What to Upgrade?

[[11AD]A|Cpl.Fr33t]

Right now my specs are as follows:
Celeron D 2.4 GHz SKT478 @ 2.8 GHz
2X256MB Matched + 1x512MB (2.5-3-3-7) @ 190 MHz
AGP eVGA 6800 NU 128MB

My performance in BF2 is dismal. I run 800x600 all low, vd 100% never going above 30 fps. Luckily though, a friend of mine is giving me his 939 agp mobo + 3000+ and I was wondering what else I should upgrade. I know right now my processor is a huge bottleneck but my memory configuration isn't exactly ideal either and neither is my video card. If I were to upgrade my processor, it would probably be to an Opteron 165 for $150. For memory I probably be able to find a 2x512MB pack for about $50. And for a video card I wouldn't want something too expensive due to the fact I'll be upgrading to DX10 soon enough so I would probably just go with a 7600GT for $100 or if I didn't upgrade the other two, a 7800GS for $160. What do you guys think because having my fps go below 15 for minutes at a time is really getting frustrating.

Edit: Nvm the 7600GT, the PCIX one cost $100, the agp ones start at $180. So the 7800GS would be my only option.

[Scinto]

Re: What to Upgrade?

Right now my specs are as follows:
Celeron D 2.4 GHz SKT478 @ 2.8 GHz
2X256MB Matched + 1x512MB (2.5-3-3-7) @ 190 MHz
AGP eVGA 6800 NU 128MB

My performance in BF2 is dismal. I run 800x600 all low, vd 100% never going above 30 fps. Luckily though, a friend of mine is giving me his 939 agp mobo + 3000+ and I was wondering what else I should upgrade. I know right now my processor is a huge bottleneck but my memory configuration isn't exactly ideal either and neither is my video card. If I were to upgrade my processor, it would probably be to an Opteron 165 for $150. For memory I probably be able to find a 2x512MB pack for about $50. And for a video card I wouldn't want something too expensive due to the fact I'll be upgrading to DX10 soon enough so I would probably just go with a 7600GT for $100 or if I didn't upgrade the other two, a 7800GS for $160. What do you guys think because having my fps go below 15 for minutes at a time is really getting frustrating.

Edit: Nvm the 7600GT, the PCIX one cost $100, the agp ones start at $180. So the 7800GS would be my only option.

nope,

look around for a ATi X1950Pro AGP its better than the 7800GS and around the same price, you might be better off getting 2x512's or a single 1gb stick

[[11AD]A|Cpl.Fr33t]

Re: What to Upgrade?

The cheapest I can find a X1950Pro is $220. It is a faster card, but I just can't justify the $60 when that's close to half the price to get the dual core opteron.

[cloakster]

Re: What to Upgrade?

Penguin, try setting it to all medium and see what happens. When playing on all low it uses mostly your CPU and barely uses the power of your GPU. So if you put it to medium it will utilise the full potential of your GPU.

[megawhompertoo]

Re: What to Upgrade?

Penguin, try setting it to all medium and see what happens. When playing on all low it uses mostly your CPU and barely uses the power of your GPU. So if you put it to medium it will utilise the full potential of your GPU.

^ absolutely; that 6800 is a very decent video card for bf2, and it's unlikely that a celery D is causing too much of an issue.

If that doesn't work, it's possibly an issue with your ram (my understanding is that 2x256 and 1x512 isn't quite an ideal config).

[Maverick2201]

Re: What to Upgrade?

Firstly, if you find a DDR400 512x2 pack for ~$50, let me know where! Secondly, I just purchased another 1GB (512x2) to go up to 2GB because BF2 is such a RAM hog... IMHO, the single most important spec for BF2 is your RAM... both quantity and quality. BF2 could be used as a memory stress-test if someone wanted to. It will often take just about as much RAM as it possibly can and max it out so that if you have faulty or old RAM, BF2 will most likely crash. Get yourself some decent quality (Corsair makes a great 512x2 kit for ~$90 shipped from newegg.com) RAM and a mid-level graphics card and you'll be golden. I have seen tests online where guys are getting mid-50s FPS on a 7600GT @ 1280x1024 w/ effects on high but only with 2GB+ of RAM. I couldn't touch any high effects with my 1GB. Hopefully I'll be able to do this now. I would say, though, that your processor was not your bottleneck as BF2 isn't overly processor hungry. That 3000+ A64 will be more than enough for BF2.

[Minicoop503]

Re: What to Upgrade?

^ absolutely; that 6800 is a very decent video card for bf2, and it's unlikely that a celery D is causing too much of an issue.

If that doesn't work, it's possibly an issue with your ram (my understanding is that 2x256 and 1x512 isn't quite an ideal config).

I had a celeron d and i agree, it didnt slow down the game that much

[Munk_Madness]

Re: What to Upgrade?

^ absolutely; that 6800 is a very decent video card for bf2, and it's unlikely that a celery D is causing too much of an issue.

If that doesn't work, it's possibly an issue with your ram (my understanding is that 2x256 and 1x512 isn't quite an ideal config).

6800 is a great card, your ram is low and will effect especialy if they are at different speeds as the faster ones will be slowed down to the slowest ram modules speed, my suguestion if you want to spend some money is to get more ram