# Doom 3 problems



## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

i just got Doom 3 and just installed it. For some reason it runs very slow and choppy just like lag on the net. anyone else have this problem. how do i fix this?
thanx in advance.

for got to mention its not my system but a friends witha geforce 4 mx and 512 memory and a P4 2.4.


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

i had that issue as well.. are you refering to the main screen? the menus and such are laggy like?

i fixed my issue. i played around with the FPS and the Mouse sensativity. and other video settings. try that. see how she works.. if not i will install it again and report back the settings i use.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

no im talking about ingame graphics. right from the start when your looking at the first guard in the game teh frame rate start to suck horrendously


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

well when i had my isses the game was a bit laggy as well. tho i knew my system blew away the specs save for the "optimum requirements" so the ingame is laggy? have you tried to change the mouse sensitivity?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

The reason why its lagging is that a GF4 Mx400 is way too outdated to play Doom3 with it. Your friend needs to upgrade his video card.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

what!!? are you serious he got that card around two years ago. and he cant event play it on the medium/low settings?


if he cant do that what card would he need to play doom3 on at least medium settings? FX 5200?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Well truth is 2 years is an eternity in the graphics card and 3D games world and the MX400 wasnt top of the line anymore even 2 years ago.

I cant say for sure that Doom3 would run medium quality on a 5200 at a satisfying framerate.
My opinion is that if your friend wants to enjoy playing it then he shouldnt go any lower than Radeon 9600 series (better pro and xt) or Nvidia 5700.
I am sorry if that might not be the answer you expected.


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

i got ATI Radeon 9800SE 128MB and it works great at the highest graphic detail well the highest it can go without having a 512MB graphics card that is!


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

so even if i update his drivers and everything itll still run choppy? cause it runs fifa 2005 and Vampire the masquarde:Bloodlines just fine and those games just came out a few months ago just like Doom3.


damn i really dont feel like fixing his computer...... :deveous:


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Well you can try with the drivers but they dont make a jewel out of a rock.
;-)
Doom 3 is one of the graphically most demanding games right now - and theres just not much you can do. If you want to play it (and not just jump from frame to frame) your hardware has to be decent.

I bet theres a forum for Doom3 somewhere on the web. Why not try asking in there what people use as system setup if they dont absolutely need to play it on the highest setting ?


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

Well they may have come out about the same time. but the requirements for systems vary greatly sometimes when it comes to games...

have you looked at the requirements for DooM3 and then looked at them compared to Fifa 2k5 and then VTM: Bloodlines?



> DooM 3
> 
> - 3D Hardware Accelerator Card Required - 100% DirectX® 9.0b compatible 64MB Hardware Accelerated video card and the latest drivers*.
> - English version of Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP
> ...





> FIFA 2005 MINIMUM CONFIGURATION:
> 
> - OS - Windows 98/2000/Me/XP
> - Processor - Intel Pentium III 700MHz
> ...





> VTM: Bloodlines
> 
> System requirements:
> Windows® 95/98
> ...


as you can see right there above... the three games really don't match up. DooM 3 is a very VERY Graphics intensive game. even if you have the minimum requirements the system is pushing some heavy baggage around... even with a system designed or built around DooM 3 it will still be working hard to handle the graphics and all things in the game. a 5.1 surround card don't hurt either... oo man... good ole times... 2AM and playing DooM 3 with the lights off... phew... break out in a cold sweat i say!



> DooM 3 supports the following Graphics Chipsets:
> 
> ATI® Radeon(tm) 8500
> ATI® Radeon(tm) 9000
> ...


hope this helps


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

How much did your GC and CPu cost thats all i need really.

IT'S SO HARD TO BE A COLLEGE STUDENT :sayno: :sayno: :sayno: :sayno: :upset: :upset: :upset: :upset:


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

graphics card i got for under 65 bucks and CPU was 200 i think. at the time. mine is a Intel P4 2.8E GHz 800FSB 1MB cache


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

Hes got a geforce 4 mx gc so why cant he play it?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Quote from your first post: "very slow and choppy"

So he can obviously play it. It says the game is "compatible" with the MX series - it doesnt say it runs smoothly on it.
Try playing it on an integrated video adapter - and it wont even start.
Diffrence "compatible" (runs - no matter how slow) and incompatible (wont run).


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

sarkast is right. compatable means it will run. the difference in performance will obviously increase with better cards. the ATI Radeon i have works perfectly. and it's only 128MB card too! i don't need to spend 11k on a 512MB card. i would like one. but too much money for some silicone and wires and a couple of fans.... ya know.


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Norin quick question - some posts further up you said you have a 9800SE and got it for 65$... was that used ?


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

im interested my self because i can be get my p4 3.0 for under 200 i just need a good GC so i can play better games.


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

o my bad... no sorry it is a 9200se. sorry for that... but goes to show even more that you don't really need the best graphics card around... i think now you can get the 9200se for like 40-50 or so.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

itll cost me 225 for the CPU and the GC at newegg . Where did you get your stuff from?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

I just want to mention this so it doesnt get overlooked - but your motherboard only supports up to 533FSB so you cant use a P4 with 800Mhz FSB.
I also wouldnt buy a 9200 series card. For a couple of $ more you can get at least a 9600. Thats still not screaming fast but worth the extra 10$ or so...


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

is this better id like hyper threading but to me it aint nessacary unles less its good for gaming. heres the link

maybe it would be better to buy a whole new mother board?

give me some suggestions

then go play gunbound.


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Well the highest you can upgrade your CPY to with the current Mobo is 2.8Ghz (~170$) or 3.06Ghz w/ HT(~200$).

For 180$ you can get a 3.0Ghz Prescott w/ HT and 800FSB that would be a lot more powerful than a 533FSB CPU. But you'll need a new mobo that supports 800FSB. If you want something decent you need to spend about 70-80$. And then theres the gfx card. I wouldnt go with a SE model - they are always gutted and perform a lot worse than the original. For example - the Radeon 9800 is a powerful card - but the 9800SE actually perform worse than 9600Pros or XTs.

If you want something you'll be happy with you're looking at at least 100$ for the card.

Oh and if you do all this you probably need a new PSU too - cant run all these new components on a 250W PSU etc. Thats another 50$

So alltogether about 400$..... who said playing 3D games was cheap fun ! ;-)


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

i guess i get each part monthly then( :sigh: ). Cause righ now im a bit low on money. But ten again would it be possible to find a mobo cpu combo for sale like a tiger direct?

damn computers are gonna be the death of me and my money.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

i actually just found the mobo im gonna get once its bak in stock. besides i thinks its a god deal and i like soyo boards.even their name is fun to say. Anyways, im gonna go with the 3.0 processor i originally wanted. hmm
i just realized i still need to buy more fans for my tower..... sux ive only got one and its on the cpu...... 


so actually itll prolly be around 450 once i get done.... sad really............


oh yeah any suggestions for mobo are accepted that are in my price range of 0-150


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

> i just realized i still need to buy more fans for my tower..... sux ive only got one and its on the cpu......


     just one fan!!!

wow... i am surprised you don't over heat that thing...
you definately want two more fans atleast one in front pointing into the case and one at back pointing out

do this before installing the 3.0. otherwise bad things and overheating may occur... i would suggest 120mm fans iff possible...


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

norin said:


> just one fan!!!
> 
> wow... i am surprised you don't over heat that thing...


Naaa you dont need anything fancy to cool his setup (Celeron, MX400). Neither the card nor the CPU create that much heat. But of course once he upgrades to a Prescott he needs to improve on that A LOT. :winkgrin: 

Now to your last post Jeremy. Well i have never used Soyo - so cant comment on them. Just google a review on the board and see if you are happy with its benchmark performance etc. 

But seeing you mentioned 0-150$ for a board. Maybe you should look into a Socket 775 board with PCI-X. I think the 865 chipset is still pretty much standard and offers reliability and speed - but will soon become obsolete.
Boards with PCI-X might be 20$ more than the Soyo - but the CPUs are the same price - doesnt matter if you buy a Socket 775 Prescott or Socket 478. However the newer boards have one advantage - all the cards that come out now are PCI-X and eventually AGP is gonna be phased out. It also seems that certain cards are a lot cheaper for PCI-X than AGP... you can get a Nvidia 6600 for 100$ PCI-X - no way to find one like that for AGP. So even if you spend 20$ more on a basic Socket 775 board with 915 chipset - you might actually save some $ on the gfx card. I'd look into that - also for the sake of upgradeability in the future.


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

even if there is not a whole lot of heat being generated it is still good practice to have fans...


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

hmmm
fans and a new Mobo/cpu and aGC man thats a lot. ill look into the whole 775 thing. the whole jeremy is cheap thing is true and i would like to have somehting upgradeable for the future..BTW ive juudt got back from Nags Head North Carolina. doodz that place sucks in the spring/winter or whatever the current season is. theres no girls i ended up naming a new "adult drink"ive dubbed the Blue Cosmos and my friends coined the term "Nags Head Hot".

also do you yourself run this 775type board? is it better than normal boards n such?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

"also do you yourself run this 775type board? is it better than normal boards n such?"

No i still use 478. But if i had to buy a new platform tomorrow it would either be 775 or i'd look into the AMD 64 (939).

I wouldnt say Socket 775 is "better" than other boards - its just a diffrent Socket type and of course the new chipsets (915/925) offer some different features besides the mentioned PCI-X slots for gfx cards or newer expansion cards.


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

JeremyC said:


> what!!? are you serious he got that card around two years ago. and he cant event play it on the medium/low settings?
> 
> 
> if he cant do that what card would he need to play doom3 on at least medium settings? FX 5200?


Doom3 was MADE to show what their engine could do and see *how much blood they could put on that bleeding edge*. Its not as forgiving on systems as other games are.

As far as a new GC, it depends. If you were just going to get it to play doom3, you aughta know that it was optimized to work well on geforce. A geforce in your price range? I dunno.

If you just want a better GC altogether that will play doom3 decently as well as do quite well on _most _ of todays games, I would go with a 9600pro or XT. It was a very solid card for me, I loved it all the way up until I got my x800Pro. Best bang for the buck. And yes, I'd say the extra $20-30 for the XT is worth it, although the Pro is still good in its own right.


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

Also, yeah you might want more cooling with an upgrade, but 2.4ghz really isnt bad right now.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

ok i know what to look for in a Pentium type board but whats the deal with AMD cpu's is there a certin number i should be looking for besides the 64 part its so much easier with Intel. they use simple numbers like 1 2 3 and my favorite 4. im looking a AMD 64 3000+that comes with the mobo but whats a good gaming AMD based cpu? :sigh:


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

AMD 64 is a good choice altogether, cant really go wrong with any of em. Regular AMD athlons are a little older though.

First of all, like I said before, the 2.4 ghz you mentioned in your first post ISNT BAD. But i believe you mentioned it was your friends comp. Are you building your own? And if so, you will need to give me your price range. You just want as much performance out of as little money as possible, or are you willing to splurge a bit? I guess my real question is this: * Do you want a computer that will run today's games, or do you want one that will spank tomorrows games?*
-------------------

Few suggestions for a _decent_ comp:

*Processor* - AMD64 3000+ or 3200+ are still great, I love mine, and I dont need anymore right now. Not too savvy on the pentium side, but I'd say you could get a decent 2.8 or 3.0 for a good price. HT is always a good sign for both sides, but it might cost more (Hyper-Threading or Hyper-Transport, but I believe AMD64 come with it anyway). AMD64 also have a 754 socket and a 939 socket version, I will explain in a minute.

Remember, dont always compare Ghz, AMD will have lower Ghz than P4, but my 2.2Ghz 3200+ is comparable to many 3 or 3.2 Ghz P4's. Just research a bit. Anandtech and Tomshardware are great places to find reviews and comparisons of major brands of anything from CPUs to mobos to video cards to ram.

*Mobo* - I'd stick with around $80 for a worthwhile mobo. Anything beneath $60, you really wanna research to find out if it has a _good reason for being so cheap_, i.e. dies quick, no name brand, little support. You can always ask around here in the mobo section whats good too. P4 mobo's I don't know, but again, dont go too cheap, you'll regret it. AMD64, you will need to make sure you buy the proper socket mobo for the CPU u bought (754 or 939). The biggest difference between the two sockets is the ability to take advantage of dual-channel ram.

*RAM* - I won't go into depth, seeing as I just learned a buttload of details in another thread (thanks sarkast). Just know that the standard is about ddr400 or pc3200 right now, and possibly the highest your mobo will support a.t.m. depending on the mobo. If you wanna play doom3, may I recommend a minimum of 512mb ram. I've had 1gb of ddr333 (pc2700) up until this last week, and it played doom3 great. When i had 512mb of the same slower speed, it wasnt the same experience. And get the lowest timings you can get for your price range. 2-3-3-6 is better than 3-4-4-8.

Dual-channel enabled ram, the way I understand it, is usually a set of two of the same exact sticks of ram, and were specifically built to work better with one another. More expensive, works better. This is when you need a socket 939 mobo/cpu for AMD, cuz 754 doesnt use the dual-channel feature. It will use the ram as normal ram, but wont utilize the dual-channel feature.

*Video Card* - My 9600XT handled doom3 pretty well atually. I wouldn't recommend much lower than 9600 on the ATI side of things. 9800's also seem to be dropping a bit in price, too. More expensive, but will keep up much longer. GeForce, ask someone else. They have some good cards, but I jumped off that bandwagon after my switch from GF4 to 9600XT. The difference was astounding.

*PSU/Case* - Depends on the other components youre buying. Usually, the newer and better the parts, the more power it needs. I think a 400W will be plenty unless youre rich and are going all out. Get a case that comes with a good PSU and a few fans. One fan IS NOT ENOUGH.

*Sound* - Many mobo's come with onboard sound so you dont need to really buy a card unless you were planning on surround.
-------------------

For a really good comp:
_i.e, will play many games to come very well_.

*Processor* - AMD64 3500+ socket 939. FX-55 is jaw-dropping, but you probably don't have 5 kidneys to sell on e-bay. P4 3.2 or 3.4Ghz w/HT and 800 FSB I hear you can't go wrong with.

*Mobo* - Again, buy according to the processor/ram you want. Prices may vary.

*RAM* - 1GB of ddr400 (or higher than ddr400 if you got better mobo and CPU to match bandwidth) will play everything quite dreamy. Not much more is needed as I learned in the afore-mentioned thread.

*Video Card* - Both ATI and GeForce have very good cards out on the market right now. AGPx8 seems to be making some space for PCI-Express depending on which road you want to take. Buy mobo accordingly.
ATI Flagship: x850XT
GF Flagship: 6800 Ultra (I think, maybe higher)
Both cost a pretty penny but are worth every cent.

*Sound* - Cards supporting 5.1 Surround vary in price and quality, and some mobo's (like mine) have it onboard. Spend what you will.

*PSU* - New video cards really suck the juice, especially GeForce I hear. 420W-500W PSU may be required.
-------------------

You may ask around, others here will have other opinions on components, but all will agree with me here:
*Chokepoints = Wasted Money*
If you're going to get the fastest GC on the market, you will need a comparably fast CPU to use it all, otherwise the incredible GC was a waste. On the same note, don't buy 256mb of bargain ram and expect to play doom3 on ultra just cuz you have an ATI x850XT. Make sure all of your parts work well together before buying, and don't spend more than needed on something if you're not going to get the rest of the components to keep up with it. One really expensive part will not solve all your needs.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

basiclly my budget is aboot 100 to 250 a month (except when i have to pay for college). i plan to work slowly on this so im gona take a few good months on this endevor. but i prolly will go with the AMD based boards. mainly cause i also wanna try over clocking. but i still wanna spank tomorrows games at the same time tho. so you see my situation.


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2378

For a reeeaaal budget system, this article just came out at anandtech. It kinda shows how much you will need to spend comparatively to get decent performance.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

1

CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4/Ultra" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813152049

$97.00


$ 97.00

1

GIGABYTE nVIDIA GeForce 6200 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, PCI-Express, Model "GV-NX62128D" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16814125167

$99.00


$ 99.00

1

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 939-Pin 64-bit Processor - OEM
Item# N82E16819103500

$180.00


$ 180.00

1

pqi POWER Series 184-Pin 512MB DDR PC-2100 - Retail
Item# N82E16820141173

$44.50


$ 44.50

Subtotal: $ 420.50
Tax: $.00
Shipping & Handling: $11.31
Grand Total: $ 431.81

DAMMMMMMMMMM BOYYYYYYYYYYYYY

thats definately gonna have to wait till i can pay for my next semister at college.(i hope this is all compatible.)


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

alright here sis the final version of my next Comp

i just hope everything works together

and whats the thing with the OEM Barebones Graphic card?

whats it mean? 

more problems for me?


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## Volt-Schwibe (Jan 12, 2003)

ouch mang, it says the shopping cart is empty when i click your link...

as far as oem, that's almost a swear word.


just for the record, i have a 2-year old 64 meg G-Force 400mx, and i can barely play doom3 with a framerate of about 30 fps at resolution 640x480. (absolute lowest settings)

this game really is nothing but a system test.

compare this to the fact i can run quake3 with 99+ fps at 1280x1024 with the absolute highest settings.

so, i would definately suggest a serious video card.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

ok i see whats happenin ill fix that right here with some cut and paste action:

Fans, Heatsinks (Case, CPU, Chipset)

Aspire 120mm 4-pin UV Blue LED Case Fan, Model "CF12SL-UBL" -RETAIL
2 x $20.98

pqi POWER Series 184-Pin 512MB DDR PC-2100 - Retail
$44.50



CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4/Ultra" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813152049
Status: In Stock

$97.00



POWMAX 480W Power Supply, Model "PSAG480" -RETAIL


$12.00



AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 939-Pin 64-bit Processor - OEM


$180.00



Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6600 Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/HDTV-Out, PCI-Express, Model "PX6600TD-256"


$92.00



i just found out what oem means so i guess im gonna replace it with a non oem version.

OMG the final cost is gonna be 490 bucks DAMMMMMMM BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

any thoughts on my final settings?

Sarkast ?
Waltside?
Firewall957?
Norin?


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

*thats definitely not bad for that price*... wheres your case? i see a PSU (power supply) and some fans, do u already have a barebones case?

also, the ram's gonna be your chokepoint. pc2100 is too slow if you ask me.
try here, not 4 dollars more.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-141-164&depa=1


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

oh yeah, and unless you already have a copy of WinXP (_Moderator Edit: please no talking of pirated software. thank you._) those operating systems can be a pretty penny.

overall, i really like your choices. i heard that 6600 was a crackin deal, too.


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

I agree with firewall. Get yourself some DDR400 - anything else would be a BIG waste.
Also dont try to run all this on a 12$ PSU. Thats saving in the wrong area again. You really need a decent one for all these new components.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

im actually runniong my copy of Xp pro as we speak

na di did switch that ram with the one you suggested.

but no one answered why oem parts are so risky.

and on the side of cheapness i cant afford any other PSU (there so expensive) and for its price ti got good ratings so for now well see how much money i can gather from getting a job.


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

What do you mean by "risky " ?


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

nvr mind ill figure it out on my own. do i have enough fans? i orignally was going to purchase the chip w/out a fan, but the friggin third party fan was 44 bucks(ouch). so the final total including shipping is 498.82 ah just 500 buks(thats my credit limit right there). i also planned on using my original case that i have now. umm what would happen if i put the 256 of ram that i have now in to my next machine. i know its not he same speed but how much would that lower its preformance.


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

JeremyC said:


> ...and for its price ti got good ratings so for now well see how much money i can gather from getting a job.


I hope you dont talk about the ratings on newegg ? Cause they are all fake - and really dont describe a real picture of the product in question. Newegg only posts the positive reviews - they may allow 0.1% of the negative ones to be displayed on their page (if that). So for 5 "happy" people you have god knows how many who were unhappy with the product.

Newegg sorts out reviews even if they just have the slightest bit of criticism of the product in them - the review has to be blindly positive. Trust me i tried writing MANY - and none got ever posted because i didnt write stuff like "oh dude that cpu rocks - it makes my games fly. And newegg is the best".... :dead: 

Either way - good luck with your build... and hopefully you'll get to enjoy DOOM3 once its all up and running....


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

tell you the truth by then ill prolly have it for the Xbox by then.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

OK i got Everest for my friends comp and heres his final standings. you guys sure he cant run DOOM 3......


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

mmmmm, with retail youre sure its still in its original box, never been opened. OEM, youre taking a chance. could be perfectly fine, might not be... depends on how desperate you are, but i never get OEM. just a few bux more for a feeling of security is always nice :sayyes: .

with the ram, it depends on the 256 youre putting in. unless its at LEAST ddr333 (pc2700) dont do it... even then i might not do it. the extra amount isnt worth the slowdown. all your ram has to operate at the slowest module's speed.

does the case you have come with a fan? 2 fans may or may not be sufficient for the vid card and cpu, you'll have to ask around a bit more, cuz i never tried. although, the cpu youre choosing comes with a decent stock heatsink and fan. my processor is still using the same heatsink and fan, they work great if youre not overclocking.

Neweggs review are not always correct, dont trust the ratings, especially on the dirt cheap items. And about the PSU, remember, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!! I know its just me, and you should probably get other opinions rather than just trust mine, but this case has worked great for me, and it comes with proper fans and PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-156-142&depa=1

3 fans with room for 4 more should you really wanna overclock. 420W PSU, too.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

i dont plan on overclocking and im buying 2 case fans. the cpu comes with its own fan. also the graphic card comes with one also.that should be enough thoght right?


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

i actually found a cheaper case to buy at newegg.i iwsh my credit limit wasnt 500 because all together its 503 Total. stupid credit limit

hey did any of you guys check out my friends Everest rating? its 4 post above.


PS i never got the light on my current tower to turn on even after i attached the all the power cables.............


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

Ive done it everything i could hope for and I made it all under 480USD. here it is:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, Socket 939 64-bit Processor - Retail 152.99

RAIDMAX Black 10-bay Case with 420W Power Supply, Model "ATX-822WBP" -RETAIL 46 even

pqi POWER Series 184-Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
46.50

CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4/Ultra" -RETAIL
97 even

Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6600 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/HDTV-Out, PCI-Express, Model"PX6600 TD" -RETAIL 109 even.

altogether with tax the fianl damage is 474.80


HUZZAH


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

good deal!

i like the onboard 7.1 audio on the mobo. i must admit, i wasnt as impressed with doom3 as i had hoped until i got some 5.1 speakers. not BAD by any means, its a solid game, it was just your average run'n'gun with spiffy gfx. once i got the surround sound goin, i enjoyed the game 3 times as much. scary groans and gurgles coming from behind, an insane childs laughter circling about the room, ITS AWESOME.

i dont know about any good 7.1 deals, but i bought these and couldnt be more satisfied:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=36-121-118&depa=0
i bought these before anandtech even recommended them in the article i linked you to. onboard sound is almost never as good as actually getting a good sound card, but until i have problems with mine i aint spending another dime on em. but these can always wait until youre ready.

i like this last list you have, they all seem to go well together, and around the same quality level. no real chokepoints. i mean, the whole computer could be better but not without teh moolah. im surprised at what you got for your budget tbh. 

you might not be able to hit _ultra_ quality in doom3 with that rig, but you could probably run great on medium gfx at the least, if not high. it would require just a bit more umph from your card and some more good ram (read the warning when you try changing to ultra the first time ) to hit ultra.

good job.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

once i buy the initial computer i plan on upgrading as the year goes on. the fisrt thing ill prolly do is to max out the ram. at least a gig seeing how my next mobo can handle what 4 gigs? ok i just saw the speaker system and ill actually buy that first along with another stick of ram.


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

on your next stick of ram, you should first check out if the pqi stuff youre buying is dual-channel ready. if it is, i would recommend getting another of the same exact stick. it will give a bit better performance. if not, no big deal, and buy whatever.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

*Better late than never*

hey there. i know i'm a little late to this party, but i had to comment on your future 'puter. i can live with all the specks but the gpu. spend the little extra and get a 6600gt. cost wish, it is better than the 6600 base, not alot in more cost, but greater in preformance. in fact, there are times when the 6600gt reaches the same rates as the 6800 base. I got the xfx 6600 gt (agp) and have never regreated it. but i do have to play doom3 at medium detail at 1024*768 to be playable. As someone stated, doom3 is the most graphic intensive game on the market. hl2 doen't even need as much power as doom3 ( but on a side note, i love hl2 sooooooooooooooooooo much more than doom3. much prettier and fun to play, and i could set the detail to high at 1024*768 ~ as far as the rest goes, you can never go wrong with a amd 64bit. hope you can join us gamers soon!

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cpu= amd 3200+xp at 2.33ghz
mobo= abit an7 oc to 420mhz fsb
ram= 512mb ddr dual channel 3200 (2x256)
gpu= xfx6600gt 128mb ([email protected]/[email protected])
case= 8 fans!!!!!!!!!! plus the 2 fans on the 500watt pws, valcano7 on the cpu, and the rev.2 fan on the gpu for 12 of the spinning poor ocer's friends
cost? just under 1k
time to build? just under a year (hey, i'm poor too and had to buy it one part at a time!)


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## Fr4665 (Nov 18, 2004)

aight ima just bust in on this talk lol sry late but im here, if possible switch from socket 939 and try to get a 754 socket mobo and get the dtr cpu

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-444&depa=1

a little modi on the heatsink and its got an impressive double off the 512kb, 1mb l2 !!! we tested this out my friend got a normal one with 512kb and i built a system with the dtr and there were some small but definatly noticable performance differences in loading things like textures...


sorry to say this but in my view doom3 singleplayer was fun till u shot the spiders and then it was just the race off who could complete it the fastest 

hl2 rules  lol


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Socket 754 is getting phased out - so why buy a new platform based on a soon to be obsolete socket ? I think his choice of socket 939 is fine.


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## will182 (Mar 22, 2005)

i have a 2.8ghz celeron d, GE FORCE FX 5200 256MB (PCI), INTEL 865PE MOTHERBOARD and i also have 3 case fans 2 sucking air in and one blowing out and they light up now on doom 3 the game play on high setting was perfect no slowing donw or anyhtign but on ultra it was lagging behine i little but not alot and look at my specs they aint that good but i bet you wouldent think that a comp with my specs would run doom 3 perfectly and also nothing is clocked but i do want to clock to proecssor but id otn know how so i willl just leave it 


hey so dont dis the ge force fx 5200 lol and mine is pci


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

lern mor engrish better! roffles, at least add punctuation anyway.

stick with the 939, 754 wouldnt be capable of dual channel if you ever wanted to buy the ram for it, and like sarkast said, 754 isnt in the spotlight anymore. 939 is newer and a better choice for expansion IMO.

and yes, HL2 is WAY better than doom3. and theres a demo for it if you wanted to try it out, too. but you know what? i liked farcry better than either of em. i mean, i dont even think unreal2 passed it up in terms of corny voice acting, and the story is similar to lots of other games (genetic experiments gone wrong), but the open gameplay is SO great. hl2 and doom3 are both pretty linear, but a lot of farcry is an open island begging to be explored. you can run'n'gun down the main roads, you can slip by unnoticed in the brush, or you can totally ignore the game and go climb a friggin mountain.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

nah im sticken with the 939 setup. Mah foots down but im always intrested in tryin new things (like girlfriends:4-dontkno ). i dont plan on changing a thing except for the ram or the cpu itself in my future incarnations of this machine. currently im far as hell behind in pc gaming cause i have all of the current consoles that are out. also does any of you guys know if new egg excepts debt cards that have the visa logo?.


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

> im always intrested in tryin new things (like girlfriends :4-dontkno )


ROFL!!

yeah, the visa logo means you may treat it as a credit card (i work at a bank). also works if you forget your pin number, just use it as a credit when someone asks what type of payment.


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Yes they do - i ordered that way in the past. Just had a little trouble with them cause they want a phone number that is supposably printed on the card - and in my case it wasnt.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

debt card with visa is how i have made all my newegg buys, worked great. I LOVE NEWEGG! glad u fixed on the newer chipset. can't go wrong there. 

as far as the guy with the 5200, i'm sure it runs great on high detail, in 640*480. try it in 1024*768 then see why we sugest the higher 6600 cards. (go gt)


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## seano (Mar 23, 2005)

*Doom 3 help*

Doom 3 runs at 8-9 fps at low detail 800*600,1-5 fps at low detail 800*600
8-15 fps at 640*480 low detail.
I know something is wrong because my system is above the system requirements and other people seem to be having good results with a Radeon 9200SE and it can run any other game well like Half Life 2 and Swat 4
Could some one please help because Doom 3 is one of my favorite games and I want to be able to save a replay and not a slideshow
My system specs are:
AMD Athlon 1500mhz (1800+)
Radeon 9200SE (Catalyst 5.13 Drivers)
512 DDR Ram
80 GB (20 GB Free)


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## seano (Mar 23, 2005)

just wanted to know guys, when doom 3 says it needs 384MB RAM does it mean you need 384MB installed or 384MB free because i have 512MB RAM but never 384MB free so maybe thats why doom runs so slow...


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## will182 (Mar 22, 2005)

errm i run in 800x600 reseloution or somthing and it runs great and i tried in it 1024*768 and it was still ok there was no problem


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

seano said:


> I want to be able to save a replay and not a slideshow
> QUOTE]
> what do you mean here? are you trying to record a demo, or play the game. if it is record a demo, your computer isn't enouph to play and record. but it should just play the game fine.


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## will182 (Mar 22, 2005)

what he means by he wants to be able to save a replay is him playing the game with it running fast like 50 or 60 fps and what he means by not a slide show is that the game is so slow its running like a slide show u know 1 fps


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

seano said:


> Doom 3 runs at 8-9 fps at low detail 800*600,1-5 fps at low detail 800*600
> 8-15 fps at 640*480 low detail.
> I know something is wrong because my system is above the system requirements and other people seem to be having good results with a Radeon 9200SE and it can run any other game well like Half Life 2 and Swat 4
> Could some one please help because Doom 3 is one of my favorite games and I want to be able to save a replay and not a slideshow
> ...


brutal. 

not even my previous incarnation of my computer was that bad... thats like 2 downgrades for me =P.

Athlon 1800+? That would be my first thing to be replaced, pronto. ram may or may not be okay, depending on the speed. vid card... well... i guess its okay for some games, but youre not gonna be playin doom3 real well with it.

*BTW* my previous rig played doom3 _okay_ on medium gfx:
2.5ghz P4, WinXP Pro w/ SP1
768mb ddr333 pc2700 ram
ATI radeon 9600XT 128mb
60gb HDD


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## seano (Mar 23, 2005)

Thanks for your help, i'll upgrade my processor first. I ran norton speed disk yesterday and it seems to have speeded things up alot (20-30fps 800*600 medium detail, bump mapping) i also found that unpacking the pk4s with winrar speeded up the level loading quite a bit and i found a good cfg if anyone has a similar system config to me or the can adjust the values if not:

seta image_useCache "1" //use cache or not (this is recommended)
seta image_cacheMegs "300" // your total RAM - 192 . example: 512-192= 320 (this tweak will powerup your game like you have never seen before!
seta image_cacheMinK "4096" //sets the minimum of kb from an image to be loaded
seta image_anisotropy "0" //maximum is 16, how more anistrophical filtering how less performance,don't gow higher then 8 !
seta com_showFPS "1" //this shows you how much frames per second, that way you can see how well you perform. 0= off 1= on
seta image_roundDown "1"
com_videoRam "128" //input how much ram you've got.
seta image_forceDownSize "0"
seta image_downSize "0"
seta r_shadows "0"
seta r_skipBump "0"
seta r_skipSpecular "0"
seta r_multiSamples "0"
seta image_downSizeLimit "256"
seta image_ignoreHighQuality "1"	//put 1 to have a little less quality but much more fps,0 to disable.
seta image_downSizeBumpLimit "512"	//video ram: 256=1024 128=512 64:256
seta image_downSizeSpecularLimit "128" //sets the amount of video ram that you have.
seta image_downSizeBump "1 //usefull when your video cart has less then 256 mb ram." 
seta image_downSizeSpecular "1" //usefull when your video cart has less then 256 mb ram." 
seta seta r_skipBump "0"
seta r_skipSpecular "0"
seta image_lodbias "0" 
seta image_anisotropy "1"
seta com_purgeAll "0"
seta com_machineSpec "1"
seta g_showBrass "1" //for a performance boost in multi player) 0=fps boost
seta g_muzzleFlash "1"
seta r_useTurboShadow "1" //1 to use, 0 to disable (1 recommended)
seta g_decals "1"
seta g_projectileLights "0" //should the screen go blured when you get hit?1: yes 0= no
seta g_doubleVision "0"
seta g_muzzleFlash "1" //should you see fire out of your weapon when you fire?0=performance boost.
seta image_usePrecompressedTextures "1"
seta image_useNormalCompression "0"
seta image_useAllFormats "1"
seta image_useCompression "1"
seta r_forceLoadImages "1"
seta in_alwaysRun "1" //1 is always run, 0 just walk, then you'll need to assign a key to run.
seta net_clientMaxRate "16000" //
// the lower the rate, the lower the lagg, but not all serves and or mods will accept it.
seta net_serverMaxClientRate "25600"//

BTW my 3DMark2001SE score is 3517


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

this is my last question but i noticed something while i was going over the last check before i buy the darn thing but my board RAM specs are: DIMM Dual Channel DDR. the ram i was going to buy says: 84-Pin DDR SDRAM. this isnt going to work is it?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Yes if your board uses DDR (and not DDR2) memory then its the right stuff. DDR memory has 184 pins - DDR2 memory 240.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

it just says Dual Channel DDR RAM. so i guess that right. right? Also my GC also seems to be out of stock. Is the X300 series any good? if not whats a good replacement.


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## Volt-Schwibe (Jan 12, 2003)

but it said 84 pins? or could it possibly have said 184 pins?


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

i missed the 1 when i cut and paste what it said. 
i cant afford the 6600 gt........... its nearly 200 bucks im tryingot make a system for under 500.


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

well, as far as i can tell doom3's not goin anywhere, can you wait? :grin:


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

oh and yeah, thats right. 184 pin ddr.


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## firewall597 (Nov 6, 2004)

seano said:


> Thanks for your help, i'll upgrade my processor first. I ran norton speed disk yesterday and it seems to have speeded things up alot (20-30fps 800*600 medium detail, bump mapping)


wowsahs! to see such a big increase in performance after a norton scan suggests your compy needs a good cleaning between the ears, so to speak. norton is good, but many of the smarter devious people out there write their trash to avoid the mainstream checks. its always good to check task manager to see what progs you have running, could be a lot of malware (spyware, adware, viruses and the like) slowing you down. make sure to 

1. use the internet reponsibly, and its often better to use browsers other than IE, many scripts and lots malware is written specifically for IE since EVERYONE in the mainstream seems to use it. i suggest something like netscape or mozilla.

2. use programs that stop these things before they happen, i kinda like "spyware blaster". load it up when u boot, and surfing is a lot safer. also run routine checks with UPDATED DEFINITIONS with things like AdAware to keep your compy clean. i suggest using adaware like every few weeks, at least once a month. it doesnt take nearly as long to run adaware as it does for a full system virus scan, but can sometimes come up with just as much.

3. check your startup files/progs. before i did all this stuff, i had this Adware that wouldnt go away no matter how many times i "deleted" it. turns out, a separate program was installed that would load at startup and re-install the Adware every bootup.

So i got a _*little*_ off topic, but a clean computer will run doom3 better than a compromised one, as you've probably already found out.


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## JeremyC (Aug 16, 2004)

ok this is how its gonna work. i was planing on buying what i could each month. so starting out with the case and 2 sticks of ram. of course this is gonna have to wait until i can finish paying off for my summer college courses. college is the suck. but thats why i get paid to go..........


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## seano (Mar 23, 2005)

Quote : _firewall597 : use the internet reponsibly, and its often better to use browsers other than IE, many scripts and lots malware is written specifically for IE since EVERYONE in the mainstream seems to use it. i suggest something like netscape or mozilla_.

Ugh don't even mention IE. Worst browser in the world. (Firefox all the way, man)
Thanks for the tip about norton, i use it just as a virus scanner and to defrag my HD, i didn't even know it looked for adware or spyware (I forgot to mention it's systemworks) i use various tools for adware. Last scan it found 103 adware. BargainBuddy sucks ***.
I don't know if anyone has had this happen before but when i was using msn, norton flagged up 8 trojan horses. (BTW, no-one was sending me files)
Also, does anyone know what msmsgs.exe is, when i close it down it just reopens again 15 seconds later.

Quote : firewall597 : _check your startup files/progs. before i did all this stuff, i had this Adware that wouldnt go away no matter how many times i "deleted" it. turns out, a separate program was installed that would load at startup and re-install the Adware every bootup_
I use TuneUp Utilities 2004 for checking startup programs and for cleaning up my HD. (temp files, etc) but it doesnt tell me what that msmsgs is.


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## andyoman (Mar 31, 2005)

*sorry to butt in...*

Hey, sorry for butting in but I have a "Doom 3 Problem." I just got a NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT and installed its latest drivers and i've been in the Doom 3 menus and went to their site to download the latest drivers for the game, but when im playing the first level, I have to walk across this bridge and circle back around it once more to go somewhere. When I do this my monitor goes into hibernation mode and I can't get it out by clicking or pressing any keys, including ctrl+alt+delete. I have to shut the tower down and cold boot it. I've also tried the lowest graphic settings(420x280 or something) and still the same thing :4-dontkno . Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and from what I see you guys know your stuff.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

sounds like you suffer from the "updated video drivers when i didn't need to" problem. i would uninstall all the video drivers, and only install the ones that came with the card, and leave it at that. i've known too many people that update their drivers and run into problems. so unless you are having lots of problems with the drivers that came with the card, don't update. but if you must update, do it one revision at a time untill your problem goes away.


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## 40sondacurb (Jan 14, 2005)

It sounds like more strouble than it's worth, Just Buy the Xbox One!

or unless your over doo for an upgrade, if so, more power to ya


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## Pyromonger (Apr 3, 2005)

How would doom 3 work with a GeForce FX 5500?


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