Cheap, low power video card for Half Life 2?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi. I have a Dell 4300S with a 180W power supply and an ATI Rage Ultra video card. I loved Half Life, and would like to get Half Life 2. I understand, though that my video card is inadequate. Is there any way to buy just a video card, and not a power supply too? Seems like many new video cards require bigger power supplies. Is there one that will run Half Life 2 passibly, but will run with a 180W power supply?

If I do have to replace the power supply, is this something I can do myself, I do I have to take it to a shop?

Put differently, what's the least amount of $ I can spend and still be able to play the game? I am an extreme tightwad.
 
Hello and welcome to techspot :wave: :wave:

It seems u have not entered ur system specification please do that check the introduce urself forum for details

HL2 depends more than just on the card for the performance gain let us know ur full system specifications. :grinthumb

between a good GFX card at budget will be the geforce 6600 but also check out ATi 9800 series they do better in HL2 than the NVidia card.
 
System specs

Oops, sorry. Thanks.

----------------------
Here's what I know:

Dell 4300s

Intel Pentium 4 1.6 ghz processor

16M ATI Rage Ultra AGP

Windows XP

ST340016A 40 gig HD

767M RAM



--------------------------------
Here are the official specs:


Microprocessor

Microprocessor type


Intel® Pentium® 4 microprocessor that runs at 1.40, 1.50, 1.60, 1.70, 1.80, or 1.90 GHz internally and 400 MHz externally

NOTE: Microprocessor offerings vary by country.

L1 cache


8 KB first-level

L2 cache


256-KB or 512-KB (displayed in the system setup program) pipelined-burst, eight-way set associative, write-back SRAM

System Information

System chip set


Intel 845

DMA channels


four

Interrupt levels


15

System BIOS chip


4 Mb (512 KB)

System clock


400-MHz data rate

Expansion Bus

Bus types


PCI and AGP

Bus speed


PCI: 33 MHz; AGP: 66 MHz

AGP connector


one

AGP connector size


172 pins

AGP connector data width (maximum)


32 bits

AGP bus protocols


4x/2x modes at 1.5 V

PCI connectors


two

PCI connector size


120 pins

PCI connector data width (maximum)


32 bits

Memory

Architecture


SDRAM PC133

Memory connectors


two

Memory capacities


64-, 128-, 256-, and 512-MB non-ECC SDRAM

Minimum memory1


64 MB

Maximum memory


512 MB

Memory type


PC133 (non-ECC)

BIOS address


F8000h

1 Microsoft requires a minimum of 128 MB of memory for Windows® XP.

Drives

Externally accessible


one 5.25-inch bay
one 3.5-inch bay

Internally accessible


one bay for 1-inch–high IDE hard drive

Available devices


ATA-66 or ATA-100 Ultra DMA hard drive, CD drive, Zip drive, DVD drive, and CD-RW drive

Ports and Connectors

Externally accessible:

Serial


9-pin connector; 16550C-compatible

Parallel


25-hole connector (bidirectional)

Video


15-hole connector

Keyboard


6-pin mini-DIN connector or USB connector

Mouse


6-pin mini-DIN connector or USB connector

USB


two front-panel and two back-panel USB–compliant connectors

Headphone


front-panel miniature connector

Audio2


three miniature connectors for line in, line out, and microphone

Internally accessible:

Primary IDE channel


40-pin connector on PCI local bus

Secondary IDE channel


40-pin connector on PCI local bus

Floppy drive


34-pin connector

2 Present only on computers with built-in audio capabilities.

Audio3

Audio controller


Analog Devices AD1885 AC97 Codec
3 Present only on computers with built-in audio capabilities.

Video

Video controller


AGP 4X

Controls and Lights

Power control


push button

Power light


green light on power button—blinking green in sleep state; solid green for power on state

Hard-drive access light


green

Diagnostic code lights


four bicolor (amber and green) located on back panel

Power

DC power supply:

Wattage


180 W

Heat dissipation


500 BTU (fully-loaded computer without monitor)

Voltage (see "Safety Instructions" for important voltage setting information)


90 to 135 V at 50/60 Hz; 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz; 100 V at 50/60 Hz for Japanese computers

Backup battery


3-V CR2032 coin cell

Physical

Height x Width x Depth


10.6 x 38.9 x 43.2 cm
(4.2 x 15.3 x 17 inches)

Weight


9.9 kg (22 lb)

Environmental

Temperature:

Operating


10º to 35ºC (50º to 95ºF)4

Storage


–40º to 65ºC (–40º to 149ºF)

Relative humidity


20% to 80% (noncondensing)

Maximum vibration:

Operating


0.25 G at 3 to 200 Hz at 1/2 octave/min

Storage


0.5 G at 3 to 200 Hz at 1/2 octave/min

Maximum shock:

Operating


bottom half-sine pulse with a change in velocity of 50.8 cm/sec (20 inches/sec)

Storage


23-G faired-square wave with a velocity change of 508 cm/sec (200 inches/sec)

Altitude:

Operating


–15.2 to 3048 m (–50 to 10,000 ft)4

Storage


–15.2 to 10,670 m (–50 to 35,000 ft)

4 At 35°C (95°F), the maximum operating altitude is 914 m (3000 ft)
 
If you get a 9600 you should be fine. (hopefully) If you get the other two cards, you might be out of luck. Rplacing a PSU is easy as pie on a normal MB. BUt you have a dell, which is more of a pain. I dont think just any PSU will work. How many pins do you have on your p1 connector? (the big one going into the motherboard)

Sean
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back