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  • #2262280

    Buying a gaming pc help!

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    by petersnoboard93 ·

    I’m trying to build a gaming pc on dell. I thought about building one myself but decided against it. So my question is, will this pc I build be a strong gaming pc, what should i upgrade? Thanks

    Components
    -Intel ? Core?2 Duo Processor E6400 (2.13GHz, 1066 FSB)

    -Genuine Windows Vista? Home Premium

    -19 inch E197FP Analog Flat Panel

    -2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs

    -320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache?

    -16x DVD+/-RW Drive

    -Intel? Graphics Media Accelerator X3000

    -Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

All Answers

  • Author
    Replies
    • #2542535

      Clarifications

      by petersnoboard93 ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      Clarifications

    • #2542527

      get as much memory as you can afford

      by cg it ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      and a mainboard that supports gobs of memory [some will support up to 16 GB] Get a Direct X 10 capable graphics card with as much onboard memory as you can afford [think 512MB]. Get the 320 to 380 bit memory interface [think $600 USD for just the graphics card].

      Most mainboards have 3 or more SATA interfaces. don’t settle for just 1 SATA drive. Find a mainboard that supports RAID 5 with SATA and get more than 2 drives. Newer games that will be coming out will take up far more HDD space than todays games.

      Don’t skimp on your display. Many DirectX 10 graphics cards support HDTV as well as DVI. A 19″ LCD display today is just standard fare. 32″ displays or even Quad displays are better than just a skimpy 19″ LCD. [see digitaltigers.com zenview powertrio display].

      • #2537806
        • #2537733

          Yep… right on!!

          by rbardy ·

          In reply to Guide

          Read this… spot on!!

        • #2537719

          Might want to look @ Samsung SyncMaster 940BX

          by jasocher ·

          In reply to Guide

          This is an awesome 19″ monitor. I’ve got a 17″ version as well and it’s also a kick ass gaming monitor.

      • #2537743

        Only so much memory

        by aptechme ·

        In reply to get as much memory as you can afford

        Don’t forget that unless you are going to purchase the 64bit version of Windows, don’t bother getting more than 3 gig of RAM. 32bit versions won’t support much more.

        • #2529003

          Memory limitations

          by ifitz ·

          In reply to Only so much memory

          Actually 32 bit Windows will run up to 4 GB of RAM, There are documented registry changes on the Microsoft site to optimize your system. As for purchasing 64 bit Windows, you will need to verify that there are drivers for all of your hardware before taking that leap.

        • #2528957

          Theory versus practise

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to Memory limitations

          The OS will take it. My computer has 6 memeory slots and will handle 16 GB of RAM.

          But if you are running XP, the max is 3.5 – if you put in 4GB it will only see 3.5. Your computer may be different.

          James

        • #2528900

          The OP stated Vista Home Premium as the OS

          by evil never dies ·

          In reply to Only so much memory

          Vista HP will handle 4GB with no problems.

    • #2542491

      Don’t cheat on power

      by mjd420nova ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      Get yourself a nice 750 watt power supply to keep that all running, otherwise it’ll get toasted with not enough juice and the voltages will start to drop off and roast things good. A good PCI-E Nvidia video card with loads (512MB) of memory should handle just about all the games out there.

      • #2542313

        $$$

        by petersnoboard93 ·

        In reply to Don’t cheat on power

        I really only have like $1,500 to spend can you make any recomendations for hardware w/ in that price range, also do you know of any online guides that help you build a pc and can help me reasurch?

        Also can you make a list like
        Hardware-Minimum
        Harddrive-At least 320 gb
        or
        memory-at least 4gb

        or w/e

        Thanks

        • #2542305

          plenty of sites

          by cg it ·

          In reply to $$$

          overclocker cafe is a good site for gaming.

          http://www.overclockercafe.com/

          gamespot has articles on next generation games that use DirectX 10.

          Thats really what you want to research, the game developers and what’s in store in the future, then plan accordingly.

        • #2537777

          GO CUSTOM!

          by mark ·

          In reply to plenty of sites

          You will never get the best Motherboard or graphics card or fastest memory from a DELL.
          I might be Bias because I build these systems for a living Buut you will not be able to tweak alot of things on the MB let allone get the full power of what it is capable of from DELL. The sell average systems for the AVERAGE user. The are usually not as upgradable down the road when you need just alittle more power for that New game you just have to have!!
          If you whant some more advise write mark@tek-plus.org.

        • #2537828

          Home build vs Specialist builder…

          by ghickey591 ·

          In reply to $$$

          Hi,

          I built myself a decent gaming rig last year for around the money you’re talking about – it is the most cost effective way to go, especially given that component costs are about 25-33% less than what you get them for over here in Europe.

          If you want to build yourself one, there are other posts here with good guidelines- personally, I would go for at least 2GB of branded RAM, Athlon64 2.4GHz or above, Nvidia 7950GT with 256MB onboard VRAM or better, 2 SATA disks in a stripe (RAID-0) with a third storage disk if you can afford it, a sound card (Soundblaster) and a flat panel with a 5ms response time or less.

          On the other hand, you have a whole load of specialist builders who start at below your price range:
          http://www.ibuypower.com/
          http://www.vigorgamingpc.com/
          http://www.abs.com/app/ult_compare.asp
          http://www.aeoncraft.com/
          http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
          http://www.buyxg.com/
          http://www.widowpc.com/

          ..to well over your price range:
          http://www.alienware.com/
          http://www.falcon-nw.com/
          http://www.voodoopc.com/

          I have not bought anything from any of them except Alienware (cracking pieces of kit – just a bit expensive) so I can’t vouch for them but all of them look good on paper. I’d do a bit of research into them – see what kind of support they offer and see if you can customise a machine the way you want it.

          Good luck with it and happy gaming!
          G.

        • #2537788

          It is a quandry

          by dreux.grever ·

          In reply to $$$

          Honestly, $1500 isn’t really enough money to build what most people consider to be a strong gaming pc. So it all depends on your gaming habits (do you play Vanguard, which needs a Cray to run well) or something a little less graphic intensive. Also, do you mind running games at lower graphic settings.

          If your budget is really that limited, get 2 gb of memory (4 is better if any money is left over at the end), some sort of Nvidia 7900 or 7950 video card with 256 mb of memory, I’d go with smaller, but faster hard drives if I could (10,000 rpms) but if you plan on burning lots of video or music the drive you’ve selected is a good choice.

          I this this sort of rig can be bought or built for about your price range and will give you acceptable performance for most of todays games.

          Most of the advice I’m seeing in this thread is from the really hard core machine builders..and you’d need 4-5k to build the machine, let alone buy it.

          Might as well buy a water-cooled Dell in that case. (OK, those are 6500)

        • #2537747

          $1500 is not enough

          by devesh ·

          In reply to It is a quandry

          Very well put Dreux. $1500 is most definitely not enough, and compromising on the video will be the downfall of any gaming PC

          I personally use an overclock 7950GT, the 8800 is still not value for money. However, I would disagree with you on the 256 Video memory. Even a basic game like Flight Simulator X, sucks up all 512MB of video RAM.

          On the Hard Disk front, I find, with 2GB DRAM and the 512 VRAM, I can get away with 7200rpm SATA drives. The game takes a minute or so extra to load, but I can live with that. I have just a puny 200GB drive, and I am happy as a clam, even though I have Quake4, FSX, Call of Duty, Hitman, …. god only knows how many games loaded, along with about 40GB of Music, and another 10GB of photos. No video though.

          I saw some good gaming systems at Tiger that can be brought up to spec for about $2000 – $2250.

          No point spending $1500 and have yourself wishing for a new computer in 6 months. :))

          Regards

          Devesh

        • #2537729

          Read ‘Guide’ Above

          by rbardy ·

          In reply to $$$

          Take a look at that link under ‘Guide’. It has some really good info and some excellent informtion. It’s not always as easy as recommending one part over another. Sometimes you need to understand the ‘why’ before you can spend the extra money on something. Some people love 10,000 rpm HDDs… others can’t justify the price… so it comes down to what you really can afford. That guide does a good job of explaining and pricing for you.

        • #2537692

          Gaming on a tight budget…

          by supportaaa4 ·

          In reply to $$$

          Having built my last system, and doing the research for building my next one (with gaming in mind), your budget is going to put some serious kinks in your “Gaming PC”. The guys telling you max memory, are not exactly looking towards the right thing. As one posted, 3GB is about all you are going to be able to utilize, the rest is wasted memory and money. Look more towards the best processor you can afford… Intel seems to have the best processor on the market, even in light of the latest AMD attempt to even things up a bit. Think about a pair of 200 GB HD’s, instead of one monster size drive. Don’t be afraid to remove games once you finish playing them… no need to leave them on your HD, taking up space! Graphics, Sound Cards and Speakers, are essential to having a great gaming system. Look at the 8000 series Nvidia cards as they offer best graphics rendering at this time, and there is a pretty good selection – price range to choose from. Of course you can spend as much as half your budget on the top graphics card alone, but if eye-candy is the things you desire, then you have to shell out the bucks. Serious gamers will spend almost your whole budget on graphics cards alone! Next, SoundBlaster X-Fi ExtremeGamer, should do good for you, unless you are expecting to setup a home recording studio, which you would then consider their, Fatal1ty model card, but you’ll pay $100 more for it. And as some of the other posters have said, make sure you have enjoy juice for all your hardware. A 750 watt power supply is the minimum you should look at, and I would favor 800 – 900 watt power supplies (it is always better to have more power than need then not enough!) Surround-Sound Speakers are a must as well. I prefer the 5.1,6.1 or even 7.1 setups Creative Labs Gigaworks and Klipsch are great choices, but maybe out of your price range. Logitech and Altec Lansing make decent speakers, at pretty affordable prices. However you have to decide if you are going for visual or audio, with your budget, as you will likely have to settle for budget offering on one or the other. However on important thing to remember: Minimum Requirements of almost all the PC Games look at Processor, Memory, Graphics capability. The best way to find out what you need to concentrate on is go look at the Minimum Requirements and the “Recommended System” on the game(s) you intend to play on your computer. If you can pull it off, go recommended system, but again, you $1500 budget is ham-stringing you a bit, but you should be able to put together a system that can get you by for a couple of years. Most serious gamers will spend $3000+ on their systems, with top end Gaming PC from Alienware reaching almost $8000. For $1500, you are going to have to do some serious studying on the which Processor/Memory/Graphics/Sound combination will get you the most bang for your buck, but remember, research and study is the key to success here! Don’t get in a hurry to spend that money… take a month or so, to check out the Game(s)you want to play’s requirements then work towards matching your system configuration to that.

          Good Luck and Happy Gaming!

      • #2537664

        Power, cooling, and upgradeability of your rig

        by jw_dev ·

        In reply to Don’t cheat on power

        I have owned a Dell XPS 400 since they released them back in October 2005. I just built a new machine to replace it, and I did so for the following reasons:

        1) Lack of space for better graphics cards (most high end cards for gaming run close to 10 inches in length nowadays)

        2) Lack of a good stock PSU (only 375 watts in the XPS 400), and difficulty upgradeing (check forums, lots of people have issues upgrading PSU’s when it comes to Dell because they tend to use BTX instead of ATX). If you want a gaming machine that is going to run a good graphics card, you will need a bigger power supply. You don’t sound like you’re going to run SLI (2 cards at once), so if you’re going to maintain just 1 card then a 500 or 550 watt PSU would probably suit you just fine.

        3) Cooling. If you’re buying an XPS machine it’s closer to a gaming rig than other Dell lineups, however, if you really want to have a “gaming” machine that plays all the latest and greatest stuff, you WILL need a better graphics card and if we’re talking Geforce 8800 whether it be the cheaper GTS version or the GTX, cooling is something Dell doesn’t offer many options on. Those cards run very hot (GTX will get up to around 70 degrees celcius at least without 3rd party cooling)

        Also, you have to look at what resolutions you want to play your games at. If you want higher resolutions than 1280×1024, new games coming out are going to slow you down with a 512 MB card. The Geforce 8800 GTS 640MB card is a great buy for the money. Higher res = need more video ram. Games are also leaning more towards using heavy use of shaders and moving away from high polygon counts as in the past, so video ram is becoming more of a necessity.

        As far as graphics cards go in general, I would wait a few months – ATI is going to release a new line of high end cards that will force Nvidia to roll out something better than the Geforce 8800 GTX, which will drive prices down on those cards. I would pick up a GTX once prices drop because the card is a monster and it isn’t going to remain in the 500-600 dollar arena for much longer.

        I would personally re-evaluate your decision to not build your own machine because once again, Dell uses BTX cases and motherboards, which are NOT standard. Also, Dell tends to use chipsets that are pretty much junk for their motherboards. If you ever wanted to upgrade your processor and keep using your Dell, you are forced to keep using the motherboard.

        Also, now is a great time to build on your own because Intel just slashed prices big time on their Core2Duo chips that pretty much have put them right on par with prices of AMD and Core2Duo simply outperforms AMD right now.

        I’m sure I have more rambling thoughts in my head but hopefully some of this was useful.

      • #2529398

        Nonsense, 750W PSU is a ripoff

        by georgeou ·

        In reply to Don’t cheat on power

        http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10877_11-6161342.html

        Using a quality low-noise 330W PSU. 430W PSU is plenty overkill for the biggest single PCI-E Video Card rig you can buy.

    • #2542303

      You need a better video card

      by jamesrl ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      Basically many modern games demand one of two video chipsets – ATI or nVidia. Many won’t install with an Intel or SiS or other video chipset.

      You don’t have to spend $500 on a video card. The price performance ratio really isn’t there.

      If you are buying now, I would recommend a card that supports Vista’s HDCP; Midrange cards that support this include the Radeon 1600 Pro, 1650 XT , or nVidia 7900/8500/8600 cards – check the individual manufacturer’s specs though.

      James

      • #2537825

        Demending oon your gaming habits….

        by carlsf1 ·

        In reply to You need a better video card

        I would say the following needed….
        MEMORY for gaming 4GB if you can afford it VISTA very hungry before you start your game.
        Video CARD min of 512Mb PCI-E Card otherwise VISTS starts hogging your RAM, forget low end or onboard video turn that off if have PCI-E card
        LAST but not least VISTA Ultimate if your requirement are for online, otherwise you will spend hours trying to connect.

        Personally I would stick to XP PRO SR2

        Regards Carl

      • #2528992

        A better video card

        by gis bun ·

        In reply to You need a better video card

        Most will probably agree that the NVIDIA based cards are the one to use. For the majority of games out there [and I test gaming for Stereo-3D – see http://www.mtbs3d.com], you are better off with a NVIDIA based card because they are always listed in the requirements. Not all ATI cards are [listed but it doesn’t mean they can or can’t be used].

        Of course only NVIDIA cards have Stereo-3D!

        • #2528973

          I’ve owned both

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to A better video card

          And I would say it goes back and forth which is the best bang for the buck.

          Many people who review cards for a living will tell you the image quality in most ATI cards is better. Often nVidias are faster for the same money, but it is a see saw battle.

          Most video cards will work in Vista with DX10, BUT DX10 provides the games developer with the ability to do alot more and only a few nVidia cards (8800/8600) do hardware acceleration for this. Another Vista feature HDCP, the ability to play HD/Blue Ray DVDs is supported by most recent new cards by ATI/nVidia.

          James

    • #2537844

      Velocity Micro?

      by dafrog ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      I recently got a Velocity Micro ProMagix e2025… From Best Buy. Instant gratification (no waiting for delivery, pick it up and install!), Velocity Micro-quality.
      And very similar to your specs, with a 512Mo VRAM dedicated nVidia graphic card (7600GS – not the top, but good enough to see the offer get steady on Direct-X compatible cards). Vista Premium installed (without any crapware), and I have setup a dual boot with XP that works just fine.
      Highly recommended.
      Go check http://www.velocitymicro.com/ (and your local Best Buy, too… I was surprised to see these machines at BB.
      Cheers.

    • #2537837

      The config depends on the game you want to run

      by devesh ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      Hi

      Your above config may suffice for basic games, but if you are consider Quake4, F.E.A.R., Flight Simulator X, etc., it will not suffice.

      Building a gaming PC is not easy nor is it cheap. Most of all, a gaming PC is NOT a business PC that has a more powerful processor and more memory. Dell does have some gaming PC, but I do not know your budget, and these babies will cost upwards of $3000. A good compromise is TigerDirect, or a mom-and-pop shop near by. You may want to look at this configurable machine at Tiger. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3049087&CatId=1886

      The heart of the gaming PC is not the processor, it is the Video card and therein will lie your problem. The good video card that is ruling the gaming market is the NVidia 88xx series. This supports SLI so you can add additional video processing power as required later, but each video card will require abut 400W of power if not more, and will produce heat like some thermal reactor, so you will need a specialised motherboard that is designed for heat, and a gaming case/cabinet which has at least 3 or 4 fans, one of which should be 120mm or greater.

      The E6400 will suffice, but if you can afford it, go for an E6600 2.4Ghz Core2Duo.

      Motherboard, I would recommend something other than Asus. They are having problems with many of their motherboards, especially the lower cost ones.

      The DRAM you will need gaming memory that will run at 800Mhz GUARANTEED. Something like the Corsair XPS RAM. 2GB minimum, 4GB preferred. For example Quake4 in high res mode sucks up 1.5GB+ of memory. FSX sucks up 1.4GB. You sure don’t want a memory swapping involving disk-writes in the middle of the game.

      I have already explained about the video card. Get one with at least 512MB Video memory. If you find the 88xx too expensive, then the 7950XT will be the next step down. Another option is ATI’s Crossfire.

      Finally the power supply. You will need a 600W-700W dual rail power supply if you are with one high-end Video card, and a 1000W power supply if you are with 2 video cards.

      In a Flat Panel, look for detailed specs. The regular panels that Dell offers, have too slow refresh rates and may not work for a fast paced game.

      Other things are relatively minor.

      Hope this helps.

      Regards

      Devesh

    • #2537834

      Memory and Video

      by philtbc ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      As indicated by others, get the highest DuoCore that you can afford along with memory, and definitely a good to great VC, 256 min up to 512, and don’t forget you need to keep your box cool as well…
      cheers

    • #2537812

      video card

      by va6h ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      if im not mistaken you have an integrated video card. That doesnt make this a gaming pc. and you want to use windows vista and the vista rating depends mainly on the video card. You badly need a better graphics card to play some games. i would also advise you to upgrade yor processor to an e6600 which has twice the amount of cache and outerperforms the top AMD processors in most benchmarks.

    • #2537808

      Here’s your answer…

      by dhartman ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      • #2537780

        Only if you want to throw away 5 k in hard earned money

        by rservicer ·

        In reply to Here’s your answer…

        Alienware was once good it seams
        but now under Dell
        enough said, Just Google Alienware
        your eyes will be open

    • #2537805

      My Opinion

      by rkuhn040172 ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      I’d get a better video card first.

      Then, if budget allows, I’d either get a 10,000 RPM drive or two drives (don’t have to be 320 GB each) and RAID 0 them (striping) for performance.

      Also, very important, pay attention to the monitor. Get one with DMI input and very low response times. My LCD right now is a 2 ms response time and is nice. If you really play a lot of games, not sure you’d be happy with 6-8 ms response times.

    • #2537795

      Small Problem

      by troy1268 ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      I read your request and in my opinion I think you will have a slight slow down when you play games because of the Intel graphics installed. The sound card will probaly be better if you installed one from creative labs. You will definitely do better by installing at least a 512 mb card then you should not have any problems. But like I said it is my opinion, someone else may suggest something different

    • #2537792

      A Couple of Thoughts

      by rwbyshe9 ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      Sounds like a Dell XPS that you’re looking at. Here’s what I’d consider.

      1. The monitor – usually Dell bundles monitors in the package that have a Contrast Ratio of 500:1. I would opt NOT to have the monitor included and shop for one that has a minimum of 700:1 Contrast Ratio. The images are quite a bit better at the 700:1 level. A couple of great places to shop online are http://www.tigerdirect.com and http://www.pricewatch.com

      2. RAM, RAM, RAM – I’d opt for 4G of RAM if that is possible for you. I just bought a 2G upgrade to my Dell XPS from Crucial for $135. So Dell may not be the cheapest way to go for that upgrade. (http://www.crucial.com)

      3. Again, if it’s feasable, I’d upgrade the CPU to at least a 2.4GHz and consider the 2.6GHz if that’s possible.

      4. I have no clue about the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator but if it has 256M RAM it should suffice quite nicely. If it doesn’t have 256M you can always upgrade it through Dell or by purchasing a video card later on.

      Those are my thoughts. Hope this helps.

    • #2537762

      Build Your Own

      by jondapicam ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      I recommend building your own. You can get an excellent gaming system for a fraction of the cost. The site I recommend for components is newegg.com.

      Also, when picking out your video card, it’s all about clockspeed, not memory. Keep that in mind.

    • #2537748

      A good start

      by Mark W. Kaelin ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      You have got a good start there. I am currently looking to purchase my next gaming rig so I have been thinking long and hard about this. I see others have chimed in with similar advice, but I will reiterate:

      You need a standalone video card, the best one you can afford. I recommend one of the nVidia DirectX 10 compliant cards. nVidia has a whole line of cards ranging from around $150 to around $600.

      Personally, I buy Alienwares for the specific reason that they offer me more choices then Dell or HP.

      I also saw someone suggest that you stick with XPSP2 — you’ll regret that if you follow it. DirectX 10 is the next big thing in gaming and you don’t want to miss it by not getting Vista.

      Good luck on the quest — I’ll blog about my experiences when I finally decide to pull the trigger.

      • #2537740

        Dell owns Alienware

        by devesh ·

        In reply to A good start

        Hi Mark

        Alienware is now owned by Dell, and their machines cost a bomb.

        I still advocate a wait approach to Vista, not from the Vista bugs stand-point, but getting drivers for the motherboards and other peripherals.

        How many games in the next 6 months do you think will support DX10 ?

        Regards

        Devesh

        • #2537720

          And

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to Dell owns Alienware

          For those of us playing today’s games, upgrading to Vista means DX9 games run slower than they do under XP.

          James

    • #2537738

      Not Bad

      by rbardy ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      Not a bad start for a stock PC, but you would do much better to actually build your pwn. I can see that PC going cold in about 18 months. With a PC you build yourself, you can control (better) the upgrades and scaleability of it without having to worry about manufacture limitations.

    • #2537709

      Choose wisely

      by jkaras ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      There has been a lot of good feedback for you. Basically you need a minimum of 2 gig. The more the merrier. Personally I would go with the pc-6400 ram since it is the new standard. It will stay relevant longer. I would start with 2 gigs and see how your computer performs to your needs. If you need more, then buy more especially if you could wait, it gets cheaper. You can always add it.

      I imagine you are quite proficient with computers so I would reccommend you building your own. You can save money and get quality parts and select brands that have good warrantees. If you are looking for a site that you can trust, has great customer reviews of issues with the parts, great deliveries, no hassel return or rma, then http://www.newegg.com is you place. I use them exclusively and I never have an issue with them vs other sites. For HDDs I would buy Seagate because they have a 5 year warrantee even on the oem! Thats what I get and it is mondo cheaper. As for processor its a coin flip for either Conroe or the AMD X2 line. If you go with the Conroe the reviews for the 2.4 are quite stellar. If you go with the Conroe chip then you better overclock because that is why you buy it. It has the capability to go from 2.4 to 3.4!!! You cant find that sort of overclock anywhere. If you do then you need the right ram and a better cooling solution. Also they have improved the L1 cache and L2 for gaming purposes. Another site for part reviews is http://www.pcstats.com and of course http://www.tomshardware.com. They have good relatively unbiased tests of cutting edge parts.

      Because XP is almost out of support you have to go to Vista. It is too early to trust it mind you but if you gotta go with Vista I would go with Ultimate simply for the extra perks. There is no real security difference between the versions just added bonuses. I would use Xp and once Vista gets going, then get it.

      For the video card of course everything is PCI express now. Go to newegg and see the reviews. You will see which to stay away from, which have driver issues, noise problems ect… If you buy a Dell box you can make it a great upgrade with a high quality card and ram. Only problem you would have is power consumption where you would have to get a good one. If you are gaming a flat screen cant handle the refresh rates that a crt can. If you go with a flat panel then you need to cough up some serious moola. Flat screens are nice for space but not for gaming. They have come along way but they are not quite there unless you spend rediculous money. Also games dont need a huge HDD. Sure they page out during gaming but you dont need a mondo drive. The faster the drive the better and I use 7,200 IDE and they are fine. Sata is the new standard and like I said OEM drives are cheap with the same warrantee. Get a few and and you will be fine. Never forget just becasue Dell built it doesnt mean the warrantee is that great. You still have to talk to someone overseas. You buy a prefab box and you pay extra for that warrantee which isnt that great to begin with.

    • #2537708

      If you would like to specify your comonents try CyberPower

      by joels ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      If you are looking for a gaming PC & would like something similar to an Alienware product, check out http://www.cyberpowerpc.com.

      You can buy a pre-configured gaming system from them, or do like I did & have them custom build one for you with the components & software of your choice.

      This way you can also eliminates all the bloatware associated with the name brand PC’s.

    • #2537707

      I’m a gamer, and I’m also thrifty

      by jamesrl ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      I know I’ve commented elsewhere, but so many people determined to get you to spend a ton of $$, when it is not really necessary.

      1) Your Processor. Believe it or not most current games are not processor intensive. Having a Core2Duo is good, and will give you a marginal improvement over a regular single core Pentium. Don’t feel you have to get the faster ones, just wait. If in two years you are buying games that slow down your PC, you will find that faster Core 2Duos will be reasonably cheap (or quad cores).

      2) Vista. Few games take advantage of DX10. If you really want them, then you have to go Vista. Otherise you may find, as I pointed out in another message, that older games run slower in Vista (of course having fast HW may compensate).

      3) 19 inch Flat Panel. I am an old guy, I still use a CRT. They are still brighter and faster, though the gap is always gettings narrower with time. Many gamers find LCDs easier on the eyes. I also like having the higher 1600×1200 resolution on my CRT – thats important for gaming.

      3) 2 GB of RAM. This is the sweet spot for most gamers today. A 32 bit OS will only recognise 3.5 GB. A big question of course is do you have more slots to add more ram.

      4) SATA. In most games the only thing that HD speed has an impact on is load times, and even then its a wuestionn of waiting a few seconds more.

      5) DVD RW – some games come on DVD these days, but again, has no real impact expect when installing games.

      6) Video card As stated before, this is where you need to spend. But you can get a decent card for $200. If you are focussed on Vista and DX10, then look at the new 8600 series from nVidia. In most current games the difference between a card with 512 MB and 256 is negligible. I would much rather have a faster GPU with 256 than a slower one with 512.

      7) Audio – $100 will get you a decent Soundblaster card that will take some load off the CPU. Consider if you are going for multispeakers. Again, you can delay that purchase now and add it later.

      James

      • #2537649

        Balancing Act…

        by supportaaa4 ·

        In reply to I’m a gamer, and I’m also thrifty

        You have made some good suggestions, but the thing about the processor and upgrading to a better chip later, all depends on the capabilities of the Motherboard. Again, our friend here, is using a shoe-string budget for building a Gaming PC. The processor becomes more important to overall performance when you start using the cheaper Graphics and Sound Cards. The beefer the graphics cards and sound cards, the less work the processor will have to do! The best rule, as I stated earlier, is go check out the Games intended to be played, and make sure the system will handle the minimum requirements, but shoot for the ‘Recommended System Config’. And as someone else suggested, he really should consider going with Window XP Professional w/service pack 2, as opposed to going Vista. That might save him a $100 bucks or so there, and they would have a much more stable platform. But they need to make sure their processor at least meets he minimum requirements their game is calling for, and if they can’t afford to do the ‘recommended processor, then somewhere in the middle would be what I would do, if at all possible. Also check the game(s) you are wanting play’s website, especially the forums and see if it is having issues with Vista!

        Just my experience in building gaming PC’s on a budget, then having to deal with the consequences of my choices.

        Later.

      • #2537644

        Lookup place to compare Video cards

        by meryllogue ·

        In reply to I’m a gamer, and I’m also thrifty

        Video card will be extremely important, as pointed out so many times above. Check out this site… it divides cards by class. You need a Class 1 for serious gaming. http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-Quadro-NVS-110M.2435.0.html or at http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

        • #2537574

          He isn’t building a notebook

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to Lookup place to compare Video cards

          I suggest :
          http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html as one place to start, you can compare two cards easily on many current games.

          http://www.guru3d.com is pretty good too.

          If I was building a gaming PC and had 100 extra dollars to spend, I would put it on a better video card every time.

          My current rig by the way is quite the budget outfit.

          Its a Dell Precision 470 workstation, just bought it off lease for $550 Cdn. It has a dual Core Xeon 3.2 processor (with room on the MB for a second one, which would cost me about $350), 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, 80GB SATA drive. It has a 550 watt PSU with 150 watt of that dedicated to the video card. The only issue is my PCI express 16 slot is beside the only PCI slot, and my video card takes room for the fan/heatsink, the fan needs the next slot room. There are other PCI X slots that I will never use. My system benchmarks very well.

          James

    • #2537654

      DELL?

      by crash84 ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      If your going to go with Dell, then look at the XPS machines. You can get them with SLI, dual video, SATA drives, and Creative sound. Also I would stayaway from Vista and go with XP for your operating system. Still to many bugs in Vista and not many games are supporting it yet.

    • #2537652

      Power, cooling, and upgradeability of Dell

      by jw_dev ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      I have owned a Dell XPS 400 since they released them back in October 2005. I just built a new machine to replace it, and I did so for the following reasons:

      1) Lack of space for better graphics cards (most high end cards for gaming run close to 10 inches in length nowadays), unless you buy an XPS 700 series (the only Dell with a case REASONABLY large enough to handle high-end graphics cards)

      2) Lack of a good stock PSU (only 375 watts in the XPS 400), and difficulty upgradeing (check forums, lots of people have issues upgrading PSU’s when it comes to Dell because they tend to use BTX instead of ATX). If you want a gaming machine that is going to run a good graphics card, you will need a bigger power supply. You don’t sound like you’re going to run SLI (2 cards at once), so if you’re going to maintain just 1 card then a 500 or 550 watt PSU would probably suit you just fine.

      3) Cooling. If you’re buying an XPS machine it’s closer to a gaming rig than other Dell lineups, however, if you really want to have a “gaming” machine that plays all the latest and greatest stuff, you WILL need a better graphics card and if we’re talking Geforce 8800 whether it be the cheaper GTS version or the GTX, cooling is something Dell doesn’t offer many options on. Those cards run very hot (GTX will get up to around 70 degrees celcius at least without 3rd party cooling)

      Also, you have to look at what resolutions you want to play your games at. If you want higher resolutions than 1280×1024, new games coming out are going to slow you down with a 512 MB card. The Geforce 8800 GTS 640MB card is a great buy for the money. Higher res = need more video ram. Games are also leaning more towards using heavy use of shaders and moving away from high polygon counts as in the past, so video ram is becoming more of a necessity.

      As far as graphics cards go in general, I would wait a few months – ATI is going to release a new line of high end cards that will force Nvidia to roll out something better than the Geforce 8800 GTX, which will drive prices down on those cards. I would pick up a GTX once prices drop because the card is a monster and it isn’t going to remain in the 500-600 dollar arena for much longer.

      I would personally re-evaluate your decision to not build your own machine because once again, Dell uses BTX cases and motherboards, which are NOT standard. Also, Dell tends to use chipsets that are pretty much junk for their motherboards. If you ever wanted to upgrade your processor and keep using your Dell, you are forced to keep using the motherboard. New chipset came out? Too bad. New type of socket? Sorry, can’t upgrade with a Dell.

      Also, now is a great time to build on your own because Intel just slashed prices big time on their Core2Duo chips that pretty much have put them right on par with prices of AMD and Core2Duo simply outperforms AMD right now.

      I’m sure I have more rambling thoughts in my head but hopefully some of this was useful.

    • #2537636

      Try Local !

      by coffeyscompcenter ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      have you priced anything at a local PC shop?? somewhere that you can walk in, pull up a stool and talk about your purchase. you are the exact type of customer my business serves. at the $1500 mark i can build you at least that much PC and probably more. plus i do it with full warrantied parts. there are a huge number of us out here who will do the same thing. ask around about local lan partys and go to one. then ask about who they would trust to build them a system. a lot build their own but a name or two will surface.
      i give credit to the big PC builders they have brilliant people in their marketing departments. they keep certain names at the tip of our tongues.
      i feel that without looking at a local builder you are cheating yourself!

    • #2537592

      My Suggested Specs

      by mtarggart ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      I just built a new PC that I am going to use for gaming as well as other things. At this time, I spent just over $1200 buying everything from Newegg.com. Notice I did not buy a monitor, keyboard/mouse or speakers because I have those things already.

      Here is a list of what I have:

      Case
      iStarUSA S-U-H35
      Mother Board
      MSI K9A Platinum
      Memory
      2GB mushkin enhanced HP2-6400

      Proc
      AMD Athlon64 x2 4600+ 2.4Ghz socket AM2

      Video Card
      Sapphire Radeon x1950GT 256MB

      Power Supply
      Hiper HPU-4K580 580W modular

      Optical Drive
      LG GSA-H42LK BK DVD Burner

      Hard Drive
      2-Seagate Baracudda 7200rpm 250GB SATA

      OS
      Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

      I am in the process of ordering 3 more Hard Drives becasue the case has 5 hot swap bays in the front.

      The monitor I have now is a 21″ CRT. I’v ebeen looking at LCD and there is a 19″ Hanns-G for $169 that the reviews on say are great for gaming, if set up properly.

      The Sapphire video card that I bought does support ATi’s Crossfire so if I wanted to add another card in the future I could. It also supports HDCP.

      I would avoid Vista for a while yet because with anything Microsoft, it will have bugs for probably the first year where as XP has been out for several years and is pretty stable.

      So, if you really wanted, you could build a decent gaming system for $1500 easily. Like others have said, it all depends on how much eye candy you want and what type of games you will be playing.

      Hope this helps.

    • #2528998

      Graphically speaking

      by biggles2001 ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      Good Base, but graphically unsound, unless you intend skimping with Dell and buying outside them.
      Specifically the graphics (which I think is on-board) is v. low spec. You should be looking at ATI x1950 or NVidia 880 with SLi dual card capabilities.
      Display wise, you should be looking for a Digital monitor (not Analogue) with digital inputs, so you can pipe digital graphics straight through with no conversion, for max quality and performance.
      Spend thh extra, you will not regret it !

      • #2528963

        MB

        by davidconrad1 ·

        In reply to Graphically speaking

        OK, everyone danced around it, but as I’ve built several systems for both high end graphic work and also for gaming, i’ve come to realize the importance of a very good MotherBoard.
        All the other posters made some very good recommendations but a low end MB can hobble all those ideas. Nothing worse than a MB that can’t take new hardware!
        A good MB can get you started with good if not spectacular hardware and yet let you upgrade to the newest and baddest when your pocketbook is ready.
        I personally like Abit or Gigabyte although almost all the MB manufacturers make at least one good board.
        As someone posted earlier Tomshardware.com and hardocp.com can guide you to the board that you need.
        I’ve bought the best MB I could find several times and populated them with good but not great hardware and later upgraded to the best. It can work well if you do your research.
        Good luck and remember, Not all MotherBoards are built the same!

    • #2528939

      Sub 800$ with 7600GT card (not counting monitor/OS)

      by j-braden ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      I got 720$ in my existing machine – put together in the last 2 weeks (not counting monitor – samsung 204b- 300$ back in Nov06, or speakers)

      Core2duo – E6300 – 183$
      Biostar T965 MB – 105$
      2gig OCZ 6400-800mhz memory 160$
      Nvidia 7600GT – 100$
      ANTEC 400watt PS – 28$
      WD160AAJS – sata2 56$
      Thermal take Soprano 3 fan case 80$

      Everything but the HD and case were from new egg and had rebates of from 20$ (for Video card and memory, to 30bucks for PS). Case and HD were from directron.

      You might need more video card – depending on game you want and more PS wattage. But it CAN be done on a budget.
      PS, I have had minimal luck overclocking my E6300. It will go about 10 percent over rated speed and then check out.. Many said this thing should go 3.2+gig.. but I have not tried too hard yet.

      AND NO, you dont want to try it with ANY integrated graphics processor.

    • #2528855

      Ditch the integrated video and and audio cards

      by rcharnoc ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      The processor, ram, hard drive, all look good, but you definitely want to get at least a 256mb video card, preferably pci express, and a pci sound card, one of the new creative cards should be listed as an option for the Dell. I am not 100% sold on vista just yet. My personal preference would be to go with Windows XP Pro instead.
      If you choose to go with the onboard video you will only be able to play many of the games on the lowest settings thereby losing the higher detail graphics. Also Windows XP will be much quicker with the 2GB of RAM compared to Vista. Vista tends to tie up more system resources.

    • #2528848

      Buying a gaming pc help!

      by aljatrad ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      The one thing I would do is upgrade to the excellent and over-clockable E6600 chip.
      Cheers Allan

    • #2528808

      Good Pointers

      by jcalexandres ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      Take a look at April’s PC World magazine, there is an article about motherboards, great pointer.

      Good luck!

    • #2528740

      Captain, we need more power!

      by jbrewer ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      With all the goodies suggested in post. Make sure there is enough juice to run the upgraded card, cooling fans etc. A lot of the pre-built boxes come with minimal power supplies.

    • #2528694

      Dell Gaming

      by brupub ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      Check out the Dell Outlet for the XPS 700 comes with core 2 duo, 750-1000w power, PCIe16 x2 and much more. The case is a full size and easy to expand, BX motherboard, plus the cpu is upgradeable (E6600 with the largest cache available) plus lots. You are only looking at $1000 or so, then you can add on later even to full sli.

    • #2529400

      Try this step-by-step article

      by georgeou ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

    • #2523468

      Re: Buying a gaming pc help!

      by tintin_za ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      bigger cpu
      don’t load vista
      get a proper graphics card!!
      don’t use integrated sound

    • #2523313

      A Little More Detail

      by coffeyscompcenter ·

      In reply to Buying a gaming pc help!

      isn’t it amazing what some people suggest when they are spending someone else’s money??
      i still suggest local where you can offer some input but here are more ideas:
      (1) pick a case that you like to look at. one with good air flow. a fan in the top is a bonus.
      (2) an AMD or Intel dual core processor. yes, the intel’s benchmark higher but they are both a high quality product.
      (3) a proper motherboard for either processor. look for 4 ram slots and the ability to handle DDR2-800. HD audio is nice for on-board. sli/crossfire needs to be decided on at this point. if there is a 0% chance then don’t worry about it or find a board that the second slot only runs at x8. who cares if you are not going to use it. plus get SATA2 if you can. i have been building with a lot of MSI boards lately. no real reason.
      (4)2Gb of ram to start with. if needed add more. that’s where the 4 slots come in handy.
      (5) a 250Gb to 400Gb SATA2 hard drive with 16Mb cache.
      (6)an Nvidia 7600GT or an ATI 1950 series video card. 256Mb of memory is fine as long as you get a card with the higher clock speeds. look for lifetime or double life time warranties.
      (7) a “QUALITY” power supply in the 600Watt range. thermaltake, antec, coolermaster. any well recognized supplier. are there better?? YES!! if you decide on dual video cards then stick to the higher end of the scale 600-750watt, single card 520-650 watts. if it’s a 600watt unit and it’s only $39, pass on it!(8) when it comes to sound cards a true card is always better but if you are using a $9 set of 2.0 speakers, on-board is fine. decent 2.1 speakers then on-board HD or 6 channel. 5.1 speakers, then a card is the solution. creative is the largest supplier but i use diamond or turtle beach because of some quirks in creative drivers.
      (9) i’m still fond of XP. extra so if you are planning to use any older printers, scanners or play older games.

      is this a “real” gaming rig?? the answer is no! if you want a solid system that will play games then this will work and work well. anyone can build it and anyone can service it and best of all it doesn’t break the bank. when the time comes just add two more Gigs of RAM, a new technology video card and game away!

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