How well can I play team games (spec wise)

[mclovinballs]

I can run 1v1 fine but how much would be too much for my computer.

gateway model nv53a
Processor AMD Phenom II N830 Triple Core Processor 2.10GHz
Graphics card ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250
4.0GB RAM
64 OS
At max and in general, how many players could I handle before screwing everybody else over?

[Shoot]

Just join a game and ask if you can obs.

When observing use the tilde and insert "ren_ShowNetworkStats" to show various network stats.
Look at your simpeed, it will go down over time. You may start at +10. As the game goes on it will decrease. When it reaches -1 you are slowing the other players down.

SCFA heavily depends on the cpu, and seeing your cpu you will slow down a game fast.

[uberge3k]

2v2s and 3v3s will probably be fine. In games such as Seton's Clutch and larger, you'll probably start noticing a slowdown.

[Koecher]

The GPU dont really matters, since you either can lower the grafic details or just accept the low frames. This wont slow down the game SIM Speed.

4 GB ram should be enough, but maybe dont try to run another game in the background.

Just the CPU seems a bit slow. Even if the Clock isnt really high, the missing L3 Cache will hurt you on this even more.
You perhaps should use Core Maximizer (google it), since FA normally don't supports Multi Cores.
However, even if Core Maximizer don't really increase the SIM Speed, as experience shows, it runs a bit smoother. Plus spreading the calculation to the other cores maybe helps you more than others, since this way you can access the huge ammont of 512 KByte L2 Cache of the other Cores.

I would say, just give it a shoot. Maybe start with some 2v2 and after a while take a look at the SIM Speeds (open console --> "ren_ShowNetworkstats"
So you can compare yours to them of the others. This way you might get a "feeling" for what your CPU can take.
Other way would be to use (Live) replays. Check the Networkstats once again. As soon as you drop below 0, you would slow down the game.

I can run 1v1 fine but how much would be too much for my computer.

Its rather a question about how many units are around than how much players are in the game. (If you have a decent internet connection, ofc)

For example: If you go for a 4v4 on Desert Arena, everything should be fine. But if you go for a 4v4 on Setons, the other players will probably just flame you to death

[GuardPatroller]

I remember having the slowest computer on GPGnet when it still existed.

Basically, when you play with three people is about the same on the system as one AIx. You won't be able to play with a lot of AI, and they get resource buffs so they build much more than people. Also, map size does matter. The more area, the more your computer has to remember, especially with a bunch of structures on all of this land. I say, get core maximizer, because I had 2.1 GHz dual core (and a similar video card, Athlon Mobility HD 4200 series and it was garbage) and installing core maximizer (and running it) gave me much higher speed, like -2 when I would have had -4. Still terrible, but for your triple core, you'll most likely be able to do a 2v2 with three AIx with no lag (through to the end game) on a 400km² map. Or, in other words, a 5v5 at the most, without going below -1.

Last thing, ren_shownetworkstats is useful in looking at your sim speeds but you should also compare with others. See how other people are running and maybe ask them about their computers after the game. If there's someone with lower speed than you, then you are alright until he gets kicked out.