Debriefing > Questions, Help, & How To's

What hardware do I need to run SOURCE games?

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LSiz:
So I bought the orange box to play goldeneye source, neither run at playable speeds even after turning all the graphics options down.

Here is my specs;
AMD Sempron LE-1300 ~2.3 GHz
2GB Memory
NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 using 825 megs of memory
Desired Screen Res: 1600x900

I know this isn't a gaming machine but is there anything I could do within reason to make these games run well?  I have read tips at the steam forums but they are all software solutions and none has made a discernible difference yet.  ( Yes I told my antivirus to stop scanning those certain files)
What is the biggest bottleneck, the integrated graphics? Single core budget cpu?  Little Memory? Or are all of these just insufficient? I would like to get good framerates on these games at 1600x900 with the settings high enough to make the games look good.

Can I get this computer up to speed enough to play competitively for under 200 dollars?  I would love to build a core i7 machine for games but definitely can not afford soon.

major:
-type "-dxlevel 80" (or 81, 70) as a GE:S launch option(right click on ge:s in the steam list and properties, then launch options).


Source is pretty CPU intensive. So a single core CPU that was designed for processing word documents is really limiting. But also a integrated GPU is always super limiting. To be honest not really worth upgrading anything. Cause if you upgrade your CPU your directly limited by GPU, and visa-versa.


You should be able to get a new CPU for $50-$75.
Then should be able to get a GPU for around $150.

If both of those upgrades are done then you would be solidly good to game. BUT there is always more issues when upgrading. Since this is odds are a computer from a manufacture, odds are it has a small, weak powersupply. So a powersupply upgrade might be needed.

If you can post up some really detailed computer specs. I'm talking, exact motherboard you have, and what ever power rating your PSU is(lazy way is to take a picture of the sticker on your powersupply). We can help you pick what parts would be the best bet.

Sp1nn3y:
http://gizmodo.com/5569723/the-best-graphics-cards-at-every-price
Gizmodo has an epic list of graphics cards and tons of information about them for the best gfx at certain price ranges. take a look, hope it helps somewhat.

coolDisguise:
Excuuuuuse me, but my system is over 5 years old and has a Pentium IV 3,2 Ghz (single core) processor, yet I run my games on 1024/768 (Left 4 Dead 2 800/600, medium to low details) with a GeForce 6600 (256 Mb) with 2 Gb RAM.

I just don't think you'll manage your prefered resolution given your graphics card and processor. About the bottleneck: I guess the processor is atm your biggest problem, but directly next would be your graphics card. My guess is, if you just change the processor, you'd be able to play competetively on medium details and a lower resolution as the one prefered.
Nonetheless, I also think major is right saying it isn't really worth the trouble. :- /

killermonkey:
You cannot play at 1600x900 resolution. It is an impossibility.

The semperon is not designed to handle gaming and the geforce 6100 series is about 6 years old and the lowest of the batch from the 6000 series GPUs.

Lower your resolution to NO MORE THAN 1024x768 and you'll get good performance (although prolly not consistent 30 fps).

To play at 1600x900 with decent frame rate you'll be looking to drop about $1,500 on parts EASY.

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