Recommended System Requirements?

[ultdoomer]

I have an old computer, and need to buy a new one in order to run Doom 3. I downloaded the demo to see what the system requirements are, but only the minimun requirements are listed. I was wondering if someone could take a look at the list, and for each component, recommend how much of something I need or what caliber of hardware is necessary. I am trying to find a happy medium between price and eye candy.

Minimum System Requirements:

- English version of Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 2000/XP
- Pentium(R) 4 1.5 GHz or Athlon(tm) XP 1500+ processor
- 384MB RAM
- 8x Speed CD-ROM drive (1200KB/sec sustained transfer rate) and latest drivers
- 500MB of uncompressed free hard disk space (plus 400MB for Windows(R) swap file)
- 100% DirectX(R) 9.0b compatible 16-bit sound card and latest drivers
- 100% Windows(R) 2000/XP compatible mouse, keyboard and latest drivers
- DirectX(R) 9.0b
- 3D hardware Accelerator Card Required - 100% DirectX(R) 9.0b compatible 64MB Hardware Accelerated video card and the latest drivers.
o ATI(R) Radeon 8500
o ATI(R) Radeon 9000
o ATI(R) Radeon 9200
o ATI(R) Radeon 9500
o ATI(R) Radeon 9600
o ATI(R) Radeon 9700
o ATI(R) Radeon 9800
o All Nvidia(R) GeForce 3/Ti series
o All Nvidia(R) GeForce 4MX series
o All Nvidia(R) GeForce 4/Ti series
o All Nvidia(R) GeForce FX series
o Nvidia(R) GeForce 6800 series

Thanks,
Phil

[Amaster]

What does "happy medium" mean exactly? That's different for any person. And, generally speaking, the better hardware will cost more money. So basically you should get whatever you can afford.

[Sephiroth]

alot of AMD athlons are still out there at cheap prices. same with boards. however you will also need new memmory. that may cost more than the board and CPU.

try pricewatch.com

however get what you can afford. and words of advice dont buy ebay and aviod PC-chips main boards