TF2 Question

[cyrad]

My desktop has VERY similar specs to yours, so I can give you a better answer than most people here. Team Fortress 2 is playable on your computer.

Here's what you can expect as result of your low RAM
- It takes awhile to load maps and to connect to servers
- When you enter a game, your computer needs some time to cache the rendering of the game's map. Because of this, your game is going to freeze a lot in your first couple of lives.
- Your game will freeze for a few seconds when certain special events happen. These include dying suddenly from instant-kill attacks like headshots, backstabbing someone, getting acheivements, and entering areas you haven't been to before. However, once these events happen in a game, the game won't freeze anywhere near as bad as it did before.

Your FPS should be good. The only problem is the freezing and the loading because your computer needs to shuffle data with its page file.

Here's ways you can manage the faults until you get more RAM
- Minimize your game's advanced graphics settings. Don't worry, you can still keep models and textures at medium. Just make sure the shaders, the reflections, and filtering are at the lowest possible.
- When first loading a game, go to spectator mode and look at all the parts of the map to let your computer cache it in. Afterward, you'll have a much smoother experience when you play.
- To check to see how badly you're going to freeze, open Task Manager, go to Performance, and look at your page file (PF) usage. Make sure your PF usage is around 500 before you play the game. If it's 1 gig or higher, you're going to freeze A LOT. To reduce it, close programs or restart your computer.
- For the best performance, avoid games with a lot of players (more than 24) and large maps. I find arena games to have great performance because of this.

While the freezing is a little annoying, I still find the game worth it. It's especially worth it for someone who's played a life of TF2 without the joy of unlocks, bug fixes, and custom maps. So, if you can put up with it, you can play the game until you get more RAM.

 

[randommaster]

Hey guys, I've been thinking of getting Team Fortress 2 for the PC for a while now. I've played the Xbox 360 version and love it but am really fed up with having to wait for updates etc.

It's all planned out except for one detail.

I have no idea if it will run (relatively) lag-free on my computer.

280GB Total HD Space
GeForce FX 5200
Pentium 4 2.80GHz Processor
512MB RAM
8M/bit Internet Connection

If thats enough to tell, then thanks. If not, then just say and I'll provide what info I can.

Gracias.

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest

That site has never failed me yet. Try it.

Tried it, and I can't get past the 'downloading' section. Is it meant to take a long time?

As a side note, I intend on getting a 512MB or 1GB extra RAM card and inserting those as an addition/replacement respectively. Will this sort out my problem anyone?

EDIT:- Can anyone verify that CyberPowerSystem are actually legit? Not trying to be funny or anything, just cautious (never heard of them before yesterday)

Not familliar with CPS, but extra RAM is the cheapest way to upgrade your computer. The extra RAM you'r adding should let you play TF@ without much lag at all.

 

[Horticulture]

EDIT:- Can anyone verify that CyberPowerSystem are actually legit? Not trying to be funny or anything, just cautious (never heard of them before yesterday)

My only personal experience is a friend who bought a laptop from them a few months ago. He's been happy with it so far. I've heard a few other escapists mention them, as well, but can't recall the particular people.

 

[irrelevantnugget]

How laggy are we talking here? Because I'm going to be getting an Alienware desktop within 6 months or so and want to know if its worth getting some extra RAM or not.

I'm sure I'm not going to be the last person to tell you this but Alienware is overpriced crap.

This.

Just put together your own pc. DO NOT buy anything premade, even if it seems cheap. It's usually shit. And go to an actual computer store for that, the support is usually better there than at a Wal-Mart or something.

 

[Kushin]

How laggy are we talking here? Because I'm going to be getting an Alienware desktop within 6 months or so and want to know if its worth getting some extra RAM or not.

I'm sure I'm not going to be the last person to tell you this but Alienware is overpriced crap.

This.

Just put together your own pc. DO NOT buy anything premade, even if it seems cheap. It's usually shit. And go to an actual computer store for that, the support is usually better there than at a Wal-Mart or something.

How would I go about asking at a computer shop? I'd need to find one locally to me first, but what components would I need to specify or do they generally have a list of parts that they can work out what is compatible with what?

 

[300lb. Samoan]

GeForce FX 5200
512MB RAM

let me say from experience, these two factors specifically will make your TF2 experience unbearable, and possibly unlaunchable - my cousin had 512mb ram and there were so many hard-drive accesses during the game that it was unbearable to play, even tho the graphics were otherwise running at 60fps. luckily, you can upgrade to 1 gig for $20 and it will completely solve this problem. i played on 1gig of ram for six months and never had any lags from memory access

unfortunately, your graphics card will make the game suffer big time. i'm not sure that card is even directX 8 compatible, so if it does run TF2 it will be a very stripped down and likely slow and sludgy experience in the graphics department. i'm playing on a geforce 7800gt and it runs at a quaint but very enjoyable 46fps, i previously was running a geforce 7600gts and cranking a fairly stable 42fps. you can probably grab one of these for $35, but I'd recommend spending more money and getting with the modern times - atleast get a 8800.

 

[Kushin]

GeForce FX 5200
512MB RAM

let me say from experience, these two factors specifically will make your TF2 experience unbearable, and possibly unlaunchable - my cousin had 512mb ram and there were so many hard-drive accesses during the game that it was unbearable to play, even tho the graphics were otherwise running at 60fps. luckily, you can upgrade to 1 gig for $20 and it will completely solve this problem. i played on 1gig of ram for six months and never had any lags from memory access

unfortunately, your graphics card will make the game suffer big time. i'm not sure that card is even directX 8 compatible, so if it does run TF2 it will be a very stripped down and likely slow and sludgy experience in the graphics department. i'm playing on a geforce 7800gt and it runs at a quaint but very enjoyable 46fps, i previously was running a geforce 7600gts and cranking a fairly stable 42fps. you can probably grab one of these for $35, but I'd recommend spending more money and getting with the modern times - atleast get a 8800.

Yeh... about that. I'm planning on getting 1-2GB of RAM tomorrow and the game at a later date. My main problem is the Graphics card. I'm still running on an ACP Motherboard with NO PCIE slots at all. My computer is basically antique in technical terms. It's only a continued effort from me thats kept it going for the past 2 years, and the machine is about 4-5 years old.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

I'm still running on an ACP Motherboard with NO PCIE slots at all. My computer is basically antique in technical terms. It's only a continued effort from me thats kept it going for the past 2 years, and the machine is about 4-5 years old.

Kudos to you for that! I assume you meant AGP, as in an Advanced Graphics Port? Check this out:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=geforce+agp&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=5521767735206179458&ei=TxswSpmJPI22NLTlkPkJ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1#ps-sellers

An $80 GeForce 7600 should be just the ticket. I know I said $35 before, I guess I should have checked in with reality first.

 

[Kushin]

Kudos to you for that! I assume you meant AGP, as in an Advanced Graphics Port? Check this out:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=geforce+agp&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=5521767735206179458&ei=TxswSpmJPI22NLTlkPkJ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1#ps-sellers

An $80 GeForce 7600 should be just the ticket. I know I said $35 before, I guess I should have checked in with reality first.

Well... I honestly cant remember but I would assume so. I'm really not out to spend that much to be honest. £20 for RAM and £15~ for the game is a price worth paying. $80 for a graphics card that will be left unfulfilled within 6 months seems like a HUGE waste. I'm only after a fun experience on PC with a game I wish would be given updates on 360.

For the record, I'm English (not British, English) and I dont buy stuff online *Shock**Horror*
so while I appreciate the link, I cant use it.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

For the record, I'm English (not British, English) and I dont buy stuff online *Shock**Horror*
so while I appreciate the link, I cant use it.

Ah, well then I don't know how the RAM market is in England, but I would assume that it would be cheaper than 20 pounds (seeing as TF2 is currently 20 dollars here, and if it's 15 pounds I figure ram will follow accordingly.

And I was wrong about your video card, it is DirectX 9 compatible. It's just got a such a piss slow clock speed! And you might want to double check what type of ram you have installed, I know DDR2 is running at $20 per gig right now, but older standards are asking more!

 

[Kushin]

Ah, well then I don't know how the RAM market is in England, but I would assume that it would be cheaper than 20 pounds (seeing as TF2 is currently 20 dollars here, and if it's 15 pounds I figure ram will follow accordingly.

And I was wrong about your video card, it is DirectX 9 compatible. It's just got a such a piss slow clock speed! And you might want to double check what type of ram you have installed, I know DDR2 is running at $20 per gig right now, but older standards are asking more!

Yeah, I checked out the prices earlier today. And I used Can I Run It and It said I was fine to play, just not very well. Now I've just gotta check out just WHAT kind of RAM I use (I fucking HOPE its DDR2)

 

[Horticulture]

Now I've just gotta check out just WHAT kind of RAM I use (I fucking HOPE its DDR2)

This [http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php] will help you out with that. You probably have DDR, though, since you have an AGP system.

Edit: on the plus side, if you have one 512 meg stick installed now, you can just buy a second one and save a little money.

 

[Crash486]

How laggy are we talking here? Because I'm going to be getting an Alienware desktop within 6 months or so and want to know if its worth getting some extra RAM or not.

considering you can get 512mb of ram for like 15$ yeah its worth it. Though I'm not sure you'd lag that much without it. I was running it on a similar system (Amd 2700+, 512mb DDR 333, and radeon 9700 pro video card) and it ran absolutely fine at medium graphics.

 

[Kushin]

Now I've just gotta check out just WHAT kind of RAM I use (I fucking HOPE its DDR2)

This [http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php] will help you out with that. You probably have DDR, though, since you have an AGP system.

Edit: on the plus side, if you have one 512 meg stick installed now, you can just buy a second one and save a little money.

Ye... I've got DDR... How much more money are we looking at here? Because I have 3 DDR Slots and 2 of them are used. I think I'll have to get a 512MB one or a 1GB. Will that be sufficient?

 

[Horticulture]

Now I've just gotta check out just WHAT kind of RAM I use (I fucking HOPE its DDR2)

This [http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php] will help you out with that. You probably have DDR, though, since you have an AGP system.

Edit: on the plus side, if you have one 512 meg stick installed now, you can just buy a second one and save a little money.

Ye... I've got DDR... How much more money are we looking at here? Because I have 3 DDR Slots and 2 of them are used. I think I'll have to get a 512MB one or a 1GB. Will that be sufficient?

Scan has a 512 meg DIMM for 17 quid [http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB-Corsair-Value-Select-DDR-PC3200-(400)-184-Pins-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-CAS-25]. I'm not intimately familiar with U.K. pricing, but here in the U.S. it's about $20 for the same amount, so that's not too far off, considering you have VAT to deal with.

 

[irrelevantnugget]

How would I go about asking at a computer shop? I'd need to find one locally to me first, but what components would I need to specify or do they generally have a list of parts that they can work out what is compatible with what?

Usually a shop has a list of parts they can order. It might sound nosey that you want said list, but just say that you want to set up your computer specifically and do your homework properly on each component, or something. My dad always got a list from a few stores he occasionally worked for.

Then check out the main components that you'll need (motherboard, processor, RAM memory, hard drive, CD/DVD drive, etc.), and look up reviews for a couple of models. For RAM, 1 GB is the bare minimum for most modern games, though you'll be better off with at least 2 (fun fact: it's cheaper to buy a 2GB-RAM chip than a 1GB-chip, for some vague reason. Or at least that's the case when I checked it out a while ago.)

Graphics cards are pretty important for games, but it's pretty easy to find reviews. There's usually a bunch of budget cards for each generation of graphics cards, and you can find them easily by the last 3 numbers: if it's below 400, it's generally shit. 500-600 (sometimes 700) means it's still a budget card, but it's usually the best value. Don't expect to run everything at max, but medium/high for very recent games. 700 and higher are usually top-of-the-range cards, but ridiculously expensive for just playing games at their highest settings. It might've changed though, it's been ages since I've looked into the matter of putting together a pc. Ask around on technical forums if you can't find a lot of info, and warn them that you're looking for just a proper gaming pc, so they don't start telling you to get ridiculously overpriced stuff that's hardly better than the cheaper alternative you're aiming for.

And usually it's all compatible. You can easily switched brand if you're not happy with one component (or if you just feel like upgrading your graphics card, but don't like the nvidia one you got, you can just replace it with an ati).

Another important tip: do NOT get overzealous. Don't start modding (as in, overclocking etc.) straight away, or you might end up wrecking it.