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Question for tech-savvy- Will my computer be enough?


Triforcer

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T42 IBM notebook

1.5 ghz Pentium M

1024 RAM

40 gig HD

Great internet connection (ethernet at Harvard Law, supposed to be pretty good)

And the crappy part...a 32 MB ATI Radeon 7500

 

If I turn the graphical settings down, do you think I'll be good for 32 player matchups online?

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Requirements for first person shooters are going to be much different than requirements for role playing games, such as KOTOR. The main difference really comes down to the amount and speed of your memory, and your graphics card. A good framerate is not essential in RPGs, but can mean the difference between being on the giving or recieving end of total brutality on the battlefield when it comes to FPS games.

 

Strike 1 - laptop. It's generally known that just due to the architecture involved in squeezing all the required parts into as small a package as possible, corners need to be cut (figuratively and literally) to make it all fit, often at the expense of performance.

 

Strike 2 - Radeon 7500 32MB. You could be worse off, but you're going to be trying to pull a semi trailer with a mule. Comparing the clock speeds, that card clocks a little over GeForce2s, so it's decent, but don't expect anything near spectacular. However, the low amount of memory on that thing could be the difference between playable or not. The minimum amount of graphics card memory I'd recommend for gaming today is 128 MB, with 64 being the minimum, so you're quite under the bar there.

 

Your saving grace is your gig of RAM. That'll ensure you won't have any chop due to texture loading/swapping/etc. I'll bet that you will get bogged down in the heavier firefights, even with all graphics settings on low, and I'd guarantee it if you're running any sort of 'integrated' sound. Getting an external sound card will do the trick, if you've got the extra cash - I'd suggest the Audigy 2 NX External USB edition, just make sure you have a compatable USB interface. I know what you're thinking - what the hell would a sound card have to do with graphics performance? Well, taking the task of decoding and playing sounds off the hands of the system processor and onto a sound card leaves more CPU time for game physics calculations and communication with the graphics card. That translates into smoother gameplay and an improved framerate.

 

In sum, it's a toss up between whether you'll be able to play it decently or play it with an extreme amount of frustration due to chop.

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Not having taken in account the possibility that your videocard won't be supported, I think you'll be just on the edge of being able to play it.

 

I myself played Battlefield: Vietnam with:

-AMD Duron 1,3 ghz

-Gforce 2 64 mb

-512 mb SDRam

 

I think that your computer would exceed these specs to a minimal extend, which could mean that you will be able to play the game with minimum graphics. However, you might get some trouble visiting full servers :(

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