Computer Purchasing Question.

[CCIP]

Your biggest problem here, aside from potentially iffy PSU wattage (which might make upgrading difficult), is the video card. Be warned that it's extremely weak and almost non-gaming-worthy. So yes, that will be bottleneck #1 - if you can get a stronger video card with it, things will be looking up. It's still not really a powerhouse and, personally, I would suggest budgeting more like $800-900 for this kind of purchase if you want to do games. It'll last you much longer as a result. So I'm not sure whether $468 + the cost of another used video card will be really worth the effort here when for even a couple of hundred bucks more you could have a much more solid system built...

[FIREWALL]

I noticed No Warrenty info. Have you looked at TigerDirect and NewEgg ?

They are haveing sales and a good selection of starter rigs.

[Arclight]

Wattage isn't even that important for a PSU. You need enough of it, obviously (~500W is good for mainstream setup), but a 'bad' one won't deliver it where it is needed. It's more likely to damage the rest of the system when it goes as well (and might go sooner), since protection circuitry is the first thing they save cost on.

You'll want to know how many Amps it delivers on 12V rail(s), and preferably the brand+model number. PSUs get reviewed all the time: if you know what's in there, you can figure out if it's any good.


When it comes to pre-build systems that aren't specifically targeted at gaming, there are 2 things pretty much gauranteed: The PSU is crap, even by non-gaming standards, and the graphics card is a joke.


4GB RAM is plenty. There's a difference between 32-bit and 64-bit systems in that 64-bit can use more memory for applications (32-bit is limited to 2GB). However, the application (a game, for example) needs to be 64-bit as well. The number of games that have a 64-bit executable is extremely low, only ones I can think of off the top of my head are DCS A-10C and Crysis. So; the vast majority of games can never use more then 2GB. Anyone telling you you need more than 4GB total for gaming doesn't know what they are on about.


Asus and Gigabyte make excellent boards. Think MSI generally does very well for overclocking. Asrock is decent, but it is/was a budget brand; not ideal for gaming.


$800 for a decent gaming rig sounds about right, little on the cheap side actually.

Of course, it all depends on what you're planning on playing on it. If you plan on just running SH4 for the next few years you don't need an expensive PC.

Originally Posted by Arclight

Wattage isn't even that important for a PSU. You need enough of it, obviously (~500W is good for mainstream setup), but a 'bad' one won't deliver it where it is needed. It's more likely to damage the rest of the system when it goes as well (and might go sooner), since protection circuitry is the first thing they save cost on.

You'll want to know how many Amps it delivers on 12V rail(s), and preferably the brand+model number. PSUs get reviewed all the time: if you know what's in there, you can figure out if it's any good.


When it comes to pre-build systems that aren't specifically targeted at gaming, there are 2 things pretty much gauranteed: The PSU is crap, even by non-gaming standards, and the graphics card is a joke.


4GB RAM is plenty. There's a difference between 32-bit and 64-bit systems in that 64-bit can use more memory for applications (32-bit is limited to 2GB). However, the application (a game, for example) needs to be 64-bit as well. The number of games that have a 64-bit executable is extremely low, only ones I can think of off the top of my head are DCS A-10C and Crysis. So; the vast majority of games can never use more then 2GB. Anyone telling you you need more than 4GB total for gaming doesn't know what they are on about.


Asus and Gigabyte make excellent boards. Think MSI generally does very well for overclocking. Asrock is decent, but it is/was a budget brand; not ideal for gaming.


$800 for a decent gaming rig sounds about right, little on the cheap side actually.

Of course, it all depends on what you're planning on playing on it. If you plan on just running SH4 for the next few years you don't need an expensive PC.

Well the reason I was considering this is that I was wanting to run the games I have now better until I at least leave and then maybe upgrade it or do whatever I need to it to make it better after I ship. But I might just hold off then and go to NewEgg or something of the sort after I get done with bootcamp and purchase myself a nice gaming computer, I was looking at being able to play what i have now perfectly smooth (Sh4, 3,FSX, BF2, TS3, etc etc.) And hopefully being able to run Sh5, Amnesia and other games later on that were very graphics intensive. But like I said, I might just hold off any ways, I only have 2 months before I leave any whoo so hey might as well.

But on that note, I have one final question when I do decide to buy a gaming PC what specs should I be looking for in the different components to make it the best that I can?? By this I mean what to look for PSU specs, and other things that way I dont have to come back and ask the same question all over

[Sailor Steve]

And the money you saved going that way will be spent on a decent graphics card, likely $200 minimum. I'd say you want at least a 5770 if ATI is the way you want to go. You also said you wanted 8 gigs of RAM, but the system you described only has 4. How much is that other 4 going to cost? Also you'll have to make sure that the new 4 is a proper match for the old. On the other hand, people who know more than I do said 4 is plenty, so you're probably fine there.

I pointed out the IBuyPower because that's the way I'm planning to go, once I finally get tired of buying guitars and amplifiers.

[FIREWALL]

Good luck USNSRCaseySmith

btw most fairly good vid cards require on an average 500 wats alone.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...997&CatId=7005 500 watts.

This is a good lifetime warrenty vid card.@ $159.99 It kicks arse for the price.

Heres some review :

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April 08, 2011
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Arclight and CCIP are right on about psu.

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I'd say you want at least a 5770 if ATI is the way you want to go.

A million times this! I've had a whole range of cards and I learned the hard way that for gaming there's nothing you need in your system more than a solid workhorse video card, usually in the mid-range rather than the budget range. The 5770 that Steve brings up, which is what I've been running for 1.5 years now, is a card that is more than worth the money and is more than capable of running any game you'll throw at it now. I've owned other PCs before and if there's one thing that ever made or broke my purchase, it was the choice of video card. These days, it's really the video card rather than RAM or processor, that is really at the heart of building a gaming PC. Rather than aiming at specific RAM or processor specs, I'd begin my decision process with the video card and match/compromise other specs around it. Otherwise you will often end up with the video card being your main bottleneck in game performance.

[Arclight]

One nice side-effect of getting things right is that every thing else works rather well too. Gaming is demanding, so PCs aimed at that purpose need to be powerfull.

I remember my brother buying a desktop PC because his laptop couldn't really handle gaming. He bought some cheap thing and ended up with a machine that was just as inept as his latop. Think that says about enough.

Could have been better if he had just got a proper videocard... apart from the fact his hard-drive died(!), so I replaced that for him. Then he started reporting constant crashes and freezes: replaced his PSU and it started working again. Think he still uses it, iirc GeForce 7600 in there now(upgrade from the integrated chip... he buys a desktop as an upgrade from his laptop and ends up with another integrated chip... seriously). Not brilliant, but he only plays CoD and that it can handle... kinda.