

Yeah also, limit your fps. Use the fps_max command to set your upper limit. In your case it may be worth trying something low like 40 or 50, this way you wont notice the huge drops in firefights so much.

If your determined to go the upgrade path, I believe Big G had some bits for sale in another post here for £100.

I haven't used nvidia cards or drivers for a while now, but the ATI ones let you specify the AA and AF settings in the control panel and these can overide in game settings. Make sure your settings really are set to the lowest possible!

https://forums.freddyshouse.com/showthread.php?t=36974

 

[throdgrain]

Im using fps-max 60 atm, and with textures on medium it mostly sits at 59 , which is acceptable and playable, except on Chateau of course :/

 

[Ch3tan]

I play on everything high, 2*AA 8*AF at 1024 *768 or 1280 *1024 with no AA or AF. Lowest my fps goes is around 29/30. I cap my fps at 70 or 60 depending on the map.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Thanks again.

Throddy, I'm not sure where you read that I can fit a 3000+ CPU, everything I have read suggests only a 2100+, hardly worth the upgrade. The last BIOS upgrade was in 2002!

Ah well if it's not worth even getting a cheapo new card then I'll struggle along, doing the best I can, until I can afford to build a new system.

Thanks fo rthe advice though I'll certainly try doing what you've suggested.

RB

 

[Xavier]

You could pick up a 9800 Pro on eBay for £90 or less without problems. But it's still not going to kick booty as far as stuff based on Source. Toughie..

 

[throdgrain]

Thanks again.

Throddy, I'm not sure where you read that I can fit a 3000+ CPU, everything I have read suggests only a 2100+, hardly worth the upgrade. The last BIOS upgrade was in 2002!

Ah well if it's not worth even getting a cheapo new card then I'll struggle along, doing the best I can, until I can afford to build a new system.

Thanks fo rthe advice though I'll certainly try doing what you've suggested.

RB

I thought it said 200 fsb, i.e 400, sorry m8. You must at least be able to go up to 2500 on 333fsb though , as I know the XP2000 is 333. The 2500 Barton is meant to be a superb chip too, and even cheaper.
Look at it another way then,
Abit KW7 (Socket A) Motherboard (MB-059-AB) £46.94 inc vat

AMD Athlon "Barton" XP3200+ 400FSB (Socket A) CPU - OEM (CP-058-AM)
£99.99 (this week only, and last week too lol)

Total price 150 quid. Not the end of the world

Just an example the above mind, you couldget it down cheaper than that too, and still have the basis for a better machine once the faster vid card and faster ram appear.

 

[Xavier]

Still, with his current CPU in mind, his ram might not even be DDR333 capable, let alone able to run synchronous with 400FSB, and that £150 also isn't factoring in his initial questions on a newer 3D card.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Thanks again guys.

I probably will give it a miss then and build a whole new PC probably after Christmas. I can struggle on till then.

RB