Q. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Desktop+with+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+II+X4+Quad-Core+Processor/9549401.p?id=1218122580360&skuId=9549401
By 'light gaming' I mean that it can play all current games, but maybe not with all the high end settings.
By 'light gaming' I mean that it can play all current games, but maybe not with all the high end settings.
A. It's good for light gaming provided you install a standalone video card to replace the integrated GeForce 9100, which is useless for games.
Off-the-shelf bargain computers usually don't have strong enough power supplies to handle midrange graphics cards, so the best you could install without replacing the psu would be a Radeon 4670.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161287
If you upgrade the power supply, you could install gaming cards like the GeForce 9800GT, Radeon 4850/4870 and GTS 250/GTX 260.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133279
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161297
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143178
Whichever graphics card you purchase, buy it online- Best Buy is way overpriced on those.
Off-the-shelf bargain computers usually don't have strong enough power supplies to handle midrange graphics cards, so the best you could install without replacing the psu would be a Radeon 4670.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161287
If you upgrade the power supply, you could install gaming cards like the GeForce 9800GT, Radeon 4850/4870 and GTS 250/GTX 260.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133279
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161297
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143178
Whichever graphics card you purchase, buy it online- Best Buy is way overpriced on those.
Building A Gaming Computer?
Q. i need some help on building a computer a semi budget
i need a good mother board
it this a good one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358
also im thinking or running a intel core 2 quad q6600
and G.Skill 2GB ram 800 MHZ
also im thinking overclocking from 2.4ghz to 3.0 or more
so i am also gonna use the Tuniq Tower 120 universal cpu cooler 120mm
but i dont know what else i need i was thinking of putting a Nvidia Gt9500
and other stuff im a begginerg and idk nothing.. can you guys give me some good parts i can buy so i can have a good gaming computer that can take alot of gaming requirements.
thank you. ( Starcraft 2 =O )
i need a good mother board
it this a good one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358
also im thinking or running a intel core 2 quad q6600
and G.Skill 2GB ram 800 MHZ
also im thinking overclocking from 2.4ghz to 3.0 or more
so i am also gonna use the Tuniq Tower 120 universal cpu cooler 120mm
but i dont know what else i need i was thinking of putting a Nvidia Gt9500
and other stuff im a begginerg and idk nothing.. can you guys give me some good parts i can buy so i can have a good gaming computer that can take alot of gaming requirements.
thank you. ( Starcraft 2 =O )
A. First of all, get more RAM. 2GB is nice, but 4GB is better and you'll probably only end up paying about 25-30 dollars more.
Second, don't overclock. These days, processors aren't usually the bottleneck on a PC. Many games offload the vast majority of their math to the GPU, so your processor will probably be under a pretty light load while gaming. Overclocking it will just reduce its lifespan, void its (and possibly your motherboard's) warranty, and risk damage to itself and your motherboard. I don't see any reason to do it. If anyone out there wants to correct me, feel free.
The motherboard looks great. It appears to have won an award from Anantech (a popular hardware site) and has a lot of great reviews from users.
Get some faster RAM. 800Mhz isn't bad, but 1066 is better. Check out some of this fancy Corsair Dominator RAM (just $75 for 4GB!): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214
As for the video card, the 9500GT isn't a bad chipset. It's mid-range, but since you're working off a budget here, then there's no reason to go higher now. However, you might consider going with an ATI card. The reason for this is the motherboard you picked supports Crossfire technology. Which is great for someone like you building on a budget because you can get one mid-range card now and then, when you have some more money, you can buy a second copy of that card and use them both at once rather than having to buy a more expensive card and discard the one you already paid for. Just make sure the card you get supports Crossfire.
As far as the after-market CPU cooler goes, I'm really not a fan of those. Generally using a 3rd party processor cooler voids your warranty on your processor. I've always gone with the retail box version of processors and just used the included heatsink/fan. The included heat sink/fan with a processor is designed for that specific processor and comes set up for use with it. With a third party heat sink, if there's any compatibility problems or if you incorrectly apply the thermal paste or something than you could be out a processor and a motherboard. Save your money and just do the retail box CPU and use the included heat sink.
You have the main components down (as far as what's important on a gaming machine). Anything else (DVD drive, hard drive, case, peripherals, etc) is up to you. Just a couple points:
-Get a name-brand power supply that's at least 600W. If you do end up running 2 video cards, you're going to need a lot of power and you'll want it to be reliable. 750W or more wouldn't hurt.
-If you can afford it, get an SSD for your OS and games to reside on and then a larger traditional hard drive for your data. This can introduce a pretty impressive speed increase. But this can be expensive, so treat it as optional for now.
-Go with a SATA DVD drive if you can find one at a reasonable price. It's much more future-proof because you never know when motherboards will start shipping with no PATA.
-Consider going with a 64-bit operating system (specifically Vista 64-bit). Your motherboard will support 16GB(!!!) of RAM, but a 32-bit OS will only support between 3 and 3.5GB. If you want to add more RAM later you don't really want to have to buy a new operating system to go with it. I run Vista Ultimate 64-bit on my desktop and it works just fine.
Second, don't overclock. These days, processors aren't usually the bottleneck on a PC. Many games offload the vast majority of their math to the GPU, so your processor will probably be under a pretty light load while gaming. Overclocking it will just reduce its lifespan, void its (and possibly your motherboard's) warranty, and risk damage to itself and your motherboard. I don't see any reason to do it. If anyone out there wants to correct me, feel free.
The motherboard looks great. It appears to have won an award from Anantech (a popular hardware site) and has a lot of great reviews from users.
Get some faster RAM. 800Mhz isn't bad, but 1066 is better. Check out some of this fancy Corsair Dominator RAM (just $75 for 4GB!): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214
As for the video card, the 9500GT isn't a bad chipset. It's mid-range, but since you're working off a budget here, then there's no reason to go higher now. However, you might consider going with an ATI card. The reason for this is the motherboard you picked supports Crossfire technology. Which is great for someone like you building on a budget because you can get one mid-range card now and then, when you have some more money, you can buy a second copy of that card and use them both at once rather than having to buy a more expensive card and discard the one you already paid for. Just make sure the card you get supports Crossfire.
As far as the after-market CPU cooler goes, I'm really not a fan of those. Generally using a 3rd party processor cooler voids your warranty on your processor. I've always gone with the retail box version of processors and just used the included heatsink/fan. The included heat sink/fan with a processor is designed for that specific processor and comes set up for use with it. With a third party heat sink, if there's any compatibility problems or if you incorrectly apply the thermal paste or something than you could be out a processor and a motherboard. Save your money and just do the retail box CPU and use the included heat sink.
You have the main components down (as far as what's important on a gaming machine). Anything else (DVD drive, hard drive, case, peripherals, etc) is up to you. Just a couple points:
-Get a name-brand power supply that's at least 600W. If you do end up running 2 video cards, you're going to need a lot of power and you'll want it to be reliable. 750W or more wouldn't hurt.
-If you can afford it, get an SSD for your OS and games to reside on and then a larger traditional hard drive for your data. This can introduce a pretty impressive speed increase. But this can be expensive, so treat it as optional for now.
-Go with a SATA DVD drive if you can find one at a reasonable price. It's much more future-proof because you never know when motherboards will start shipping with no PATA.
-Consider going with a 64-bit operating system (specifically Vista 64-bit). Your motherboard will support 16GB(!!!) of RAM, but a 32-bit OS will only support between 3 and 3.5GB. If you want to add more RAM later you don't really want to have to buy a new operating system to go with it. I run Vista Ultimate 64-bit on my desktop and it works just fine.
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