You can get a pretty decent performance form a very low cost computer.
The trick is to get a lot of mem (as the thread indicates). Memory will, as others have pointed out, ensure that you get faster loading, This is very handy. I haven't noticed any increase in FPS as a result of more memory, but that could be because of my initally very high FPS.
Also you have to get a decent mobo. Make sure it has PCI-e. PCI-e is SOOOOO much faster than AGP, and the GPU is of critical importance to BF2. A 6600 card in AGP on an Asus board, vs a 6600 PCI-e on an Asrock board (asus, budget label) will give me the ability to move from medium to high settings with 100% view distance !
The last and most important thing is the card. PCI-e is a MUST. This will also mean that you can upgrade to DX10 later, as DX10 will only be available for PCI-e. Get a good GPU. Dont look at the meory of the board, or the memory speed. Look at the GPU throughput. This is the most important. I have a 6600 which can run things on high (albeit with some lag on certain maps and situations. Genrally, I disables dynamic lighting and shadows for best performance), and a 7800 which will run EVERYthing smoothly, regardless of combat, mas, settings etc. I upgraded to be able to play GRAW, but the benefits in BF2 were REALLY noticable. My main PC is running on a 7900GTX, and has no problems either, but this is a high performance setup at a higher price.
The "budget" machine cost me something like:
Harddrive: I had a few lying around, with one for windows and one for apps, it runs fast. From £15 pr drive used.
DVDdrive: I payed about £30 for a new 16x DVD burner, save cash and get one used from £5
Case: About £30. Save cash and get one used from around £10
PSU: A nice 420w hiperX PSU. Ran me about £45 (dont buy a PSU used, unless you know it's still good)
GPU: A 7800 hybrid card. Not brand name, but with high throughput. Cost me about £90. (dont buy used, you may need warranty !)
CPU: Old P4-2.6 Ghz. Had this lying around. New/used price around £50, used is ok if you can save a lot
Mem: 2 1GB acer sticks. 400Mhz About £80 (dont buy used, you may need warranty)
Mobo: A reasonably fast Asrock flex ATX/BTX board. I payed like £50 for it (with PCI-e !)
FDD: Used an old one. Really no FDD is needed, but I like to have it. New/used from £5
Fans: I had a couple of old Zalmans that went with the CPU. New/used price from £5
Cables and screws: I had a lot lying around, but pick up what you need from the local PC shop. About £5
so total cost for a machine that will run BF2 on high settings with load times of less than 30 sec pr map and DX10 ready:
£300-450 !!!!!!
Now there are a few downsides to a budget PC like this:
* The cheap board will only hold two memory modules. so upgrading mem is not likely to happen. Spending another £50 on the board will get you that option.
* The harddrives are OK, but not exceptional at this price. You can get something faster. Look for 7200+ RPM and SATA-II
* The PSU will not like SLi and crossfire, so dont even try.
* The CPU is ok for gaming and computing needs. It's not the fastest around, but it WILL work just fine.
* The Graphics card is a no name card with just the most "bang for the buck" GPU I could find. This is a wise choice if you're looking at a DX10 upgrade in the near future.
* While this config is fairly silent, I was lucky with the fans, also because of the low requirements of the old CPU and (relatively) low wattage GPU. You may need to spend a little on some good/better fans if you want this thing to be really quiet.
Now to return to the subject of the memory. When I upgraded the PC I just talked about to the new mobo and the PCI-e 7800, I had a problem. My problem being that the OLD board had 4 memory slots, where the new one had only 2 ! So I had to play with just 1 GB for a LONG time (ok, 5 days, and it was my friend using that machine, not me. But you get the picture), before making the difficult choice of upgrading to 2 GB (another £80 forkover after buying the Mobo and GPU).
My immediate observations were:
Starting BF2 went from 2-4 minutes down to less than 1.
Loading maps went from more than a minute to around a half.
I had fewer problems (less lag) with the multiplayer "lobby"
So in conclusion... 2GB comared to 1 GB can make a WORLD of difference. But you have to have enough hardware to UTILIZE the extra memory !
