New Desktop PC
At the moment I have a Dell Inspiron laptop and it's been pretty good to me however I am thinking about investing In a high quality gaming Desktop, my problem is when I go out to buy a PC I generally go on looks rather than anything else. So I was wondering what are the best brands for high performance Desktops.
I'm fed up of not being able to run PC games and what not, also what computer are you running at the moment and if you had the money which would you invest in (add links or images)
Other note, my flash contest will be up in a few hours.
You cant upgrade? Why not?
What I listed is actually my next upgrade - Should come in the mail today. Right now I am on a shitty old mobo with a 1.8 ghz single core
Looking at the specs on the lower end ones, they wouldnt be the best of gaming computers. The graphics card isnt bad, but the PSU and ram suck.
Minimums:
Intel Core 2 Duo (not Dual Core)
4gb RAM (more is great, too)
320gb HDD (more is great, too)
NVIDIA or ATI graphics card. Google the card. notebookcheck.net (or something like that) will tell you how well that card holds up with games. I believe it compares each card to Crysis and tells you how well it will run it (if it can run Crysis, it can run anything).
I think there's something called "Alienware" that's made specifically for gaming, but beware - gaming computers cost more than any other. If you have no price limit,
Intel Core-something-Quad. IDR if it's called Core2Quad or whatever, but it's like the Duo but twice as better (thus epicccccc)
8gb RAM
1TB HDD
NVIDIA/ATI high end, probably would cost $500 extra
That would probably total from the upper one-thousands to the lower two-thousands. Not sure how much a Quad processor costs, but I assume it's ~$500. I don't know of anyone who has one, but if you do, your computer will run faster than anything ever. Also, there's something called Intel i7, I believe. IDR if it's a Quad ore Duo processor, but it's supposed to be really good - one of the latest processors.
Also, if you get a Core2Duo, don't get anything less than T6xxx (e.g. T4xxx). If you can, get a P series (or the one after that, that IDR). The P series uses very little electricity, so saves money, but costs about $50 to $100 more than the T6 series.
Oh, and if you don't get a gamer desktop, I'd recommend custom building it (via an online form; not ordering each piece separately). But I think all of Alienware desktops are made for gaming. I may be wrong.
Bet processors right now are the Core i7 ultimate - 3.33 ghz quad core. As for video card, the Nvidia GEForce GTX 295 is currently top of the line, but thats only on a huge budget.
I can play crysis with pretty damn good settings on my nvidia 9500 gt. Its just when explosions get intense that it gets bad - But I dont mind occasional FPS drops.
As far as "current steam games" goes, I play L4D2 on highest setting at average 30 fps.
Ooooh (: Comp showoff thread.
Intel Duo Overclocked to 3.8 (:
8GB Ram
7200RPM 1TB HD with 4TB External NAS
Vista 64bt OS
896mb nVidia GTX275
Realtek 7.1 high def
Not a game out that it doesn't play on max everything.
I personally own crysis and crysis:warhead. both ~@60FPS.
Farcry 2 gets raped by this PC ~@80FPS
Cost me a little under £700 in parts,
handbuilt it, using a coolermaster case.
Deffinately go for hand-built.
If i was to buy my PC in alienware i'd be looking at almost 3X the cost.
Also; never by ATI unless you intend to Crossfire Mod your PC - nVidia may be on par specc wise, but theres no match for drivers and customer loyalty.