Im about to make the leap to a new comp Im a serious gamer and need all the requisite hardware. My last computer was gateway; had no problems with it and liked the feeling of having customer support. First off:
1. Do you recommend Gateway, Dell, or some other vendor?
If I bought the top of the line system will I typically be getting the best graphics card available?
Are there any special add-ons I can get to max out the gaming performance?
Does one pay a huge premium for the top line system vs. the second tier? Im not talking about paying for the better performance, but an “I want the best tax.”
Anyone have any recommendations for moving all my various documents and app settings to the new comp? For instance my OE spam rules? Can I move software or do I have to reinstall and if I can is it wise?
Any other recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks ahead of time.
Not sure, I build my own computers, can’t help you there.
The current best graphics card (I’m pretty sure) would be the GeForce 3 Ti500, even though this card still does not have any graphics applications or games that can be optimized to it’s full potential, the technology will soon be recognized and implemented, I suggest getting a GeForce 3, for the longrun.
I can’t stress this enough for gaming, buy extra ram!. Half the lag/slow gaming problems come from low memory, you might want to buy memoryturbo or download a free ram-free-er-upper software program. I suggest MINIMUM of 512 mbs of ram (that is DIRT cheap right now).
Not sure about this one…
I would suggest reinstalling unless you know how to transfer hard drives and change their properties from masters to slaves, or know someone who does know how to do this. Hard drives are very confusing, I would suggest just reinstalling applications, you end up with alot less time spent hassling with bugs.
If you know any nerds who can put together a computer, ask them. You can buy barebone systems (just a case with a procceser) really really cheap, and add in the normal parts, really, REALLY cheap. Best site I have found is Pricewatch, it lists companies and phone numbers, nice place. Also, if you want to have easy networking capabilities, you should get windows 2000, unless of course you get a free OS with your system. Millenium and XP are not worth the money they cost to buy IMHO. Another thing, if you buy from a company, remember to save ALL manuals/drivers, I lost these things one time and it took me about 6 hours searching the net to find the crap I needed.
If you’re a serious gamer, you might wanna look for some nice speakers, I heard the latest SoundBlaster 5.* is really good with a nice subwoofer. Can’t remember the name off the top of my head, might want to research into the sound depertment hardwear.
As you wrote before Kid, the processor speed changes rapidly. So anything I suggest now might not even be out by the time you get a computer. alienware.com has been discussed before, n they make upto date gaming computers…
I personally would not recommend Dell or Gateway in this case. I won’t go into great detail, suffice it to say that I think you can do better elsewhere. I would recommend Alienware ( http://www.alienware.com ), Falcon-Northwest ( http://www.falcon-nw.com ), or Xi Computers ( http://www.xicomputer.com ). They all allow a great deal of customization, they all make a good computer, and they all offer service as well.
No, there is no guarantee whatsoever with some companies. I’ve seen both Dell and Gateway systems that were top-of-the-line in all other respects come with terrible, old graphics cards. Rye is right in regards to the current top-end graphics card right now. You should do some research and decide what you want. A good vendor will let you choose which card you get installed. If they don’t offer the choice you want, or no choice at all, go elsewhere. Definately don’t take it for granted that they will provide the best choice just because it is a high-end system.
Go with what Rye said. No need to cheap out on RAM, especially with the prices so low.
You will pay more for some vendors, yes. But it is not always a ‘penalty’ or ‘tax’ for choosing the brand. The vendors I mentioned above are not the cheapest options. But they offer higher quality components than vendors like Dell and Gateway. So you are really paying for quality. A system from one of the vendors above will also be much more upgradeable in the future. So the computer might actually be cheaper in the long run.
Tough one. . . It’s probably going to be better for you to reinstall applications. You can copy data files over via Zip disk or CD-R just fine. As Rye pointed out, you can also temporarily put your old hard drive in the new computer to transfer files. This is more complicated and you miight not want to fool with that unless you really know what you are doing. In any event, it’s best to only transfer data files and reinstall applications. That way everything will be installed properly and there won’t be any problems.
If you don’t have a Zip or CD-R drive (and can’t borrow an external one from a friend), then you can look into connecting the computers together via Ethernet or parallel cable.
You say you are a hard core gamer. This is really one of the toughest tasks you can set out for regular computers. So a gamer generally needs a high-end computer. A system with a lot of integrated components will not be as fast (with very few exceptions). This is why I wouldn’t recommend most mainstream vendors like Dell, Gateway, HP, Compaq. They use a lot of integrated parts and a lot of parts that are either proprietary or made specifically for them with different specs. With Alienware, Falcon NW, or Xi, you can chooose everything you want, you’ll know exacly what you are getting, and it will be a standard part.
I’m not trying to bash certain vendors. If someone came to me and said they wanted a cheap computer for surfing the net, I’d be perfectly comfortable recommending a Dell, Gateway, etc. . .(whichever was cheapest). But when someone wants to do hard-core gaming, 3D, or professional work, I go with either a custom build or one of the vendors I mentioned at the beginning. There are probably other vendors that are just as good as well.
Also, take a serious look at a system with an AMD processor. They are better for most games right now (even at the lower clock speeds), and they cost a bit less than Intel’s chips.
All your points seem to have been answered satisfactorily except
Point 3: Make sure you don’t get a system with a lot of ‘system tray’ programs. Ive seen some recent new systems with almost half the taskbar taken up with little programs. These build up and use up memory etc. Ideally you just want the little ‘sound’ speaker icon down there, and the clock. Games run best when they can use the whole system without programs running in the background. Can’t really think of anything else…
Point four: You will find that you pay more for new processors eg the pentium 4 was much more expensive when it came out, and the pentium 3 became much cheaper at the same time. It essentially depends on whether you mind losing say, 200 mhz in order to get a better price, as the 1.8 GHz P IV will cost a little less than the 2 GHz P IV. On the other hand, as I have said you could go for the 1.8 GHz AMD, which is just as fast (if not faster) than the 2 GHz Pentium IV, and cheaper, to boot.
To summarise what’s been said, as a gamer you need lots of RAM and a good graphics card. But you should also consider the soundcard, speakers and other peripherals. Games are much better with a good soundcard, ie surround sound and good powerful speakers, maybe with a subwoofer. This is really good for games that take advantage of them.
Another point about RAM - I’ve not kept up with all the different types that have come out recently, but make sure you aren’t being fobbed off with some crappy RAM. Does anyone know more about this?
Gateway, Dell and other similar “off-the-shelf” vendors should be avoided, because they usually don’t tell you the brands of all the components they use. Often they use “OEM-quality” components “based” on a certain chipset that are cheaper than the regular retail component, because quite frankly, the OEM-quality component doesn’t work 100% right, and tech support on these components can be spotty.
If they had used the retail-quality part, they would say so.
But they didn’t, so they’re trying not to.
All you really need is a 1200-1400Mhz processor with a 200-266 FSB name-brand mobo, 256 Megs DDR and the name-brand video card and sound card of your choice. AMD is a bit cheaper than Intel and runs just the same. There are lots of smaller companies that let you custom-build your PC, and if you stick to name-brand components you probably won’t have many problems. It’s the cheapo-generic components that cause you grief, and it’s the cheapo-generic components that “off-the-shelf” computer companies use that cause you grief, too.
256 Megs RAM is all you need for gaming. Tests I’ve seen done with Win98 and XP showed that almost all present games ran fastest in 196 megs, with a couple that did best in 256. RAM is cheap (even DDR) but the price has little to do with it here. If you get that 256 Megs on one slot, you will have another slot left for more memory later, should it become of significant benefit (-which it might, when MS gets XP working right, but don’t hold your breath).
For gaming, get Win98se, not WinXP. 98 has old patched bugs, XP has new & unpatched bugs. Everything has drivers for Win98, not everything has drivers for XP. - DougC
They have great prices, no bull (you know exactly what you’re getting), and from what I experienced, fast shipping. I think you have to be in the US, so that might be an issue.
Another possible problem is that these guys are not the most customer-friendly of vendors. You can return stuff but they take a “we list our products, you give us money, we send you products, that’s it” attitude. Very very professional, but I guess that’s the point.
Anyway, check it out, if just to add things to your shopping cart and then not buy them!
While it doesn’t cover the specific questions you ask here, it’s still insightful in that it expands on why the people here recommend what they do.
Their advice sure helped me.
Now, it hasn’t shown up yet (Some changes I made ‘after the fact’ bumped the delivery date from earlier this week to sometime in December) so I can’t speak on how it turned out. But I don’t doubt for a moment, however, that the advice and suggestions I received were not only sound, but were dead on.
Great advice all and thanks. One last question. Whenever I go to forums regarding games Im playing there are inevitably compatibility issues. Im pretty sure AMD comes up alot. With my gateway I have had the good fortune of NEVER having a problem. Im wondering if these games are tailored towards these systems (or at least have the bulk of the beta testing done on them) and therefore some tradeoff is perhaps worth it when you go out and buy Ghost Recon and the fricking thing wont work. Any ideas on this?
DougC, for long term gaming, surely (if money is no object) you want the fastest processor possible. ‘you only need’ 1200 - 1400 mhz for maybe a year at most - later games will require more power.
As for windows XP, I do not have it, but I have heard that there is a setting in XP that allows it to emulate win 95, 98 etc so that old programs will run on it.
Yea, if money is no object. My point was that a computer like I described will run most any presently-available game just fine. Most current games don’t require a 1200 Mhz cpu; most will run 30+ frames-per-second on 800Mhz or less. The tests that hardcore gaming sites do to detirmine which system is best are well beyond what any casual observer will be able to discern. - DougC
Just to reiterate(sp?) what others have said, alienware and falcon north-west are the end all be all of “gaming” computers. Or they pay the most to the gaming mags. Depends on how you look at it and/or how paranoid you are. Ghost Recon had/has a problem with your video settings. On my GF’s computer I had to change my color settings from 32 bit true color to 32 bit highest color (or some such, I’m not at home right now). Made it work for me. The AMD compatability issues you see a lot on message boards are ussually for the old K6-2/3s and the first generation of Athlons(early Slot A’s). As far as I know since then there has been no compatability problems. Actually there never was if you did what AMD TOLD you to do in regaurds to power supplies, video cards, etc. You CANT put an Athlon 600 Slot A in your old case with the 200W power supply and expect it to work. Hijack over.
dead0man
I’m quite happy with my Gateway, though my previous computers were build-your-own machines. I chose only parts I needed for what I wanted my computer for - basically a gaming platform. I was able to get a 1.5 Ghz processor, 20 MB HD, CD-ROM, and a 64 MB GeForce2 MX for just over $1000, delivered - this was without a monitor, but I already had a few. It only came with 128 MB of RAM, but that’s easy enough to upgrade on your own.
I’d hold off on getting a GeForce 3 for a couple of months. They are still quite a bit more expensive than the next step down, and not too many games utilize the full power of the GeForce 3 yet - I’m able to play Max Payne with full detail, 1280x1024x32, with a very smooth frame rate on my machine, and if I bump the resolution down to 800x600x16 it runs smooth with full-screen anti-aliasing on (I haven’t decided yet which I like better). Anyway, the good GeForce 2 (like what I have) will run about $150-$170 less than the GeForce 3 right now. I plan to upgrade to the GeForce 3 when Doom 3 comes out, or possibly sooner if another game that needs that kind of power comes out that I’m interested in.
I probably should have pruned that a bit, but O well. The MX is NOT the top of the line GeForce 2. Its actually the “budget” GF2. Its a great card for a great price but not the 2nd best card in Nvidia’s lineup. I think that belongs to the GeForce 2 Ti 200. But I could be wrong.
dead0man
Wow, I replied to this with a correction on the type of card I had, but I apparently either didn’t hit submit or I replied in the wrong thread. Anyway, it’s a GeForce Ultra something-400.
First of all, I heartily encourage anyone who hasn’t built a PC, to do so at least once, you get know much more about your system than any salesman/video/website can do for you.
(Of course, I also think teens should build their first car too, so make of that what you will…)
If you really want to game, stay away from the big vendors. Nothing wrong with their product for normal use, but if you want maximum performance for a specific type of use, go with the guys that do this well. I build my own so have to go off other peeps I know opinions, but alienware seems to be high on all of their lists.
Usually not, especially from the big guys unless specifically ordered. Like others have said, nVidia’s GeForce line, especially GF3, is the king. But there are many graphic card makers selling them, with different features, so a choice has to be made. A graphics card getting plenty of notice, but I haven’t tried, is the new Radeon 8500, almost as fast as a GF3 Ti500, half the cost.
If you like 3-D games, be sure to look at Gladiac’s line, best 3-D glasses I’ve ever used.
Not really an add-on but a real must: a good sound card. I’m in love with my Sound Blaster X-Gamer card, but keep looking at their new Audigy line… Along with that, good speakers. Really alot of choices here, Logitech’s 5.1 (can’t recall the model, runs about $125) speaker system is great, or if you wanna go overboard, Klipsch Promedia 4.1, I had both, gave the Logitech’s to a friend, Klipsch is incredible, and you pay for 'em
If into it, force-feedback controls are great as well. I didn’t care for the FF gamepad, but enjoy the joystick, again, many out there, with many options.
If I’m thinking about this correctly, yup, you do pay more for the best stuff, thing is, you decide what’s important, and pay more to get the better device of those types, and less for those that you don’t…
I totally agree with the other poster’s re-install is probably best. And if you intend to play alot of games, get used to re-installing, they can play havoc with WinXX.
I’m a fan of AMD, and have yet to find the incompatibility problems some claim, all the games I play seem to be just fine. I also like the 266 MHz front side bus speeds and overclocking. I also think that much of AMD vs Intel is just a holy war, both seem to be great performers, just AMD seems to get it done cheaper. 256 MB is fine for anything older than XP (dunno about that OS, no time on it yet), keep in mind on most high res games, the bottleneck is the video card, better to load it up with a minimum 64 MB DDR RAM. Win98SE still seems to be the best gamer OS of the windows platforms.
