need fps estimate before getting comp

Well i'm planning to get a dell xps m1530 with these specs for cs source:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9300 2.5GHz
3GB RAM
250GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT

Would i get good FPS and would the game run smooth?

 

yes it would run very smooth at max. i think you would get close to a 100+ fps

 

I might upgrade RAM to 4GB would this affect it?

 

I have the exact same specs as you except for 4 GB or ram and I just played two games of CS:S and it ran smooth to me. I also ran the video stress test quick and it said 59.64 fps.

I have 4 GB just because it was forced on my system configuration but I doubt that it will matter for CS:S. I don't think it uses more than 1.5 GB total when I'm playing CS:S. At max 2 GB so your good with 3.

 

^ Do you have Vsync turned on?

 

I had every setting on high and vsync. I think the AA was at 2x also. I generally don't even mess with settings if the game works alright.

 

Sure if it was an older game. LOL

100+ will be quite unrealistic with newer games.




EDIT: My bad.... I missed the CS: Source part in the first post.

If for CS: Source then 100+ is doable.

 

Alright my rookie computer gaming shows through again. I ran the stress test without vsync and got 131 fps. If I turn the two settings at the bottom (AA and something else) to 4x then I get 106 fps.

 

Yeah, Vsync "syncs" your FPS with the monitor refresh rate, which in this case is 60 hertz. In other words, it prematurely caps performance by what can be displayed. Always turn Vsync off.

 

VSync is still useful particularly on LCD's and LCD's with low response/redraw rates.

It prevents tearing when drawing between frames. Tearing is the horizontal lines that you get when your monitor is not refreshing fast enough for the data it is receiving from your video card. Resulting in the monitoring giving up on drawing a frame half way through and starting the next frame.

I always use vsync when on a laptop for this reason.

It will simply force a sync'd refresh rate with the monitor. 30/60/90/120 fps (mostly 60 or 120). In games built on the Source engine open the command console and type: cl_showfps 1, and you will get realtime FPS statistics.

Personally I prefer the look of vsync on. Some don't like it. It's a personal preference, but certainly shouldn't just be dismissed. While it does "cap" performance, it would still give you 1080/60p or 720/60p performance which is twice the frame rate on most console games (some ps3 and xbox 360 games have 60p).

*shrug* Up to you, try it on try it off. It's not good to have it on when testing performance, but certainly can be preferred for game play.

Nathan

 

Well for less real-time games (aka non RTS/FPS), vertical sync is probably better on. The graphics depicted would look a bit smoother, albeit slower, since the new image would only be displayed during a refresh.

Also, use the net_graph command.

 

I had about 120-160 FPS with CS: Source

 

Yeah I hate screen tearing. I had a 1080i tube tv and playing the 360 on that was painful usually. I'll have to try playing other games with vsync off.