Lineage-Horizons-FFXI-Graphics Card-Processor-long thread-

doobster

Im having trouble with Pros and Cons about these three games.  They all look good and i just want to buy a new game.

Ok first off, im 16 with an ok job.  Im really looking forward to World of Warcraft, and yes i know i have a long time to go before its released (which is why i wanted to know pro's and con's of those three games above).  I really like to play MMORPGS but i always have to play them from a sh**ty computer, excuse my french .  Anyways i have saved up $1,000 USD, with more on the way, so as you can see im on a budget.  I really want to know how to upgrade my computer now to a good one that will play all the upcoming mmorpgs with EASE.  Things i want to see responsed to in this thread are video cards.  They have some cheap ones, but i dont know what the difference is between the Radeon 9700 all in wonder, and the Radeon 9600 for $50 USD cheaper.  I really want to try and stretch every little penny to get a good machine that will play all MMORPGS. 

Here are some specs on my computer.

AMD 1200 Processor.  -- this is something i want to get new of.

Some sh**ty GeForce2 card that couldnt have cost very much -- also something i would like to see upgraded

Audigy 2 soundcard -- this is ok ill keep this one.

Monitor doesnt matter because i dont pay $300 USD for a flat screen ok.. im cheap what can i say.

 

So basically give me some ideas on what to do .. i really want to get a new case for $50 USD - $75 USD, just so you cant tell what a sh**ty computer it is just by looking at it.  Then i want to transfer my OS, Soundcard, Keyboard/mouse/speakers, RAM, and stuff (really i dont know what else i need for a computer hehe, my dad will help me with the transfer) and the rest of the stuff i want to buy.

 

Ok with that out of the way i want to apologize for a somewhat long thread that is more-than-not off-topic.

Next order of business i need to pick out a game for my new computer.  W oW is a given but i dont see it being released until next summer.. Horizons just looked cool, but keep in mind im not big on crafting.  FFXI i heard good and bad things about, but thier website didnt even have a game info link on it, and it was hard to navigate so i really dont know much about this game.  Lineage II looked like a sequal to a great game, even though i heard bad things about the first one.  I saw on the game summary page that thier was sort of a fuedalism politics system, im not sure how big of a system it is, but it really sounds interesting.

I played UO for 5 years.  Pre UO:R, was the single greatest few years of my life.  The game just ruled, now with all the new sh** they added it turned into a nightmare of a mess of a peice of sh** of a game. ha ha.  UO:X seemed to concientrate more on questing, and PvM, which appeals a little towards me.  On all the forums i hear good things about UO:X but i DESPISE UO now, and the people that made it, so i dont know if im ready to take the step into UO:X without hearing/reading/seeing awesome things about it.

Ok! If you've read this far, good job.

In this thread id like to see comparisons with Athlons vs. Pentiums.  GeForces vs. Radeon. and Horizons vs. Lineage vs. Any other MMORPG.

Have fun and ill check back later tonight maybe and tomarrow after school to see if thier is any useful info here.

Thanks Again!

Erik

hercules

Well if you plan to change the processor then you might as well build a new system minus the screen.Hate flat screens personally they actually are slow and only the high price ones seems to do well.

Processor wise i am a athlon man - they are cheaper and as powerful as pentiums.Get a 2400plus athlon xp they are cheap and more power then you need for a long time.

To be honest i never seen a good arguement for buying pentium over athlon.Cost wise athlon is a winner ,performance wise athlon is same and some models trashes their counterpart in the pentium side.Recently saw an article between the pentium 2.5ghz and the atlhon xp 2400 .athlon dusted it.Athlon is also notorious of moving new technology into existing models while pentium likes to wait for a new line thus making it backwards.

RAM wise to be honest all new mmorpg are RAM hogs.SWG for instance is not comfortable on less then 768RAM.Newer ones will get just worse.

Sound does not matter just enable the one onboard and its fine.Use a gigabyte motherboard if going athlon they like each other hehe,

Graphics cards well if you want the best of the best.It will be the best of the latest and that means the fx5900 or radeon 9800pro each costing about $400 or more.

For $100 less u can get the radeon 9700pro.For about $200 you can get what i call the power for money valus card - ti4600ti.

Before the release of the radeon 9800 pro and FX5900 it was the only card that could compete with the radeon 9700pro.It is more powerful then the 9600 and the plain vanilla 9700.

Geforceti4600 runs smoothly on all mmorpg out there and any to come within a year.Also it is more powerful then the 256 RAM FX5600 by almost 40 percent on many benchmarks!

While some sellers will tell you oh it is not DX9 compatible i am yet to see any gamer using this card to ever run into any trouble with DX9 games and there are a few out there already.In short my brother has tried a FX5600 256RAM card and has replaced this card back with the ti4600 because it is faster.

So in power terms its FX5900ultra>radeon 9800 pro>radeon 9700 pro>ti4600

So it remains my buyer's choice card.But if you can squeeze the extra cash go with a radeon 9700pro for sure .If you want the ultimate card out there fx5900ultra and radeon 9800pro.

If you are really pressed for funds then the critcally acclaimed card the Geforce ti4200 is your bet.

Keep away from the FX5200 which is just the MX series come alive and they are a nightmare when taking on crowds in MMORPGs.

Other cards to consider is the FX5600 which though not a great successor to the ti4200 still carries its weight and has the added value of been a newer version of geforce.

As for games jsut down to personal choice i am waiting for horizons myself.

doobster

Thank you,

This is exactly the info i needed.  Im -really- pressed for funds... everyone wants me to save for college but i just have to have a little more power in my machine because mmorpgs are my life.  Ill look into all of this and probably go with 9700 if i can squeeze the cash. 

Thanks again hercules.

Erik.

Lansid

Well.... my personal simplistic terms are these for putting a system together.

Case and power supply. Make sure the power supply has enough juice for whatever you're sticking in the machine. Case, one can go bargain bin, or Liam Li top of the line if one wants... more of a personal preference. ALSO if you are building a "higher end" computer... do not do not do NOT forget about extra cooling! Are you going to water cool it? Better CPU Heatsink/fan? RAM sinks? Put an extra 4 fans inside? Also remember Cold air sinks, hot air rises... so put your intake fans towards the front bottom, and the blowers at the top rear for good circulation. Get as many "rounded cables" as you can too, takes up less space, looks better and improves fan efficency.

Motherboard. Personally, ASUS or ABIT... Gigabyte's ok too. Make sure your Motherboard can support and utilize to the fullest what CPU, AGP card, and RAM you're throwing into it. Having a motherboard that supports 4X acceleration with a RADEON 9800 and you just wasted your money.

CPU. Pentium or AMD.... pfft it's more of a Theology discussion than anything. If you're a number cruncher, overclocker or a tweaker... then you already know what CPU you want... if not, go with one that suits your price range and fits onto your motherboards specs.

RAM. The more the merrier! Buy as much as you can afford, don't skimp on it. If your board supports DDR, by all means get a gig or 2.

AGP card. Geforce... RADEON, some others out there. I don't know the specs of every one out there. Personally I'm with hercules... the 9700pro is a great card, I'm currently using it and am rather happy with it... with the small exception I payed more for it before the price drop a few months ago... but oh well, you get what you pay for.

Sound Card. Yours is fine. If you use some kickass surround system, kudos to ya... I use headphones, a lot more useful for my FPS games .

Gamewise, I'm getting my copy of FF:XI tomorrow. *happy dance*

Good luck and remember, you'll be doing it again in a year or so.. lol.

"There is only one thing of which I am certain, and that's nothing is certain."

psibot

I'll make this short I agree totally on every point with hercules he's got it totally right. I'd only like too underline some things.

I dunno what people see in Flatscreens. I had a chance to get one of these famous Flatrons 1800 very cheap and after using it 2 weeks got my 10 year old Monitor back out and am now using the TFT as second monitor(extebded desktop). If that is the best TFT can offer today hmm they can keep it.

Pesonally I have always favored Radeon I found theyr approach very inovative and heading the way I wanted. Alas I have switched back to Geforce since the constant annoyment that radeon not being well supported by game developers. Due market segmantation?

-- edited some major typos

Quaduce

I agree aswell, I know a few good buys...

You should probbly get a Athlon barton 2500. They are already dirt cheap and are only getting cheaper. I myself am getting one of these things, and iv seen how well they perform (my friend has one and runs ANYTHING with ease)

Id also sugest getting a Ti4600 if your not worried about getting DX9. Wich i dont think youll have to worry about with any mmorpg for a while. This card is fast, and cheaper than most DX9 cards. If you feel the need to get a dx9 card, id go with a FX5600 pro (you MUST get the pro otherwise the card is garbage) or a 9700. But imo right now, DX9 cards are all hype 9because of hl2 and such) and most games dont accualy have DX9 effects yet, so it could be worth it to your wallet to wait a bit, up to you.

Ram? These days i think the standard is 512DDR or more. Make sure its 2700 or 3200.

With the above hardware youll run pretty much anything easily.

-edit- Also you can check out some good benchmarks on pretty much anything at www.sharkyextreme.com Its one of the best sites i know, i refer to it every time i feel the need to get new hardware, or anything computer related. Check it out.

 

Sensei_Kaels

OK, heres ur processor.

get a AMD Athlon 2500+ with Barton Core (very good)

Overclock it like djin did and it becomes 3000+ and u save some big money.

If you do this, make sure u get lotta coolant/fans and you make sure ur RAM is DDR 3200

I think the company Ultra has good prices on these.. check out Newegg.com or Tigerdirect.com. good sites

Thoemse

Totally agree with the guy above. My Barton 2500+ is running at 200x11 = XP 3200+ and i use a 18 db silentcooler!!!!

Motherboard i use: asus a7n8x deluxe version 2.0 (GREAT and cheap)

Ad 1 gig crucial DDR3200 RAM (CL3 but it can take fast timings)

Yeah 1 gig. MMORPGS love RAM

I use a radeon 9700 pro but i suggest you get a cheap 9600 pro. It will do the job fine and is cheap.

Monitor: Just go for a cheap 19 inch monitor witha  flatscreen.

hercules

Never saw the use to overclock a processor thats already running at 2.5ghz.There is no program i seen that requires more then 1 ghz atm.

Inotice as for noticeable speed from 2ghz it makes no noticeable difference.