Gaming Pc - advice appreciated
I don't know much about modern gaming PC requirements (the last time I pushed a PC to the limit with a game was trying to play Microprose GP2 on a 486 with 8mb of RAM), but my dad is looking to by a system for my nephew, and found this on ebay:
Link here.
I've told him I think the hard drive and RAM are both too low, but any advice from the gamers I know dwell on these here forums would be most appreciated. I can only imagine the flack I'd be in for from all the spotty nosed oiks if I posted this on a dedicated forum.
Ta.
Link here.
I've told him I think the hard drive and RAM are both too low, but any advice from the gamers I know dwell on these here forums would be most appreciated. I can only imagine the flack I'd be in for from all the spotty nosed oiks if I posted this on a dedicated forum.
Ta.
Post edited by MattLamb on
Comments
"A genuine Pentium D Dual Core CPU which really gives you 2 processors for the price of one and an effective output of 6.8GHZ!!!!" to describe a dual core cpu. It's a bit shady. It's a dual core chip. It doesn't run at 6.8 - it runs two operations at 3.4. (Kind of like having a Z80 in a Spectrum drive interface wouldnt double the speed of the computer... it would just mean that the interface would be able to process some data while the Spectrum was as well)
Honest thought: the CPU is managable for low end, the memory isn't very good, the graphics are not a par with the lowest end graphics card at the moment - and you'd definitely need a second hard drive.
However, it is pretty cheap - and for a not-over-high-end use - It's not that bad.
Dell machines used to be a bit tricky to upgrade - no idea if this is still the case.
Dual core Pentium D, that's not a particularly new processor for a start, since then you have had the Core2Duo and the new i series. Dual core 3.4Ghz and they are saying effective speed 6.8, it doesn't really work like that. My old HP laptop (2009) has this exact processor and graphics, it struggled with everything and had to knock settings down to low / medium on most games.
80Gb hard drive, are you kidding. Some new games take 10Gb and up installs, this all depends on what they are wanting to play but it will fill up fast. I have a 1.5Terrabyte hard drive and with games and media have only around 250Gb in space left. Windows 7 itself takes up around 25Gb space on installation which doesn't leave a lot spare.
4 Gb ram on 64 Bit Windows (doesn't say if its 32 or 64 Bit looking at the listing), either way for gaming especially with the newer stuff you need 8Gb ram
AMD Radeon 5450, this is an older low end graphics card, it will most likely be built onto the motherboard not dedicated. Good for media but gaming it will struggle big time.
Yeah, it is cheap at ?149 , it is better suited to media and office type work.
Modern gaming you need to be looking at :
Quad Core processor 3.4 Ghz or higher (AMD or Intel)
8Gb Ram
500Gb hard drive minimum
AMD 7850 or Nvidia GTX 560Ti minimum dedicated graphics
Windows 7 64 Bit
Like I said it all depends on what they are wanting to run, stuff from GOG will be fine except the newer stuff there, bear in mind though you have to download an installer first which takes up space, Baldurs Gate for example is around 2Gb file, then you install it and can delete the installer afterwards.
My thoughts exactly! Can't get over how high-spec modern computers have to be to run the games. My first hard drive was 50mb if I recall correctly.
Thanks for the help so far all, I have passed this on to my dad.
Which is a bit misleading when it goes on about the CPU being 64 Bit.
And I think to be honest describing it as a 6Ghz CPU is very misleading.
prolly need at least 4gb ram, prolly more, 6 or 8 for it comfortably too, and a higher end graphics card, my puter i got that was mi dads plays some games, older games such as command and conquer 3, assassins creed, GTA San Andreas etc but i dont think id even attempt some of the newer games such as call of duty ghosts
Tek Syndicate do some good videos on self builds. And pc part picker is a useful site for approximate pricing.
"I want to play games like xxxxxx, what spec of machine do I need?"
In the real world a mid range gaming PC is going to be about ?500 new, a high end box will be ?1000+. Generally the problem isn't the CPU (within reason - an i5 can handle most things) its the graphics requirements and to play most modern games on the high or highest settings will need a ~?150 graphics card. 8 gig ram is not unreasonable and a 1Tb hard disc is a realistic minimum.
Also nowadays I wouldn't really consider a monitor less than 1080 HD which is another ~?100.
If you consider that the xbone and PS4 are effectively at the bottom end of mid range gaming PC's and they are being sold, near as it counts, at cost, then that gives you an idea of how much it will cost.
I know this sounds like a lot but you will soon get that back in the money saved on the price of the games - I got nearly 50 games the other night from the "bundle stars" site for just over ?16. A lot of them are crud I admit but thats still less than a single, second hand, console game. Also Steam will let you pick up AAA titles very cheap after a few months on sale.
Cheers.
80 gb now, you want more like 1-2tb (at least), due to the size of games being silly...
if you want a machine for running games out now, you should be looking at an i7 , with a decent gfx card to match.. I stick with nvidia based ones personally.
there is a website with game specs on to give you an idea, there are more.
http://gamesystemrequirements.com/games.php?id=1835
Yeah, when I mentioned getting GP2 to run, it was back when it was released in 1996! I've played it since on DOSBOX and I seem to remember it playing beautifully.
Thanks for that website.