Minimum Requirements
 

I wasnt sure where to put this. Computers or gaming but I guess I'll be talking about games so here it goes. Im thinking of building me a gaming rig and I was wondering if anyone knows the minimum requirements to play Doom III and Half-life 2 :D.

Thanks!

They haven't been released yet, so there are no "minimum requirements" yet. I'd suggest getting a fast processor, at least 512MB RAM, and an ATI 9600XT or 9800XT for your graphics card. If you buy one of those cards retail, you get a free copy of Half-Life2 when it comes out.

If you want it to run *well,* then you'll need a decent computer. Doom 3 will run on all types of PCs, but in order for it to run really good you'll need at least a $500 setup.

I recommend an Athlon XP 2500+ or greater, or a Pentium 4 2.4 GHz C-Core or greater.

You'll need a videocard that can handle DirectX 9 very well. I suggest the Radeon 9600 XT or the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra for lower-end cards; good high-end cards are the Radeon 9800/Pro/XT, GeForce FX 5900/Ultra, and GeForce 5950 Ultra.

You'll want at least 512 MB of RAM. 512 MB of PC3200 RAM will do the trick. Try to get dual 256 MB sticks instead of one 512 MB stick, especially if you go the Intel route. Remember that faster RAM in lesser quantities is better than slower RAM in greater quantities. In other words, 1 GB of PC2100 RAM won't perform as well as 512 MB of PC3200 RAM.

Both games will run on lesser systems (Half-Life 2 benchmarked VERY well on my system, and it's an old 1.6 GHz Athlon XP with a GeForce 4 TI4200 + 768 MB of PC2100 RAM. The Doom 3 "demo" ran pretty good until enemies came on the screen, but you can't adjust anything in the "demo" so the graphics are turned all the way up.

-Lasereth

hmm.. there goes the 2000+. I was thinking of getting one from frys for about $65. I know it come with an ECS board but Im on a budget right now. I guess Im just going to wait for a decent deal on a 2500+.

Just hang on to your cash for now then. Since these games aren't out yet, you don't need to be in a rush to upgrade right away ;)

yeah i might just viper11 but all those great games from target for so cheap really made me want to upgrade. if you know what im talking about.. lol.

Didn't id software release an outline for recomended specs for Doom 3 a few months back to a long-standing Doom 3 fansite?

You can get an OEM Barton 2500+ for $80! That's not much more and the 2500+ delivers WAY better performance. Most people hail this CPU as being the best deal on the processor market...and they're right.

-Lasereth

It's all about the cache :)

Ain't that the truth. :)

-Lasereth