Recommended Hardware

[hypoluxa3k]

i'm tired of playing games and dealing with slow down!
tired of dial-up modems!
i want a complete overhaul.
my guess is most people here have a better PC set up than me.
so i'm gonna ask you all to recommend hardware.

i have:

750 AMD processor
128 MB RAM
4X speed cd drive
Pioneer DVD-ROM DVD-116
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400
Creative SBlive
SupraExpress 56i Modem
Windows XP

[zapjb]

Budget ?

[njs12345]

For a good value PC that will run all Games nowadays:

Processor: AMD XP 2800
Motherboard: Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Ram: 2x\3x 512 MB Crucial DDR
Graphics Card: GeForce 4 Ti 4600
Hard Drive : 120 GB Western Digital

Drive 1: DVD-Rom(anything)
Drive 2: CD-RW(something fast)

If you want a kickass PC and you're not concerned about price (rich dude) :lol: , replace stuff with

Processor: Pentium 4 3.06 Ghz
Graphics Card: If you'll wait GeForce FX, if you won't Radeon 9700 Pro
Hard Drive: 180 GB Western Digital

Drive 1: DVD-RW

Hope this helps.

[TRshady]

xp 2800??
Isn't xp 1800 good enogh for every game at the moment, providing your other specs are good/great?.

[TRshady]

It all comes down to your cash.

For £2000 your pc is more powerful then a rocket and future proof for years.

edit: this isn't proven, but you know what I mean.

[Bender]

You can use the free test at http://www.pcpitstop.com/, they'll tell you what you need, ;)

[Nobody1234]

Originally posted by TRshady@2 March 2003 - 14:59
xp 2800??
Isn't xp 1800 good enogh for every game at the moment, providing your other specs are good/great?.
The XP1800+ is 'good enough' as you said if you can still find it. but for how long? I think the best value for your money right now is the 2200+ and maybe the 2400+ soon. You can always get a faster one later when prices are lower.

[Lamsey]

I agree with Nobody 1234.
There's no point shelling out for a top-of-the-range processor but you do need a pretty good one to keep up in the gaming world, so the 2200+ offers a good balance.

I've said this before and I'll say it many more times:
The most important part of your system is the motherboard.
Think about it - everything is plugged into the mainboard, so their performance is limited by the mainboard. Putting a fast processor into a crap mainboard is like putting a Ferrari engine into an old Skoda.
For good gaming performance and up-to-date technology support, go for the Asus A7N8X. If you can't afford that, try the Asus A7V8X.
(The difference is the chipsets - the A7N8X has a nVidia nForce2, which is a little more up-to-date than the A7V8X's VIA KT400)

[imported_computerfreak76]

if you want the biggest hard drive on the market go with this one

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 - 200GB 7200RPM Ultra ATA/133 8MB

[Lamsey]

Watch out for hard drives, pretty soon there will be more Serial ATA ones available, so standard parallel IDE drives will get cheaper... :) :) :)

[Benno]

Dont get a GeforceFX they are louder, hotter and much more expensive than a Radeon 9700pro but they arent much faster. I think a Radeon 9700pro is the best you can get at the moment.

[ToraBoraDweller]

I have a PIII 600mhz with Geforce 256card and can do almost anything on
it ;although I admit it wouldn't be much use for online gaming and such.
Just read a lot of comparitive tests from magazines(-sites).

[njs12345]

ToraBoraDweller, I have almost the same specs as you, and most games run on my PC as well.I think its hilarious reading other message boards with people not being able to run games on top spec PCs when mine runs :lol:. What I said was just what I want, and what i would get if i had the hard cash ;) .

[ToraBoraDweller]

Originally posted by njs12345@3 March 2003 - 17:38
ToraBoraDweller, I have almost the same specs as you, and most games run on my PC as well.I think its hilarious reading other message boards with people not being able to run games on top spec PCs when mine runs :lol:. What I said was just what I want, and what i would get if i had the hard cash ;) .
Well in that case you are very modest !! :lol:

[sequish]

highend pc $$$ = http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/MHGSBG...cle.php/1962981 (http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/MHGSBG/article.php/1962981)
value pc $ = http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/MVGSBG...cle.php/1557141 (http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/MVGSBG/article.php/1557141)
extreme pc $$$$$$$=
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/EGBG/a...cle.php/1577311 (http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/EGBG/article.php/1577311)
makes good reading i learn whats new and if its good or not. the extreme guide is only good for dreaming and wishing ;)

[imported_computerfreak76]

you should get one of the new 30 inch LCD flat screen monitors

[Lamsey]

you should get one of the new 30 inch LCD flat screen monitors
but only if you have a lot of money to burn...