Will I get a good enough boost with this upgrade to play Doom 3

[blk-sabbath-fan]

My hardware specs are below, I called Asus today and they said if I upgrade my BIOS I can go up to a AMD XP2100+. If I were to get that and buy a $150-$200 video card would I be able to play Doom 3 pretty well. Currently I tried doom 3 at the lowest setting and all shadows ect. turned off and I get from 6-50FPS, I get the 6FPS when entering rooms, I didn't even get far enough to see monsters so I don't know how that will affect my FPS.

[praxis]

Any 200+ dollar video card will vastly improve on your radeon, but your cpu will become the bottleneck if you get anything better than an ati 9800 pro or basic geforce 6800.

Also, there are a lot of tweak guides out there for improving Doom3 performance...for example in the doom3 config, with your 512 of ram, try these settings:

seta image_useCache "1"
seta image_cacheMegs "128"
seta image_cacheMinK "10240"

People report getting a good 10-20 fps increase from this. There's more out there, go search.

peace -- praxis

[blk-sabbath-fan]

On the radeon 9800pro's how big a boost do you get with the 256bit version over the 128bit version. Also for a radeon 9800pro won't require me to have a super large power supply, my antec 300w will work right.

Also I currently have the the 1400 athlon with the retail boxed heatsink and fan, will this HSF combo work with the XP2100+ or do I need a new one, if I need a new one can you reccomend one under $15.

[mansionman]

Originally posted by blk-sabbath-fan
On the radeon 9800pro's how big a boost do you get with the 256bit version over the 128bit version. Also for a radeon 9800pro won't require me to have a super large power supply, my antec 300w will work right.

Also I currently have the the 1400 athlon with the retail boxed heatsink and fan, will this HSF combo work with the XP2100+ or do I need a new one, if I need a new one can you reccomend one under $15.

the 256bit?(MB) only helps when you are running at higher resolutions. And most processors come with a HSF.

[thrawn86]

he's talking about the 128bit 9800se vs. the 9800 np/p 256bit. Make sure to the 256bit one, the 128bit card is a crippled 9800.

[blk-sabbath-fan]

Ok I'll try to get a 9800 with the 256bit, will my PC really utilize it even after upgrading the processor to a XP2100+? The XP2100+ does not come with a HSF, can I use the old one from the athlon 1400, if not suggest one under $15.

[thrawn86]

yes, any vid card upgrade will be a big performance increase, but without an a64 you won't be able to fully utilize that card.

All retail cpus come with heatsinks.

[mynameis]

If you just want to be able to play Doom 3, a 2100+ and 9800 Pro will be enough. If you want to play Doom 3 will all the pretty effects and everything maxed out you'll need to spend a lot more.

[blk-sabbath-fan]

Will I be able to play at 800x600 with medium detail with the xp2100+ and a 9800 256mg?

I have a athlon 1400mhz retail, I will be buying a XP2100+ OEM, I want to know if I can use my fan/heatsink combo from the athlon for the xp or if it won't work. If not reccomend one from newegg.com for under $15. thanks

[Fenixco]

If you are going to get the 2100, get the retail version. It has the fan with it and a 3 yr waranty. the 1400 fan WILL NOT work on the 2100. If you want the oem version, get the coolermaster.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...103-146&depa=0

[munchy1988]

do NOT waste ur money of a 256 MEGABYTE vid card. get the 256 BIT card. if u want to play doom 3 at ALL, the 256 bit is mandatory. if u plan on upgrading ur machine in the future at all to play any other new games, then y waste ur money on something thats not future proof, at least for a while?

and as for the HSF, it depends. is the xp1400+ the same core and/or socket as the xp2100+? if so, then yes it will work. BUT, i doubt u can overclock that 2100+ any on that sucker. if u want, just look around for a copper based HSF for around 15, if u cant find one, then maybe copper base and aluminum.

[blk-sabbath-fan]

Will I be able to play Doom 3 at 800x600 with medium detail with the xp2100+ and a 9800 256mg? Also will I be able to play Half Life 2 pretty well on medium settings.

[thrawn86]

That depends on your definition of "playable". Will you be getting 100 fps + at all time? probably not

will it be playable (35fps +), probably

[JetForce Gemini X]

The ALX-800 is $15

[kpxgq]

Originally posted by mansionman
the 256bit?(MB) only helps when you are running at higher resolutions. And most processors come with a HSF.

uhhh.. the 9800 128-bit (also known as 9800SE) is basically a 9600pro