I just purchased an AMD Athlon 3000, 512 Mb RAM, 80 Gb hardrive, and it has the DX9.0c system. It's all just a standard XP package. Obviously, I know almost nothing about internals, but have a buddy who builds his own. What specifically do I need to upgrade my computer to allow me to play Half Life 2? I purchased it directly, online, from Valve and have the full Steam setup.

Well, I have this system and HL2 DVD version works w/ medium settings.

"
Intel Pentium IIIE, 815 MHz
512MB SDRAM, 133MHz
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (64 MB,AGP,DX9)
"

"
Can't get Half life 2 to load
"

What kinda error it gives?
Or what it does when you try to start it?

When I attempt to download any of the games in the Half Life Silver package, it tells me that my computer does not meet the optimal criteria for running the game selected. It also provides the caveat, that the game will run, but the graphics may not be what they should. I then say, OK, run it anyway, and the loading process begins. I get the blurry skyline photo which begins the game and the sign that Loading is ongoing. Then it just freezes up. I actually had to physically unplug the computer at the wall last night to shut it down. Neither the escape key or a soft boot would do it.

Make sure that HL is fully updated/downloaded, before you try to start it.

I started HL before Steam was finished updating it and HL hanged to loading screen.
Had to terminate processes of HL2 and Steam.
Then I restarted Steam and it started/continued updating process.

I waited for Steam saying that Offline mode is ready and then started HL and it did not hang to Loading screen.

slawson:

You don`t mention what graphics card you have. A recent AGP card is needed to run HL2 and preferably a broadband internet connection (to keep costs down).

hehe, I run HL2 fine on PCI card

all of your hardware looks to be fine. make sure u also have all the drivers for everything. also, what kind of video card do you have? I have heard of the game being played geforce4 mx440's and sometimes lower. if you have something better, it could be that your computer is overheating. i had a problem just like this but only after playing for a few minutes. open your case up and put a normal household fan next to it. if this solves the problem then you are having problems with overheating and will need to get either a HSF for the video and/or processor or more fans in your case.

Thank you folks very much for the input. I'll look into all of your suggestions. I got a heck of alot more help on this website in one night than I ever have from Steam. Thanks again.

I had the same problem man. I tried to start the game and i just saw that blurry background. Then the game would just crash. Turns out it was because I had a crappy Intel card that came on the computer when I got it. So i got a Radeon 9250. There is still a problem however- it runs choppy. Anyone reading this- plz help! Its a pci 256mb card

ok

1)In steam right click Half Life 2
2)Click "Properties"
3)Go into "launch options"
4)Copy and paste the following line into the box

"+mat_forcehardwaresync 0+snd_async_prefetch_priority 1"

That should make it stop from crashing, but i don't think it'll help the choppiness.

Now you'll really see the neophyte "tightwad" come out. Am I crazy to spend more than $150 to play a $49 version of Half Life 2? Depends on whether you ask me or my Frau. Is there a less expensive version of the Radeon card that will suffice for this one game package? Once the guffaws have quieted, I'd still appreciate any advice.

I run HL2 on a older Radeon 9000 AGP card which is ok, not fast but it is playable. BTW, HL2 is an excellent game, I am currently half way through...

For speed a Radeon 9500 or better would be perfect for games like HL2. I am thinking of upgrading my card sometime this year.