[b]*WARNING DO NOT BUY SAPHIRE RADEON 9800PRO[/b] [*][color=white]This might help you if you consider upgrading your computer. First off , this guide is dedicated to the people who have no knowledge about computer and who think that a celeron 2.8ghz is better than a duron 1.4 ghz. If you dont know what those 2 word means.....realy read this post. 1- The Cpu (Central Processing Unit) Your CPU is used to calculate things (YIPE) like player position, shadow, bullet speed, damage and about everything else that need to be calculated. In fact games that has some complex AI (if you dont know what AI mean .... go watch Red vs Blue ..... If you dont know whta is red vs blue leave this forum now) will need a better CPU (Like the halo campain). Your cpu has ALMOST nothing to do with the visual appearence of a game (This is handled by the video card) so if you want better visual and you have an half decent cpu dont even bother upgrading it. ........So lets go into details There is 2 brand of cpu : INTEL (INTegrated ELectronic) and AMD (Advanced Micro Device) INTEL Pentium 1 Play game that are 10 years old .... if you want to play halo or any other game get a newer CPU Pentium 2 Same things as pentium 1 Pentium 3 This CPU is the minimum to play today game and its the VERY minimum. P3 range from 450 to 1300 mhz. If you have a P3 with less than 800 mhz you will not be able to play halo. With more than 800mhz you will be able to play halo (or some other new games) but with poor performance. Pentium 4 There is 4 variant of the p4 : The P4a , the P4b , the P4c and the P4e P4a (1.3ghz to 1.8ghz) Mhz for Mhz the p3 is better than those CPU. The P4a is a rushed CPU made by intel to compete with the AMD. Those CPU were and are still a waste of money. Those cpu were replaced by the P4b. Using a p4a you will be able to play halo with some good fps (depending on the speed of it and of your video card) but in the campain and in medium fight you will notice some major slow down... P4b (1.8ghz to 2.6ghz (i do think that there is a 2.8ghz version)) A much better version of the P4. Still weaker than the AMD variant those p4 offer good perfomance in every game including halo. With a cpu like this (still depend on his speed) you will be able to play halo with good fps with some minor slowdown in big fight. P4c (2.4ghz to 3.4ghz) also called NORTHWOOD The best series of P4. Those cpu are very powerfull and are only beaten by the more recent AMD 64bit CPU. With a cpu like this you should be able (if you have a good video card) to play halo with almost no slow down of any kind. (Those cpu are also good overclocker). If you want this CPU to perform to his max you MUST have dual channel ram (more on that later). P4e (2.4ghz to 3.4ghz) also called PRESCOTT In one word : WASTE. Those cpu perform less than the "c" version of the p4 and HEAT A LOT. If you buy this cpu you will no longer need to heat your room during winter. Celeron (any kind) Pure waste of silicon and money. Those cpu are a shame. Take your money and go buya real cpu. In fact a 2.4ghz Celeron is 50 to 70 % slower than a cheap (30$) AMD Duron 1400mhz. If you play halo with this cpu you will get some major slow down even in calm zone. P4 extreme A VERY VERY expensive Cpu. If you play halo with this cpu you not notice any lag even in the biggest fight. For 1000$+ those cpu are a waste of money over the less expensive athlon 64 who offer equivalent performance. AMD NOTE : THE NUMBER THAT REPRESENT THE CPU (EX: 3200+) DO NOT REPRESENT THE CLOCK SPEED (A 3200+ run at 2.2ghz) but dont be fooled clock rate do not represent speed. Ex: A A64 3400+ at 2.4 ghz is faster than a p4c 3.2ghz. K6 Waste. Athlon "no xp" (600 to 1400mhz) Those cpu perform a little less than the p3 With a 800 mhz Athlon or more you SHOULD be able to play halo with 5 fps (Frame per second) Athlon xp (1400+ to 3200+) Those cpu are cheap, fast, stable....(speed depend on the model) Generaly those cpu are the best choice for a cheap and good pc. Cheaper than the best celeron the slowest athlon xp (1400+) can triple the performance of the celeron. Go figure... Those CPU will play halo very well depending on the model. 1400 to 2000 = Small slowdown in big battle 2200 to 3200 = Very good performance Athlon 64 (2800, 3000, 3200, 3400) The A64 2800 is litterally the best price/performance cpu out there. The A64 3400 is among the best cpu ever made so far. For the price those cpu are great , and 64 bit is a bonus. Any of those CPU play halo with no lag of any kind. :D (Those are my personnal favorite) Athlon FX (51-53) Pretty much like the P4 Extreme edition but ..... faster and with 64 bit (more like a bonus). Those are simply the fastest. If you have problem playing halo with those one you are smoking good things or you have a very bad video card. 2-The video card The video card is the what generate all the beatifull effect in a game (ie: halo). There is 2 company who make video card : ATI and NVIDIA (Any other brand is PURE waste). The better your video card the faster the frame will go (FPS : frame per second). Cards will be classified like this: -Name: xxxxxxx -Memory: xxx -Speed: xx/10 -Comment: xxxxxxxxxxx NVIDIA -Name: Geforce 256 and less -Memory: 16,32 or 64 -Speed: 0.5/10 -Comment: i would not bother playing halo with this. -Name: Geforce2 -Memory: 16,32 or 64 -Speed: 1.5/10 -Comment: Fair performance for its age and very low price. -Name: Geforce2 mx -Memory: 32 or 64 -Speed: 0.2/10 -Comment: Forget it. -Name: Geforce3 -Memory: 32 or 64 -Speed: 3 or 4 depending on the model /10 -Comment: Aging but still good cards (better than any mx) and you can have those for very low $$$. -Name: Geforce4 mx400 or 440 -Memory: 64 or 128 -Speed: 2/10 -Comment: A glorified Geforce 2 with higher clock rate. -Name: Geforce 4 Ti-4200 -Memory: 64 or 128 -Speed: 4/10 -Comment: VERY good card for the price but no directx 9 support (less eyes candy). Showing its age. BTW the 128 mb version WITH agp 8x is the fastest version. The 128 mb version with no agp is a card using very slow ram. -Name: Geforce 4 Ti-4400 -Memory: 64 or 128 -Speed: 4.2/10 -Comment: An overclocked Ti-4200. Get a 4200 and overclock it... -Name: Geforce 4 Ti-4600 -Memory:64 or 128 -Speed: 4.4/10 -Comment: An overclocked Ti-4400. Get a 4200 and overclock it more... The FX cards got 2 version : non-ultra and ultra..... The ultra is an overclocked version of the other. Basically 10-15% faster. -Name: Geforce FX-5200 and 5200ultra -Memory: 64, 128 and 256 -Speed: 2/10 -Comment: Waste of money, the 128 and 256 mb version are even more a waste. Halo is playable but almost no eye candy. Low fps in large battle. "Support DX9" -Name: Geforce FX-5500 -Memory: 128 and 256 -Speed: 2.1/10 -Comment: A tad faster than the fx5200, but still very crappy as a card. -Name: Geforce FX-5600 and 5600ultra -Memory: 128 -Speed: 3.5/10 -Comment: I am sceptical about those card. They perform slow in some game and good in other. In halo they run between slow and medium. Not all the eyes candy can be turned on. Support DX9 -Name: Geforce FX-5700 and 5700ultra -Memory: 128 and 256 -Speed: 4.5/10 -Comment: Pretty good mid-range card. Use good memory. Halo playable with smooth frame rate. Some slowdown in battle. Eye candy turned on and 800x600 should be playable. 256mb Version not much expensive compared to 128mb but still not much performance difference. Support DX9 -Name: Geforce FX-5800 and 5800ultra -Memory: 6.5/10 -Speed: 128 and 256 -Comment: Also called the leaf blower this card make terrible noise and push a lot of air. A big fiasquo. Run realy bad in some game. *Discontinued* . Performance in halo are good with some visual quality problem. "Support DX9" -Name: Geforce FX-5900 and 5900ultra -Memory: 128 and 256 -Speed: 8.8/10 -Comment: Much better version of the 5800. This card is less noisy. Performance are a bit under the ATI equivalent , the 9800pro. Performance in halo should be very good with all eyes candy on and a resolution of 1024*768. Support DX9 -Name: Geforce FX-5950ultra -Memory: 256 -Speed: 9/10 -Comment: Not much more speed than the 5900ultra (1-4% more) but a BIG price difference...Basically a overclocked 5900ultra. Support DX9 -Name: Geforce FX-5900XT -Memory: 128 -Speed: 7/10 -Comment: This is a VERY good card for the price. It can even be overclocked to a 5900ultra. Good halo performance. Support DX9. -Name: Geforce FX-6800 -Memory: 256mb -Speed: 10/10 -Comment: Very good card. Support PS 3.0. About 40% faster than FX-5900 [b]-Name: Geforce FX-6800GT -Memory: 256mb -Speed: 13.9/10 -Comment: The best card to get at the moment, Kill everything for the price!!![/b] -Name: Geforce FX-6800LE -Memory: 128mb -Speed: 8.5/10 -Comment: Much faster than the 9800pro/5900ultra in some games....slower in other. Good card for 200$ and less. -Name: Geforce FX-6800ultra -Memory: 256mb -Speed: 14/10 -Comment: About 100-120% faster than 5950ultra... [/color] [Edited on 8/29/2004 11:25:30 AM]