"Well you sure as hell won't be able to 'x' with that rig:"

[ragejg]

Ok, I was all riding high 2 yrs ago, 939 rig @ 2.5ghz, 6800NU, 20" monitor... niiice!!

Then I sold it. bleh.

I actually am rebuilding now. But the rig's a bit of an HTPC now, but I sure as hell would love to game on it. I don't know what to reasonably expect, I've been stuck on a 1.33ghz/FX5700 rig for over a year now.

So very soon I'll have the following or something very similar.

~ A64 around 3200-3500
~ 1.5gb DDR400
~ ATI AIW X800XT
~ 2x 120gb ATA 133, I'll RAID em if I can
~ 26" direct view 1080i/540p Toshiba 26HF85

I'm kinda thinking that windows and/or games MIGHT look best if I can display them in 540P (I think that's 954x540 progressive scan) if the ATI driver or windows itself supports it.

I understand that i'll be quite cpu limited, because it' not like I'm picking top of the barrel parts yet, kist trying to get back to a good base of a PC and have a good and functional HTPC.

SO:

I will reinstall Doom3, HL2, and BF:V and play through thm just to get my reflexes back in action. I think I'm good to go on that generation of games, and I think they'll look and play pretty nice.

BUT:

Tell me what I AM NOT gonna be able to to. Tell me (not from Tom's charts) what will make this class of rig slow down too much to enjoy.

I just want fluid gameplay and visuals that match the capabilities of the X800 series, which still performs adequately from what I've seen.

I should be all right with FEAR and Serious Sam II, right?

[Xion X2]

You really ought to see if you can drop just a little more on the graphics card. Are you on AGP or PCI-E? If you want to stick w/ ATi, then they have some pretty good mid-range cards that are much newer with more features than the X800XT has, and you won't be spending much more.

A fast Athlon 64 single-core will still play a lot of games out there just fine.

Here are some good ATi mid-range PCI-E cards:

1900GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102022

1950 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102061

1950XT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102067


You'd be better off with 512MB of memory if you could afford it, but these are some cost-effective solutions that will play games pretty well paired with a fast Athlon 64.

[WeReWoLf]

You'll be able to play fear with no probs, just not uber high res. Fear extraction point will run fine mostly, few drops in frames here and there. Remember most of the DX10 games coming out will also scale back a fair way, so they too will be reasonably playable.

[Sazar]

Ok, I was all riding high 2 yrs ago, 939 rig @ 2.5ghz, 6800NU, 20" monitor... niiice!!

Then I sold it. bleh.

I actually am rebuilding now. But the rig's a bit of an HTPC now, but I sure as hell would love to game on it. I don't know what to reasonably expect, I've been stuck on a 1.33ghz/FX5700 rig for over a year now.

So very soon I'll have the following or something very similar.

~ A64 around 3200-3500
~ 1.5gb DDR400
~ ATI AIW X800XT
~ 2x 120gb ATA 133, I'll RAID em if I can
~ 26" direct view 1080i/540p Toshiba 26HF85

I'm kinda thinking that windows and/or games MIGHT look best if I can display them in 540P (I think that's 954x540 progressive scan) if the ATI driver or windows itself supports it.

I understand that i'll be quite cpu limited, because it' not like I'm picking top of the barrel parts yet, kist trying to get back to a good base of a PC and have a good and functional HTPC.

SO:

I will reinstall Doom3, HL2, and BF:V and play through thm just to get my reflexes back in action. I think I'm good to go on that generation of games, and I think they'll look and play pretty nice.

BUT:

Tell me what I AM NOT gonna be able to to. Tell me (not from Tom's charts) what will make this class of rig slow down too much to enjoy.

I just want fluid gameplay and visuals that match the capabilities of the X800 series, which still performs adequately from what I've seen.

I should be all right with FEAR and Serious Sam II, right?

Here's my experience with the aiw x800 dude.

I can play everything out there on the market prior to FSX and co.

FEAR plays pretty good at 12x10 res. I played most everything else at 16x10 or 12x9 resolution without having to turn down effects. Graphics were good.

HL2 plays well @ 1680x1050 but if you are going to play episode 1 with hdr, you might have to turn it down to 2xaa or drop down a res.

Far Cry plays pretty good for me, smooth at max res with some drop-offs on the most intense levels.

Prey plays perfectly smooth, as does Quake 4 (slightly lower res) and Doom3.

IQ is good, all around, no compromises. Battlefield I have not played, sorry.

COD and 2 play well, no issues.

You should be able to play most games with effects turned on and LOD up there too. Like I said, I've done pretty decent so far :)

Are you going to use Vista or XP?