Ok, why no Duron, if you're on a tight budget a Duron is great and in a year you can buy an Athlon XP2000+ for $100... For now a Duron will work.
Here's my suggestion:
- MSI K7N420 PRO $142 (has GeForce 2 and dolby 5.1 sound built in)
- KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/256 256MB 32x64 PC2100 DDR RAM $73
- CPU AMD|DURON 1.3GHZ $89 (needs heatsink, add $15)
Total: $319 plus tax and shipping cost (around $350)
That's a good suggestion, Roger, but he would also need a new Power Supply Unit for those, and quite possibly a new case (ATX) too :(
And we still don't know if he's happy fitting a heatsink (or can get someone he knows to do so)... Are you happy to learning how to fit one, Redwing? (or is there someone who could fit one for you...?)
One of the online places I've been investigating seems to fit one for you if you buy a mobo and cpu combo, which would be good... they also give you a two-year warranty on all of their 'bare-bones' systems, which is pretty good.
I'm still looking at other options, but this particular place (
www.accessmicro.com) seems to be a good way to go...
The reason I suggested this is so he won't be in the same situation he is in now, a year from now. You can buy all the cheap stuff and try to make it work, but a year from now, we'll have another thread like this for him.
With this combo he won't have to worry about sound and graphics, and it's upgradable for at least another two upgrades.
Is there a barebones system out there with an nforce in it?
Yes, there is an nForce bare-bones system, and that is another of my several options - but that would cost more than it seems Redwing can realisitcally afford... whereas a TNT2 card and cheaper mobo (but still good quality, with a wide scope for upgrades) would be a bit easier on the bank balance...
Right but if you buy a TNT card now, in a couple of months he needs a new graphics card, that will cost a lot more than an nForce now.
Better pay a little bit more now, than a lot more in a little while... That's at least how I'm thinking... TNT won't play as good as the built in Geforce2 in the nForce (friend of mine runs RtCW with everything on on an athlon 950 (slot a) with geforce2).
What I'm trying to say is, that IMHO, it doesn't make sense to upgrade and not really upgrade. (upgrade with substandard parts). You can better wait a while, save some money and buy what you really want when you can afford it (it will be cheaper by then too :D )
I agree completely, but it's Redwing's call - cost really matters, because he wants to be able to play JKII ASAP after it comes out -and he can always upgrade to a GF2 or whatever when he's saved some more :)
If he can afford it, then I would advise the same as you :)
Originally posted by GUNNER
You guys are heartless. Intel makes a great chip, you just happen to prefer AMD.:cool:
True, True. Intel DOES make a great chip, but AMDs are better at the same speed AND cheaper, so with my budget, I go with AMD.
Requesting help again (:o)
System Requirements
Operating System: Windows 95 OSR2/98/ME/2000/XP
Computer: 100% DirectX compatible computer required.
CPU: Pentium II or Athlon class 350 MHz or faster CPU required.
Memory: 64MB required. 128 MB RAM required for Windows 2000 and XP.
Graphics Card:16 MB OpenGL compatible PCI or AGP 3D Hardware Accelerator required.
Sound Card: 16-bit DirectX 8.x compatible sound card required.
CD-ROM: Quad Speed IDE or SCSI CD-ROM drive required.
Input Device: Keyboard or mouse required. Joystick supported.
DirectX: Microsoft DirectX 8.0a
NOTE: Your system may require the "latest" drivers for your particular hardware.
Installation: 665 MB of free hard drive space required.
Additional free space required after game installation for Windows swap file and save games.
Multiplayer Support
Pentium II or Athlon class 400 MHz or faster recommended for Multiplayer.
Local Area Network Play: Supports up to 32 players via Local Area Network.
Internet Play: Supports up to 32 players via 56Kbps or faster connection to the Internet.
Dedicated Server: DSL/Cable Modem required for Internet hosting.
3D Accelerator Card Required
A 100% OpenGL compatible 3D Accelerator is required. Supported chipsets at time of release.
ATI Radeon
ATI Radeon 7500/8500
ATI Rage 128
ATI Rage 128 Pro
Matrox G400
Matrox G450
Matrox G550
NVIDIA GeForce 256 family
NVIDIA GeForce 2 family
NVIDIA GeForce 3 family
NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 family
PowerVR Kyro
PowerVR Kyro II
OS: Windows 98
Computer: Yes, it's DirectX compatible
CPU: Intel Celeron 466 MHz, like I said...I have no idea what that is the equivalent of in Pentium or Athlon :o :(
Memory: 96 MB
Graphics card: 3D AGP Graphics Accelarator, 4 MB---waitasec, does this or does this not work? :confused: When they say "or AGP 3D Hardware Accelerator" does that mean it has to be 16 MB, or it doesn't matter?
Sound Card: Got that, I think, since it's DX 8 compatible
CD-ROM: 44X CD-ROM drive...I'm sure that will work, though the "quad speed" stuff they said just flew over my head :/
Input Device: Got those, obviously :D
Installation: I have the disk space...
Multiplayer Support: See "CPU"...
Supported chipsets: Now here's where I'm confused. I *think* I have an ATI Rage 128 Pro, but I'm not entirely sure. (I was told I do :/) But in display settings, it says: RAGE PRO TURBO AGP 2X [English]...and I know it's ATI...
I have a bad feeling about this.
I'm a lil' confused here, about all of this stuff...
Originally posted by Redwing
Requesting help again (:o)
OS: Windows 98 - Good good - none of this 'XP' rubbish :D
Computer: Yes, it's DirectX compatible.
CPU: Intel Celeron 466 MHz, like I said...I have no idea what that is the equivalent of in Pentium or Athlon :o :( - About 350MHz PentiumII or Athlon K6-2, I think.
Memory: 96 MB - Should be fine, but probably rather slow (66MHz, whereas we now have up to 333MHz on AMD systems)
Graphics card: 3D AGP Graphics Accelarator, 4 MB---waitasec, does this or does this not work? When they say "or AGP 3D Hardware Accelerator" does that mean it has to be 16 MB, or it doesn't matter? - It matters. That 4MB thing will simply not be powerful enough :(
Sound Card: Got that, I think, since it's DX 8 compatible - Good
CD-ROM: 44X CD-ROM drive...I'm sure that will work, though the "quad speed" stuff they said just flew over my head :/ - 'Quad Speed' just means 4x - and you have 11 times THAT
Input Device: Got those, obviously :D
Installation: I have the disk space...
Multiplayer Support: See "CPU"... - IMHO, that CPU will not provide enough guts for you to play MP...
Supported chipsets: Now here's where I'm confused. I *think* I have an ATI Rage 128 Pro, but I'm not entirely sure. (I was told I do :/) But in display settings, it says: RAGE PRO TURBO AGP 2X [English]...and I know it's ATI... - I don't know much about older cards, but I expect that if they're supporting it, it will have 16MB memory, buy you say that yours has 4MB... now I'M confused...
I'm a lil' confused here, about all of this stuff...
Right, I've added some comments that should give you an idea about the various components...
I honestly don't think that your current system will run JKII at all - that video card is the main problem :( If you replace that, you should see a considerable improvement, but the CPU and RAM will still be limiting you :/
If you want to save as much money as possible, then we really need to know the make, model, and BIOS revision of your motherboard (it might support P3s, which would be a lot better than your Celeron, and not too expensive)
If your mobo can support it, then all you would need to run JKII reasonably would be a new graphics card, and a new CPU... but we don't know if your mobo does :(
Could you open her up and have a look? (And do you know the necessary safety precautions, or not?)
You should be able to find the BIOS revision by following the on-screen instructions ("Press del to enter setup", or something like it) at startup. (Look at the top or bottom of the screen when you're in the BIOS to find the revision - it usually goes by too fast to see it during the startup process)
I'm gonna be able to run JKII!!
OS: Win 98
Computer: Yes, it's DirectX compatible
CPU: 500 MHz AMD K6-2
Memory: 198 Megs
Graphics: GeForce 2 MX400 64 MB
Looks like I'll at least be able to run it on the low settings.
Originally posted by Wacky_Baccy
Right, I've added some comments that should give you an idea about the various components...
I honestly don't think that your current system will run JKII at all - that video card is the main problem :( If you replace that, you should see a considerable improvement, but the CPU and RAM will still be limiting you :/
If you want to save as much money as possible, then we really need to know the make, model, and BIOS revision of your motherboard (it might support P3s, which would be a lot better than your Celeron, and not too expensive)
If your mobo can support it, then all you would need to run JKII reasonably would be a new graphics card, and a new CPU... but we don't know if your mobo does :(
Could you open her up and have a look? (And do you know the necessary safety precautions, or not?)
You should be able to find the BIOS revision by following the on-screen instructions ("Press del to enter setup", or something like it) at startup. (Look at the top or bottom of the screen when you're in the BIOS to find the revision - it usually goes by too fast to see it during the startup process)
I don't know any of the safety precautions --- lol :D
I'm off to try and find the "BIOS revision" right now. :) Make and model...how do I find these creatures? I'm really not entirely sure which "thingy" is the motherboard. :o *looks* I see ahrd drives (s), CD ROM drive, floppy drive, RAM...only other thing that looks removable....that must be the motherboard I guess :D It says:
MW560Cl
(that was in big print)
[FCC stuff, For Home of Office use, etc etc]
[Fine print:] Complies with part 68.FCCRULES, FCCresgistration
5CRKOR-25848-M5-E REN 0.98. USOC JACK:RJIIC
(hope I read all that right...it was really small print)
A99-0182JP
(that was in big print)
EDIT: I'm getting a bad feeling that was the modem...:D ehehehehe
The motherboard is the big board in the back of your computer. All the other cards are stuck into the motherboard and your HDD and CDRom drive are connected to it with (grey) flat IDE cables).
Usually you'll find the version number on a corner (bottom right or top left)