Building a PC

[Campo1988]

Hi everybody!

 

What a coincidence this site has a gaming section? I think that's quite convenient! I wish to build my own (first) gaming machine. I have read about how to build, and have a fair amount of knowledge. Also, I am doing a course in Computer Maintenance, so I am still learning. My current machine is just a standard SOHO-type machine, and is more than 3 years old, one Forum told me upgrading specs to what my manufacturer site says the MOBO can handle may not work, but one of my tutors told me it should work. In any event, I have already decided (which I decided ages ago anyway), to want to, and actually build my own machine for gaming. Any tips on where to get started, e.g. finding an up-to-date MOBO with ability to handle good enough specs to play some of the up-to-date games (and obviously older ones also), including RAM, CPU, and PCI/PCIe slots and decent-enough HDD size, Sound Card, and of course, a very good Graphics/Video Card?

 

Currently, all the games I have (well, the ones I play, because I have some I got given to me that I haven't tried playing, so I don't know if they work) do work, except for 2. Not this PC I am on right now, but my other one (both with BAD specs) can't play these two games. Here are the specs for these games (without advertising):

 

 

Game 1

Minimum Required Specs

1 GHz Intel Pentium 3 or AMD Athlon Processor

512 MB RAM

64 MB Video Card with DirectX9 compatible drivers (Windows 2000 & XP, Vista Basic)

128 MB NVIDIA GeForce 6 Video Card (Vista Premium/Business/Ultimate)

8X speed DVD-ROM Drive

3.6 GB free HDD space for minimal install

DirectX 9 compatible Stereo Sound Card

 

Recommended Specs

Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP Processor (or better)

1.5 (+) GGB RAM

256 (+) MB NVIDIA GeForce 6 or better Video Card with DirectX 9 compatible drivers

16X speed DVD-ROM Drive

4.7 GB free HDD space for full install

DirectX 9 compatible Surround Sound Card (Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Series recommended)

Gamepad with twin axis analog (USB or Joystick Port)

 

Supported Operating Systems

Windows 2000 Pro (Workstation) (plus SP1 or higher) plus DirectX 9

Windows XP Home and Pro (plus SP 1 or higher) plus DirectX 9

Windows Vista (Basic/Premium/Business/Ultimate)

Windows Vista systems requirements must be met

 

Generic Requirements

DirectX 9

Keyboard & mouse

 

 

Game 2

Minimum Specs

XP/2000/98SE

768 MB RAM

Intel Pentium 4 2 GHz

DirectX 9 compatible graphics cards (Radeon 9500, GeForce 5800)

 

Recommended Specs

XP/2000/98SE

1024 MB RAM

Intel Pentium 4 2.6 GHz

DirectX 9 compatible graphics cards (Radeon x800, GeForce 6800)

 

Other

3 GB available fixed-disk storage, DirectX 9.0c, minimum 16 bit sound card (recommended 3D compatible sound card with support for EAX 3.0)

 

They are the, well not single-most, I guess double-most two of the largest demanding games I have. They both installed. And the splash screen comes up for game one, and the introduction FMV, but for game two, I can only view the options, setting them all to low or minimum the game still doesn't load.

 

My specs for this PC are:

 

Windows XP Professional SP2

DirectX 9.0c

AMD Duron 1400 MHz

128 MB DDR SDRAM

NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X (Microsoft Corporation) (64 MB)

EVEREST Home Edition

C: 7.11 GB D: 7.15 GB

 

But I can't play either of the games on this PC because I don't have a DVD-ROM Drive on here, on my other PC I obviously do though, and the specs for that are:

 

Windows XP Professional SP1

DirectX 9.0c

1'000 Mhz

192 MB RAM

C:\ roughly 750 MB (I accidentally chose a wrong option when formatting & installing Win'XP!)

D:\ roughly 19 or 20GB.

I don't know the Video Card spec though, and I either do or don't have EVEREST Home Edition on it.

Also, no Internet connection on this PC.

 

Like I said, all of my other games I have (that I have tried) work, some obviously better than others, one game, once again without advertising, but also without specs (because I don't know them without looking...) works OK but after a while it goes really slow. Even stop playing the game/rebooting then trying it again, it still is slow, that is because of, apart from my appauling specs, how far I am in the game.

 

Any help with websites I could use for me building a gaming machine, and any other tips from anyone here would be appreciated. Also, I'm from UK, so please no stores/sites I either haven't heard of, or I cannot use.

 

Thanx.

 

P.S. Also, any way to get good deals on any of my wanted upgrades, rather than going to, for example, PCWorld, I could may be get a better deal somewhere else, would be appreciated also.

[JEBWrench]

An old post, but what the hey...

 

A few commonly recommended sites to purchase hardware:

 

http://www.ibuypower.com/

http://www.tigerdirect.com/

http://www.newegg.com/

 

As far as what to get, that changes literally month to month. If you want to stay reasonably up-to-date for a little while at least (assuming Gabe Newell isn't right about the evolution of processing units), I'd suggest looking for a motherboard with two PCIe slots. That way, through SLI or Crossfire, you can get decent performance for less cost than one comparable mega-awesome runs Crysis at 25 FPS cards.

 

Also, you're going to want to go on the higher end of the spectrum in terms of PSU wattage, as the demands on hardware to run high-end games at a decent clip can be quite extrenuous at times.

 

Last but not least, unless things have changed the last time I looked into it, you're going to want to buy Windows Vista to be able to utilize DirectX 10. This is either because Microsoft are facists, or because they feel they've reached the peak of what they could squeeze out of XP. And given how arguably ineffective XP's 64-bit builds were, the latter may in fact be the case.