# Is this computer good for games? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773 "2005-02-18T19:41:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![harry\_sgame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@harry\_sgame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harry_sgame)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/1 "2005-02-18T19:41:52Z")
My friend is thinking of buying a used computer, and has only 350 dollars with which to work. She loves games, though, so she will need a lot of something. What is the ‘something’ that computers need to accomodate a lot of games? I think they need a lot of hd space and 256 ram, or better, but I’m not sure. So, what is needed for games. The one that she wants is an IBM Pentium 3, with 700mhz, and 256 ram. Any information would be greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/2 "2005-02-18T19:45:21Z")
That’ll be OK for Tetris. If she wants to play current games along the lines of Half-Life, she needs to aim her sights a whole lot higher. A current “decent” platform for gaming now is a Pentium 4 at 3.0 GHz (or similar in an AMD proc), 1 GB RAM and a gaming videocard. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/3 "2005-02-18T20:07:54Z")
Depends on the type of games and the enviroment- online vs stand alone. That’d work great for many games. Other relevant info would be about the video card/chip ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/4 "2005-02-18T20:11:28Z")
It is probably ok for about %70 of the budget (repackaged) games in the shops. Mostly two dimensional, resource management (god games), puzzle games, ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/5 "2005-02-18T20:12:50Z")
If that PC costs 350, it had better come complete with a monitor, keyboard and mouse. High or low end, the video card is going to make or break the machine on any simulation-type game, with RAM and CPU reasonably behind. With a low-end video card, my PIII 1Ghz with 512M of RAM could barely run Halo or Battlefield 1942. After I threw a $50 GeForce 5200 in it, you can actually hold your own in these games, given a medium video setting. It would help a lot if you said what kind of games she likes. With a title name or two I’m sure many people can give a minimum spec for parts, and whether or not you can get there given what you’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/6 "2005-02-18T20:14:14Z")
Just what kind of games does she have in mind? If it’s hangman and tetris as **gotpasswords** said, that rig will be fine. If it’s modern 3D games like World of Warcraft, Rome Total war, etc, then that rig is certainly not good enough. $350 is very low for a gaming machine, even if you’e building one yourself (which I would recommend you do, if you know what you are doing). for modenr games a low-end system might look somehting like this: AMD 2600+ CPU 512 MB RAM 30-60 Gig Hardrive Geforce FX or ATI 9500+ video card with atleast 128MB VRAM An EAX 2 compatible soundcard. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/7 "2005-02-18T20:16:27Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > That’ll be OK for Tetris. If she wants to play current games along the lines of Half-Life, she needs to aim her sights a whole lot higher. > > A current “decent” platform for gaming now is a Pentium 4 at 3.0 GHz (or similar in an AMD proc), 1 GB RAM and a gaming videocard. The Tetris comment is a little incorrect, and the specifications you list are a little high. As **PatrioxB** noted, it will depend on the games. It will also depend on the person’s preference for detail. For example, running a game released in 2004 in 1600x1200 resolution on a P3-700MHz with 256MB of RAM is a bad idea. Running a game released in 2002 in 1024x768 on the same computer won’t be a problem. My computer is a P3-933MHz with 512MB of RAM, and a GeForce 5200FX video card that I purchased last year for $50. I’m able to play City of Heroes, Battlefield 1942, Madden 2005, et cetera, but not on the highest detail levels. I clearly won’t try to play Half-Life 2, Far Cry, or Doom 3 on this, but with careful attention to the requirements of games, I can still get a good deal of enjoyment out of it. Does she want to play the newest, flashiest games? If so, she won’t be able to manage that with $350. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/8 "2005-02-18T20:18:29Z")
Frankly, your friends is probably better off with a console his he wants to do serious gaming on the cheap. $350 will get you your current-gen console of choice, plus 4-6 games. There’s a decent number of adult-targeted console games out there - even the Gamecube has some good offerings. Read some reviews, and buy the console with the most games you think you (or your friend) would like. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/9 "2005-02-18T20:20:07Z")
harry’sgame, as other’s have mentioned, a $350 computer won’t be able to play most recent PC games, however, it’ll do just fine for standard computer usage. Has your friend considered buying a console in addition to the computer? One can buy a GameCube for a mere $99 and you won’t have any compatibility issues. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/10 "2005-02-19T00:19:21Z")
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**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/11 "2005-02-19T00:40:51Z")
Microsoft has a page where they will scan your computer and then tell you which games it will run. I can’t remember the title of the page—I think it’s Windows XP Game Advisor or something like that. My 1.5 GHz AMD PC with 1 GB of RAM and a 128 MB video card “passed” for all games that I tried out (and I tried almost all of 'em). I doubt my PC would run all these games great, but it “passed.” My old 1 GHz Dell with 512 MB RAM and 16 MB video card passed some of the “lighter” games, but didn’t pass that many of the more popular games—it was almost always the video card that was the weak link, and occasionally the processor too. As others have said here, the video card is where it’s at. I’m not a gamer so it isn’t a big issue for me, thankfully. But from what I understand, trying to keep your PC up-to-date enough to run the “latest” games **well** is a never-ending battle. Frequent upgrades—or simply buying a new PC—is required if you want to have a really _good_ and current gaming machine. (Some of you hardcore gamers can correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not wrong, am I?) If you want to settle for something that will be okay for a while, get at least 512 megs of RAM (biting the bullet and getting 1 GB probably wouldn’t be a bad idea) and a _nice_ video card. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-computer-good-for-games/290773/12 "2005-02-19T02:28:58Z")
Yosemite is essentially correct. In order to have a bitchin’ rig you’re looking at an upgrade every year, and a whole new rig every 3 years or so. It can add up. I try to stay at the top of the curve most of the time. Currently my main gaming rig is an AMD XP 3200, 400 mhz front side bus, 1 gig of RAM, ATI 9800 Pro card, 80 gig hardrive, and Soundblaster Audigy sound card. I can play Doom 3 on this rig without much problem at a decent resolution and with most bells and whitles. A very good cool gaming experience! 🙂 That rig cost me about $600 after sellign my old gear on ebay. I plan on upgrading my mobo, CPU and video card to the new PCI express standard this fall, and it’ll probably run me about $300 after selling my current gear on ebay 🙂 So it’s possible to stay on a good gmaing bracket, but you have to do your homework and know how to get choice hardware at affordable prices, and learn to devote some time to getting that gear and putting it all together yourself.