Just your typical ol' computer question...

[Tim Wakefield]

Ok heres the deal, my computer is, well lets say sub-par. I dont know a whole lot about computers, but am looking to buy one (possibly off ebay, or have one built for me). Now as far as gaming computers, what type of specs would be considered good.

Im not looking for any type of super-computer, but just something that will run PC games smooth and clear with regular resolutions, nothing special. The specific things im looking for that i dont know much about are: Processor speed (in mhz or ghz), Hard drive capacity (in GB), memory (i know a little about, but suggestions are always welcome ^^), and any other important features of a computer.

Thank you in advance

 

[Numa]

Post a price range. Its alot easier to spec a PC when you have a rough price range.

But Im thinking a respectable system would run around $500.

 

[Myrrh]

Just kick it really hard, then swear, then get slurpee and you should have a new abd better computer.

 

[Rones]

I would recommend you look at ibuypower.com. I have had several friends use that company and had good expereinces. It is a great source for those who want a custom gaming machine, don't have the knowledge to do it themselves, and don't want to pay the huge mark up for comparable alienware machines. Another to look at is online pc deals. Stay away from the big name brands like Dell and HP. They are fine for office & work machines, but they are sub par for gaming. Dell is notorious for proprietery hardware which makes repairs and upgrades by anyone but Dell techs difficult. Those companies also like to skimp on parts of the computer that the less savy won't notice. EG: They advertise 2 gigs of ram, 300 gig hard drive, and a 4 ghz processor but they skimp on the video card by going with an integred gforce mx 4000 (utter crap). Additionaly, for the moment I recommend avoiding dual processor and dual video card (called crossfire or sli). These have greater ability, but take a special kind of programming to be utilized which isn't done in current game design (concurrent computing is very hard).

Specs you want:
-Amd 64 processors are the way to go. These are typically outperforming their Intel peers, better price, and very good quality. I would recommend at least an amd 64 3500+ which costs about $201 (what I personally use), preferablly go a little past that now to maybe an amd 64 4000+ which cost about $334.

-For video cards, I recommend a radeon x850xt. It has great cooling abilities and performs very well on all current games. It only runs about $173 now which is much cheaper than when I bought the one I'm using. *Make certain you get a PCI-Express video card and and that the motherboard is PCI-Express compatible. You can see all the current bechnmarks for videocards here. Older video card benchmarks can be found through here.

-Ram, 1gig is the current standard, but that is going out of style quickly. Save yourself some money and hassle in the future by getting a 2gig set (2 sticks of 1gig that come as a single package). Ram is very easy to transfer and carry over to new machines, so you can use that for a very long time. Due to limitations in windows xp, most computers can't go past 2 gigs, so that is the equivalent of maxing a stat for a good time.

-Hard drive, size depends on how you use your computer and lifestyle. The important thing is rpms. Aim for at least 7200 rpm hd, but a 10,000 rpm is a very nice upgrade to consider. However, if you are tight on money, go with a 7,200 and put that money elsewhere.

If you want to know about the quality of a specific piece of hardware, try looking up benchmarks for it on tom'shardware.com. Hope this helps.

 

[Flameass]

I second tom's hardware

 

[Darklion]

I would recommend you look at ibuypower.com. I have had several friends use that company and had good expereinces. It is a great source for those who want a custom gaming machine, don't have the knowledge to do it themselves, and don't want to pay the huge mark up for comparable alienware machines. Another to look at is online pc deals. Stay away from the big name brands like Dell and HP. They are fine for office & work machines, but they are sub par for gaming. Dell is notorious for proprietery hardware which makes repairs and upgrades by anyone but Dell techs difficult. Those companies also like to skimp on parts of the computer that the less savy won't notice. EG: They advertise 2 gigs of ram, 300 gig hard drive, and a 4 ghz processor but they skimp on the video card by going with an integred gforce mx 4000 (utter crap). Additionaly, for the moment I recommend avoiding dual processor and dual video card (called crossfire or sli). These have greater ability, but take a special kind of programming to be utilized which isn't done in current game design (concurrent computing is very hard).

Specs you want:
-Amd 64 processors are the way to go. These are typically outperforming their Intel peers, better price, and very good quality. I would recommend at least an amd 64 3500+ which costs about $201 (what I personally use), preferablly go a little past that now to maybe an amd 64 4000+ which cost about $334.

-For video cards, I recommend a radeon x850xt. It has great cooling abilities and performs very well on all current games. It only runs about $173 now which is much cheaper than when I bought the one I'm using. *Make certain you get a PCI-Express video card and and that the motherboard is PCI-Express compatible. You can see all the current bechnmarks for videocards here. Older video card benchmarks can be found through here.

-Ram, 1gig is the current standard, but that is going out of style quickly. Save yourself some money and hassle in the future by getting a 2gig set (2 sticks of 1gig that come as a single package). Ram is very easy to transfer and carry over to new machines, so you can use that for a very long time. Due to limitations in windows xp, most computers can't go past 2 gigs, so that is the equivalent of maxing a stat for a good time.

-Hard drive, size depends on how you use your computer and lifestyle. The important thing is rpms. Aim for at least 7200 rpm hd, but a 10,000 rpm is a very nice upgrade to consider. However, if you are tight on money, go with a 7,200 and put that money elsewhere.

If you want to know about the quality of a specific piece of hardware, try looking up benchmarks for it on tom'shardware.com. Hope this helps.

And this is why I love jooo rones!

 

[GhostinmyShell]

Ok heres the deal, my computer is, well lets say sub-par. I dont know a whole lot about computers, but am looking to buy one (possibly off ebay, or have one built for me). Now as far as gaming computers, what type of specs would be considered good.

Im not looking for any type of super-computer, but just something that will run PC games smooth and clear with regular resolutions, nothing special. The specific things im looking for that i dont know much about are: Processor speed (in mhz or ghz), Hard drive capacity (in GB), memory (i know a little about, but suggestions are always welcome ^^), and any other important features of a computer.

Thank you in advance

Eh what games are you thinking about playing, there are only 3-5 games that are out now or coming out that will require the latest and greatest.

The next set of AMD chips come out in June with the nForce 5 and then DX10 cards with Vista a few months later, so upgrading from scratch sucks right now :|

Since you don't seem to want something uber, you can probably get a Dell for under a grand that will suit your needs and doesn't suck. Although I recommend buying the ram seperately and you will save a lot of money.

Then again what do you have now, you could probably slap in a faster processor or a better video card.

 

[Tim Wakefield]

Ohhh its a HP somethin. I have an ATI 9800 video card in it and a slight RAM upgrade, but my whole family uses it so it gets bogged down with all types of junk that isnt mine. I reformat the damn thing once every three months, but im sick and tired of that and just want to buy a new one ^^.

I just picked up hours at work, have a tax refund check on the way, and have a birthday in less than a month, so combined that should = new computer for meeee

 

[GhostinmyShell]

Ohhh its a HP somethin. I have an ATI 9800 video card in it and a slight RAM upgrade, but my whole family uses it so it gets bogged down with all types of junk that isnt mine. I reformat the damn thing once every three months, but im sick and tired of that and just want to buy a new one ^^.

I just picked up hours at work, have a tax refund check on the way, and have a birthday in less than a month, so combined that should = new computer for meeee

Yeah a family would install so much shit that anything would run like crap later.

Once you figure out what you want check www.fatwallet.com www.passwird.com for deals for all this stuff.

 

[Psylentcuda]

Just kick it really hard, then swear, then get slurpee and you should have a new abd better computer.

Quoted for truth and hilariousness (is that even a word?)

 

[Anglis]

I would recommend you look at ibuypower.com. I have had several friends use that company and had good expereinces. It is a great source for those who want a custom gaming machine, don't have the knowledge to do it themselves, and don't want to pay the huge mark up for comparable alienware machines. Another to look at is online pc deals. Stay away from the big name brands like Dell and HP. They are fine for office & work machines, but they are sub par for gaming. Dell is notorious for proprietery hardware which makes repairs and upgrades by anyone but Dell techs difficult. Those companies also like to skimp on parts of the computer that the less savy won't notice. EG: They advertise 2 gigs of ram, 300 gig hard drive, and a 4 ghz processor but they skimp on the video card by going with an integred gforce mx 4000 (utter crap). Additionaly, for the moment I recommend avoiding dual processor and dual video card (called crossfire or sli). These have greater ability, but take a special kind of programming to be utilized which isn't done in current game design (concurrent computing is very hard).

Specs you want:
-Amd 64 processors are the way to go. These are typically outperforming their Intel peers, better price, and very good quality. I would recommend at least an amd 64 3500+ which costs about $201 (what I personally use), preferablly go a little past that now to maybe an amd 64 4000+ which cost about $334.

-For video cards, I recommend a radeon x850xt. It has great cooling abilities and performs very well on all current games. It only runs about $173 now which is much cheaper than when I bought the one I'm using. *Make certain you get a PCI-Express video card and and that the motherboard is PCI-Express compatible. You can see all the current bechnmarks for videocards here. Older video card benchmarks can be found through here.

-Ram, 1gig is the current standard, but that is going out of style quickly. Save yourself some money and hassle in the future by getting a 2gig set (2 sticks of 1gig that come as a single package). Ram is very easy to transfer and carry over to new machines, so you can use that for a very long time. Due to limitations in windows xp, most computers can't go past 2 gigs, so that is the equivalent of maxing a stat for a good time.

-Hard drive, size depends on how you use your computer and lifestyle. The important thing is rpms. Aim for at least 7200 rpm hd, but a 10,000 rpm is a very nice upgrade to consider. However, if you are tight on money, go with a 7,200 and put that money elsewhere.

If you want to know about the quality of a specific piece of hardware, try looking up benchmarks for it on tom'shardware.com. Hope this helps.

Covered it pretty well, but 2 gig of RAM is still a luxory though and can be pretty expensive. If you cant afford that then just make sure you get a gig of PC3200 DDR 2 ram. Most new computers can support that. With an AMD 3500+ and the card Rones mentioned you'll be able to play any game on the market... on around medium settings at least.

 

[Thelona]

Covered it pretty well, but 2 gig of RAM is still a luxory though and can be pretty expensive. If you cant afford that then just make sure you get a gig of PC3200 DDR 2 ram. Most new computers can support that. With an AMD 3500+ and the card Rones mentioned you'll be able to play any game on the market... on around medium settings at least.

Was about to say the same thing, I can't think of many situations where youd really need/use 2 gigs of ram. If you got the budget to get 2 gigs go for it. But 1 gig would prob sufice

 

[Tim Wakefield]

I would recommend you look at ibuypower.com. I have had several friends use that company and had good expereinces. It is a great source for those who want a custom gaming machine, don't have the knowledge to do it themselves, and don't want to pay the huge mark up for comparable alienware machines. Another to look at is online pc deals. Stay away from the big name brands like Dell and HP. They are fine for office & work machines, but they are sub par for gaming. Dell is notorious for proprietery hardware which makes repairs and upgrades by anyone but Dell techs difficult. Those companies also like to skimp on parts of the computer that the less savy won't notice. EG: They advertise 2 gigs of ram, 300 gig hard drive, and a 4 ghz processor but they skimp on the video card by going with an integred gforce mx 4000 (utter crap). Additionaly, for the moment I recommend avoiding dual processor and dual video card (called crossfire or sli). These have greater ability, but take a special kind of programming to be utilized which isn't done in current game design (concurrent computing is very hard).

Specs you want:
-Amd 64 processors are the way to go. These are typically outperforming their Intel peers, better price, and very good quality. I would recommend at least an amd 64 3500+ which costs about $201 (what I personally use), preferablly go a little past that now to maybe an amd 64 4000+ which cost about $334.

-For video cards, I recommend a radeon x850xt. It has great cooling abilities and performs very well on all current games. It only runs about $173 now which is much cheaper than when I bought the one I'm using. *Make certain you get a PCI-Express video card and and that the motherboard is PCI-Express compatible. You can see all the current bechnmarks for videocards here. Older video card benchmarks can be found through here.

-Ram, 1gig is the current standard, but that is going out of style quickly. Save yourself some money and hassle in the future by getting a 2gig set (2 sticks of 1gig that come as a single package). Ram is very easy to transfer and carry over to new machines, so you can use that for a very long time. Due to limitations in windows xp, most computers can't go past 2 gigs, so that is the equivalent of maxing a stat for a good time.

-Hard drive, size depends on how you use your computer and lifestyle. The important thing is rpms. Aim for at least 7200 rpm hd, but a 10,000 rpm is a very nice upgrade to consider. However, if you are tight on money, go with a 7,200 and put that money elsewhere.

If you want to know about the quality of a specific piece of hardware, try looking up benchmarks for it on tom'shardware.com. Hope this helps.

This was a MASSIVE help, but now i have a few more questions ^^ (Im still a noob at this...) What type of motherboard should i be looking at, as well as power supply, Gigs for the Hard drive, and CD/DVD/CD-RW drives? I dont need any other equipment like monitors and keyboards and such, just the main deal. DVD would be nice, but not a necessity, and the same with a CD-RW drive. I know nothing about power supply or Hard Drives, so thats my main focus still.

This threads name should be changed to "Rones builds Tim a new computer" haha. My price range is probably around $1000 or so, but as always...saving money is good too. Thank you again

 

[Rones]

What type of motherboard should i be looking at

Motherboard depends on the processor and video card you get. The processor has a number of pins and you need a mb that matches it. Same goes for your video card. If you go through one of those custom build sites like I provided in my first post, they will list motherboards that are compatible with your other selections. Typicaly the default mb they recommend works fine. If you want to try building it yourself, just post what other parts you are going to use and we can help you find a matching board.

Gigs for the Hard drive

This depends on how you use your computer. If you only have 2-3 games you play regularly, you don't download big movies, or 50 gigs of mp3s then you can get by easily with a 60-80 gig harddrive. If you typically have many games installed at once and lots of stuff taking up space on your hard drive, then a 200gig is the safe route.

power supply

I currently run a amd 64 3500+ and the radeon x850xt with a 350w supply. You can get by with a small powersupply if you don't have lots of extras in your computer draining power. However, if you want a comfortable margin for error the current par is a 400w supply. An important factor to consider when looking at power supplies is their db noise level. Nothing can ruin a fun time with a computer faster than a noisy powersupply. Most power supplies include this information with their product, beware the ones that don't.

This threads name should be changed to "Rones builds Tim a new computer" haha. My price range is probably around $1000 or so, but as always...saving money is good too.

Let's see what I can do with $1000 on newegg.com
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 1GHz HT Socket 939 Processor $282
Radeon x850xt $164 This video card comes with Splinter Cell Pandora Tommorow and Prince of Persia the Sands of Time.
GeIL Value 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) $146
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $96
NEC Black DVD Burner $44
ABIT KN8 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard $90
Rosewill TU-155 Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window (includes 400w power supply) $55
Total: $877

Buy those and you could build your own gaming machine. While its no extreme machine, it can play most any game out currently on moderate to high settings. Best gameplay for the buck.

 

[Tim Wakefield]

Thanks Rones, your help is greatly appreciated. In 2 weeks i will have a much better computer thanks to you. Take Care ^^