Is this PC Any good?

[Archonaut]

Originally Posted by isaacrulzrs2

I'm fairly confident that said computer would manage to meet those requirements, perhaps with a slightly lower FPS (Again, a graphics card that I don't recognize so I can't be sure).

Hmm I'm glad to hear that, I've found an other computer which is I think slightly better but the person who sells it (again, it's second handed) doesn't give as much info as my friend I hope you know a bit much more about this computer:

Nice PC with Intel Core 2 Quad 6600 CPU, 3GB Ram memory, 500GB HDD But the pc has recently got a new motherboard(Asus P5KPL-AM) and a new PSU (doesn't say which one) It's perfect for multimedia, work, internet and easily works with new games. Also a new Philips 23'' LCD Screen. In total 285 euro's. What do you think ;p?

I hope I'm not too much trouble and thanks again for helping me ;D

Originally Posted by isaacrulzrs2

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/
You will need to be at least vaguely familiar with computer hardware in order to know exactly what is what.

Well, it's never bad to expand your knowledge right ;p
I'll check it out, tyvm!

[-Logan-]

Might want to check the MHz on the RAM there more precisely. AFAIK the mobo you mentioned supports DDR2 RAM (Max 800MHz), and if that's the case what you're buying is garbage. The mobo especially looks like crud to me built specifically for SLI cards, which I don't recommend. I think it's also very important to check what kind of PSU is on that build. Better safe then sorry.

It's a nice price, but in my opinion it's money better spent somewhere else, like saved together with a bit more cash for an average computer at 2011 standards, not from 2008.

[Archonaut]

Originally Posted by -Logan-

Might want to check the MHz on the RAM there more precisely. AFAIK the mobo you mentioned supports DDR2 RAM (Max 800MHz), and if that's the case what you're buying is garbage. The mobo especially looks like crud to me built specifically for SLI cards, which I don't recommend. I think it's also very important to check what kind of PSU is on that build. Better safe then sorry.

It's a nice price, but in my opinion it's money better spent somewhere else, like saved together with a bit more cash for an average computer at 2011 standards, not from 2008.

Are you talking about the PC I showed in the first post, or the desktop I showed on last post. And what's Mobo? I'll ask the owner then.

Edit: MOBO = Motherboard?

[-Logan-]

Originally Posted by Archonaut

Are you talking about the PC I showed in the first post, or the desktop I showed on last post. And what's Mobo? I'll ask the owner then.

Edit: MOBO = Motherboard?

Mobo = motherboard

And I'm talking about the first one in the original post. The second one you posted isn't far from better either, and you forgot to mention the GPU, though if it's using a 1920 x 1200 resolution then it should have at least 1.5-2 gigs of memory otherwise you're going to be lagging. That motherboard only supports up to 4 gigs of dual channel RAM (and again, 1066MHz DDR2). The socket also isn't going to be compatible with any new processors like the Intel i3/5/7 series.

Honestly, prices are so low now that you can buy yourself 8 gigs of 1600Mhz DDR3 RAM (Which is more then enough for pure gaming) at an affordable price. My recommendation is also to find a motherboard with a 1155 or 1156 socket. There's just one problem right now with computer prices and it's HDD's (there was a flood in Thailand).

If you want a computer built purely for high end gaming, getting in the ideal price/performance zone, and playing everything but the Witcher 2 on ultra settings then the standard getup right now is an i5-2500 processor (2500k for overclocking), 6 gigs of 1600MHz RAM, and a 1GB nVidia 560Ti. I know many people build their computers more or less around these specifications and they can cut through resource heavy games like butter.

[Archonaut]

Originally Posted by -Logan-

Mobo = motherboard

And I'm talking about the first one in the original post. The second one you posted isn't far from better either. That motherboard only supports up to 4 gigs of dual channel RAM (and again, 1066MHz DDR2). The socket also isn't going to be compatible with any new processors like the Intel i3/5/7 series.

Honestly, prices are so low now that you can buy yourself 8 gigs of 1600Mhz DDR3 RAM (Which is more then enough for pure gaming) at an affordable price. My recommendation is also to find a motherboard with a 1155 or 1156 socket.

If you want a computer built purely for high end gaming, getting in the ideal price/performance zone, and playing everything but the Witcher 2 on ultra settings then the standard getup right now is an i5-2500 processor (2500k for overclocking), 6 gigs of 1600MHz RAM, and a 1GB nVidia 560Ti. I know many people build their computers more or less around these specifications and they can cut through resource heavy games like butter.

Damn... Hmm I don't know right now, you and Eragon made me doubt about wheter I should buy my pc, or 'make' my self-build pc.. It's just that the costs are a bit high and of course my parents won't finance it so it will be the money out of my own pockets. On the other hand, building your own desktop will improve my knowledge about the inside of desktops. I could use that as an excuse ofcourse .

Around which amount of money would a nice self-build desktop be? And does anyone have a nice site which sends international? Eragon's site is really nice but I think (almost sure) it doesn't ship out side of the UK.
Hope this will work out ;p

[bois]

Interesting toss-up. I would tend to shy away from the first one simply because of the vintage of the components in there. For starters, in my company we tend to devalue computers by the order of 20% (sometimes 25%) for every year.
In that case, off the bat, the first one by its sheer age is only worth 20% of is original value.
That motherboard concerns me. It is an AM2 board and as such the installed chip is the best you can really get for that platform (there is the 6400 which is marginally faster). Essentially you are at the end of the upgrade path CPU wise. That chip runs hot and has a high thermal displacement. It might have been a contender maybe 4 years ago. The board takes DDR2 memory and maxes out at 8GB. Not bad and it is an Asus board which has a very good track record. But the board is still very old. There is a chance the RAM could be DDR2- 800Mhz or DDR2- 667Mhz. Considering the other components the Hard disk I would wager is a 7200RPM. Seems adequate. The video cards are another concern. Those boards are really lower end boards and inferior to the 8800 series. Will they perform in SLI for RO? Perhaps, but don't expect anything stellar. Those boards were released in 2007.
Yes the case sounds nice and it does have water cooling but let's hope that that water cooling is superior ,new and well maintained. Old water cooling systems should really be carefully examined before purchase.
Personally, I would not go for it despite the attractive price .

The second one sounds much nicer. Core 2 processors are nice generation . With that said , that board can only max out at 4 GB RAM I believe. It takes DDR2 but the 2 slots are filled and they probably put DDR2-667Mhz in there. For average use that is not bad but considering you mentioned no discrete graphics, the system will use the integrated GMA3100 graphics. Intel graphics are not great at all. Keep in mind that system will share the RAM with the onboard graphics and reduce the amount available to you.
I am not in the Euro zone so I can't advise on prices properly but I do think that the second one is the better choice considering the newer and superior components. The only issue is, depending on the Operating system you plan to use, you will probably have to invest in a discrete video card to have a pleasant experience in Regnum Online. I am just not sure if that Intel graphics is going to cut it. If it comes with discreet graphics, then all the better (depending on what you have of course).

Personally I would not go with either and probably try for something a bit newer. There are factory refurbished deals around and open box deals. It might be prudent to think about looking for something that gives you a bit more bang for the buck while at the same time not boxing yourself into dated (hence expensive to maintain) tech. A little future proofing is probably worth the investment too. However, if it is a budget constraint and time constraint, I prefer the second one along with a discreet video card.

Regards

[Archonaut]

Originally Posted by bois

....

Hmm, I undestand what you mean.. Well like 80% of it .
Anyway, that's not the point. It's not like I need those desktops right away, they seemed pretty nice from my point of view but I guess I was wrong. I will prolly build my own computer, or at least try to. First I have to get some more money together, still don't know how much I should have for a decent/good gaming computer. If anyone has a site for such things, it's still welcome. After that, I'll ask some advice on the forum too. And hopefully everything will work out allright. I think it's for the best, don't want to buy trash that I will throw away after half a year because of raging it gives me less fps than this computer already does.
Tyvm for your respond Bois.

Anyway, any nice self-build sites? Anyone ? They're all welcome ;D

Edit:

Originally Posted by bois

The only issue is, depending on the Operating system you plan to use, you will probably have to invest in a discrete video card to have a pleasant experience in Regnum Online. I am just not sure if that Intel graphics is going to cut it. If it comes with discreet graphics, then all the better (depending on what you have of course).

I didn't get the bold part, can you explain that please? I didn't know the OS did have to do with the graphics, or at least the performance. And what OS did you think I was planning on using?

[Aelonderiel]

Am I the only one that feels the modern-age power-hunger caused by Micro$oft in all its glory in this thread?

To be honest if you just wanted to play RO on modest settings, any of the 2 mentioned boxes would work magnificently... I mean, I got it up and running on a 2.6 Ghz Celeron with 1GB of DDR RAM and a 256 MB GPU that is so old I don't even remember what type of memory it is... Low settings of course, but there you go... And I know of people that have got it working on less, but with terrible fps so let's leave that

For RO on the highest settings, then surprisingly, you'd need a quite powerful computer. NG3D is not shy on demanding resources...

It would be easier to tell you if it's worth buying those PCs if you had posted what you're currently using.

[andres81]

Originally Posted by Archonaut

I just want to play RO on at least shader model 3 with nice graphics and around 40 FPS in a 30vs30 war, for the rest there's not much I would really like to do with it (except for school of course but then again school projects don't really need a magnificent computer) would I get that much FPS with the computer I showed in the first post?

My brother had a GeForce 8500 card and played in shader 3 with very stable 40-45 fps on Pentium DualCore 2,8GHz (we had to change the graphics card recently due to broken fan).

Anyway your first posted computer is much better as it has 2 graphic cards in SLI mode and the processor seems to be faster too.
If you want to get more out of this box avoid installing a resource hungry OS like Windows 7 or make a dualboot and run Regnum on a light Linux installation

What you should consider when buying 4 year old computers is that some components have expected lifetimes of about 5 years so have to be prepared to change for example defect RAM banks or other components....

[Archonaut]

@both the above

Well, I have a Windows 7 Dual Core pc with 3GB Ram and a Nvidia Gforce 8600 256mb . I play on fixed pipeline with force safemode and I have around 30 fps when there is nobody around and about 7fps in a nice fort wars. Well, how could this be possible then? The pc is about 3 years old so maybe that explains it. And about the 1st pc, it's already sold so even if I would like to buy it I couldn't.

Still I am wondering, I saw a nice pc a decent one but the Processor is Dual Core amd athlon 2,7GHZ. The graphical card on the other hand is pretty nice: Nvidia Gforce GT 280(Or 250, 260 I forgot exactly tbh), 1GB memory and it has 4 GB Ram. Just the CPU is bad isn't it? Is the CPU that important? Isn't it possible to expand your cpu on your own or is that impossible?

I hope anyone can answer these questions ;p