PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium
MEMORY 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
VIDEO CARD 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache edit
SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Price is 919
I probably wouldn’t get that for gaming, but only because you might get a faster processor, but definitely more ram and a bigger hard drive for less than that. I’m buying one tomorrow, and if you check circulars (online) for Best Buy, Circuit City and Compusa you’ll find several computers with better specs in that price range. Money aside, it’ll probably run most any current game you want it to, though perhaps not with all the video aspects set to max.
Is that an integrated card or not? If it is, you’re probably going to want to get another card eventually. The integrated card in the model I’m buying is supposed to be “pretty good” but I know it’s not great for gaming. I still need to investigate, but I like what I’ve heard about nVidia GeForce 7900 GS so far
The video card is the main thing that isn’t ideal. It isn’t terrible but you should get an Nvidia 7800 (reasonably priced at less than $200) , 7900, or 8800 (if you are awash with cash).
I agree about the video card. Most games can play with 1 GB of ram and the HD is big enough.
It depends what games you’ll be playing. When Sims2 first came out one of the gaming magazines tested Sims2 on computers with different video cards, different amounts of ram and different processor speeds.
You can only use certain video cards but surprisingly processor speed made more of a difference than the amount of ram you have. You can even turn off some of the graphics but it seem to be all in the processor. I guess it depends on the games.
You can check your computer against the Windows Game Advisor.
http://gameadvisor.futuremark.com/gameadvisor/service/my_system.jsp
You might be able to get some game requirements there.
Oh, and I have a ATI Radeon 9800. It’s probably not the best or newest, but I haven’t had any problems with this card.
That video card isn’t going to leave you happy with any sort of relatively up to date game. The rest of it … well, I’d rather know the specific brands and models of parts, but there’s nothing there that seems very lacking for a decent gaming rig, besides the video card.
Is it an integrated video chipset into the motherboard? If so, you want to be sure that there’s a PCI-E port so that you can install your own video card.
I could assemble a better, more well rounded system for that price, but I’m not sure you’re at all inclined to do that (it’s not too complicated), but with a video card upgrade, it sounds like you’ll be okay.
Ok back to the drawing board i guess. Its a dell i tried to put together from their website, i was trying to keep it under 1k but i guess that wont be possible with a better video card.
“Trying to keep it under 1k” or something similar is the best/only reason right now to go with a lighter processor (either a top-end Athlon x2 or the Conroe E6300)… then you take that savings and put it into the mid-range (7800 or 7900) video card. You’ll end up with something that’ll last a couple of years, though it won’t be playing anything at max res/settings… but it’ll perform very well for an economy gaming box.
Hey SenorBeef (or anyone for that matter),
Can you recommend a good Mobo for a Core2 Duo build-yer-own? I’m having trouble finding a good board with 2 IDE connections. I’d like to take my 4 existing IDE drives and put them in a new barebones, to minimize reinstalling every piece of s/w that I own (or should I just bite the bullet and replace my (relatively) samll C: and D: drives with 1 large SATA?). I’m more concerned with performance over price, but I don’t want to get carried away either.
Also - I’ll need a decent stop-gap PCI-E video card until the 8800 prices come down a little.
Any recommendations for a ‘build-yer-own’ barebones site?
I can’t recommend a motherboard, because I haven’t done in depth research on hardware for 2+ years, and I haven’t built an intel system since… um… I think I upgraded a system into a p166.
I get most of my information from oc-forums.com. It’s an overclockers/enthusiast board but they tend to have a lot of good information there in general.
I was just looking at mobos. 2 IDE connectors are history in any newer mobo. You can find a PCI card that will add IDE connectors for less than $30.
Specifically SYBA SD-ATA133R PCI IDE Controller Card - Retail or HighPoint Rocket100 PCI IDE Controller Card - Retail
nVidia 7950GT or ATI X1950XT are both around $250. They currently are near the top of the price/performance charts.
Newegg, Monarch Computer, mWave, ZipZoomfly. I’ve had good dealings with each.
I was just looking at mobos. 2 IDE connectors are history in any newer mobo. You can find a PCI card that will add IDE connectors for less than $30.
Specifically SYBA SD-ATA133R PCI IDE Controller Card - Retail or HighPoint Rocket100 PCI IDE Controller Card - Retail
Regarding the original build in the OP - first, you are missing a motherboard. Second, you are running to Vista too early. For gaming, unless you go with the ultra-pricey nVidia 8800 series, and pair it with Vista, you won’t get the benefits of DX10. Smart money is on waiting for MSFT to release the first service pack before migrating. If you insist on Vista, I’d consider 2 gigs of memory. 250G hard drive is fine, IMO, because it is easy enough to add later.
I’ve found decent gaming systems to be expensive from the Dells, HPs and Gateways (which explains my first point - they wouldn’t tell you which mobo :smack: ). You might be better off visiting a local store (not big box) and working with them.
You could also consider getting a bridge for your drives that will convert the PATA interface to SATA. You won’t really get the benefits of SATA, but they will function properly (as far as I know, I had one of the early bridges with some kinks and haven’t tried since then, but I’d imagine the technology matured)
Thanks for the info guys. Gives me a lot more options and a whole new batch of research to do. Think I’m leaning toward a new large SATA to consolidate my C and D drives. May wait a few months for video card prices to come down a little so I don’t have to upgrade that twice, and wait for Vista to mature a little.
Ok this is my second attempt at putting together a gaming Dell from their website:
PROCESSOR Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6400 (2.13GHz, 1066 FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/1GB memory (i think this means it comes with xp and a free upgrade coupon)
MEMORY 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE 48X CD-RW/ DVD Combo Drive
VIDEO CARD 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro
SOUND Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
I have a brand new 300gig hard drive so im not too concerned about the one i get, besides i have lived with 57 gigs so long anything will be a mass improvement. Price came out too 949, still under my 1k goal.
It looks like you’re replacing a low end nVidia card with a low end ATI card. I assume by “gaming computer” you’ll want to play the latest and greatest, as well as the latest for the next 2+ years. If you’re only really interested in older games, that system would be more than adequate.
But when it comes to gaming computers, the video card is the single most important component, and you won’t be too happy with your performance with $80 video cards, generally. You don’t have to spend $400, though - something along the lines of $150 is usually pretty decent.
Looking up test graphs, it appears the 6600 GT beats it cleanly in most directx 9 tests - which was a midrange card in like 2004. I’m not sure if it beats the 7300 LE you were considering before, as that card wasn’t a part of those tests. But they’re probably within the same range.
You would be much happier just spending 1100 instead, and getting a decent mid-range video card (or even downgrading the processor and memory to get a better video card and stay under 1000).
You can get a geforce 7600GS for around $120 (strangely the 7800 GT seems to be being phased out, or something… at least there are no new ones on newegg. I was going to recommend that for price/performane), a 7900GS for $170 (there are a few listed in the $140s), or $110 for a X1600 Pro.
The geforces would run circles around the X1300. I’m not too familiar with the ATI product line anymore, and they have confusing nomenclature, but I’m guessing the X1600 would too.
The naming system for video cards can be a little confusing. For instance x1300 doesn’t mean it’s better than an X800 - it’s actually probably a significant downgrade - it just means it’s from the next generation. And all that XT, XTX, PRO, etc stuff can get confusing.
With Geforces “LE” usually means a cheap, stripped down version, “GT” typically means more pipelines than the unlettered versions of a card, GS is a lower cost but roughly equivelant performance version of the GTs IIRC, not sure what the internal differences are.
But like I said, I wouldn’t try to skimp on your video card to keep the total cost down. It’d be better to have a $1150 system that flies than a $1000 system that struggles with games because you wanted to save some money on what is the most important component on a gaming rig.
Thanks for the tips, i really haven’t kept up with hardware in the past several years. The video card i picked was the best one avialable for that model, i guess i would be better off just getting one from newegg instead of from dell.
Yeah, you probably would. You might save by getting a system with a cheap integrated card, and then just disabling it and putting in your own. Make sure it has the right slot (usually PCI-E x16) for the video card you’ll want to use.
If you are looking Dell - $1,199:
Ditching the monitor, if you already have one, saves $180. Another $10 if you have speakers. Personally, if running Vista, I’d want more RAM, but I’d buy it outside of Dell and install it myself (you’d then have 4 sticks @ 500Mb each).