Do it. And take it from me, install the FakeFactory cinematic mod. Do what you will the character models (I kind of like them and I think the model for Alex is HOOOOOOTTTTTTTT. I might have to find the real life girl who the game model is based off of and keep her for myself), but make sure you play it with ALL the bells and whistles.
To put it lightly, it made my machine work a bit. Half Life 2. When was it released? Yeah, exactly. To be fair, I only saw jittery action when I turned on the flashlight and thus had shadows everywhere.
F'n love Dog.