Minor gaming PC help

[noblemountain]

I am trying to help my roomate pick a PC she can play Dragon Age on. She has never been a big gamer, but really got into Dragon Age on my ps3. Her laptop won't handle it, so I'm buying it just to use as a internet/writing laptop and she'll have the money to spend on a desktop. We're looking at <700...prefer less than 600 honestly. I am admittedly not very computer savvy and am kinda at a loss as to what to suggest to her.

She has a dell card that is recently paid off since I bought the laptop from her. She would like to use it so she can have a few months to pay it off since she has a few big things coming up over the next couple months.

I found this on dell's website...

Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q8300 (4MB L2, 2.5GHz, 1333FSB)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated Intel® GMA X4500HD Graphics
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...op-studio-mini

I really am not sure if it is any good, I have no clue what games would take to run and I would like it to be as future proof as possible since this may be a gateway into more games.

[fishstix]

The graphics probably wont be able to cap with that integrated chip, but it should be pretty playable. I gave Dragon's age a try, and it didn't seem too graphically intensive. My system was a bit better though, with an nvidia gtx260, a few steps higher than the GMA4500

to really future proof it, you'd need at least a real video card of some sort; probably have to spend at least $120 for that

[noblemountain]

The graphics probably wont be able to cap with that integrated chip, but it should be pretty playable. I gave Dragon's age a try, and it didn't seem too graphically intensive. My system was a bit better though, with an nvidia gtx260, a few steps higher than the GMA4500

to really future proof it, you'd need at least a real video card of some sort; probably have to spend at least $120 for that

I had selected a better graphics card...dunno why it reset it to the base default.

ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB [add $60]

nVidia GeForce GTS 240 1024MB [add $160]

is the nvidia a big enough jump to be worth the 160? I was planning on upgrading to the ATI for 60 bucks more. My biggest concern is the processor and memory...I am just lost when it comes to that type of stuff.

[Kurp]

You're better off buying a video card from another site for those prices.

You can get an HD 5770 for around $160-170 which is much better than what you can get from Dell for the same price. The installation of a video card is really easy, but I'm not sure if Dell would void your warranty or not. It's been ages since I've looked at pre-built system warranties.

[noblemountain]

You're better off buying a video card from another site for those prices.

You can get an HD 5770 for around $160-170 which is much better than what you can get from Dell for the same price. The installation of a video card is really easy, but I'm not sure if Dell would void your warranty or not. It's been ages since I've looked at pre-built system warranties.

I have installed video cards before, so that's not a problem. I am also not worried about voiding Dell's warranty. Thanks for the heads up on the card, I thought that sounded a bit high, but I haven't priced cards or even know what's really good anymore. My last concern is the processor...they have several options and I honestly just clicked the "high performance" one without doing any research to see if it will be overkill or even if it is junk.

[Isiolia]

Putting a 5770 in that system will require a power supply upgrade as well. It's got a 350W, which is actually pretty large for Dell's consumer desktops...but those cards tend to spec at least a 450W.

Generally speaking, you're not going to get around that with big OEM systems, they usually come without a ton of headroom on the PSU.

If you aren't averse to building, something like the machine described in this article may fit the bill. I would consider going with a Phenom II 550 instead of the Athlon II X4 620 for gaming purposes though.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?b=2 for quick CPU comparisons.

[Cjskater]

He could probably use a HD5750 with that power supply, they use a very small amount of power (at least, compared to real-men-cards)... less power than an 8800GT to be specific. I honestly use a GTS250 (9800GTX+) with my 380w power supply.

I'd also like to mention, Dragon Age really loves quad cores... and i7s even more.

[Olo401]

I found this on dell's website...

Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q8300 (4MB L2, 2.5GHz, 1333FSB)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated Intel® GMA X4500HD Graphics
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=ddcwmb4&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&m_3=4 GB84&mo=3~4GB84&kc=desktop-studio-mini

I really am not sure if it is any good, I have no clue what games would take to run and I would like it to be as future proof as possible since this may be a gateway into more games.

ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB [add $60]

nVidia GeForce GTS 240 1024MB [add $160]

is the nvidia a big enough jump to be worth the 160? I was planning on upgrading to the ATI for 60 bucks more. My biggest concern is the processor and memory...I am just lost when it comes to that type of stuff.

Ok here's the deal. This system is future dead out of the box because it's a Core 2 platform. The ONLY places where you can squeeze the most out of it are by maxing the processor and memory (Because Dell does stupid stuff like using 4x1GB DIMMs, and they're using DDR2 to boot). Their video card options are a joke - the best they're willing to offer their customers is a GTS240 at the price of a 5770? That's probably all they're willing to do with the low wattage power supply.

Unfortunately your budget is the biggest restriction here, and to keep things inexpensive going with a name brand where they cut corners like this and include stuff like the operating system and sometimes the monitor. But there's other options.. you can look around at some of the lower-end custom systems you can build at Cyberpower or iBuypower using the low-cost Core i3 CPUs or an Athlon II, or maybe you'll find a good deal on Newegg or Tigerdirect. Or you can take the big leap and build it yourself.

BTW did you need a monitor?

[Mojo]

As weird as this sounds, I would recommend a gaming laptop. I think most women would prefer a laptop over a PC, even for games. It's just simpler and you're not confined to sitting in a chair hunched over a keyboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220637

This one is decent for what you pay although I'm sure other people might have better suggestions.

[noblemountain]

Ok here's the deal. This system is future dead out of the box because it's a Core 2 platform. The ONLY places where you can squeeze the most out of it are by maxing the processor and memory (Because Dell does stupid stuff like using 4x1GB DIMMs, and they're using DDR2 to boot). Their video card options are a joke - the best they're willing to offer their customers is a GTS240 at the price of a 5770? That's probably all they're willing to do with the low wattage power supply.

Unfortunately your budget is the biggest restriction here, and to keep things inexpensive going with a name brand where they cut corners like this and include stuff like the operating system and sometimes the monitor. But there's other options.. you can look around at some of the lower-end custom systems you can build at Cyberpower or iBuypower using the low-cost Core i3 CPUs or an Athlon II, or maybe you'll find a good deal on Newegg or Tigerdirect. Or you can take the big leap and build it yourself.

BTW did you need a monitor?

Originally I was going to build, but she got hung up on using the Dell card. I have talked her into waiting a month or 3 and paying cash though. I figured as much about the processor and video card after using that link that Isiolia posted. I have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a case I could use from a old PC of mine. My biggest fear is that I've never built a PC before and handling the motherboard and chip "sounds" hard...although after reading a few walkthroughs it doesn't seem like such a big deal.

Thanks a lot for the help guys. I just wanna help her get set up and not break her bank. Building is obviously going to be the best option to try and keep it cheap and still make it viable. That article from Maximum PC was really informative...the step by step instructions helped me see that maybe the mobo + processor aren't so scary. lol

[warc]

As weird as this sounds, I would recommend a gaming laptop. I think most women would prefer a laptop over a PC, even for games. It's just simpler and you're not confined to sitting in a chair hunched over a keyboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220637

This one is decent for what you pay although I'm sure other people might have better suggestions.

I recently bought a very similar laptop. Mine has a slightly different graphics card, GT 240m, whereas that laptop uses the 220M. I'm not sure how much different the two are, but I love my laptop. The only new games I've played on it would be Borderlands and Mirror's Edge, both I can play on max settings fairly well. Other than the Acer pre-installed program junk, its a great laptop and should be able to play Dragon Age pretty well, in case anyone is interested.