CS:Source on a budget - minimum spec for acceptable FPS

fullfat · 10 Jan 2006 at 14:28

running a 9800pro at 4x agp isnt going to cost you a lot of performance really. it may be as much as 3%, if that!
youd be better off getting the ram, or even try to get a gid, a gfx card and a better psu as this item often gets overlooked and it IS an important part of a system and can often be the culprit for instabilities.

sniper007 · 10 Jan 2006 at 14:32

Ok Im settled then. Thanks guys, been very helpful. MM here I come for PC2700 512mb ram and a 9800 PRO or 6600GT. See my wanted thread.

Thanks

VeNT · 10 Jan 2006 at 14:34

I play it with a 3200 (old type) 1gig ram, 6600GT NF7-s and its brill,
run it one up from 1024x768

lemonkettaz · 10 Jan 2006 at 15:51

9600pro is all you need

ive always been proud ever since i got it

Nieldo · 10 Jan 2006 at 15:52

I could run it at fine fps (and half life) with a Geforce FX 5700.

lemonkettaz · 10 Jan 2006 at 15:55

half life

that can be run on 2mb ati video card

fullfat · 10 Jan 2006 at 16:04

i think he meant half life 2. and hl2 would not run on a 2mb gfx card

lemonkettaz · 10 Jan 2006 at 16:19

fullfat said:
i think he meant half life 2. and hl2 would not run on a 2mb gfx card

worth a shot though.

somebody tried quake4 on an nvidia mx gfx card... dont think it even installed.

anyways

sniper007 · 10 Jan 2006 at 16:48

hehe
UPDATE: PSU this will be going on is only 250watts. Hmm...recommended for the generation of cards Im looking at (6800LE/NU, 6600gt, 9800pro) is about 300watts. Now, his system is a P4 socket 478 clocked at stock 2.8ghz and will have 768mb ram running at stock and 2 x DVD drives and a USB card reader. Nothing overclocked. Will these cards run ok with 250watts?

Cheers

fullfat · 10 Jan 2006 at 16:55

is it a good make of PSU?

bakes0310 · 10 Jan 2006 at 17:06

i used to play css on:
p4 3.2
1gb geil value memory
9800xt

All on max settings on a res of 1280x1024 which aint a bad system but still not powerful enough to play farcry on max so it had to be changed

sniper007 · 10 Jan 2006 at 17:11

fullfat said:
is it a good make of PSU?

It will probably be an unbranded generic one that came with the prebuilt machine when brought from wherever. So its doubtful its that efficient. Hmm...is this going to be a prob as was hoping not to have to pay for a new PSU as well as would kill the budget.

m3csl2004 · 10 Jan 2006 at 17:18

right mate, i 2 have a ******* pc (no competitors

) and i to play css (check sig for a laugh lol), the psu in there aint pretty (now using on a k7 700 lol), i quite simply bought an enermax 465 (oldskool 1 with 400 mile cables) for 20 quid and a 9800pro for 60, unfortunately, my story isnt a happy 1 as my cpu cant handle it (2.8 celeron : /) and i get 20 ish fps on 24 man servers, which isnt acceptable

money well spent would be a cheap second hand psu, more ram (a stick of 512 would be fine) and something like a 6800le from mm that unlocks (theres 1 in there now), but ultimately that 533 fsb wont help you run at much higher than 1024x768 - i good investment would be like what i have done, and buy a new cpu and motherboard (i bought a xp-m that does 2.6 and a dfi infinity for 55) - as mentioned earlier css is very cpu limites, especially with a lot of people in a small area, so a decent cpu is essential

is it matx? (mine is, good job ive got another case lol)

sniper007 · 10 Jan 2006 at 17:31

Ta for that mate. So everyone in agreement that 250watt is not satisfactory even with a fairly standard system thats not overclocked at all?

DaveyD · 10 Jan 2006 at 17:42

Unless it's a very good quality one, or one that comes in a small form factor PC, then 250W isn't really enough to be safe. It'll probably work, but how well/problems, I don't know.

sniper007 · 10 Jan 2006 at 18:01

Hmm... okies. Might be worth trying and see if I run into probs. If I do then I know where to start atleast. Or is this too big a risk in itself running a card even at stock underpowered...wont do it damge I doubt?

HangTime · 10 Jan 2006 at 22:28

As you suggest, the best thing to do is just to try it. There are some reasonable 250W psus about, I had one in an Enlight case which never gave me any trouble (in fact my dad uses it now).

You can always replace the PSU at a later date if you experience instabilities.

geiger · 7 Feb 2006 at 03:38

You just need a ti4200 and another 256meg of ram. Thats about 35-50 secondhand.

Robert · 7 Feb 2006 at 09:36

Andelusion said:
I play CS:S with max details on everything, max AA and max AF at 1280x1024 with FPS never dipping below 40fps on:

Athlon 2500 @2.2ghz
512mb DDR400
6800GT (clocked to Ultra)
NF7

lol - are you sure?

Great if so...wanna try keep it at 40 > for MP.