Computer Hardware setup

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I am curious to the hardware everyone is playing their games on, and whether or not they experience slow downs.

This is my current setup:

Pentium III 800 in an ASUS mobo
512MB PC133 Memory
NVidia GeForce FX5200 256MB Video
Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS
Coolermaster WaveMaster Enclosure (all aluminum, 6 internal fans)

The PIII is leaving soon. I have an AMD Athlon64 3000 in a Chaintech mobo waiting for compatible memory (Corsair hopfully), at which time my system will move over from a 7200rpm 40gig IDE drive to an 80gig Serial ATA drive. The memory I originally bought was incompatible, then I couldn't return it, bastards, but after building a whole new system I was too broke to buy the high-end stuff my mobo and proc need to function. So here I am with a really high end system being pushed around by an 800mhz proc. Silly, I know. But it's pretty on the outside

Anywho, with the current setup, I experience slow downs, some pretty drastic, on several maps and I'm wondering if my new hardware setup is going to rememdy that problem on games as old as BG1&2 and IWD1&2, or if I should just accept it. I have tried everything I can think of to fix slow downs from the config program, but nothing really helps.

 

Athlon 1100MHz processor
19 gig HD (this REALLY needs to be upgraded)
256MB RAM (upgrade here is needed as well)
Some sort of sound system; it works, that's all I care about.
32 MB video card, no idea who made it. (upgrade needed)


This was, apparently, somewhere near top-of-the-line in late 2001. I've had no trouble with the processor, though it's getting outdated with the rest of the machine. My biggest problems have come from my low RAM... but this machine can run Unreal Tournament 2004 with pretty low slowdown on most maps, so it's good enough for me at the moment.

 

I built mine from scratch about 4-5 years ago. Top spec at the time and upgraded the graphics a couple of times since.

PIII 500MHz (running at about 566MHz)
256Mb Memory
40Gig HDD
nVidia GeForce4 MX440
SoundBlaster Live Player

It still works really well, but I am upgrading and just waiting for my new PC to arrive...

P4 2.8GHz
512Mb Memory
160Gig HDD
ATI Radeon

Getting a 17" TFT monitor, so I'm not sure how BG2 will play on this.

My old PC will go to my son so we can have some multi-player gaming

 

@Bard - that looks like a great hardware setup. The ATI Radeon cards are getting better reviews than NVidia cards these days, so that's a good choice. I've been using a 17" TFT for a year and a half now, and you won't have any problems with low frame-rate games like BG or IWD. It's the high frame-rate first person shooters that you'll have the most trouble with on a flat panel. However, I would never give up the space that my flat panel saves me. My computer is also pretty portable based on this fact alone. I would also HIGHLY recommend getting Logitech's cordless duo. The cordless keyboard and mouse are fantastic, and the mouse (Logitech MX700) is one of the highest rated mice you can buy. The combo costs about $100 american, and the mouse is about $80 american.

 

@RP: Thanks for that. I am looking forward to getting the flatscreen, should be great. I don't really play 3D games too much (only Blood Rayne, Tomb Raider and NWN). Mainly its CRPG like BG, IWD and DiabloII. I will probably get another Microsoft Keyboard and Mouse, as I really like the feel and key actions of these.

 

I have been running on my old system:
P3-933
60Gb WD HDD
256Mb RAM
Geforce2 MX

However I just got a new PC:
Athlon 64 3000
1Gb DDR3200 RAM
160Gb SATA HDD
Radeon 9800 Pro 128Mb

Everything runs sweet.