direct3d, openGL, software.. wtf Created 18 years ago2006-01-28 04:48:14 UTC by Tetsu0

ok. i havent messed around with these because i break things when i mess around. ask anyof my friends who own computers.
anywaymy machine is.. ok.. 512 ram, pentium 4 1.6ghz, and an ati radeon 9550 graphics card.
im wondering which mode i should run it in... direct3d or opengl.. because i have no clue what the differences are.
if someone can explain a little bit of it?
im just curious because it seems my comp's gonna explode when i run half life 2. i even tuned down EVERYTHING to low, including res to 800X600 (as low as im willing) and im still skippin around like a schoolchild on a playground.

I got ad-aware, spybot, and norton 06' they're all updated and i scan regularly.. so spyware/virus' are out of the question..
oh yeah i got a dell if thats any help..

basically.. will switching either the card mode or the engine mode affect gameplay? if-so, why and how?

thanks

ok open gl.. but WHY?
what's the difference

HL? uses D3D. Only!
I assume your RAM is too small - I got 512mb too and it lags like hell.
Make sure to end all processes that eat up lots of ram, before you start HL?.
Also your graphiccard might be too slow. Get the latest drivers - switch off anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing and in general set everything to 'low' or 'fast'.
You might have to update your hardware.

i myself have got hl2, 512ram, raedon 9800, 2.4 gigs of speed and it still skips around like mad, especially the first stage. Are you overexaggerating? :

hazardous, how do i switch off those antiscoptric filterings whatevres... like i got that ati menu thing near my clock, but it only lets me change the settings not realy disable it. My friend had the SAME card and he runs everything on high detail except for model, and he has like.. wait no he doesnt lag
im pretty sure he has the same ram as me too..
maybe it is my processor..

lol, the page file.
Rule #1: Minimum system requirements for games are always wrong.
Rule #2: Your HDD much slower than your RAM (some 3-digit-number) so using the page file slows your system down ALOT.
Rule #3: HL? runs perfectly on an AMD 2400+.

no
im not overexadderating.
like.. it takes me long enough to load the level.. if i shoot my gun i see the muzzle flash for like 2 seconds.. dont even get me started on the little arachnid thingys, anytime i shoot, do something... i can walk fine.. in a corridor with nothing happeneing lol

page file?? HDD? WTF?

I don't have an ATI card, so I don't know the GUI, but you usually have sliders for almost everything. Also you can open a small explanation by right-clicking. At least on my nvidia.

but.. like.. whats a page file? or the HDD?
im not really keen on computer acronyms

download this http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html hefty mother and follow its performance guidlines on your computer - its got a guide to the pagefile, and tweaking your ati card etc.

thanks strider.. and coffee.

i concur

I spent like 600EUR on my PC. And except for that RAM issue, I can play HL? fluently with max settings and 16X anis-filtering. For like 50EUR I'd get enough RAM to solve even that problem.

Edit: Damn! You got me ranting like I didn't for a very long time. 0.o

i spent.. 200 USD on my comp... wireless mouse/keyboard, ati 9500 and an extra 256 ram

no the 200usd is just those 3 upgrades.. computer was like.. 2grand i think

Rule #3: HL? runs perfectly on an AMD 2400+.

Seconded from much experience. I have a RADEON 9800 and a gig of DDR3200, and it runs acceptably at the required native resolution of my TFT monitor, 1280x1024, with medium settings and AA off.

eh.. HL2 runs fine for me and my machine isn't much better than a brick!

4 year old DELL

1.8ghz P4, 512 RAM, Nvidea 5500 PCI ONLY! NOT EVEN AGP SLOTS LET ALONE PCI-E...

anyways, i run HL2 on 800 x 600, full graphics options except anti-aliasing and MSN in the background.. it runs fine

seventh, you have double my ram, and a higherclass videocard.
lol..
well.. ill take a look at that tweak guide when i have some time to actually sit down.

Still, you should be able to run it acceptably at low detail. Let us know.

Have you tried the console command "+showbudget" ?
It might help you see if there's a problem with the game running on your hardware or if there's actually something outside the game affecting performance.

I dont know how you guys get decent performance with a 1.8ghz processor..... 512 RAM is fine, unless you want good performance with HDR maps....... Get a better procesor 2.97ghz maybe? only 150 sumthin....

Just cuz i feel like it, here's my spec's
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 processor 2.97 ghz
Mem: DDR2 SDRAM 3200 1gig, (2x512)
3Dcard: G-force 6800 GT 256 mb DDR
monitor: 19" CRT