Help with PC specs

[PeteSnook]

Hi. Not sure if this is the right way to post this, but I am thinking of buying a new PC, and am not sure what spec to look for. The main games I want to play are SH3, SH4, LOMAC and F4. Will all of these run on a Vista Home machine, or will I have to look for someone who still sells PC's with XP?
Also, in terms of graphics cards, I was looking at the Dell XPS specs, and they seem to offer 256Mb ATI Radeon, or 512Mb Nvidia GeForce 9800GT cards. I presume the GeForce is a better card, but will all of these games work ok with either card?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[SUBMAN1]

Hi. Not sure if this is the right way to post this, but I am thinking of buying a new PC, and am not sure what spec to look for. The main games I want to play are SH3, SH4, LOMAC and F4. Will all of these run on a Vista Home machine, or will I have to look for someone who still sells PC's with XP?
Also, in terms of graphics cards, I was looking at the Dell XPS specs, and they seem to offer 256Mb ATI Radeon, or 512Mb Nvidia GeForce 9800GT cards. I presume the GeForce is a better card, but will all of these games work ok with either card?

Any advice would be much appreciated.For the above games, any dual core (You will want a dual core for Falcon AF) or better CPU would work, with 2 GB RAM minimum if you plan on Vista. Best vid card you can buy for a good price right now is a 4850 - ATI. It will beat your 9800 and only costs about $150 if you look for a deal.

-S

[Raptor1]

Ugh, why do you people keep reminding me my hardware is outdated and that I need to upgrade my comp?

Anyway, I strongly recommend the ATI cards, but I don't really know how they compare to the nVidia cards (Except what I see in benchmarks) because I haven't used one in 5 years, otherwise, yeah, get 2 gigs or more RAM and a Dual-Core processor

And don't bother with Vista, in fact, don't ever mention that name in my presence again :D

[SUBMAN1]

Ugh, why do you people keep reminding me my hardware is outdated and that I need to upgrade my comp?

Anyway, I strongly recommend the ATI cards, but I don't really know how they compare to the nVidia cards (Except what I see in benchmarks) because I haven't used one in 5 years, otherwise, yeah, get 2 gigs or more RAM and a Dual-Core processor

And don't bother with Vista, in fact, don't ever mention that name in my presence again :DI think Tom's sums it up nicely:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,1987-3.html

Ignore his $175 price though. I've seen that card for less than $150.

-S

The Radeon 4850 is the new people’s champion, instantly bringing yesterday’s $300 performance level down to the mainstream $175 price point. The Radeon 4850 will best the GeForce 9800 GTX, stand toe-to-toe with the newer GeForce 9800 GTX+, and do it all for less money. This card has a lot of potential when used on its own, and becomes a devastating force when paired with a second 4850 in a Crossfire configuration.

[PeteSnook]

Thanks for the replies all...think I will look into the ATI opion.

Thanks again

[SUBMAN1]

No problem man! Just an idea - this expired yesterday, but that card can be had for that little of money:

POWERCOLOR AX4850 512MD3-RT Radeon HD 4850 512MB Video Card $149.99AR Free Shipping, Aug. 9 7 AM

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/14-131-112-TS?$S180W$

newegg has the POWERCOLOR AX4850 512MD3-RT Radeon HD 4850 512MB Video Card, with FREE ATI remote (while supplies last), for a low $149.99 after rebate and Coupon Code: VGA8815. Free 3 Business Day Shipping. Tax in CA, NJ, NY, TN, PR.
$30 rebate Exp 8/15/08