posted
So I recently tried to install a new graphics card into my 7-8 year old Dell Dimension 4600 with poor results. So I've come to the conclusion that its time to get a new computer. So I'm asking you guys for any suggestions. I'm looking in the direction of a desktop that excels at both work and gaming. I recall in the Star Trek Online thread that Charles mentioned that he had a newish system. May I ask you Mr.Capps what your system is?
Registered: Feb 2005
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
Well I've got an AMD Phenom II 955 Black Edition 3.2Ghz quad core on an Asus M4A79 Deluxe motherboard with 4 Gb of Corsair DDR3 and a pair of ATI Radeon HD 4890's in Crossfire, with a 24 inch widescreen HD monitor. I don't know what your preferences are on Intel and AMD or Nvidia and ATI, but I've had a lot of issues with Intel and Nvidia hardware in the past and when I switched to AMD and ATI I've had a lot fewer headaches.
BTW: I ordered the parts off Newegg.ca and built this thing with minimal difficulty. I don't know if you want to go the DIY route or not, but you can save a little $$$ especially if you can scrounge up a case and some peripherals (CD drive, mouse etc.) and you get a lot more satisfaction knowing that it's exactly what you want.
This machine runs Fallout 3 at 1920x1080 with completely maxed graphical settings, plus a few extra mods that enhance the lighting and so forth. I would use Oblivion as a reference but I won't play it until I get my mod collection off my (hopefully not too) screwed old hard drive. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a particular mod among the many thousands that are out there?
The two gigabyte graphics cards might be a bit overkill unless you have the extra money. But with 2 you know you have some longevity in terms of keeping up with newer games, plus if one quits you can fall back on the other.
So just how new was this card that you tried to put in that old Dell?
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
Charles Capps
We appreciate your concern. It is noted and stupid.
Member # 9
posted
quote:Originally posted by Mars Needs Women: May I ask you Mr.Capps what your system is?
I'm using a home-built system with a Core 2 Quad Q9540. The motherboard is a Asus P5K-WS -- I chose to go for something targeting businesses and stability due to being previously burned by enthusiast boards arriving DoA and having stability issues. My graphics card is a nVidia 8800 GTS, though I don't remember my specific vendor. EVGA I think.
You'll note that both the mobo and the CPU are no longer available, and they'll be three generations old at the end of the month. I put together the machine some time in 2008, and I don't expect to consider replacing it until 2011 or 2012.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
I too bought a new computer last year. It's a Core 2 Quad Q9300 on an Intel DP45SG motherboard. Graphics card is a Radeon X1900XT that a friend gave me when he upgraded his card to a Radeon 4850 last year. The previous computer was a Pentium 4 3.0C on a MSI 845PE Neo. I still have that machine as it is hooked up to my LCD TV as sort of a multimedia machine for my DVDs, but without the Blu-Ray and stuff. GF also uses that machine to surf the net, she finds it more comfy to search from the couch than rather a Desk.
If and when I get a new job, I intend to get a new machine based on the new Core i7 Chips (but dual instead of triple DDR). I'll chuck the old multimedia machine and use the Q9300 instead. Of course, I'll be buying a new graphics card which is HD compatible (the X1900XT is not) and a new Blu-Ray player.
Computer components have been advanced enough to the point that you can buy a cheapie system and still be able to play all the games you want. Popular brands like Asus and Gigabyte have stripped down versions of their motherboards but still allow for graphics card expansion so you don't have to worry about getting an inferior system.
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
The card I was trying to install was a Visiontek HD 2600 PRO AGP card to replace my x1600 pro. Thing kept causing the computer to crash every time I loaded up Fallout 3, even on low settings. Tried a whole bunch of stuff to get to work, support from Visiontek was practically nill, so I decided it wasn't worth the continued frustration. Still don't know why it didn't work, since my computer met the requirements (especially in the power supply department). Well I've been looking at your suggestions, and while their nice, I'm unfortunately not one with the patience for building a machine from scratch. So can recommend any brands? Also I'm a little strapped for case, so I'm looking for something at the $1000 or below range.
Registered: Feb 2005
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Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
Most independant computer retailers (well at least those in the Toronto area) usually have their own "prebuild machines" that usually range in the $250-300 range. Check those out and see which one cuts your mustard.
Three caveats, however:
1) Most of these prebuilds usually rely on integrated video. If they do, you need to ensure that the motherboard has at least a PCIe x16 slot so you can insert a new graphics card. Your HD 2600 card is an AGP so it, well, is a piece of trash now.
2) See if you can get the power supply changed. Prebuilds tend to use cheaper cases which come with even cheaper power supplies. Trust me on this. You'll need a reliable power supply from a reputed company like Antec, Enermax, etc. They may add the cost of the power supply to the price so beware.
3) They do not come with an operating system for sure.
If you do decide to go with the retail brands, only #1 applies. As for #3, there are still alot of computer brands that still sell their computers with that horrid OS known as Vista. I also find them to be more expensive than the pre-build option. At the very least, your computer should have 4 GB of RAM if you are looking to play games with it.
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
While I can't direct you towards any particular brands since I'm a DIYer, all I can tell you is to shop around and do your homework. Saltah'na has a very good point regarding power supplies and mobo's.
One thing about games (especially ones like Fallout 3) is that the minimum system requirements are a load of crap. I always consider the "recommended" system requirements to be the minimum.
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
posted
I recently had an entirely unrelated set of computer woes myself. I discovered earlier this week that my computer, which is 5-6 years old and runs all my Adobe software, has become infested with AdWare. It started taking forever to boot up. Programs would take a long time to open, and finally, stupid IE pop-ups started loading every time I got on the internet. Finally, I couldn't even run anti-spyware programs because they'd crash.
A friend of mine was kind enough to come over an look at it for me since it had essentially shut me down. He was able to set up a partition on my hardrive. I backed up my files, reinstalled the OS, reinstalled all my software, and downloaded a bunch of freeware like AntiVir and Sandboxie from FileHippo. McAfee hadn't even noticed the problem and even SpyBot didn't find it.
The thing runs like it's brand new now as long as I'm in the new partition. So, this fix has bought me some time, but I was pretty near to having an anxiety attack. I'm switching to the Mac side of the Force. I'm now in the market for a phat MacBook Pro and I'm upgrading to CS4. I'm going all in.
I found a brand new copy of CS4 on eBay. That's the cheapest I've been able to find it. How would you suggest I go about buying the MacBook? Is it better to go into an Apple Store or order over the phone so I can explain exactly what I need? Or is it just as easy to do it from Apple's website? I haven't been able to find any significant deals on the MacBook... at least not big enough to make me take the risk of not ordering directly from Apple.
So any thoughts? I'm pretty clueless about specs. My biggest thing is that I need it to be able to run Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign at the same time and handle fairly big files. That's a RAM and Processor issue, right?
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
Aban, I think the lesson here is that we need to do our homework in terms of what we want in our pcs. Though I know my sister has a modernish laptop, I'll ask what it is and see if its what you need, though I don't visit her often.
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
My Uncle Ted says quad core chips are a waste of $$$ as no software uses the quad chips.They just take space up slows the machine down.My Uncle Ted worked for the navy and they turned down quad chips because the software did not exist to use the quad chips!
posted
I think the Troll's uncle has gotten mixed up between multiple cores and x64 bit architecture. Buying the x64 bit version of Windows is a bit of a waste, the only plus is more memory can be used, but it ocmes at the price of driver and codec compatability. More cores is just fine.
Almost any up to date machine can be a gaming machine if you add a kick-ass video card. Stick a £100 nvidia or similar video card in to a semi-decent machine and you'll play pretty much everything without too much trouble.
-------------------- www.kennyscrap.com - where I download crap I make.
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
^The man's right. The PC Kenny had me build almost 3 years ago was only a middlingly speced machine and is still ticking over fine. Games like Mass Effect 2 & Arkham Asylum run nice and smooth, even at high - though not maxed - settings...and that's with one less GB of ram that it started with (one died and I haven't bothered replacing it yet.)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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