Is This All I'll Need?

[Dog--]

I've got a Pentium 4 2.6 GHz processor (D865PERL), now if I got.. say... a 7900GT, and 2 gigs of ram, would I be able to play something like Oblivion on max? If not tell me what else I'd need. Also if you need to know ANYTHING else about my current comp, ask please. I really want to know what I need before I make assumptions..

[mastag]

id upgrade the cpu. but i have a pentium 4 2.00 ghz with a radeon 9800 pro and 640 mbs of ram so i cant say much. ask asus, he is def. the one to ask about this stuff.

edit: what is your mobo?

[giant384]

what motherboard you have is needed to tell you anything more about purchasing.

[Asus]

Anandtech has a Oblivion CPU performance article. Let me dig that up.
They used an X1900XT which is a bit faster than a 7900gt but it will give you a good idea. Link (http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2747&p=3)

If that 2.6GHz CPU supports HT (hyperthreading) then it might boost performance a bit compared to if it was off. Link (http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2747&p=5)

[mastag]

he is right. if it is pci express you are good to go. if it is agp, well....

[The Brick]

The mobo is AGP. You will have to buy a new mobo for it. Would be a nice chance to get a conroe + ddr2. If you have the money to spare, that is.

[Dog--]

Oh yea, forgot to mention it was AGP..

Is there an AGP card that doesn't cost $999999?

[The Brick]

You could go for an 6800GS. Which is still pretty darn fast. But I think your CPU might be a bit of a bottleneck when it comes to the latest games.

[Dog--]

If I get the 6800, would I be able to play oblivion on maximum?
If I can play oblivion, I'd be set for like 1 year.. enough for next summer for summer job :) When that happens, it time for major upgradage!

[Warbie]

Your cpu will be holding performance back regardless of what gfx card you buy. I doubt you'll be able to run Oblivion at maximum without it looking like a slide show.

[3ssence]

Having run oblivion on a number of different graphics cards, i would say that with a 6800GS, you'd be looking at either 1024 x 768, with hdr, or aa, and med-high textures etc, or 1280 x 1024, without hdr or aa, maybe med textures and settings. Even then, i'd expect slowdown in certain areas, although even the high end cards experience a decent bit of slowdown in oblivion in some places, so that wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary.

[Qonfused]

Look, let me put this in persective.

I have:

A64 3500+ (2.2GHz stock)
7800GT 256MB
2GB PC3200

And, when I put everything on max (I play on max), I run about 20-35FPS outside, 75 inside. I doubt you could run it on max with a 6800GS.

[Cole]

I'd also like to note performance in Oblivion can be pretty poor depending on other drives. Hell I have a A64 3500+, 7800GTX 256Mb, 1.5gig, but I know Oblivion dosn't work well with creative and my performance is worse by quite a bit compared to Qonfused.

[Dog--]

Ok, so I'd need a new processor, mobo, GFX card, and more RAM? Is that all?

BTW, I'm not talking about just Oblivion, just the newer games, like FEAR, Prey, and the like..

[DrDevin]

Ok, so I'd need a new processor, mobo, GFX card, and more RAM? Is that all?

Well you would want to get a better hard drive to speed up the loading times, a new soundcard for increased sound quality, a new DVD drive for decreased install times, a physics card in case oblivion supports it in an upcomming patch, a new monitor to display all this high resolution art and your case and powersupply would probably look so poor in comparison to the rest of the hardware that they would have to be replaced.

[DEATHMASTER]

Might as well get a new system ;)

[Dog--]

I've got a good monitor, big ass Flatron F900B, problem is that is wieghs 50kg! I think.. My sound card is good enough, I don't really care about sound, as long as I can hear it clearly with no crackling. My DVD drive is good enough.. I'd probably buy a new 250 gig HD for $50... I suppose I'd have to get a new power supply...

So, the things I'll need...

Processor
Mobo
GFX Card
More RAM
New HD
Power Supply
..
.....

Dammit, I may as well save like $2000 to get a new computer.. damn outdated peice of shit... you guys made me hate my computer even more..

[DEATHMASTER]

$2000?! You dont need nearly that much for a great machine.
The stuff in my sig. cost less than $1000, and that was a few months ago and it runs well;
and technology decreases in price overtime so you can definetly get a better system for
under $2000

[DrDevin]

Athlon64 X2 3800+ processor $189.98
BFG GeForce 7900 GT OC $299.95
ASUS M2N-E ATX AM2 Nforce 570 $121.90
OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 $217.64

Total: $829.47

Canadian prices from http://www.ncix.com/

[giant384]

i would get a faster proccesor then the x2 3800

[The Brick]

Yeah get a cheap Conroe processor. Like the E6400.

[Dog--]

Well.. I have nothing else to spend money on... no rent or anything, so I may as well and save up to get the best, right?

[DEATHMASTER]

if u really want to then yea

[Katatonia]

Just so you know, it's impossible currently to run Oblivion on Max settings with good FPS.

[BarnyMiler]

Didn't see if anyone mentioned this yet or not but Tom's Hardware ran a good article on running Oblivion with various new generation cards.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/07/10/an_your_rig_run_oblivion/index.html

One test I thought was interesting was that there was no gain in running 2GB RAM vs. 1GB.

So, save yourself $80 and only get 1GB - for now.

[Warbie]

Some games certainly do benefit from 2gb, and even more will do in the near future. If you're building a new system now it makes good sense to get more than 1 gig.

[Dog--]

I used Oblivion as an example, I'm not just playing Oblivion, I got Condemned, going to buy Crysis, Far Cry, ect...

I'm getting 2.5gig, it'll keep my RAM updated for a long-ass time to come, I remember when I got this computer that 512 was alot... now it's the bare minimum you should have.. RAM is what kills me in most games, so I'm getting alot to keep me going for the future..

I'm not really worried about saving $80, about every 5 years I upgrade (even updating a video card, mobo, ect....), so I want the best now to last me as long as possible.

[Asus]

This graph shows 2gb, 1gb and 512mb. (http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/13/how_much_ram_do_you_really_need/page6.html)
Now go to the next page and see the time graph for 512mb vs 2gb (http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/13/how_much_ram_do_you_really_need/page7.html) and you can see the difference. I don't think anyone runs clean setups like they do for benchmarking. Most have a lot of windows background stuff running, xfire, listening to music etc. That will pull even 1gb down.

[Dog--]

Just the programs required for my PC to run takes up about 100MB.. I figure 2.5GB will give me 2GB, and the .5GB will take the rest..

[DreadLord]

How on earth is Oblivion going to keep you occupied for more than a few weeks? :|

[Tyguy]

more than enough, so ya

[Dog--]

I'm going to be buying more games....
I also have Condemned... I'll save up extra cash and buy like 3 games

[DreadLord]

I hope so. Because while condemned is awesome.. It's like an 8 or 9 hour game.. With not much replayability. And Oblivion will last you a few weeks.

[Dog--]

I have played about 10-15 hours of Oblivion, but I just couldn't take the shitty graphics anymore.. using oldoblivion.. gah!