CRITICAL COMPUTER COMPONENTS FOR RUNNING GAMES:
Video Card - The engine running the games
Memory (RAM) - The fuel (the speed for running applications)
Processor - The huge engine running everything
The video card is the most critical part to running games. Without a good
video card, games will not run as smoothly and will be limited, graphically.
Memory is critical to your overall system performance and speed. Without much
memory, the video card will not perform as well as it could.
The processor is important, but the least out of all of them. You don't need an
ultra-fast super-duper hyperspeed $10,000 processor to run a game properly.
Running a game is nothing. It simply means opening, any computer could do it, even with software. But it would run like crap unless those 3 things above are ample enough to run it smoothly.
You can run a computer game at many different graphics options, ranging from low to high, in resolution, effects, textures, etc. Let's speak in general terms.
Having an poor video card could mean that the game runs alright on "Low" graphics, or it could mean that the game runs like crap on any level. You're gonna have to be more specific.
Video RAM allows for faster gameplay, which means you can run the game with higher graphics and still have it smooth.
Memory can bottleneck your system, keeping it from its full potential.
Examples of video card comparisons:
"Memory here (xxxMB etc.) means VIDEO Memory, not RAM
Battlefield 2 (DEMANDING GAME) - [Smooth = Must get at least 30fps] Standard computer with 1GB RAM.
| Intel Integrated Graphics | Must run at all low graphics, and even then it might run like crap |
| 128MB Entry-Level Card | Runs well at low graphics, but bad on higher graphics |
| 256MB+ & Higher Level Card | Runs very fast at low, good at medium, okay at high, maybe good at high, maybe great! |
| 512MB+ Very High Level Card | Runs the game PERFECTLY on highest graphics (BETTER THAN PERFECT - we're talking 60+ fps |
for BF2, any less than 1GB RAM would result in much slower graphics performance, so it would have to be lower, and it won't run as good as if it had 1GB ram.
Less demanding games will have better performance with less fancy hardware.
dont know what video card to get? Here's an overview of popular brands today:
ATi
| 9000-series | Entry level, may run BF2 at minimum to medium (not really for gaming though) (depends on card) |
| X--- series (3 digit) | Mid-Entry level, will run BF2 solid at minimum, and okay at medium (depends on card) |
| X1--- | High-End level, will run BF2 very nicely at medium to high (depends on card) |
| HD series | Very high-end, may run BF2 very very well at high-to-extremely high graphics levels. (depends on card) |
ATi makes it confusing though, and often rips off customers. How? Performance ripoffs. The X1600 is comparable to an X300, and so is the X1300. The 9500 is comparable to an X300, but the 9800 XT is comparable to an X850. The X850 is almost the same as the X1900. The X1950 is not as good as the X850 Platinum. << In my opinion, ATi isn't as good a manufacturer as NVIDIA.
NVIDIA
| 5000-series | Entry level, may run BF2 at minimum to medium (not really for gaming though) |
| 6000-series | (Overall) Mid-Entry level, will run BF2 solid at minimum, and okay at medium (depends on card) |
| 7000-series | (Overall) High-End level, will run BF2 very nicely at medium to high (depends on card) |
| 8000-series | Very high-end next-gen cards, may run BF2 very very well at high-to-extremely high graphics levels. (depends on card) |
with NVIDIA, the letters afterwards actually mean something:
| GT | Fast, may be as fast as cards of different classes (7600GT runs nearly as well as early 8000-series) |
| GS | Normal |
| GTS | Faster than GT |
| GTX | Highest you can go on any individual model. (the 8800GTX is the most powerful NVIDIA card as of 5/22/2007) |
| Ultra | not sure.. probably like the GTS |
Also, depending on manufacturer, the card may go faster or slower (XFX overclocks each of their cards slightly, so they may run better than the BFG or PNY version). Manufacturers may also add memory.
