window computers

[alien_ware]

hi i know this is a mac forum but i dont know anywhere else so im gunna get a desktop windows and i was wondering wht is a good brand for gaming and stuff like that (nothing like alienware too expensive) it has tro be cheap and runcounter strike and half-life and doom 3 with no lag on high graphics but it doesnt have to have a good grphics crd i can buy another one.

[Louay]

Good luck with that buddy. Doom 3 on max graphics is gonna take alot more than a peice of **** computer. Get a mac. Plain and simple you will think its worth it in the end.

~Louay

[mad jew]

Did you seriously sign up here to find out what the best gaming PC is? :confused:

Anyway, I'd say check out Alien Ware but that's your username and you're saying they're too expensive. Maybe try building your own then.





Jeez, I thought I was mad... :confused:

[Heb1228]

What the heck?!

[mkrishnan]

http://img180.echo.cx/img180/1609/pig4hq.jpg

Ummm...dude, get a Dell? :confused:

[homerjward]

build it yourself. seriously, it's very easy and unless you're going super-high-end or super-low-end it's cheaper than buying it from a company. i like http://www.newegg.com for computer parts and such.

[AoWolf]

build it yourself. seriously, it's very easy and unless you're going super-high-end or super-low-end it's cheaper than buying it from a company. i like http://www.newegg.com for computer parts and such.

I agree if your on a budget building your own is the way to go. And in the end you have the satisfaction doing it your self.

[raggedjimmi]

build your own. never EVER get a computer from a shop. we got our first PC back in 95-96ish... my dad didn't think much of it other than its an upgrade to our Amiga. then he found out how easy it was to make his own about a year later and ever since all our computers have been home builds. its so much cheaper and fun to build up. bloody simple too, i did work experience in a computer shop and they showed me what to do and an hour or so later i could build them.

just plugging in those little wires to the motherboard thats my problem :( or it used to be. i think they're colour coded now.

everyone i know builds thier own systems, or gets a laptop. then again Manchester is home to europes biggest computer market, extremely cheap hardware by the bucket loads, so its no surprise :)

[Jay42]

You're joking right? PC advice at MR? Not that there arent plenty of people that could help you here, but you couldn't find a better place for this? Also, if someone made a cheap PC that could play all the latest, most demanding games without lag on the highest settings, it would probably be sold out.

BTW, I'm watching TV right now and just saw an Orbitz commercial where they had a mock 70's game show and what appeared to be two huge ACD's where the contestants were.

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Get a console (Xbox or PS2) and a Mac... best of both worlds...

...or if your set on a PC, build one, like many already has said, and come back here when you're fed up with all the malware and incompatible drivers and has come to your senses...

Then get a console (XBox 360 or PS3) and a Mac... :D

[Devie]

I'm what is called a 'hardcore' gamer. I use to be on Windows for the very reason you are, to play games. I decided its just not worth it and got my iMac. This baby runs WoW perfectly fine and thats all I need on the computer.

I use my Xbox, PS2, GC, SP and soon to be DS for my main gaming. I dont care for CS anymore.

[biohazard6969]

*sigh* alrite i'll bite

i'd go for the dell dimension 5100. because its a dell you can upgrade it and customize it to your liking and put in ram and great graphics card.

i think that looks like one of the best bang-for-your-buck PC's for gaming at least

but for future reference, ur gonna get a lot of s**t posting about a PC on mac forums unless it has the words "i switched" in it

[yellow]

Get yourself a TRS-80.. it's cheap and will fulfill all your gaming needs.

http://hackersnews.org/hackerhistory/trs80_1.jpg

[GFLPraxis]

Dell? Ick.



I'd recommend iBuyPower.com. Best customizing site around. Get an Athlon 64 system with a Geforce 6600GT.

http://ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=136



$614, with a 3 Piece Subwoofer Speaker system, 80 GB hard drive, 512 MB of RAM, Geforce 6600 GT, 7.1 surround sound, gigabit ethernet, dual PCI-E (so you can add in a second Geforce 6600 GT at a later point), Firewire, Athlon 64 3000+, and a see-through case with optional neon lights. It even has a temperature display, and 12-in-one media reader. $35 upgrades to a dual layer dual format DVD burner or $14 upgrades to a DVD/CD-RW (default is CD-RW).

Windows XP is an extra $85 if you want it (recommended), and you get a free download of Half-Life 2.

[mkrishnan]

Get yourself a TRS-80.. it's cheap and will fulfill all your gaming needs.

I had this TRS-80 Color Computer game called...Dungeons of Daggorath? Something like that? The scariest first-person perspective game I ever played. Of course, I was maybe six at the time.

And, as a plus, I got to learn programming. :D And how to type quickly. You've got to -- if you type too slowly, you will never finish the program before the computer overheats! :eek: ;) :D

[velocityg4]

As suggested before build your own through www.newegg.com. The equipment listed would allow you to build a top notch gaming platform. I have omitted a keyboard, mouse, monitor and other peripherals since I assume you already own them.

Athlon 64
3500+ $219
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103533
3800+ $323
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103531

Abit Motherboard non SLI $86
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127221
Foxconn Motherboard w/SLI $126
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186062

200GB Hard Drive SATA $86
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144184

1 GB RAM (2x512mb) Rosewill $89
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820223030

AOpen Nvidia 6800GT 256MB $289
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135171
Sapphire Radeon X800XL $279
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102499

Rosewill RV350 350W PSU $28 This thing works great
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182006

Cheap Case $40

Windows XP Home $88 Blech :mad:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102151

Price Range is $915-1069 depending on if you want SLI or not and whether you go with a Athlon 64 3500+ or 3800+.

I made the following selection of parts because you need a minimum video card of NVidia 6800GT or Radeon X800XL to get solid framerates at max settings on the latest games. You also need a minimum of 1 GB of RAM. The CPU is more negotiable I listed the Athlon 3500 and 3800 since they offer SSE3. Intel CPUs will not give you the same bang for your buck and more expensive processors are not needed you could downgrade to an Athlon 64 3000+ or 3200+ however. The Rosewill PSU has served me well, it has good 12v Amperage and it is cheap. Finally, I listed the 200GB Hard Drive since it is only $86.

Hope this helps.

P.S. I know full well that some may say go PS2 or XBOX. However, some people do not enjoy the games available on consoles systems, such as Rome Total War, MS Flight simulator and soon Age of Empires III. These and many other complex games are only available on the PC. Plus you can't play games with a mouse and keyboard on a console.

[raggedjimmi]

If you DO build/buy a PC; get a Pentium. those chips are amazing. probably why Apple will be using them :D

over the years i've used a 386, Pentium (all the way from 1 to 4), Celeron, and 2 AMD ones. the celeron is amazing for laptops, so cold. NEVER for a desktop however. AMD just felt cheap. my girlfriend and a mate use AMD, not through choice but just because it was cheaper, now they're both selling their machines for a P4 :D

I cant quite decide over video cards. My desktop is running an ATI Radeon 9600Pro and its amazing, for what i paid for it and how old it is. runs HL2 in 1920xI forgot with everything on full (no AA though, dont need it at that res!). and Doom 3 on Ultra Quality 1024x768. smooth as.

But I've had good experiences from Geforce too. My 2 year old laptop has a Geforce FX Go5600 and it flies through everything... just not Doom 3... at all!

the whole 'get a console' idea is good too. get one of the current generations of console whilst they're cheap(ish). GC; £60, bucket load of free games+controllers. Xbox; get it chipped. use as a media centre as a 'simulator' game playing machine, same for PS2. just maybe not for streaming.

[greatdevourer]

Old AMDs felt cheap, but the 64-bit ones... :eek: They've really cleaned up their act, recently

[benpatient]

the 64-bit ones?

the 32 bit ones from 2+ years ago (around the Barton core days) were heads and shoulders above what intel was putting out for the price. unless you do video encoding, it makes no sense to buy an intel right now. The near future might change that, but currently they're being beaten. Especially for games.

as for the "hardcore gamer" who only plays WoW...what a concept. You might have to, as much as it may pain you, get rid of the "hardcore" prefix for a while. Playing a single game, even if you DO play it 24/7, doesn't make you a "hardcore" gamer. it makes you obsessed with a certain game. hardcore gamers are the ones that go to LAN parties and upgrade their graphics cards every 6-12 months. They have 6-15-button mice and spend their free time tweaking memory timings in BIOS.

And if you build it yourself, a 700 dollar PC can play any game currently available on the Mac (other than quake 3) better than any currently available Mac can play the same game. And q3, aside from being old and boring, "only" runs 240 fps or so on that 700 dollar PC.

I don't understand why the original poster bothered to post here, though...Funny thing is, most people who post in the Mac Gaming forum here actually play games on a PC at least some of the time.

and by the way, the xbox isn't the best of ANY world. 640x480 interlaced? no thanks. If I want that, I'll just go play mario 3.

[biohazard6969]

what's better for gaming? AMD or intel? i'm pretty sure AMD doesn't have nearly as big a clock speed as intel but i'm not sure, whenever you hear about AMD its always AMD athlon 3500+ or something like that. i like the way intel does it. nice and simple pentium 4 3.2 ghz with ht technology or w/e

with amd you never know how fast it is :mad:

[plinden]

what's better for gaming? AMD or intel? i'm pretty sure AMD doesn't have nearly as big a clock speed as intel but i'm not sure, whenever you hear about AMD its always AMD athlon 3500+ or something like that. i like the way intel does it. nice and simple pentium 4 3.2 ghz with ht technology or w/e

with amd you never know how fast it is :mad:

I'm trying hard not to be sarcastic or to drop on you from a great height, but all I can say is you should learn something about the subject before posting. Try googling for AMD vs Pentium benchmarks, or read some of the reviews on anandtech, tomshardware or arstechnica.

Higher GHz != higher performance

[HiRez]

AMD just felt cheap.Huh? How does a CPU "feel cheap"? Do you mean it just runs slow or what? I can see how a case might feel cheap, but assuming the CPU is operating correctly, I don't understand your comment for something you normally never see or touch.

[savar]

hi i know this is a mac forum but i dont know anywhere else so im gunna get a desktop windows and i was wondering wht is a good brand for gaming and stuff like that (nothing like alienware too expensive) it has tro be cheap and runcounter strike and half-life and doom 3 with no lag on high graphics but it doesnt have to have a good grphics crd i can buy another one.

I don't see the point in PC gaming, but everything I hear says that either Alienware or a custom build is the way to go. Alienware has multiple product tiers -- one might fit your needs.

[GFLPraxis]

what's better for gaming? AMD or intel? i'm pretty sure AMD doesn't have nearly as big a clock speed as intel but i'm not sure, whenever you hear about AMD its always AMD athlon 3500+ or something like that. i like the way intel does it. nice and simple pentium 4 3.2 ghz with ht technology or w/e

with amd you never know how fast it is :mad:

Clock speeds are NOT MEASUREMENTS OF SPEED. That Athlon 3500+ will have a lower clockspeed than a 3.5 GHz Pentium 4 but blow it away.

Athlon 64's are the best gaming processor on the market right now.

[iPoster]

Higher GHz != higher performance

Yeah, hasn't anyone heard of the Megahertz Myth?


;)

[mad jew]

Yeah, hasn't anyone heard of the Megahertz Myth?


;)


The myth's evaporated since Macs are going to Intel now. MHz does matter people, it does. :p

[cantthinkofone]

im selling my computer that i built my self. Plays every thing very well, HL2, FarCry, UT 2k4 with out a hitch. specs:

-1 Ultra Dragon style case in silver. with window.

-2 12" cold-cath Blue lights for case.
-1 Ultra X-Connect 500-Watt PSU

-1 Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe mobo

-1 AMD 64 3000+ Socket 939, 1.8GHz

-1 EVGA 6600GT SLI(with another card of the same model) w/ 128MB GDDR3 ram.

-2 Sticks of Kingston 256MB DDR (512 total)

-2 HDDs.80GB Wester Digital, and 160GB Western Digital both SATA

-1 Samsung DVD-+RW w/ Dual Layer

-1 CD-RW 52x24x32 just a back up but works.

-1 ViewSonic 17" LCD With DVI and VGA. Built in speakers. 8-ms response time. 1280x1024 max res.

-1 US Robotics 56k PCI modem.--(mobo has two)(2) 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports.

-1 Thermal Take 120-cm Big-Water Block cooling system. On the CPU right now, i had planed to get a block for my Video card but never got around to it.

-1 Microsoft Optical mouse, USB

-1 Standard Keyboard, PS2.

-Comes with HL2,FarCry,UT2k4, and Star Wars Republic Commandos. Asking $1200 for every thing, includes shipping.

-Also has Norton Internet Security With 6-month trial installed. Expires in October.

-All cables are included,LCD, power.

pm me if interested.

[GFLPraxis]

The myth's evaporated since Macs are going to Intel now. MHz does matter people, it does. :p

It's only one part of performance. Look at the benchmarks. 2 GHz Athlon 64 > 2.5 GHz Pentium 4. EASILY.

[plinden]

The myth's evaporated since Macs are going to Intel now. MHz does matter people, it does. :p
Not when comparing Intel and AMD, or even Pentium M vs P4.

[biohazard6969]

Clock speeds are NOT MEASUREMENTS OF SPEED. That Athlon 3500+ will have a lower clockspeed than a 3.5 GHz Pentium 4 but blow it away.

Athlon 64's are the best gaming processor on the market right now.

ok, but how/why are Athlon 64's better than a pentium 4 with almost a ghz higher clock speed, how does that work? what makes it so much better.

[mad jew]

It's only one part of performance. Look at the benchmarks. 2 GHz Athlon 64 > 2.5 GHz Pentium 4. EASILY.


Not when comparing Intel and AMD, or even Pentium M vs P4.


Tongue was firmly embedded in cheek. Sorry for the lame joke. :(

[GFLPraxis]

ok, but how/why are Athlon 64's better than a pentium 4 with almost a ghz higher clock speed, how does that work? what makes it so much better.


As AMD explains it here, http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/SellAMDProducts/0,,30_177_3532_3839%5E4578,00.html


Simply put, the Megahertz Myth is the belief that clock frequency (MHz/GHz) is the only true measure of real processor performance. In reality, processor performance should be measured by how quickly an application completes an assigned task.

Hence, processor performance is not only determined by MHz/GHz, but by the combination of frequency and instructions executed per clock cycle (IPC.)
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/Additional/Saxp_IPC.gif


Athlon 64 processors do more instructions per clock cycle, while the Intels do more clock cycles per second (Hz).


The Athlon 64's are more powerful processors, and 64 bit.

[GFLPraxis]

Tongue was firmly embedded in cheek. Sorry for the lame joke. :(

LOL, my sarcasm comprehension sucks.

[raggedjimmi]

Huh? How does a CPU "feel cheap"? Do you mean it just runs slow or what? I can see how a case might feel cheap, but assuming the CPU is operating correctly, I don't understand your comment for something you normally never see or touch.

I bought an AMD (forgot name, wasn't Duron for sure) 3000 cpu at £50, and a little £40 motherboard for it. it crashed too much, it was very hot, it would 'pause' and do silly things like that. it felt like driving a car with bits falling off it.

sold that on to a mate who really didn't bother with its track record. bought a P4 3Ghz with h/t at £100, then a middle-line Intel motherboard at £100 too. and it runs like a dream. it just flies through Adobe Premier and the big 3D games.

of note; all the people on my course who switched to Macs were using AMD based computers. of interest? or just coincidence.

[dmw007]

I bought an AMD (forgot name, wasn't Duron for sure) 3000 cpu at £50, and a little £40 motherboard for it. it crashed too much, it was very hot, it would 'pause' and do silly things like that. it felt like driving a car with bits falling off it.


Your problems with AMD likely stemmed from the cheap motherboard, not the processor.

That said, my former PeeCee with a 3.06GHz P4 w/HT-1GB Dual Channel DDR400- GeForce 6600GT was very stable and gave awesome performance (aside from it running windblows xpee).

[benpatient]

wow, your cheap-o motherboard purchase was the fault of the processor?

what incredible logic. I wonder if you've ever tried to put a BMW V12 on the frame of a 1982 dodge pickup and win LeMans?

to the person who said that intel's processors are labelled 3.2ghz, etc, and AMD's are confusingly labelled, I guess you've not been keeping up with things for the last...9-12 months or so...Intel dropped the ghz from their processor names. Now they're things like P4 560 and meaningless crap like that. At least the first line of every AMD processor description is the actual clock speed. What an ignorant complaint.

My 2500+ was 1.833 ghz. Unless I decided to clock it at 2.16 ghz, that is. :)

Also, back when they had ghz names Intel processors were speed-locked while AMD's weren't. So I could turn my $80 Barton 2500+ into a 2.4ghz monster if I had the right timings, voltage, and cooling set up. Which I did from time to time. Intel is just playing catch-up on the games front. They wanted the Apple contract because they're worried about their status in the PC market. Sure, they're still the #1 seller, but only because of Dell. In the custom builder world, AMD rules the roost.

[dubbz]

what's better for gaming? AMD or intel?

AMD currently owns Intel when it comes to gaming. End of story.

[WhiteSavage]

lol! Hey, just because we're Mac users, doesn't mean we're that perfect. We all forget things sometimes.

[biohazard6969]

ok but thtat doesn't mean that intel is completely garbage for gaming right? i mean a P4 3.2ghz should still run BF 2 and HL 2 fine right?

[TheMonarch]

How can a huge billions-and-billions-of-dollars-milti-plant-world-top-CPU-seller company have slower processors than than AMD? So much money to throw at any issue, and AMD wins? HA!


Go AMD :)

[tdhurst]

hi i know this is a mac forum but i dont know anywhere else so im gunna get a desktop windows and i was wondering wht is a good brand for gaming and stuff like that (nothing like alienware too expensive) it has tro be cheap and runcounter strike and half-life and doom 3 with no lag on high graphics but it doesnt have to have a good grphics crd i can buy another one.

I guess Canada doesn't require spelling or grammar classes.

Are you seriously looking to run Doom 3 with some low end PC? HOW LONG have you been a gamer?

[benpatient]

appleretailguy, i agree with you about the grammar, but not about Doom 3. If he's willing to run in 1024 or 1280 resolution with the settings on "medium" or "high" with the shadows ON and basically all the options on, then he can play doom 3 quite well on a home-built 500-700 dollar PC. I friggin promise. The only reason I stopped playing doom 3 on my athlon 2500+, radeon 9600 pro 128, 1gb PC3200 computer (which, because I already had a monitor cost me 600 dollars in 2003!) is because Doom 3 is boring after a short while.

I got a solid 30fps through the first half of the game at 1024/medium with everything turned on. That's basically what a dual 2.0 G5 can do with a radeon 9800 256 SE card in it.

A cheap PC most certainly can play doom 3 quite well. Especially if you build your own.

I've since upgraded my computer, but the only thing I have that NEEDED the upgrades was BF2. (Or Garry's Mod when I have several thousand physics entities actively moving around and pulling on each other! weeeeee!)