First of all, I want to say hi to everyone. I would have asked a while ago but I was having "issues" with trying to Sign onto this Site with my WLID but that was another story. So now that I'm here let me get to my "problem".
I have thoroughly enjoyed Fallout 3 on the Xbox 360, so much I wanted to play it through again on my PC. I have been a Console “guy” for so long because of “issues” like this, so I was hoping for some help from the Community of Games for Windows Live.
I went out and got the Fallout 3 GOTY Edition only to find out my Hardware is a "little" under par. Playing in Vault 101 was okay but not great (slow response and heavy screen lag).
Here is what I have discovered so far from a Private Message (Xbox.com) with another PC User;
My current PC Set-UP is the following;
AMD Dual Core 64
2 GB RAM
ATI Radeon X1250
Windows Vista (not that it matters though)
All of my Settings on the Game itself are set to the Lowest possible right now and it's okay when I was "indoors" (Vault 101) but once I got "outside" the "open world" it is really, really bad.
More Copy Pasta;
Vista Windows Experience Level
Processor - 4.8
RAM - 5.9
Graphics - 3.4
Gaming Graphics - 3.0 (boo right here)
Primary Hard Disk - 5.9
Overall it gets a 3.0. Fallout 3 Recommends 4.8 and Required 4.3. Can I simply get a new GPU to help things along?
first:
Welcome to the forums, and feel free to ask any questions as we are more then welcome to try to help resolve any issue you have.
second:
Honistly your Graphics card should be fine, however it is still kinda old, so upgrading should solve your issue, I have a pritty similar setup, except i have Win 7 and ATI Radeon 3870, and im able to run most games on full settings.
First id check the website to see if there is any updates for that card before upgrading
Just make sure that if you do upgrade, check the ATI site to verify you have newest patches due to Windows 7 and DirrectX11 being out.
Your Greatest Strength is
Your Greatest Weakness
Hi LostKauz!!! and Welcome to the forumsMy first words is congratulations for enjoy it Fallout 3 (it's a great game) your Laptop is a good pc with 2 GB of RAM and AMD Dual core sure you can work without worries.. (well almost one thing that kills most of the Laptops is the Hard disk).However I'm sad to tell you that your Radeon Xpress 1250 comes embedded with your laptop and is not possible to change it. (the laptops are very comfortable to use and handle, but their problem is almost zero upgrade capabilities).Sorry man... the only thing that you can try is upgrade your drivers.. http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspxIf you get mad about this... is a big problem that faces developers, publishers and customers with the pc market right now... in one side the pc games offer more detail graphics, for the other most of the PCs now are a)laptop with very limited capabilities or b) old desktop machinesNot everything is bad for you... at least you have and AMD ATI Video chipset (You can play Sims). the expensive Sony Vaios(most of the models) come with the worst video in the world... Intel Integrated Graphics.
a new video card is all you need.
Everything else is A OK
RemySola:However I'm sad to tell you that your Radeon Xpress 1250 comes embedded with your laptop and is not possible to change it. (the laptops are very comfortable to use and handle, but their problem is almost zero upgrade capabilities).
Wow, I dunno how i missed that one, Completly didnt dawn on me you where using a laptop as my post was based on a desktop lol.
is your machine a laptop or desktop?????
If it is a laptop then forget it.
Go out and buy a new rig because you won't be able to upgrade your graphics.
But if it is a desktop just do what we have suggested and buy a new graphics card
DEADBL0W: RemySola:However I'm sad to tell you that your Radeon Xpress 1250 comes embedded with your laptop and is not possible to change it. (the laptops are very comfortable to use and handle, but their problem is almost zero upgrade capabilities). Wow, I dunno how i missed that one, Completly didnt dawn on me you where using a laptop as my post was based on a desktop lol.
No I am on a Desk Top? [:'(]
just get the new graphics card then.
jedimasterc06: just get the new graphics card then.
Ditto, just an upgrade to a more recent Graphics card should do the trick :), just make sure your Powersupply unit can handle it, I made that mistake once
Any recommendations? My budget can go up $250 (US) but I have no idea on what current prices go for or what type?
Also, how easy is it? I'm not completely lost when it comes to do it yourself projects but I have not done anything like this either?
Mmm LostKauz. ok1st: Check that your desktop PC have and PCI-Express slot (something like this http://www.karbosguide.com/books/pcarchitecture/images/828.jpg)2nd: The lower recommended card for fallout 3 is the nvidia 8800 or ati 3800 seriesYou can get an nvidia 8800 in $88 USD on amazon.Maybe you can afford a more powerful video card ;), however you need to check your power supply.Anyways here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKpep2MFPA0 is a supposed Fallout video running in a 8800 GT.on a GTX 8800 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opb9TXLLdRc
LostKauz: Any recommendations? My budget can go up $250 (US) but I have no idea on what current prices go for or what type? Also, how easy is it? I'm not completely lost when it comes to do it yourself projects but I have not done anything like this either?
Well if you still want to stick to ATI, the card im currently useing (ATI Radeon HD RX3870) was about $250 Can. when i bought it, which was about 1-2 years ago and still runs without any issues. I havent checked pricing on any newer ones yet but im sure you can find some slightly better ones then the one i have for around the same price range now.
as for set up on the card, its fairly easy to insert into the MoBo, and getting any new drivers is really easy too, just find the card you have on the site, then download the proper pack and it auto installs and your good to go.
If your thinking Nvidea, well I cant really help you there.
Well with Vista, I would definitely upgrade your RAM by a Gig. 2Gb of RAM is just bare minimum. So get an extra Gig
Now with Windows 7, less hardware requirements and therefor less stress on your system when you are running processes.
Up to you, but definitely, the video card and an extra Gig of RAM. Also when purchasing software, especially games, try to me the RECOMMEDED requirements.
Thanks everyone, so I guess I'm looking for something along the lines of this? If so, at least now I have a start to go on. I'll have to check out some of the local Retail Stores soon, sorry but I don't usually purchase anything Online. Is there a huge price difference between a Retail (say BestBuy) and an Online source?
LostKauz: Thanks everyone, so I guess I'm looking for something along the lines of this? If so, at least now I have a start to go on. I'll have to check out some of the local Retail Stores soon, sorry but I don't usually purchase anything Online. Is there a huge price difference between a Retail (say BestBuy) and an Online source?
just a forewarning before you decide to purchase this, Make sure you check your PS unit before buying it as i had to upgrade my PS unit, im currently running about a 600watt PS unit (made the mistake of purchasing the card, installing it then finding out i needed to upgrade the PS unit, which led to another roadtrip lol)
But it is a good card overall in my opinion
