Computer choice help.

[kyle]

Hi, im new to the forums and am in need of dire help before I waste £300. I previously posted a question on yahoo (mistake), and the answers I recieved where not really acceptable in the standard i was hoping for, but rather simply yes or no answers. My question was, is this computer worth the buy? Ill post a link, but I need a new tower for gaming, not high end gaming such as Crysis or the new oblivion coming up wise, but rather to quench my thirst for RTS gaming. Im a big RTS lover, have been since I first played C&C gold when I was a small kid. So Ill ask some pro's in the computer sense, is this tower worth buying to run RTS games? On medium to (preferably) high graphics? Such as games like Starcraft 2, the new Civ's and other RTS games with fancy graphics? Thanks for reading! :cool:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GPC203-Intel-Pentium%C2%AE-Processor-E5700/dp/B005PV78SG/ref=sr_1_119?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1318016991&sr=1-119

 

Edit, If not, can perhaps anyone point me in the direction of an affordable pc to quench my need for RTS gaming?

[Jelly Bean]

Kyle I think you have picked a good machine.....

 

That is a lovley case....I garrantee a Gigabyte board thats the make I buy and use....

 

That is plenty of RAM,4 gig would do but 8 gig is brilliant.....

[KenB]

You probably are aware of this but I will say it anyway :)

 

There is no HDD with this - so you would need to take this into account.

 

You would also need a Operating System.

This is going to add another £100+ to your bill.

 

Radeon HD 5450 1GB

According to this review - the 5450 is an entry level card and is not particularly suited to gaming.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5450,2549.html

 

If you want to compare other cards see here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997.html

[kyle]

HDD? Will that impact my gaming of the RTS genre at all? Or is it just a fancy add-on thats optional? Or is it actually needed?

 

OS im not worried about, I have an XP disc and my cousin said I could borrow his windows 7 disc if I fancied upgrading.

 

The graphics card i believe i will be quite content with, I've watched some video reviews on it, showing certain games its capable of running, such as Crysis, CoD and farcry etc.. but those games dont really interest me as i can get them on my 360. Im purely in it for the RTS gaming, which I believe isnt as demanding as modern shoot em up games. Correct me if im wrong.

 

Thanks for the card link, ive bookmarked it for future reference if I ever wish to upgrade :)

 

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

Also, jelly bean, thanks for letting me know 4gb would do, ive downgraded to 4gb and saved £40! I asked a friend and she even said that theirs no point in getting 8gb if im just RTS gaming.

 

Edit: Sorry guys, but what OS would actually be better suited to gaming? I just heard that windows 7 can make games run a bit sluggish? Like Vista does. So XP or W7?

Edited October 8, 2011 by kyle

[KenB]

There are a few issues from your last post.

 

The main one:

I could borrow his windows 7 disc if I fancied upgrading.

This is illegal.

One disk - one installation.

 

HDD? Will that impact my gaming

HDD = Hard Disk Drive

It doesn't look like the box comes with one.

 

XP is a bit ancient now and support for it will stop completely in a couple of years.

The system will then become more vulnerable.

 

Win7 is the way forward - especially if you are spending £300 on hardware.

 

4GB RAM

If you install a 32Bit system this is the maximum that the OS will recognise.

The motherboard may support more BUT the OS needs to "see" it too.

 

If you are thinking of getting this case with the intention of adding to it over time then I would suggest Win7 64 Bit.

You could then double the RAM ( and more ) and the OS will have no trouble seeing it.

 

windows 7 can make games run a bit sluggish?

I am not a gamer but I doubt that sluggish games are down to the OS.

It is more likely a combination of lack of RAM and Video Card.

 

Just one more thing:

If you are thinking of taking a HDD out of another system and putting it in the new case - it will not boot up.

Windows is "clever" enough to recognise a different environment ( especially a different motherboard ) and refuses to boot.

 

XP installation disk can be used to do a Repair Installation to correct this particular problem - but as already stated ......Win7 ( if you can afford it ) is the way to go.

[kyle]

Do I need a specific hard drive to be compatible with my computer or will any hard drive do the job? As I can take my old hard drive out the old computer and use the XP disc to configure it to my new computer?

 

Also does the hard drive effect gaming performance or does it just solely govern how fast a computer boots up etc.

 

Also, can any of you guys perhaps throw some recommendations on affordable parts to buy to upgrade this machine for when it comes? All i know about it atm is the techs listed in my link.

 

Thanks guys, im trying my best to learn more about computers, I've always wanted to know how a computer ticks and am intrested in learning more about them, unfortuantely I've never had time to do so, and now I do :)

Edited October 8, 2011 by kyle

[KenB]

Hi again

 

Sorry J-B I seem to have hijacked this thread :)

 

Do I need a specific hard drive to be compatible with my computer

Your m/board will have SATA connections on it.

The physical size of a compatible hard drive will be 3.5 inches ( as opposed to 2.5 inches for a laptop ).

HDDs now tend to run at 7200 r/m.

 

So any 3.5 inch SATA Drive will fit.

 

does the hard drive effect gaming performance or does it just solely govern how fast a computer boots up etc.

Not as much as RAM and Video Card but if you have a slower drive ( 5400 r/m for instance ) data will be moved around more slowly.

 

....can take my old hard drive out the old computer and use the XP disc

If the old hard drive is SATA then there is no problem.

You would need to do a Repair Install as explained.

 

If your drive is IDE ( broad grey cable ) and you m/board has no IDE connection ( I have not checked ) you can get an adapter.

See here:

http://www.usbnow.co.uk/Adapters_&_Connectors-SATA_to_IDE_Adapters/c42_45/p1763/SATA_-_IDE_Bi-Directional_Adapter/product_info.html

 

EDIT:

One more thing:

If you are using a SATA drive and are installing XP you will need a SATA driver as this is not emdedded in the XP software.

Without a floppy drive this is awkward.

(Another reason to go for Win7 )

[Neil Cooper]

Being a gamer i can certainly say games tend to run better on XP i put this down to the areo desktop windows vista and 7 and applications running in the background however you have 4gigs you shouldnt see any problems with lagging or sluggish gaming. Ken is right Win7 is the way forward they will stop making games that support windows XP with in a few years and then you'll be forced to upgrade to windows 7 also if i was you id upgrade to windows 7 64 bit. also id upgrade my HDD to 1 terabyte as games take up space.

 

as you can see i only have 2GB in mine and i can run just about any game including the new COD MW3 in medium and alot of games in High.

[Neil Cooper]

sorry just looked at the link i think it does come with a 2 terabyte hard disk drive its in the title -2TB-