Hey all, Recently I’ve had the urge to get a desktop as I cant play even the most basic game like ‘spiderman’ or ‘call of duty’ on my laptop, as the graphics card is an ATI mobility radeon 9000, thats uses the same RAM as the computer. Ive got a P4 2.8ghz with 2 kingston ram cards so with the g card set to use 128mb , i get about 896mb system ram. When I try to run call of duty, the game lags to the point it cant be played, or you cant shoot properly.
I want to get a computer but don’t want to buy a prebuilt one as don’t need some of the parts they offer, namely a wireless internet card, a dvd writer, a graphics card (ive got an old geforce 128mb card, i think it might have been a 4400, I don;t need a monitor as I can just connect it to the laptop screen till I save more money either.
Basicly I want a computer that can play average games, not intense games like oblivion or the latest unreal tournament etc. Games that I’d like to be able to play are GTA vice city, call of duty, general racing games, far cry, splinter cell pandora tomorow etc. I’vegot both far cry and splinter cell pandora tomorow but those have just been sitting on my shelf as I cant play them. I wouldnt want to spend more than 80 pounds on the graphics card but could stretch to 100 pounds. I like to tinker around with photoshop also, so that would be my other need.
My budget is 500 pounds. Here is what I’d like;
A processor that is equal or better than a P4 3.0ghz but wouldnt mind 3.2ghz if budget allows, 1 gig ram, a good 128mb graphics card, an 80 gb 7200rpm hard disk (sata not really necessary), firewire 800 ports. Dual core would be cool but not necessary if the computer can go fast through encoding etc.
I’ve never built a computer before and wouldnt want to end up getting the wrong parts or frying the cpu with static by mistake etc, specially if the cpu is worth worth over 100 pounds. Can anyone reccomend the parts or at least a site that can offer me that sort of price without forcing components on me that I don;t need? I mean I could easily get a hard disk of my choice from ebuyer.com, a graphics card of my choice and ram of my choice. I really just need someone to fit the mobo into the case, fit any extra coolant needed, fit the fans. I can install the graphics card, the ram, the hdd, the writer. I’m just wary of touching the processor and damaging it while trying to install it. I’ve heard of socket 775 but also wouldnt want to get the cpu and mobo combo wrong.
Thanks for your advice,
gtr