(New) system for Nwn Diamond

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Hi everyone. I am going to get my parents old computer,which is better then my currrent one, a P3 win 98 approx 450 mhz.

I have purchased NWN Diamond edition.

My new computer is a windows xp with two 3.00 Ghz processors, a 5200 fx card, and SB live.

Will the game run smoothly?

 

Your proposed new system is seriously out of balance, and your description is certainly wrong -- there would be no reason for any family to have purchased a server machine at the high cost that one of those goes for.

You possibly misunderstand the meaning of a "dual core" processor device.

When I say out of balance, I refer to buying a $30 video card for a PC that surely cost more than the $399 that matches up with such a cheap POS video device. If the PC and the video card are the same age, the appropriate video card at that time was the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (all of the FXes are and always were, pure junk).

But getting back to what you actually asked, the requirements for Diamons are pretty low:

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

* 1.3 MHz or faster Intel or AMD Athlon processor
* Windows ME/98 128 MB RAM
* Windows 2000 256 MB RAM
* 512 MB RAM (for XP))
* 8x CD/DVD-ROM Drive
* 3.8 GB free hard disk space
* 32 MB Open GL 1.2 compatible video card with Hardware T&L
* DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
* DirectX 8.1 (included)
* Keyboard, Mouse

So, I don't think that the really awful quality of that video card will be a problem in this situation.

 

My new system will be a Dell Dimension 8300.
3.06 with hyperthreading
I think 800 fsb
I think 2 gigs of ram.

I think I saw that the 9600 pro was on Ati's discontinued cards. If I get it can I still update the drivers it comes with to the most recent?

[ July 08, 2007, 21:16: Message edited by: elvenmage ]

 

Hello, anyone?

 

I wouldn't try Ati, I hate the way they release drivers.

 

What about nvidia? I think my system is 250 watts of power. It came with a 5200 fx card. I heard bad things about that card. Any recommendations for upgrades? specifically what card?

 

Do you have any suggestions for agp cards? I don't think I have a pci express slot.

 

Both ATI and Nvidia drivers are compatible with all their older cards, meaning that the latest driver they'll have on their website will work with any card you buy. That, however, does not mean the most recent driver is the best one for the card you get, and this becomes more important the older you card is.

As for what card to get, it depends on how much money you want to pay. Something like ATI's X700Pro will cost next to nothing, and for the price you'll find it it's certainly a decent card. An X800 card will be even better and shouldn't cost much more. I'm not sure if any of the more recent cards have AGP versions, but I don't think they do (the Geforce 7xxx and 8xxx certainly don't). The trick, naturally, would be finding a good AGP card. Most of the X800 and Geforce 6xxx AGP cards will be out of stock now, and if you do find any chances are they'll be the rubbish ones (stay away from those!)

 

By rubbish ones do you mean ones that are made by other manufacturers, with the same specs?
Would that include visiontek, Pny, and Diamond?

 

NVidia GeForce 8800 wouldn't be recommended with a 250 Watt power supply, I think.

 

I would suggest that if you get a high-end card you should choose between one of three:

#1 7950gt. About $150 and out-performs all the 8series cards EXCEPT the 8800.

#2 8500GT/8600GTS if you can find one for as cheap or cheaper than the 7950gt. That means looking for deals. While the 7950 is faster, it doesn't support dx10. directx10 doesn't really matter yet as every game coming out in the next couple years will still support dx9.

#3 8800gts/gtx/ultra Best chip on the market. Expensive as hell though. $300 for the GTS, $600 for the Ultra. The difference is usually onboard memory and bandwidth.

 

You can find a 7950gt 512 MB AGP card for about 250$. That will be the best performer, but most expensive. (And you'd have to upgrade your PSU as well.)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3013023&sku=P450-7932

Depending on how picky you were about frame rate you could go for a 7600gt or so. Could pick one of those up for a buck and a half and change. (It would also be wise to upgrade your PSU, but possibly not absolutely necessary.)

I might note that I used to play NWNs with a 1.4GHz celeron and a 5200 card. Of course, I'd have to turn all the effects off and play at 1024x786.