looking for a good game to make my new rig worth it ;-)

vibe666

just getting myself a new main rig, and wanted to get a game that's going to make it look good. what would you suggest.

system specs are (I know it's not cutting edge, but we all have our budgets):
P4 Northwood 3Ghz
512MB DDR RAM
ATI Sapphire 9600SE 128MB
and all the other usual gubbins. running xp pro.

basically, I want something that's going to look really good on it (to impress the g/f for the 10 seconds or so she'll look at it) but keep me busy for a while. was thinking doom 3, but i don't know how well it will run with those specs (anyone have an idea of frame rates?) or maybe something along the lines of BF as I hear its good. might was well put the broadband to good use now i have it!

so, any ideas?

it needs to have some sort of online multiplayer mode so i can get my arse kicked by real people instead of just the pc itself.

that's it really.

it's got to look and play well on that spec rig, and be single and multiplayer.

thanks.

oh, games i used to spend lots of time on (used to be a gamer, but lost my decent pc, and got stuck with crap that wouldn't play decent games for a long time, and now i want to get back into it):

Civilisation (1, 2 & 3)
Quake (1 & 2) also doom etc.
Unreal (the original)
couple of flight sims too
and the old populous/lemmings/worms etc.

dunno if that helps though.

koneko

Doom 3 and Far Cry are quite purdy.

Ciaran500

Single Player:
Half Life
Max Payne 1&2
Doom3
Far Cry
Mafia
Soldiers: Hereos of WWII (Commandos style strategy)

Multiplayer (if you get BB):
Battlefield Vietnam
Unreal Tournament 2004
mmm... (I'm no a big multiplayer gamer)

Callan

Battlefield Vietnam
Call of Duty

tman

UT2004 should look purdy on your rig, and it has that all important factor that BF seems to be lacking... FUN

Ciaran500

tman wrote:

UT2004 should look purdy on your rig, and it has that all important factor that BF seems to be lacking... FUN

Thats the exact reason I stopped playing BF, pitty i had bought the game by the time I figured that out :-(

Deadwing

tman wrote:

UT2004 should look purdy on your rig, and it has that all important factor that BF seems to be lacking... FUN

Oh you TAKE THAT BACK!!!! KILL THE UNBELIEVERRRRR!!!!! :P

Doom 3 should run on your PC. Just run the ATI tweaks for doom 3 and itll run sweet.
Other games that impressed me graphically (and will run great on your rig):

Max payne 2
BF:V
PAINKILLER <---- just get this game, seriously.
Far cry

vibe666

anyone know what framerates i can expect on BF if i get it?

Jim

tman wrote:

UT2004 should look purdy on your rig, and it has that all important factor that BF seems to be lacking... FUN

Yarrrr!!!

/me swishes cutlass

vibe666

i was kinda looking forward to BF tbh, but it seems to be getting a slating. is there a demo i can try to get a feel for the whole thing?

isn't there differnet add-ons for BF? are they all 'un-fun'?

i saw a video of a modern warfare (i think it was BF) add-on for it that looked pretty funky, has anyone played that?

Ciaran500

http://battlefield1942.filefront.com/files/Battlefield_1942/Official_Releases;1076

Demo links

koneko

Don't listen to them, BF IS fun, especially Desert Combat (modern warfare mod). BF Vietnam has Point Of Existence now aswell which is similar to DC.
Definitely a lot of fun online (and at LANs).

Ciaran500

BF (and DC) were good for a while but got boring fast. Some people seem to love it and some hate it. So just try the demo.

At first the demo will be overwelming but don't let that sway you. Play it for a while before making your decision.

Deadwing

Bah, battlefield vietnam is the shizzle! Offline its a bit crap, yes, but online, maaaan it rocks some serious heiney.

Wolfy

vibe666 wrote:

just getting myself a new main rig, and wanted to get a game that's going to make it look good. what would you suggest.

system specs are (I know it's not cutting edge, but we all have our budgets):
P4 Northwood 3Ghz
512MB DDR RAM
ATI Sapphire 9600SE 128MB
and all the other usual gubbins. running xp pro.

basically, I want something that's going to look really good on it (to impress the g/f for the 10 seconds or so she'll look at it) but keep me busy for a while. was thinking doom 3, but i don't know how well it will run with those specs (anyone have an idea of frame rates?) or maybe something along the lines of BF as I hear its good. might was well put the broadband to good use now i have it!

so, any ideas?

it needs to have some sort of online multiplayer mode so i can get my arse kicked by real people instead of just the pc itself.

that's it really.

it's got to look and play well on that spec rig, and be single and multiplayer.

thanks.

oh, games i used to spend lots of time on (used to be a gamer, but lost my decent pc, and got stuck with crap that wouldn't play decent games for a long time, and now i want to get back into it):

Civilisation (1, 2 & 3)
Quake (1 & 2) also doom etc.
Unreal (the original)
couple of flight sims too
and the old populous/lemmings/worms etc.

dunno if that helps though.

(EDITING OUT THE EMBARASSING OVERREACTION)will someone stop a second and notice his graphics card???? anyone???

Do u have or do u plan to get the 9600SE the se bit at the end is very important here... the 9600 SE scores a whopping average of 19.6 fps on LOW quality at 800*600 in doom3 alone... i laugh to think of comparable scores in farcry.... basically u have or are planning on getting a S.HIT graphics card which would prolly strain itself just to display the desktop in 32bit color.... looking up to all the games mentioned above u can pretty much forget about them with that card.. it will play em but in a pretty slideshow sorta way..

if u have the card kill the person who advised u to buy it and if u havent bought the machine yet save a bit more for a proper 9600 at least or a small bit more for a 9800pro which can be yurs fors 200ish off komplett and yur laughing

Jammer

chill out wolfy, he siad he had a budget, so be it. Not everyone can afford FX-55's/X800's etc etc

tman

Wolfy wrote:

Do u have or do u plan to get the 9600SE the se bit at the end is very important here... the 9600 SE scores a whopping average of 19.6 fps on LOW quality at 800*600 in doom3 alone...

what a twat.

meanwhile, in the real worldtm
after a couple of quick tweaks, i get a nearly solid 60fps at 800x600 and medium settings in doom3 on my 9600. (and it looks the mutts danglies)
and he should be able to run far cry nicely at 1024x768 and all over medium settings.
like Jammer says, not everybody can afford stupidy extravagant pcs

Draíochta

Wolfy wrote:

errr.... HELLO!!!!! PPL!!!! will someone stop a second and notice his graphics card???? anyone???

Do u have or do u plan to get the 9600SE the se bit at the end is very important here... the 9600 SE scores a whopping average of 19.6 fps on LOW quality at 800*600 in doom3 alone.

That's sh!t talk I have an FX5200 from dell, now that's a bad card, but still DOOM3 is very good, in fact is so good I'm gonna hold out on a graphics card upgrade.

If you do want a good game try halo, €25 and should suit that system perfect, and it's a great on-line game.

tman

Dra&#237 wrote: »

That's sh!t talk I have an FX5200 from dell, now that's a bad card, but still DOOM3 is very good, in fact is so good I'm gonna hold out on a graphics card upgrade.

If you do want a good game try halo, €25 and should suit that system perfect, and it's a great on-line game.

yup. and at the end of the day you can always get +/- half of the gfx cards price on the for sale forums here and stick a new one in its place.

halo ran like crap on my pc though, and even on a mate's pc with 1024mb ram and a 9800 pro. one of the worst console to pc conversions i've seen
its a fairly bland game anyway

Deadwing

Wolfy wrote:

errr.... HELLO!!!!! PPL!!!! will someone stop a second and notice his graphics card???? anyone???

Do u have or do u plan to get the 9600SE the se bit at the end is very important here... the 9600 SE scores a whopping average of 19.6 fps on LOW quality at 800*600 in doom3 alone... i laugh to think of comparable scores in farcry.... basically u have or are planning on getting a S.HIT graphics card which would prolly strain itself just to display the desktop in 32bit color.... looking up to all the games mentioned above u can pretty much forget about them with that card.. it will play em but in a pretty slideshow sorta way..

Man chill out, the dude just built this rig himself and is obviously pleased with it, you dont have to go picking holes in it! Its a nice system and while the gfx card isnt top of the range itll still handle most games with style. I remember when i posted the same exact thread back when i got my pc before i upgraded it and people were all like 'oh theyre sh!te specs'. Theres nothing worse than buying a pc and being all excited and happy about it than to have someone come along and tell you 'well actually x y and z suck and youll never run doom on ultra settings blah blah'

Vibe666, just get yourself a copy of call of duty, and youre sorted

LoBo

Far Cry looks really good - for show-off-ability I'd say better than doom3 as its all outdoor and colourful. I'd say will play fine on your PC.

Just saw Civ3 Deluxe coming out next month:
http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=PC&title=184463
Could be a good time black hole

Wolfy

apologies... it was a bit daft that post i wanted to get ppl attention cos i know myself i dont often read the inbetween posts...... but i stand by my conviction that the 9600SE is muck..... sure a person is on a budget but if u intend to play games with yur machine why not wait a little longer and save up for something thats gonna be worth it???? whats the point on spending money on something that will allow u to play game at res's of 800*600 on medium to low quality??????

tman do u have a 9600xt or 9600 pro??? because vibe has an SE 9600 and if u check out the benchmarks on tomshardware the 9600se is nowhere near good enough for doom tweak all ya like which is why i advised him to get a PROPER 9600 at least..... i mean yur all advising him to spend money on these great games which arent going to run well on him machine cos his card will be holding him back..... but hell dont say i didnt warn him...

personally i wouldnt play games unless i can max all the settings out..... i suppose i need to accept other ppl can but then yur not playing the game the way the makers intended....


and draoichta or however u spell it the fx5200 is a better card than the 9600se...... even if they are both muck.... my mate had a rubbish rubbish card as well... some mx card cant remember.... i eventually annoyed him into buying a 9800pro and he couldnt beleive the difference.... he said something to the effect of i have been blind and now can see..... so buying a 9800pro will improve yur gaming life and make u quote scriptures....

MickFarr

Far Cry & Doom 3 are both great games to show off your new PC with. A Doom 3 demo of 3 levels is out next week and you can already download 2 demos of Far Cry from here http://farcry.ubi.com/demo.php

Happy hunting !!

tman

Wolfy wrote:

tman do u have a 9600xt or 9600 pro??? because vibe has an SE 9600 and if u check out the benchmarks on tomshardware the 9600se is nowhere near good enough for doom tweak all ya like which is why i advised him to get a PROPER 9600 at least..... i mean yur all advising him to spend money on these great games which arent going to run well on him machine cos his card will be holding him back..... but hell dont say i didnt warn him....

vanilla 9600, which isn't a whole world ahead of the 9600se tbh.

Wolfy

tman wrote:

vanilla 9600, which isn't a whole world ahead of the 9600se tbh.

depends on the pipelines... im not that vehement on the subject to go find out... but the se versions normally have less pipelines available to them than the standard version... wonder is it possible to soft mod a 9600se???

EDIT: quick google search suggests the 9600se cant be soft modded... but can be overclocked.. ce la vie

Tusky

ROFL when i first glanced at this thread I thought it said

"ooking for a good game because im worth it"

Wolfy

thats a bad case of selective vision... perhaps something freudian going on there...

balkieb2002

Show off games:
Far Cry
Doom 3
Unreal 2004

Single player:
Half-life
Mafia
Max Payne's
Call of Duty
Dues Ex (the first one)
WarCraft 3

Multiplayer:
Call of Duty [excellent game on both fronts]
Unreal 2004
Wolf-Et [its free]
Battlefield series
WarCraft 3

[not a great fan of strategy so not pos of those but would try Rome Total War when its out]