PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[sesdelta38 10]

@ ch 123:

A guy named David came over to my apartment today and he looked at the computer and he said he could rebuild my Computer into a Gaming PC. My computer is an HP Pavillion and I told you a few months ago that it has an intel Pentium D processor and David knows that it is not good for gaming, but he wrote down a Hard Drive for us to get and he says the my Computer can be upgraded with a new graphics card. Should I take his word for it and just go with that?

[Sertorius21 10]

If you want to play ARMA 2, you're going to want a new CPU, which will probably necessitate a new motherboard (Which means you'll have to replace the RAM). Some games put the majority of stress on the graphics card, but ARMA 2 hits the whole system, especially once you put down lots of units. Not to mention, once you replace the CPU, motherboard, and graphics card, you're probably going to need to replace the power supply (I would not try to build a gaming rig on a generic power supply). Basically, you should do a complete tear-down and rebuild, or better yet, build the new PC in a case with better ventilation than an HP. Just switching out the HD and graphics card is cheaper, certainly, but it's sort of a half-assed solution and won't really result in a good gaming PC. However, only switching out those two parts is easy and fast, which is probably why he's recommending it (In his defense, this is how all salesmen/tradesmen work. You don't do a full project if the customer is happy with a partial project).

If you're getting cold feet about the prospect of building a computer (really, it's not that difficult to do), start checking out a custom computer shop before you do what amounts to a graphics card replacement (replacing the hard drive is not going to appreciably speed up the computer). Also, if you only wanted to replace the hard drive and graphics card, just do it yourself. It's extremely easy to do; one of the easiest things one can do is a graphics card replacement. It was actually the first thing I ever did with a computer.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Sertorius21

[echo1 0]

@ ch 123:

A guy named David came over to my apartment today and he looked at the computer and he said he could rebuild my Computer into a Gaming PC. My computer is an HP Pavillion and I told you a few months ago that it has an intel Pentium D processor and David knows that it is not good for gaming, but he wrote down a Hard Drive for us to get and he says the my Computer can be upgraded with a new graphics card. Should I take his word for it and just go with that?

The Pentium D probably isn't going to hold it's own against newer games - the minimum you'd want to run modern games in any way smoothly is a 3GHz Athlon X2, something which your Pentium D would be substantially slower than. There's also the issue that if you put a new high-powered graphics card into an old PC, you're going to need to replace the PSU. Even if you do that, the CPU is going to be a bottleneck... I think a more substantial upgrade involving replacing CPU and motherboard would be a better investment. That failing, a new PC.

[sesdelta38 10]

The Pentium D probably isn't going to hold it's own against newer games - the minimum you'd want to run modern games in any way smoothly is a 3GHz Athlon X2, something which your Pentium D would be substantially slower than. There's also the issue that if you put a new high-powered graphics card into an old PC, you're going to need to replace the PSU. Even if you do that, the CPU is going to be a bottleneck... I think a more substantial upgrade involving replacing CPU and motherboard would be a better investment. That failing, a new PC.

So should I replace all the parts of my PC then or should I just build one from scratch with his help? I think rebuilding my current one would save me money, because my parents have bad credit so money is hard to come by.

[doakwolf 10]

As long as your case has sufficient air flow and space for whatever GPU you decide to get, you should be OK salvaging the case/monitor/peripherals etc. But as ch_123 said, you'll probably require a new PSU to drive the new parts.

If I were in your shoes, I'd strongly consider spending just a little bit more on a new case which comes with a half-decent PSU. They can be bought quite cheap these days and sometimes don't cost much more than buying a PSU on it's own. I won't link any though because I'm in a different country and don't know what a good price is in your country.

[echo1 0]

If I were in your shoes, I'd strongly consider spending just a little bit more on a new case which comes with a half-decent PSU. They can be bought quite cheap these days and sometimes don't cost much more than buying a PSU on it's own. I won't link any though because I'm in a different country and don't know what a good price is in your country.

I have yet to come across a good case that is bundled with a good PSU. Most case/PSU combos feature mediocre examples of both.

So should I replace all the parts of my PC then or should I just build one from scratch with his help? I think rebuilding my current one would save me money, because my parents have bad credit so money is hard to come by.

The problem is that there isn't an awful lot that you can salvage from an old computer. Lets look at the different parts in the average PC -

CPU

RAM

Graphics Card

Motherboard

PSU

Case

Hard Drive

CD/DVD drive

You can take it as a given that the first five will need to be replaced. The case is probably going to have to go, leaving you with the disc drives as the only thing that are in any way practical to save.

What's your budget? I can point in you the direction of some good bits for as cheap as possible.

[riffleman 20]

I want to buy a good graphic card for my pc.is intel due core is good for ofp like game.

IS VMmare a competiotor of microsoft.

[echo1 0]

The Intel Core 2 Duo is a CPU. Graphics cards are made by nVidia or ATI.

And VMware, who makes Virtualization software, is a competitor to Microsoft, who also make their own virtualization system.

[riffleman 20]

But what is best graphic card for game like Arma ,i found they did't run well on intel graphics?

[echo1 0]

Depends on how much money you are prepared to spend.

[riffleman 20]

Here intel is the boss of market,

almost 90% holder.suggest me to in intel which is best for game.

[echo1 0]

There are none I'm afraid. Intel doesn't make graphics cards - they make integrated graphics chips for motherboards that are cheap, but absolutely useless for games. The only two companies that make proper graphics cards at the moment are ATI and nVidia.

[sesdelta38 10]

I have yet to come across a good case that is bundled with a good PSU. Most case/PSU combos feature mediocre examples of both.

The problem is that there isn't an awful lot that you can salvage from an old computer. Lets look at the different parts in the average PC -

CPU

RAM

Graphics Card

Motherboard

PSU

Case

Hard Drive

CD/DVD drive

You can take it as a given that the first five will need to be replaced. The case is probably going to have to go, leaving you with the disc drives as the only thing that are in any way practical to save.

What's your budget? I can point in you the direction of some good bits for as cheap as possible.

My budget is a $1,000 budget. We are planning on replacing the hard drive because David said that the hard drive is going to break down soon and my computer currently says that as well. He already wrote down a hard drive that we can get, but he said he could rebuild the computer into a gaming PC and he knows a lot about computers. He says that he used to be into Gaming PC and he said that he played Operation Flashpoint and I trust what he says.

I know which hard drive to get, but I need help with getting good replacements for the first five parts you mentioned. But can my computer be rebuilt so it can run Arma 2 smoothly and run on high graphics settings?

Edited September 5, 2009 by sesdelta38

[NeMeSiS 11]

Here intel is the boss of market,

almost 90% holder.suggest me to in intel which is best for game.

Most PC's arent made with gaming in mind, therefor they dont need a dedicated GFX card and a cheap intel onboard thing to plug your monitor in is good enough for word/excel/internet. You cant game with them, they are too slow for any game with somewhat decent graphics. Basically all games nowadays.

[echo1 0]

Well, $1,000 is more than enough if you want to build a new PC (you could replace the top six with as little as $400 and still get a good machine). So what I'd do here is -

1. CPU - Phenom II X4 955 Link

2. Motherboard - Gigabyte MA785G-UD3H Link

3. Graphics Card - Radeon HD4890 Link

4. RAM - OCZ Brand, DDR3 Link

5. PSU - Corsair HX 620W Link

6. Case - Antec 300 Link

Personal recommendation for a hard drive is the Samsung F1 1TB Link

Edited September 5, 2009 by echo1

[riffleman 20]

I think i need to get knowledge about graphic card,i will reply you when i have knowledge about that graphic cards.

[echo1 0]

Good luck with that...

[sesdelta38 10]

Well, $1,000 is more than enough if you want to build a new PC (you could replace the top six with as little as $400 and still get a good machine). So what I'd do here is -

1. CPU - Phenom II X4 955 Link

2. Motherboard - Gigabyte MA785G-UD3H Link

3. Graphics Card - Radeon HD4890 Link

4. RAM - OCZ Brand, DDR3 Link

5. PSU - Corsair HX 620W Link

6. Case - Antec 300 Link

Personal recommendation for a hard drive is the Samsung F1 1TB Link

Would the first five parts be usable with my current computer case, instead of having to be buy a new one? My current case is an grey colored case that was made by HP.

[echo1 0]

Hard to know. A lot of OEM cases have crappy cooling, and that can cause all sorts of problems. For the sake of $50, you might as well get a good new one that you know will do the job, especially if you are under budget.

[sesdelta38 10]

Hard to know. A lot of OEM cases have crappy cooling, and that can cause all sorts of problems. For the sake of $50, you might as well get a good new one that you know will do the job, especially if you are under budget.

Is it possible that my I could get a new cooling system or should I just go with the parts you listed? He said that I didn't need that much storage. Should I just get the new case and 1TB hard drive?

Edited September 6, 2009 by sesdelta38

[echo1 0]

No, its not just the fans, it's the whole case... I think it's best you get a new one.

And if you don't need a lot of storage, then by all means get a smaller hard drive and save money. Here's a smaller and cheaper one.

[sesdelta38 10]

@ ch 123: I decided to go with the parts you posted and I wrote them down last night and then I showed them to my parents. They had their doubts and my dad became sarcastic by saying it would cost us a lot of money, but we worked it out and they said they would get the parts when they have the money. So thanks for helping me with getting parts for a gaming PC. There are two others issues though: Operating system and cooling system. Is their any operating system and cooling system you would recommend? Also, is possible to get more than 4GB? Because, there are a lot of games that I want to run on my gaming PC once I build it.

Here's a list of the games I want to run:

ArmA 2

Crysis

Crysis: Warhead

World In Conflict

Company of Heroes (including the two expansions)

ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead

Will 4GB of RAM be enough for all of these games?

Edited September 9, 2009 by sesdelta38

[oyman 0]

Also, is possible to get more than 4GB? Because, there are a lot of games that I want to run on my gaming PC once I build.

Here's a list of the games I want to run:

ArmA 2

Crysis

Crysis: Warhead

World In Conflict

Company of Heroes games

ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead

Will 4GB of RAM be enough for all of these games?

I only have 3gb of ram with my core i7 and arma2 runs super good. Haven't tried crysis with this computer yet though.

[echo1 0]

There are two others issues though: Operating system and cooling system. Is their any operating system and cooling system you would recommend? Also, is possible to get more than 4GB? Because, there are a lot of games that I want to run on my gaming PC once I build it.

1. I'd wait till Windows 7 comes out next month. I actually forgot to factor in that into the cost. Although an OEM copy shouldn't be any more than $100. If $800 is the most you can spend, I can point out some things to cut back on slightly to free up the difference.

2. 2GB is probably more than enough to play any game. 4GB is more than enough, and gives you good headroom for the time to come. Anything more than 4GB is completely unnecessary. Also, ArmA 2 doesn't like 8GB of RAM.

[sesdelta38 10]

1. I'd wait till Windows 7 comes out next month. I actually forgot to factor in that into the cost. Although an OEM copy shouldn't be any more than $100. If $800 is the most you can spend, I can point out some things to cut back on slightly to free up the difference.

2. 2GB is probably more than enough to play any game. 4GB is more than enough, and gives you good headroom for the time to come. Anything more than 4GB is completely unnecessary. Also, ArmA 2 doesn't like 8GB of RAM.

So I can play a lot of games on a Gaming PC with only 4GB? So you say I should get a copy Windows 7 when it comes out? I now know which operating system I need to get, but I need to know which cooling system I need to get and then I will be already to go.