Quote:
Originally posted by SpiritWarrior:
You should be fine with that budget. As a rough guideline for gaming i'd say get yourself at least...
A 3.0 ghz CPU speed at the least. If you can go for a dual core.
A Nvidia 6600gt or higher (or it's ATI equal if you prefer ATI). If you can get 256mb of Vram or more on your card.
1 gig of ram or more (this is as absolute must some people overlook)
A decent soundcard (don't get onboard sound).
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I agree with virtually every recommendation here.
The biggest thing to remember is not to skimp on any one part of the system; a well-balanced system will perform better than an imbalanced system with one or two top-notch parts in it. If you have a budget, look for the bang/buck ratio.
When it comes to video cards, more specifically I'd recommend getting a high-midrange card from nVidia - the ATI cards aren't nearly as good in the bang/buck ration at this range. The 6600GT is an amazing card for the price, and ATI doesn't have anything to compare favourably with it. Get 512mb of VRAM if at all possible.
If you expect the system to last more than a year, get 2GB of the fastest ram you can afford.
The soundcard is one of those areas where you get good dividends from relatively little expense, get a high end card with surround sound capability (not necessarily a "platinum" model)
Get the biggest high-quality SATA disk you can afford.
Do NOT buy from Dell. Get a local store to custom build it for you. You'll get higher quality, local service, and a good price.
Quote:
Originally posted by ElfBane:
I ran into this dilemma a few months ago,,,
A. Buy a new CP so I can run Oblivion, or
B. Wait for Vista to come out, so I don't have to buy 2 CP's in a year.
I decided to upgrade my current CP to run Oblivion, and put Vista on the back burner. I think I'll let everybody else work out the Vista bugs, then go Vista after SP1 is released.
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I know a M$ zealot that's usually the first one to adopt new tech from Gates, but he's recommending to
everyone he knows not to upgrade to Vista. The TCO is just too high, and the system requirements are insane.
When zealots like that are giving out this kind of advice, I think it could be a good idea to wait until Vista comes out before deciding to upgrade - Vista could very well be the first windows to flop on the market.
[ 09-10-2006, 11:12 AM: Message edited by: Sir Krustin ]