desmo2
New Member
Molon Labe
Posts: 891
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Post by desmo2 on Dec 5, 2004 14:47:16 GMT -5
I'm thinking about putting together a better gaming system. Can you guys with computer-brains give me some advice on how to put together a good gaming system on a budget? What are things I NEED, and what are things I REALLY WANT? Remember, my computer knowledge is pretty limited. My wife has a CIS degree, but she doesn't know much about requirements for gaming. I would still like the pc to be able to handle internet, e-mail and Office programs.
Keep in mind that I don't know details on what processor speed, memory, hard drive size, etc. does for me. Just give me the numbers, I'll take your word for it!
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Lamron
Benevolent Dictator
Posts: 5,219
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Post by Lamron on Dec 5, 2004 22:24:55 GMT -5
A) Buy the biggest, best (most expensive) video card you can. This is not the place to save money. Expect to pay $300-$500 for this one componant.
B) Any decent brand 17" monitor will be fine. 21" and bigger monitors aren't really needed when you are only two feet from the screen. Pay no attention to the "max resolution" numbers. You will never use whatever the highest resolution setting the monitor has (makes everything way too small to read) LCD and flat screen monitors save desk space, but otherwise cost too much. Some people report eyestrain with LCD.
C) Hard drive: unless you store alot of video, or keep several large games installed at once, huge drives aren't really needed. 40 gigs is plenty for most people. However, drives are getting so cheap, it doesn't hurt to go bigger if it doesn't cost much.
D) Don't buy a MAC.
E) Memory: 512megs bare minimum. More is better. If you buy a 512meg machine, make sure that is ONE 512 chip, not TWO 256 chips. My Dell has two slots. A 512 and an empty slot. I can upgrade by adding 512 in the other slot. If both slots are being used, you have to remove some memory to add some. Not efficient.
F) Processor speed. More is obviously bettter, but you won't really have alot of choice. Most manufactures are selling approximately the same speeds at any given time.
G) Expandability: Having anything built directly onto the mother board is bad. Ask anyone with an on-board video card. All componants should be slotted for easy upgrade/replacement. Ideally you should have two more slots beyond everything you plan on putting in this computer. Always leave room for that "extra-super-do-everything-special-you-didn't-know-about-before-but-now-can't-live-without" componant.
H) Friends don't let friends by MACs.
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RedRock
LPmember
Never ask what kind of computer a person uses--if it's a Mac, he'll say; if not, why embarrass him?
Posts: 4,970
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Post by RedRock on Dec 6, 2004 8:02:17 GMT -5
Check out the requirements for Doom3, the latest, greatest game, they say, to get an idea of where things are headed soon, real soon: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- doom.neoseeker.com/DOOM_3/PC/pages/system_requirementsa/"Doom 3 System Requirements Minimum Specifications * A 1.5-gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 chip or AMD Athlon 1500. * 384 megabytes of memory. * Two gigabytes of hard drive space. * An nVidia GeForce 3 graphics card or better; or an ATI Technologies 8500 or better. Recommended Specifications * 2Ghz CPU or AMD 2500+ * 512 megabytes of memory. * Two gigabytes of hard drive space. * Radeon 9700 or an nVidia GeForce4 ti4600 graphics card or better. * 5.1 surround sound audio Worry Free Specifications * 3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 chip or AMD Athlon 64 3000+. * 1 gigabyte of memory. * Two gigabytes of hard drive space. * An nVidia 6800 graphics card or an ATI X800XT * 6.1 surround sound audio The Lowest supported GPU is a Geforce 4 MX (which is even lower performing than a Geforce 3). Supported video cards will be: GF 4MX GF 3 GF 4 GF FX 5X00 series and higher RADEON 8500s, 9000s and higher In PC Gamer's Exclusive world premiere review, they recommend at least: Any 2Ghz CPU. 512MB RAM. Radeon 9800 or equiv (ie FX5900) 5-channel sound card and speakers." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- My comments: Any modern computer will handle email, word processing, and number crunching. Microsoft markets programs which are cross-platform (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) so that, for example, I can create a Word document on my work PC and email it to myself to finish up at home on my Mac to then email back to the office to print at work the next day, without floppies or paper. The more important thing with email is the connection method and carrier. I still use aol for my primary email account, but their service and dial-up connections suck big time. I use my cable tv provider with a cable modem and get nearly 3000k download speeds--it's beautiful. Gaming, then, is the difference, and Lamron is right, you want as fast a cpu as you can get, as much RAM as you can get, and as good a video board as you can afford--the video board has a processor and dedicated RAM--check out the specific video board specs to see what you're buying. Doom 3 requires 64 Mb of VRAM and recommends 128 Mb of VRAM. I played it on my brother's PC over Thanksgiving and at 64 Mb VRAM and fast everything and minimized everything, it was still laggy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- As for Macs, please don't hate me because I'm beautiful!
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Marauder(CDN)
New Member
One who plunders; especially, a pirate; a corsair; a marauder; a sharper
Posts: 1,047
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Post by Marauder(CDN) on Dec 15, 2004 22:11:56 GMT -5
I have an AMD XP3200 "gamer" I would go for an Asus 939 socket AMD 3000 or 3200 CPU 2x512 of "quality" PC3200 a Minimum of an ATI 9600XT+ or Nvidia FX5900 try and find a M/B with Gigabyte LAN..they are better for HS it is a hard call to get what you want,I know what I want but cost is the key.I have way to much tied up in my system which is becoming outdated fast and I am just reaching the 1 yr old mark.
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Post by Meatgrinder_Malone on Dec 22, 2004 16:39:35 GMT -5
Howdy fellow Playgrounders... I built my machine a little over a year ago I have a 2.4Ghz P4 CPU Asus P4C800-E Deluxe mobo 512 PC3200 RAM (I think I used corsair) 40G SATA HD I have had absolutely no problems with this setup. I think the 2.4GHz CPU was scrambling my 2.4GHz cordless phones, though... Also, at the time I was waiting for the new ATI 9600XT card, so I bought this REAL cheap ($30) 64MB chinese video card that I intended to replace as soon as the 9600 came out, but since it was running just fine, I cancelled the 9600XT and have been using this card ever since. I agree that it is pretty lightweight when it comes to specs, but what the hey, I'm so cheap I can deal with it. I was thinking of picking up a nVidia 5700LE card that is also going to satisfy my home video need, and I would think that this card should also game at least as well as what I have now. On a somewhat similar note, I just purchased a new Small Form Factor chassis. While shopping for a new video card, i discovered the new PCI-X technology that is quickly replacing 8X AGP. If I were shopping for a new mobo, I would make sure it has PCI-X, as there now seems to be a larger selection for those over the AGP. So, just like gambling, spend only the amount you are willing to lose, as your computer will be out of date in about 6 months!
Just my $.01. (the other $.01 went to the tax man)
meatgrinder
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desmo2
New Member
Molon Labe
Posts: 891
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Post by desmo2 on Mar 6, 2005 12:22:48 GMT -5
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RedRock
LPmember
Never ask what kind of computer a person uses--if it's a Mac, he'll say; if not, why embarrass him?
Posts: 4,970
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Post by RedRock on Mar 6, 2005 12:47:31 GMT -5
Pay as much or as little as you want, it still won't be a Mac, so it doesn't matter which way you waste your money. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
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Post by feliks on Mar 6, 2005 15:34:11 GMT -5
--If you are truly building your PC from the ground up, the fellas here have covered it well already. Depending on how much cash you have to play with. --One often overlooked (I did until recently) piece of critical hardware is your power source. I suggest you invest in one that is at least 350watt or higher.
--I use a 400watt source by Antec. Good brand about $80.00. I replaced a seriously inadaquite 167watt source Compac slapped into my tower to save cash. My 2nd drive(DVD/CDrom drive where I prefer to have my Mohaa disc) often didn't have enough power to run, so it failed. As well as countless times I tryed to boot up my computer and it stalled. Causing me to power down and retry.
--My best friend a puter wiz, told me this would help me, at it truly did. Good advice for all, acctually.
Good luck
Feliks
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Marauder(CDN)
New Member
One who plunders; especially, a pirate; a corsair; a marauder; a sharper
Posts: 1,047
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Post by Marauder(CDN) on Mar 6, 2005 21:57:37 GMT -5
the only issue i see is you are spending money on pieces you are going to pull out. Also...unless they put it in from the get go...you have just voided your warranty. As soon as you break the seal on the tower to put in the 9800...bye bye warranty. Find a local computer shop and have them spec it out. Sometimes these IBM's and Dell's..Compaq's all seem like a good deal...but as a parttime tech/business operator I find them way to rigid to work on.(as in fixing them)
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Marauder(CDN)
New Member
One who plunders; especially, a pirate; a corsair; a marauder; a sharper
Posts: 1,047
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Post by Marauder(CDN) on Mar 10, 2005 19:27:21 GMT -5
just for a reference..as such Chenming 601 AE tower Enermax FM465 PSU Asus A7N8X-deluxe rev 2.0-Trats 1008mod3 BIOS AMD Barton 2500-220x110-1.75 v Corsair TwinX1024C2PT (220mhzx1.70v) ATI 9600XT (GPU526mhzx312DDR ram) SB Audigy2ZS Logitech Z5300(480watts 5.1) 2x120gig max SATA x RAID0 1-30gig Max B/U 1-30gig Max (2nd XP Pro install) Lite-On DVD-RW Mitsumi 40/16/48 CDRW cooloing-5x80cm purple LED fans Thermaltake Volcano11+ this is all a dual booting XP Pro system..one for gaming and one for strictly net and burning+ all my business backup and invoicing...like I said..too much money to upgrade at this point...but my kids system.. Asus A7N8X-X AMD Barton 2500-200x11(XP3200) 3x256 OCZPC3200El-Gold MSI Ti4200VTD8X-128 video card SB Live MP3 Edition Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 2x20 gig Max Lite-On DVDrw Lg DVD rom Chieftec dragon(Gloss Blue) 2x92cm Blue Led fans 2x80cm Blue Led Fans thermaltake 6Cu+ CPU cooler Enermax FM465 PSU
all have rounded UV reactive cables plus my system has 4 feet of Purple EL wire on Windowed door...both are a little extreme but it is all in fun.
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desmo2
New Member
Molon Labe
Posts: 891
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Post by desmo2 on Mar 14, 2005 11:10:51 GMT -5
These are sooo cool! www.alienware.com/Product_Pages/desktop_all_gaming.aspxOf course I want the Aurora ALX, but reality dictates I look closer at the Area 51 3500. Bummer about the two 256Mb chips, though. Now I just have to appropriate funding from the United Spouse Congress.
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