ghost627 Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 What should I buy to play this game? I have never bought anything for my computer so far so what should I get ? Any help will be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettzies Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 (edited) Need to know what you have before suggesting what to get. From the sounds of some of your posts, it may be too far gone to really upgrade, in which case it's actually better to build or get a new system. Usually the first and easiest is the graphics card, but sometimes that's not an option. A new cpu could mean a new motherboard and ram, and probably a new graphics card. Those 4 usually go hand in hand if the system is really old, but you never know. Post your specs and people will start to throw in suggestions. Edited April 16, 2006 by Brettzies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost627 Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 (edited) Need to know what you have before suggesting what to get. From the sounds of some of your posts, it may be too far gone to really upgrade, in which case it's actually better to build or get a new system. Usually the first an easiest is the graphics card, but sometimes that's not an option. A new cpu could mean a new motherboard and ram, and probably a new graphics card. Those 4 usually go hand in hand, but you never know. Post your specs and people will start to throw in suggestions. ← I have a compaq presario windows xp 2.5ghz 256mb ram 80gb hard drive .... I know its not that good but its all I could get..... In the summer I'm gonna try to get some dough to upgrade if yall think its possible.... Take in mind I dont know alot about computers but I to the point where I will be taking apart and building computers. So dont worry I will in the future..... Edited April 16, 2006 by ghost627 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aCid Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 processor is okay, you need some major ram upgrades, and a video card (im asuming you have on-board since you didnt say what kind...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost627 Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 (edited) processor is okay, you need some major ram upgrades, and a video card (im asuming you have on-board since you didnt say what kind...) ← 1. What is on-board. 2. I am looking into video card and sound cards 3. A new monitor 4 Yeah I know I need ram and also looking into it What else... Edited April 16, 2006 by ghost627 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteKnight77 Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I do not see upgrading that PC for GRAW. Named brand PCs are the hardest to upgrade as parts at times are propriety such as the PSU or the motherboard. I found this very thing out when I tried to upgrade a Gateway 4 years ago so I could play GR. What I ended up doing was building my own PC. I started with less than $200 and got a case with PSU, motherboard and CPU. I used the rest of the stuff like optical drives, RAM and HDs to build it. Trouble is, you would need to get a few more items than I did as I had bought a vid card (that ended up being upgraded a few months afterwards) just 2 days earlier. I do not know what your finacial situation is, but you could buy a part here and there til you get everything for the original build including a copy of Windows (OEM from Newegg.com is less than $100). If you want more help, post in the Computer Discussions forums and we will give you a hand. I have posted how to build your own PC guides in that forum too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost627 Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I do not see upgrading that PC for GRAW. Named brand PCs are the hardest to upgrade as parts at times are propriety such as the PSU or the motherboard. I found this very thing out when I tried to upgrade a Gateway 4 years ago so I could play GR. What I ended up doing was building my own PC. I started with less than $200 and got a case with PSU, motherboard and CPU. I used the rest of the stuff like optical drives, RAM and HDs to build it. Trouble is, you would need to get a few more items than I did as I had bought a vid card (that ended up being upgraded a few months afterwards) just 2 days earlier. I do not know what your finacial situation is, but you could buy a part here and there til you get everything for the original build including a copy of Windows (OEM from Newegg.com is less than $100). If you want more help, post in the Computer Discussions forums and we will give you a hand. I have posted how to build your own PC guides in that forum too. ← Coolio or not.... As AI said I will soon be able to take apart and build computers. By next year I show know it in and it. But building a new pc is out of the question for right now. But soon possible. So what your telling me is to by individual parts of a pc like hard drive ram , motherboard, etc and build it from ground up. Allowing me to easieer upgrade my computer? Right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteKnight77 Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 Kind of, but not all new parts to begin with. As I said, I bought a motherboard, CPU and case with PSU to start with. I stripped the old PC for the other parts like the HD, CD-ROM, CD-RW, RAM and video card. I did not buy them, I reused them. For you, start with the motherboard, CPU, case and PSU, video card and RAM and Windows. Take your Compaq apart and use it's HD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and possibly the RAM if compatible with your new CPU (most likely not though). Get a motherboard that has an upgrade path for the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost627 Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 (edited) Kind of, but not all new parts to begin with. As I said, I bought a motherboard, CPU and case with PSU to start with. I stripped the old PC for the other parts like the HD, CD-ROM, CD-RW, RAM and video card. I did not buy them, I reused them. For you, start with the motherboard, CPU, case and PSU, video card and RAM and Windows. Take your Compaq apart and use it's HD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and possibly the RAM if compatible with your new CPU (most likely not though). Get a motherboard that has an upgrade path for the future.← O k. But what is PSU why cant my motherboad be upgraded right now as is? --- I'm feeling like part of the pc family--- Edited April 16, 2006 by ghost627 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteKnight77 Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 A PSU is a power supply unit. I venture to say that the Compaq has about a 250W one built in and it will not be a standard ATX size. Sometimes the motherboards in name brand systems have a different wiring scheme to them than a standard ATX PSU/motherboard does. Dell is famous for this. Installing a standard ATX power supply can fry everything and you do not want this. Today's new video cards all require extra power from the PSU and you will need a larger wattage one. They also need either an AGP slot or a PCI-Express slot for the video card to fit in. I am not sure, but I do not think that PC has an AGP slot. I know it does not have a PCI-e slot. This is why I recommend a new motherboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost627 Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 (edited) A PSU is a power supply unit. I venture to say that the Compaq has about a 250W one built in and it will not be a standard ATX size. Sometimes the motherboards in name brand systems have a different wiring scheme to them than a standard ATX PSU/motherboard does. Dell is famous for this. Installing a standard ATX power supply can fry everything and you do not want this. Today's new video cards all require extra power from the PSU and you will need a larger wattage one. They also need either an AGP slot or a PCI-Express slot for the video card to fit in. I am not sure, but I do not think that PC has an AGP slot. I know it does not have a PCI-e slot. This is why I recommend a new motherboard. ← O.k yeah I knew that... And yeah my computer does not have AGP slot nor a PCI-e slot but just the standard pci and isa slots. So since I am now on an adventure what would be a good mother board purchase? Topic was moved hah. I can see why ow well I'll make another... kidding kidding Edited April 16, 2006 by ghost627 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteKnight77 Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 I'm partial to ASUS motherboards, especially nForce motherboards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insane snyper Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 If you are starting from the beginning, what I would recomend: 1. Probably a New Powersupply (at least 400W probably) ($40-$100) 2. 1 gig RAM ($70+) 3. 7600GT or above (as your budget allows) ($165) 4. nForce4 motherboard (nForce4 Ultra or SLI boards have some extra features for not much extra dough) ($95) 5. Athlon 64 3200+ (or above as your budget allows) ($150) Total=$520+ That should get you started anyway. You can keep your old hard drive (though if you have the money a newer SATA or SATA 2 drive would be way faster), keep your old monitor unless you win the lottery (or get a job), keep your old case, etc. I recomend buying from newegg.com (their reputation is great, and I have had good luck with their customer service). Note that those prices are just off the top of my head, so dont quote me. As far as Powersupplies check the reviews and find one with lots of reviews, and as few as possible that have died or were DOA (dead on arrival). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insane snyper Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 BTW, just to avoid starting another thread, would a 7900GT run GRAW at highest settings (at least the highest possible without the Physx card) at 1600x1200? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agentkay Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 BTW, just to avoid starting another thread, would a 7900GT run GRAW at highest settings (at least the highest possible without the Physx card) at 1600x1200? ← No, it doesn´t have 512MB vram. You "might" get away with it if you have at least 2GB system ram and a 256MB vram card but thats just speculation from my side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost627 Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 If you are starting from the beginning, what I would recomend: 1. Probably a New Powersupply (at least 400W probably) ($40-$100) 2. 1 gig RAM ($70+) 3. 7600GT or above (as your budget allows) ($165) 4. nForce4 motherboard (nForce4 Ultra or SLI boards have some extra features for not much extra dough) ($95) 5. Athlon 64 3200+ (or above as your budget allows) ($150) Total=$520+ That should get you started anyway. You can keep your old hard drive (though if you have the money a newer SATA or SATA 2 drive would be way faster), keep your old monitor unless you win the lottery (or get a job), keep your old case, etc. I recomend buying from newegg.com (their reputation is great, and I have had good luck with their customer service). Note that those prices are just off the top of my head, so dont quote me. As far as Powersupplies check the reviews and find one with lots of reviews, and as few as possible that have died or were DOA (dead on arrival). ← How did you know I didn't have a job Planning on getting one ain the summer originally to get a new monitor to play graw 360 in higher resolutions. I'm partial to ASUS motherboards, especially nForce motherboards. WK what do you mean by this.... BTW, just to avoid starting another thread, would a 7900GT run GRAW at highest settings (at least the highest possible without the Physx card) at 1600x1200? No I wont start another topic just a joke , Ill look into them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insane snyper Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 (edited) Alright, I done a little quick research. Heres what I'v got for you (specific parts to fulfill the list above): ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813131530 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz HT 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16819103535 eVGA 256-P2-N553-AX Geforce 7600GT CO 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814130283 CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820145505 XClio XClio 450BL Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingRe...N82E16817189003 That power supply is the one I have, and for one thing it has worked great, for another it is absolutely silent..... But I also have like 6 80mm case fans so it sounds like a jet engine anyway. That RAM is the same stuff I got, but I got 2x512 instead of 1 1gig stick. But at this point the 1gig stick is only a dollar more, so go with that for upgradeability. (if you have extra cash you might consider getting some nicer RAM, but that stuff is cheap and works). eVGA is an awesome company, and they have this step up program, where if in the first 90 days after you purchase it you decide you want to upgrade all you have to do is send the old card in along with the difference in prices, and they send you a new one. Edit: That comes out to like $516 after a $15 dollar rebate, and a combo discount that you get for buying that processor and graphics card. Edited April 16, 2006 by insane snyper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost627 Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 Wow I should buy you a drink. Coke or Sprite Along with WhiteKnight.... Thanks I'm gonna save this information to prepare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettzies Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 I'm partial to ASUS motherboards, especially nForce motherboards. WK what do you mean by this....← ASUS is a computer part manufacturer and generally regarded as putting out great stuff. The higher end gaming rig builders like Falcon and Alienware use there MBs a lot. nForce is the chipset that ties is all together, kind of the brains of the motherboard, like a cpu for just the motherboard. They are on nForce 4 right now with SLI(two linked graphics cards). I've had an Asus nforce2 for almost 4.5 years. It's served me well, and is just now seeing it's end I'm afraid. There's not much I can do with it in terms of cpu, ram, and vid cards that would really make a difference. The graphics card is already being held back by other lower end components of my system. It's had a good long run though, plays Doom3 and HL2 great. GR:AW may be the upgrade monster. But yeah, ASUS and nForce are pretty good stuff for gamers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insane snyper Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 Oh, you might want to grab one of those combo optical drives that can read and burn cds and dvds, those run like 35-40 bucks..... There has to be something else that I'm forgetting, I cant figure where the extra 500 bucks I spent on my computer went.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettzies Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 (edited) Edit: That comes out to like $516 after a $15 dollar rebate, and a combo discount that you get for buying that processor and graphics card. ← Something else to keep in mind is cooling. Don't know what your case is like, but you might want to buy an better more accessible one. Easier to uild a computer with a good case. A few fans for front and back with proper airflow direction ---> front sucks in cool air, back pushes out. This wasn't that big of a deal until recent power hungry vid cards and games came out. My fans wern't even doing anything for 3 years! I think they were just blowing hot air at each other. I fried two graphics cards before figuring this out and the system was fine for 3 years. Cases will run between $50 - $200 depeding on what you get and if they already come with a PSU. Fans, $20 - $30? Edited April 16, 2006 by Brettzies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost627 Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 Alrighty thanks for all the information Im going to hit the bench press and lift weights. Gotta get ready for the marines hoorah. Anymore suggestions please post I will still be looking out for new info. Now everybody on this thread owes me 1 dollar. That was a joke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warmaster Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 Another idea is to buy a barebones system...some barebones offer decent psu's and mobo's w/ a few other options at fairly good prices. Just configure some of the options for the barebones system and see what is the best deal. You could probably find a mid to high end barebones system for less than $300.00 usd...then buy the vid card and dvd-rom (must have for graw) or swap some of the stuff you already have to the new system... Warmaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logos Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 and dvd-rom (must have for graw) ← That's in Europe. It will be on CD in U.S. @Ghost627, you need to figure out and let the crowd know exactly how much money you have to spend, and when you will have it available. Both will impact recommendations. And since the absence of an AGP or PCI-E slot means that you will never upgrade the system you currently have to run GR:AW, you do need a whole new system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost627 Posted April 18, 2006 Author Share Posted April 18, 2006 and dvd-rom (must have for graw) ← That's in Europe. It will be on CD in U.S. @Ghost627, you need to figure out and let the crowd know exactly how much money you have to spend, and when you will have it available. Both will impact recommendations. And since the absence of an AGP or PCI-E slot means that you will never upgrade the system you currently have to run GR:AW, you do need a whole new system. ← Yeah Done to work on it this summer . Shold have a steady income of money by then. :g_cheers: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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