F1 2002 - Upgrade Question?

I have a 1 Gig Athalon, 312 Meg RAM, GeForce 2 MX running Windows 98 SE. I run SCGT, Heat and GPL, pretty much with no problems. I'm thinking of upgrading to a GeForce 4 Ti4200 (and probably bump up to 512 Meg RAM). The reason is to get F1 2002 and the Mods. I had F1 2001 and the mods but I had to dumb it down so much to run that it always sent me back to Heat and SCGT. As well I want to get N2003 in a couple of months. (And SCGT places like Kyalami, Watkins Glen and the 'Ring at the start are slide shows and I'd like to improve this). So my question is this, will upgrading to a proper GeForce 4 allow me to run, acceptably, F1 2002 plus mods or will I bottle neck at the CPU and be wasting my money? ps I don't have a sound card I'm just running on board sound. To me the sound is good, but is it slowing everything else down? TIA

320 MB is enough RAM (just) The best place to spend the money would be on the 4200 and maybe an 1800+ Athlon XP CPU.

I am running a Celeron at 990 with a 128 meg Ti 4200 and 384 meg RAM, Win98; so this is similar to what you could expect if you upgrade your graphics card only. Basically I can turn the details all the way up in T&L games without any loss of frame rate, but OTOH the frame rate isn't all that high at any settings. I get down into the low 20's at the starting line in F1 2002 and mods, 30 to 40 during racing, and up to about 60 in a test session. Frame rates in NR2002 are similar. Playable, but not great. For SCGT and GPL with add on cars and tracks you just plain need more CPU, a better graphics card doesn't help them at all. I knew this would happen and bought the card anyway under the assumption that it would scale well when I did get around to upgrading motherboard and CPU. But if you are specifically concerned about frame rate there is no substitute, you need a faster CPU. "Rudeboy" <egilmour@shaw*NoSpam*.ca> wrote in message news:_xMN9.148968$[email hidden]... > I have a 1 Gig Athalon, 312 Meg RAM, GeForce 2 MX running Windows 98SE. > > I run SCGT, Heat and GPL, pretty much with no problems. I'm thinkingof > upgrading to a GeForce 4 Ti4200 (and probably bump up to 512 Meg RAM). > > The reason is to get F1 2002 and the Mods. I had F1 2001 and the modsbut I > had to dumb it down so much to run that it always sent me back to Heatand > SCGT. > > As well I want to get N2003 in a couple of months. (And SCGT placeslike > Kyalami, Watkins Glen and the 'Ring at the start are slide shows andI'd > like to improve this). > > So my question is this, will upgrading to a proper GeForce 4 allow meto > run, acceptably, F1 2002 plus mods or will I bottle neck at the CPUand be > wasting my money? > > ps I don't have a sound card I'm just running on board sound. To methe > sound is good, but is it slowing everything else down? > > > TIA > >

I have a P4 2Gb, 256Mb SDRAM, Gf4 Ti 4400, Win98SE. The SDRAM is a bottleneck and I'm thinking of upgrading because of it. But I did gain a lot of performance and better sound when I bought a (cheap) SB 4.1 to replace the integrated sound chip. I run GTR 2002 at 1024 x 768, 32 bit color (the menus don't work well at 16 bit). I have all graphics options to Full except shadows and special effects that are disabled. At the back of a 35 car grid (GT & N-GT) it crawls down to 20 fps in dry weather and even less if its raining. However it goes up to 40+ fps after the cars are spread on track. All other games (N2002, Heat, GPL, F1 2001 and its Mods) run like a dream with full graphics. This should give you an idea of what you can get with your Mobo and a new CPU plus a Sound Card and a GF Ti4200 (not much difference to the 4400). Regards, Jo�o Gonzalez "Rudeboy" <egilmour@shaw*NoSpam*.ca> wrote in message news:_xMN9.148968$[email hidden]... > I have a 1 Gig Athalon, 312 Meg RAM, GeForce 2 MX running Windows 98 SE. > > I run SCGT, Heat and GPL, pretty much with no problems. I'm thinking of > upgrading to a GeForce 4 Ti4200 (and probably bump up to 512 Meg RAM). > > The reason is to get F1 2002 and the Mods. I had F1 2001 and the mods butI

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> had to dumb it down so much to run that it always sent me back to Heat and > SCGT. > > As well I want to get N2003 in a couple of months. (And SCGT places like > Kyalami, Watkins Glen and the 'Ring at the start are slide shows and I'd > like to improve this). > > So my question is this, will upgrading to a proper GeForce 4 allow me to > run, acceptably, F1 2002 plus mods or will I bottle neck at the CPU and be > wasting my money? > > ps I don't have a sound card I'm just running on board sound. To me the > sound is good, but is it slowing everything else down? > > > TIA > >

"Rudeboy" <egilmour@shaw*NoSpam*.ca> wrote in message news:_xMN9.148968$[email hidden]... > I have a 1 Gig Athalon, 312 Meg RAM, GeForce 2 MX running Windows 98 SE. > > I run SCGT, Heat and GPL, pretty much with no problems. I'm thinking of > upgrading to a GeForce 4 Ti4200 (and probably bump up to 512 Meg RAM). > > The reason is to get F1 2002 and the Mods. I had F1 2001 and the mods butI

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> had to dumb it down so much to run that it always sent me back to Heat and > SCGT. > > As well I want to get N2003 in a couple of months. (And SCGT places like > Kyalami, Watkins Glen and the 'Ring at the start are slide shows and I'd > like to improve this). > > So my question is this, will upgrading to a proper GeForce 4 allow me to > run, acceptably, F1 2002 plus mods or will I bottle neck at the CPU and be > wasting my money?

You WILL NOT EVER get the SCGT starts smoothed out. Especially if you are running more cars than the default. I have a GF3 ti 200 with an xp1800+ and full field starts are HORRENDOUS! The only way to get smooth running with SCGT is to use a 3dfx card with a modern cpu. Now this is not your fault, but the shoddy optimazation that SCGT used. If F1 2k2 was coded similarly to SCGT, we'd need half a dozen CRAYs to run it. You will need as much cpu as possible for N2003. A sub 2ghz chip probably won't be enough. Neither will a GF3 level (or beleow)video card. (without really scaling back the graphics and visible cars.) F1 2k2 will run adequately with my level equipment, but if you really want it to fly, then a cpu of greater than 2ghz (and I MEAN LOTS greater, not a 2100+) and a newer vidcard are a must. F1 2k2 handles better the higher your framerate. So you really need some serious HP to get the full benefit. BUT....as I said...it runs fairly well for me. I average 40 to 50 fps with full 36 car GTR fields. My basic thrust is, IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT, do NOT sell yourself short by wimping out on a cpu. Get as MUCH GHZ as you can. > > ps I don't have a sound card I'm just running on board sound. To me the > sound is good, but is it slowing everything else down? > May not slow things down. They sometimes are NOT as compatible. You will often see more lockups. But if it works and doesn't cause problems. then be happy with it. > > TIA > > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.431 / Virus Database: 242 - Release Date: 12/17/02

I had a similar system (1 Gig Athalon, 384 Meg RAM, GeForce 2MX Win98 SE) until recently and ditched the GeForce 2MX for a Ti4200 128MB. Changed nothing else and the difference is remarkable! I've started running F12001 again and have F12002 on order. It was just a waste of time with the 2MX, but Ti4200 is great. And I run GPL with all the addons, 16 bit cars etc., so I think it's a worthwhile upgrade. I don't get too ambitious with the res, but 1024 X 768 is fine for GPL. And it means you've got scope to upgrade your mobo and CPU when you've got the cash without needing a new vid card. AS for upgrading to 512MB RAM, I'm told there's no point in Win98, but SDRAM's pretty cheap at the moment. Glenn Rudeboy wrote:

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> I have a 1 Gig Athalon, 312 Meg RAM, GeForce 2 MX running Windows 98 SE. > > I run SCGT, Heat and GPL, pretty much with no problems. I'm thinking of > upgrading to a GeForce 4 Ti4200 (and probably bump up to 512 Meg RAM). > > The reason is to get F1 2002 and the Mods. I had F1 2001 and the mods > but I > had to dumb it down so much to run that it always sent me back to Heat and > SCGT. > > As well I want to get N2003 in a couple of months. (And SCGT places like > Kyalami, Watkins Glen and the 'Ring at the start are slide shows and I'd > like to improve this). > > So my question is this, will upgrading to a proper GeForce 4 allow me to > run, acceptably, F1 2002 plus mods or will I bottle neck at the CPU and be > wasting my money? > > ps I don't have a sound card I'm just running on board sound. To me the > sound is good, but is it slowing everything else down? > > > TIA > >

Thanks everyone. Coincidentally it turned out that Future Shop had GeForce 4 Ti4200 on sale for $199.00 Canadian on Boxing Day so I popped for it. Just about to install now. My next question is if I was going to upgrade the MoBo and Processor what's the best options out there? Like I said I've got a 1 Gig Athalon but a Via chip set that I've had nothing but trouble with and hate. Also I don't have a lot of money. TIA "Careful Hack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:c%NN9.9056$[email hidden]...

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> I had a similar system (1 Gig Athalon, 384 Meg RAM, GeForce 2MX Win98 > SE) until recently and ditched the GeForce 2MX for a Ti4200 128MB. > > Changed nothing else and the difference is remarkable! I've started > running F12001 again and have F12002 on order. It was just a waste of > time with the 2MX, but Ti4200 is great. And I run GPL with all the > addons, 16 bit cars etc., so I think it's a worthwhile upgrade. I don't > get too ambitious with the res, but 1024 X 768 is fine for GPL. > > And it means you've got scope to upgrade your mobo and CPU when you've > got the cash without needing a new vid card. > > AS for upgrading to 512MB RAM, I'm told there's no point in Win98, but > SDRAM's pretty cheap at the moment. > > Glenn > > Rudeboy wrote: > > > I have a 1 Gig Athalon, 312 Meg RAM, GeForce 2 MX running Windows 98

SE.

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> > > > I run SCGT, Heat and GPL, pretty much with no problems. I'm thinking of > > upgrading to a GeForce 4 Ti4200 (and probably bump up to 512 Meg RAM). > > > > The reason is to get F1 2002 and the Mods. I had F1 2001 and the mods > > but I > > had to dumb it down so much to run that it always sent me back to Heat

and > > SCGT. > > > > As well I want to get N2003 in a couple of months. (And SCGT placeslike > > Kyalami, Watkins Glen and the 'Ring at the start are slide shows and I'd > > like to improve this). > > > > So my question is this, will upgrading to a proper GeForce 4 allow me to > > run, acceptably, F1 2002 plus mods or will I bottle neck at the CPU andbe

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> > wasting my money? > > > > ps I don't have a sound card I'm just running on board sound. To me the > > sound is good, but is it slowing everything else down? > > > > > > TIA > > > > >