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| 7 MAR 2003 at 2:32pm |
OrionIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 85
Joined: 19 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Hi Sela,
Try this Gateway
I don’t know what you want to spend but a flat screen is a must, at least a 17". You can swap it for an added cost if you want the 300 series. Also at least 40 gig drive and at least 256 sdram. Grab a 32 meg vid card with S- cable option for tv and don’t forget sound card. They all come with sound cards but you might want to improve on it depending your use. Keep the DVD for those rare DVD games and movies.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 3:09pm |
| Deleted User | 17 inch monitor is great, if you're going for a flatscreen make sure it's a newer model. Older models have trouble with fast moving images.
Go for an Athlon or a Pentium, make sure it's top of the line. I prefer Athlon, but it's up to you.
At least 512MB DDR Ram.
Geforce 4 TI4600 or Geforce FX graphics card if you can afford it. If not, Geforce 3 TI500 will do, but don't bother with ATI cards - driver problems render them unstable - sold mine recently.
Good quality hard drive, at least 60GB. You'll need it if you're a games player - and make sure it's fast and quiet.
A good ATX case helps, Aluminium, with two fans at the front, one at the top and back. Cooling is very important. Try Lian Li or Coolermaster cases - I've got a basic Lian Li case and it not only looks good and keeps the sound down, it came with the fans as standard.
Plus you can buy a spare part that makes the side of the case look like an Aquarium, replete with plastic fish!
Soundblaster Audigy card with 5.1 dolby digital, of course. Wish I had one...
Logitech optical mouse and keyboard.
Windows XP.
Er.... I'm sure there's more...
OH!
VERY IMPORTANT!
Make sure you get a good motherboard. Asus do great ones, like the A7N8X for the Athlon series processors. Make sure you have 8X AGP support for future upgrading, DDR Ram capability, USB 2.0 compatability and if you're feeling fancy Serial ATA for future devices.
Thats all!
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 3:33pm |
JoYSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 208
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Wow all that for Adventure gaming? I haven't seen one game yet that needs that kind of setup...
Sure if money is no problem go ahead, it's a great setup monkeybone discribes. But if it is, just check out some game-boxes in the store and see what the min-max specs for the games you like to play are. I would go for something in the middle. I have a Geforce 2 myself and haven't seen an adventure game yet that would not run. So if all you play is adventures you might want to think twice about buying a more expensive GFXcard you won't even use fully. I also see no use for an expensive soundblaster Audigy for adv.games only, I just use the motherboards onboard soundcard and have no problem with that (but I'm not very demanding).
Basically I would say, look at what you NEED, don't look at what's the best on the market. Whatever you buy it will be old in a few months anyway...
JoY
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 3:47pm |
OrionIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 85
Joined: 19 OCT 2002
Status : Online | I agree, you will have to take out a second mortgage on your home for a system you don't need if you go MB's route.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 3:51pm |
OrionIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 85
Joined: 19 OCT 2002
Status : Online | I have XP on my laptop. It takes forever to shut down, minor detail.
logging off
saving info
shutting down
checking temperature
goodnight
goodnight again.......
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 4:37pm |
| Deleted User | I agree with monkeybone. monkeybone, now that's what I call ultimate satisfaction of playing games.
All those are also really important to me.
Sound blasters make a good sound effect because you could hear the real stuff and not miss a single thing.
Windows XP is great because i don't have to restart my computer everytime I install softwares/games.
Anthlon is my choice ... well too bad that my room has no airconditioner plus it's not helping because Im in Asia.
Im still using Geforce 3.
but don't bother with ATI cards - driver problems render them unstable - sold mine recently.
monkeybone, ATI has problems? I didn't know that. Can you tell more what's the deal with the driver and stuff? I was thinking of buying ATI. But suddenly I read what you typed.....made me think twice.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 4:51pm |
MichalNGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 7058
Joined: 14 SEP 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By monkeybone (7 MAR 2003 3:09pm)
Geforce 4 TI4600 or Geforce FX graphics card if you can afford it. If not, Geforce 3 TI500 will do, but don't bother with ATI cards - driver problems render them unstable - sold mine recently.
GeForce FX is a waste of money. So are the highest end Radeons.
As for nVidia vs. ATI, for every person claiming that ATI's drivers suck, there's another claiming nVidia's drivers suck. So I don't think either of them is a clear choice.
But when it comes to performance of course... nVidia has some serious work to do to catch up with the new Radeon 9800
I forgot my sig.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 5:00pm |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By MichalN (7 MAR 2003 4:51pm)
But when it comes to performance of course... nVidia has some serious work to do to catch up with the new Radeon 9800
That's one thing I heard about ATI and that's what got me interested in buying it .
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 5:18pm |
| Deleted User | I have read everywhere about ATI's driver problems from magazines to posts on other forums, plus I have also experienced them myself. Since upgrading to a Geforce card I've been perfectly happy - in fact, I had a Geforce 2 for well over a year and I was fine with it.
When I got the Radeon 8500, all sort of problems arose from graphics corruption to slowdown to crashes. And the computer error messages were always driver related. It took me a while to realise it, too!
BTW It won't cost you a bomb to get the above setup - in fact, if you look up building your own computer it'd save you a whole ton of money.
It sounds like a hard thing to do, but making your own is actually quite easy. It's just a case of plugging things in here and there - it's that simple. Just be careful and watch out for static!
The higher end Geforces and Radeons ARE a waste of money at the moment - give it 8 months and they'll be cheaper. You can pick up TI500's for under £100 now, and my Albatron TI4600 cost me only £180.
Since then I've found them cheaper! (Sob!)
Oh, and another thing -
Buy a decent power supply. 450W. Or you'll suffer the consequences like I did when I was ripped off by a supplier last year... cost me a lot of money.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 5:25pm |
MichalNGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 7058
Joined: 14 SEP 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By monkeybone (7 MAR 2003 5:18pm)
I have read everywhere about ATI's driver problems from magazines to posts on other forums, plus I have also experienced them myself.
I've heard about nVidia driver problems everywhere as well The impression I got was that while ATI's drivers are getting better, nVidia's are getting worse.
I used a Radeon 8500 for about a year and never had problems with it.
I forgot my sig.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 5:27pm |
| Deleted User | Apart from the fact my ATI crawled to a complete standstill with Catalyst 3.0 installed.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 7:29pm |
jujigatameSchattenjger
Posts : 1976
Joined: 14 FEB 2003
Status : Online | I have a GeForce 4 MX 420 and have been told it's a piece of crap that I should replace within a year. So far I've had no problems, but the technologically fanciest game I've played on it so far has been Max Payne, which was released a year and a half ago, so go figure.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 7:55pm |
SirDaveGuild Master
Posts : 4941
Joined: 17 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | Simple advice for a simple question.
The fact is that for regular adventure gaming, almost any computer system in the medium price category (ie. not the cheapest, but not the most expensive) you would buy these days would be okay. If you want 'reliability in a turn-key box', I still think you can't go wrong with a Dell or Gateway product.
However, if you plan on doing any 3D action gaming then the sort of advice Monkeybone gives above becomes more important and you'll need to do more homework.
One thing: I'm a little unclear about is what people mean by 'a flatscreen' above. My guess is they're advising you to get a flat LCD monitor as opposed to a regular CRT (the old-style big monitor). Again, that's a good suggestion if you're just doing adventure games, but if you're going to do 3D action gaming, the better CRTs are still better for that unless you're prepared to pay big bucks for a flatscreen LCD that has fast response time.
P.S. if actually everyone above was talking about a flatscreen CRT then forget everything I said above, 'cause that is overall a good suggestion!
The future ain't what it used to be!
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 8:22pm |
BrittBSIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 4
Joined: 7 MAR 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By monkeybone (7 MAR 2003 5:18pm)
Buy a decent power supply. 450W. Or you'll suffer the consequences like I did when I was ripped off by a supplier last year... cost me a lot of money.
Actually, the amount of power isn't somuch a factor as is the quality of the PSU. For most average computers, a 350W PS is MORE than enough. Even with a top of the line system, you will be fine.
What you *do* want to keep in mind is how various vendors' power supplies jibbajabba with different motherboards. Specifically, keeping a level and accurate 5v rail.
The step from 400+ to 350V will save a bit of money also.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 8:40pm |
Monsey_JoeIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 58
Joined: 2 FEB 2003
Status : Online | If you like older AGs. You can get an old 486 or so for $100 or less. Make sure it has a Soundblaster Card.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 9:02pm |
JoGuild Master
Posts : 3313
Joined: 3 NOV 2002
Location: AU, Qld.
Status : Offline | Seems everyone has different opinions regarding graphics cards. I bought a GForce MX440 when upgrading a few weeks ago. No problems at all, its been brilliant so far.
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 9:52pm |
| Deleted User | Actually, the amount of power isn't somuch a factor as is the quality of the PSU. For most average computers, a 350W PS is MORE than enough. Even with a top of the line system, you will be fine.
Soz, but I have to argue that. You will suffer system instability if you've got anything like a recent mobo from around the middle of last year or bought a graphics card like a TI4600 or Radeon 8500...
If you suffer from random cutouts this will be the main cause of the problem. I've been told both by the makers of Asus and ATI, plus various technicians - as I've had this problem and it DID turn out to be the PSU!
Graphics cards - it really depends on what you do with your machine. An MX is fine for adv's, but don't expect it to run Broken Sword 3 or Schizm 2 without juddery framerates.
I'm a total techno freak, so I like to keep the machine running to a certain degree, but I've also suffered from being ignorant to technology and trusting the wrong people this past year and it's cost me dear.
Do your research, and always ask people for advice who won't get any financial gain over your failiure! :-/
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| 7 MAR 2003 at 10:59pm |
SirDaveGuild Master
Posts : 4941
Joined: 17 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | Monkeybone-
What I want to know is how you got your hands on Broken Sword 3 and Schizm 2!
I pretty much do the techno-freak stuff too and try to keep up with the latest-greatest. I've pretty much stuck with the NVidia Geforce video cards for the last few years for the reasons you mentioned, but several reviews of the latest ATI Radeon 9700 Pro card indicate that ATI has turned over a new leaf. Apparently, their drivers are now reliable and systems rock-solid steady with them. I'm really tempted to switch especially since there's a 9700 Pro All-In-Wonder card available (ie. for recording video to hard disk etc)!
The future ain't what it used to be!
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| 8 MAR 2003 at 10:59am |
| Deleted User | What I want to know is how you got your hands on Broken Sword 3 and Schizm 2!
Well, judging by the screenshots I've seen of BS3 anything below the 1GHz mark will struggle, especially when connected to an older g-card like the MX440.
As for Schizm 2, I heard it was going to use the Unreal Warfare engine. Seeing as my computer struggled to keep up on some of the busier screens (the last level, mainly), I'd imagine anyone with anything less than a Geforce 3 TI500 or Radeon 8500 are going to have problems...
Just my view...
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| 9 MAR 2003 at 6:32pm |
dombrewerGuild Master
Posts : 3103
Joined: 19 JAN 2003
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Orion (7 MAR 2003 3:51pm)
I have XP on my laptop. It takes forever to shut down, minor detail.
logging off
saving info
shutting down
checking temperature
goodnight
goodnight again.......
I've got XP on my laptop Orion and it's pretty fast. Also its the fastest start up I;ve ever had on a computer. My old Win98 is still hooked up and takes at least 6 or 7 times longer. It may have more to do with the processor etc (but don't ask me, i'm tech jargon illiterate) all i know is i have a compaq presario 700 with an Athlon AMD proc. running XP and it's lovely!
By the way, using the VDMS download I can play games on XP that I couldn't play on my win98 system. Top tip there picked up from the fair folks on this very forum.
[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
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| 10 MAR 2003 at 4:29am |
Cindy_KIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 56
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Online | When I buy a new PC, I go for the best graphics and sound setup I can afford. My latest one (about 2 years old) has an AMD Athalon chip that saved me money and has worked out great. We're on our 4th Micron (usually comes with name brand sound and graphics cards, unlike some of the other vendors) and I have no complaints...
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| 10 MAR 2003 at 3:17pm |
SelaIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 19
Joined: 12 DEC 2002
Status : Online | Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread. I ordered my computer today using many of your suggestions--except the one about the plastic fish .
I should get it in about 6 days..I can't wait. Sela
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| 10 MAR 2003 at 3:52pm |
| Deleted User | But... c'mon! Plastic fish, dude! Go on!
What setup did you get?
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| 10 MAR 2003 at 8:45pm |
SelaIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 19
Joined: 12 DEC 2002
Status : Online | OK this is what I got.Dell Dimension 8250 Series: Pentium® 4 Processor at 2.53GHz with 533MHz system bus/ 512K L2 Cache DN8225H [221-1309]
Memory: 512MB PC1066 RDRAM (2X256 modules) 512M2 [311-2132]
Keyboard: Dell ® Quietkey ® Keyboard QK [310-1582]
Monitors: Video Ready w/o Monitor N [320-3000]
Video Cards: 64MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce4 MX™ Graphics Card with TV-Out 64NV420 [320-0440]
Hard Drives: New 120GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive (7200 RPM) 120G [340-8151]
Floppy Drive and Additional Storage Devices: No Floppy Drive NFD [340-8442]
Operating System: MicrosofT® Windows® XP Home Edition w/ Microsoft® Plus! WHXPLUS [412-0304] [420-1921] [313-7222] [412-0285]
Mouse: Dell® 2-button scroll mouse SM [310-1871]
Network Interface: Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet IN [430-0412]
Modem: 56K Telephony Modem for Windows 56KWS [313-1583]
CD or DVD Drive: 16 Max DVD-ROM Drive 16DV995 [313-2559] [430-0427]
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Digital Sound Card SB1024 [313-1319]
Speakers: Harman Kardon® HK-395 Speakers with Subwoofer HK395 [313-7284]
Software Bundles: WordPerfect® Productivity Pack with Quicken New User Edition COREL [412-0302]
Digital Music: Dell Jukebox powered by MUSICMATCH MMBASE [412-0298]
Digital Photography: Dell Picture Studio,Image Expert Standard DPS [412-0271] [412-0273]
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options: FREE 1Yr Dell SecurityCenter(McAfee) w/3Yr Ltd Wty,3Yr At-Home Service S3O1M [950-3339] [950-4270] [412-0360] [462-0129] [950-1272]
Internet Access Services: 6 Months of America Online Membership Included AOLDHS [412-0371] [412-0365]
Surge Protectors - Protect Your Investment: Belkin 9-Outlet SurgeMaster Gold Series BELGOLD [A0004763]
Secondary CD or DVD Drive: Free Upgrade! 40x/10x/40x Max CD-RW Drive 40CDR2P [461-7876]
Special Offer: $100 OFF SPECIAL OFFER 100OFF [460-9055]
FREE TaxCut Deluxe Software from H&R Block: FREE TaxCut Deluxe software from H&R Block HRBLCKF [412-0363
Sela
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