Will This system RunCMBB/CMAK

[Risnervich]

I have a E-machine 500ix-500mhz processor/max ram 256mb Windows 98 OS. I am going to install a ATI Radeon PCI 128mb graphic card. Any thoughts or things I need to watch out for. Be gentle I am a novice. I really need some expert advice.

[Schrullenhaft]

That's a pretty dated computer, but it should work. How much memory does your system actually have ? 64MB I believe was the normal configuration. So unless you've added memory, that's most likely the amount that you have. 64MB is probably a bit anemic to run CMBB/CMAK, but it could work.

As for the videocard upgrade; broadly guessing that it should work too. However even that is questionable and there may be no hard answers out there other than personal experience. Your motherboard is based on one of the oldest Pentium2 chipsets, the 440LX. Most video issues with such motherboards usually relate to an AGP slot (which your motherboard doesn't have). However some older boards still manage to have problems with newer PCI videocards; for example no video, though the card may be fine. ATI does make drivers to support Windows 98SE/ME and the current version is 5.9 which should support the Radeon 9250 (which is what I assume you're considering).

One problem with ATI videocards and the current CM series is that they lack fog effects and a few other issues that have work-arounds. If running CMBB/CMAK is primarily what you'll be doing with this computer (i.e. - there isn't another reason you're set on getting a Radeon videocard), then you may want to consider getting a eVGA GeForce MX4000 128MB PCI (other brands can work, this is just a link to a particular card). While Nvidia does have driver problems every-so-often, you still get fog effects and there should always be a driver version out there that works perfectly with the current CMx1 series.

To install another videocard and have it come up as the primary you'll best be served by disabling the onboard ATI Rage Pro Turbo 4MB. This is done by jumpering J1 to pins 1-2 (it's defaulted to 2-3). This jumper is near the PCI slots and right behind the onboard video memory. Here's a PDF manual of the Trigem Florida TGA (eMachines 500ix) motherboard.

The other consideration is RAM. Like I said earlier 64MB may be the minimum to get CMBB and CMAK running, but it will slow things down. To be honest the Celeron 500MHz isn't really a great processor either, but it should work (if you have patience). You'll probably want to max out your memory to help as much as possible with CM. This will entail purchasing 2 sticks of 128MB 168-pin PC100 SDRAM (though the system only runs at PC66). The previous link is a search on Kingston's website for compatible memory with your computer. You can also purchase PC133 like that found at Newegg. Crucial Memory (their SDRAM) has worked very well for me in the past. There's a slight premium on the price, but it might be worth it (though their memory configurator couldn't find a compatible DIMM module for your specific computer when it was selected).

Depending on what your budget is and what sort of patience you have (for the computer running CM), you may want to consider a new motherboard, CPU, memory and videocard (and potentially the power supply ). I assume at this point that you're already considering the videocard and quite possibly the memory. You could purchase a MicroATX motherboard (with its own backplane cover) with an Athlon XP CPU and some DDR memory. Here's one eBay deal that looks fairly good MSI K7N2GML & Duron 1.8GHz (of course you'd still need to get memory). The built-in video on this motherboard, while not as fast as the NVidia GeForce MX4000 or ATI Radeon 9250, is sufficient for CM (though a dedicated videocard would definitely be recommended). With this motherboard you could also purchase the AGP version of whatever videocard you were looking at. Of course the caveat here is that you'd need to be able to install this yourself or take it to someone who can do it for you.

[ December 22, 2005, 12:43 PM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ]

[Risnervich]

Like I said I am a novice. When someone talks about FOG what is that a reference to.

[Schrullenhaft]

If your battle has fog as part of the weather, then a Radeon will not graphically show that fog (everything will appear clear), though fog is still in effect for LOS, etc. With a GeForce, when you have fog in the weather, you will graphically see fog represented on the screen. For a number of people this isn't a big issue at all, but it is sort of nice to see during movie playbacks.

Have you tried the demos to either CMBB or CMAK (they're available in the Downloads section) ? While they won't push every compatibility issue you may run into with the full version, they do give you a general idea of how well your system will run them (excluding excessively large battles/maps, which can bog down very fast computers).