Dear people of the Fallout forum. This is probably the 1.000th topic about it, but since i'm going to buy a new computer i wonder if it can run it. Remember i don't have it yet, so don't come with System Requirements lab. Here are the specs:
It's a Dell Dimension 9150
DIMENSION 9150 PD 930 PROCESSOR DUAL COR
2048MB DUAL CHANNEL DDR2 533MHZ (2X1024) = Rated at 3.2GHZ!!!
2Gig Ram
Single PCI-Express 256 MB Video card Nvidia Geforce 7600 GS

So. Will i be able to run Fallout 3? On Med-Low Settings?
Answers are appreciated.

Regards,
Pip

Yes, it will run the game fine on about medium settings.

So i doesn't matter that i use a 256MB video card? Because in the Reccomended its says 518, or is that for high settings? If i can run this game on medium i would be pretty satisfied.

The amount of memory isnt the only deciding factor, the power of the actual GPU is more important. (Although generally the high end GPUs have more memory). But it should still run fine on medium.

It will run, but it will look absolutely horrible. I predict 1280x720 medium low at best, with no AA and no AF. Even then it's going to chug a fair bit. Oh and don't go too crazy on the mods with two gigs of ram.

On the plus side making it run wonderfully only requires upgrading the ram and video card, which can be done pretty darn cheaply.

Going much higher than 2GB of RAM is pointless, FO3 is a 32bit application, barring inherently unstable hacks it'll never use more than 2GB of RAM anyway. Getting more for the hundred or so MB extra is nonsensical.

So what is it, does it run smoothly on a low resolution. Or is it going to be choppy and stuff.
And to come back on the mod fact, I ain't going to use mods, why should i? It ruins te game.
I don't want to be rude but i want to hear the answer, Does it run smoothly yes or no.
Because i really appreciate the help, but if all people say different things, i still don't know it.

Thanks,
Pip

I don't know. It will run absolutely fine on low settings, I can tell you that much, but I don't know enough about the performance of the card to tell you how it'll do higher. You can certainly run it, though.

I am interested, though, to know why you think entirely optional mods, that only change what you want them to change, and can be easily customised to your preferences, ruin the game?

I've had a different experience regarding the amount of RAM. Not everyone has 8GB of RAM, but setting FO3's preload cache size to 1GB improved performance for me across the board; and after all last night playing, there were no stability issues. But your point about it being a 32bit application is true.

To OP the only warning I'd have is that FO3 can be wierd regarding system requirements. Alot of the performance issues people are having come from using W7 x64 w/ Quadcores. You should be alright with your rig though.

What all of you are forgetting is that, it may be a 32bit app, but what about the OS? It uses the RAM also.

The REAL reason why more then 2GB in this care is pointless is because the videocard couldn't even process higher settings. If he had, say an 8800GT, then 4GB would be better to have because the card can process the higher settings (Near max actually) So it has nothing to do with the program being a 32bit application.

So what's his OS gonna use? What's all the Dell bloatware gonna use? Hrm? The game isn't the only thing running, you know.



It will be playable.

No they don't. They make it better. Even if you want an entirely vanilla gameplay experience mods like Fellout, enhanced weather and NMC's Texture Pack update the graphics considerably...not that the 7600GT could handle those mods lol.

Hence why I said the hundred or so extra MB. Turning off the bloatware is a lot cheaper than buying new RAM, and your OS doesn't take all that much when other things need it.

Dear People, the graphics card has been changed to a Zotac Nvidia Geforce GTX 260 512MB
Hope that helps.

Well the GPU is certainly fine now, but hopefully the CPU and RAM will not bottleneck it.

Heads up people, computer has changed to this:
AMD Athlon 4400+ 2,3GHZ Dual Core
3GB DDR2 Ram 800MHZ
Zotac Nvidia Geforce 260GTX 896MB.

Am i able to run Fallout 3? At SystemReq it says i can run the game on recommended settings

The SR Labs' results are wrong so often that the place is a laughing stock. Nevertheless, this time, they were correct.

Does that mean, that i can run the game on Medium or something? If so that would be great.

You should be able to run high-ultra depending on the resolution and mods that youre using.