Alright, so I need a new machine, that will have to run Battlefield 2142 nicely. Now, I only have a budget of about 800$. As far as hardware goes, I already have a mouse and keyboard, any suggestions as to what kind of PC i should get? Or where I should get it from?
Could you post some more information? Like if you want to buy pre-built or build it yourself.TwistedBishop
I really don't mind it either way. As far as operating system goes, I'd get Windows XP Pro, because I don't need Media Center stuff, and I'm not ready for Vista yet (I don't think anyone is:P)
Are you able to salvage anything from your old PC? Not having to buy a power supply, a DVD drive, an operating system, a case, etc can go a long way towards helping out the process. Those costs add up very fast.
Are you able to salvage anything from your old PC? Not having to buy a power supply, a DVD drive, an operating system, a case, etc can go a long way towards helping out the process. Those costs add up very fast.TwistedBishop
True! Sadly, someone is inheriting my old PC, so I can't salvage anything :(
The fairly recent introductions of Core 2 Duo and AMD's socket switch, with the associated high demand price hikes for DDR2 RAM, make building an $800 gaming PC with an upgrade path problematic at the moment. A good question might be, how long will you need this computer for gaming? Is the only thing you want to play 2142?
Oh I should clarify. When I say how long will you need it for gaming, what I really mean is how long until you would be able to/want to buy a whole new system. If you want to be able to upgrade the CPU and RAM on the machine you build for a while, it will mean going with a DDR2 solution, which increases costs.
Good questions! I didn't even think about some of this stuff. As far as gaming goes, 2142 is the game I play most (like 80% of the time) and it is the most demanding. As far as this machine lasting, I have no clue... I need something that should last until Vista is stable :P... or at least until it becomes the common OS like XP is.Â
Also, for graphics, should I get a card, or go with the new Intel x3000 onboard? I've heard that it's really good, and is better then some of the mid-range cards that are in my price range.
Well my initial reaction, if you want to start building this now, is to get an AMD system. The AM2 offerings (that's AMD's new socket type, which is phasing out the 939) are currently not as great as the Intel Core 2 Duos, however these things constantly go back and forth. The AM2 would give you an upgrade path for the future and be cheaper at the moment than the Intel offering. I'd probably go with the cheapest AMD AM2 processor (the $109 dual-core AMD X2 3800+ from NewEgg). Battlefield and multiplayer games in general shouldn't overly tax your CPU. A gig of DDR2 would be another $80-ish and a 7900GT (best performance for the cost, imo) would be $200.
Thanks so much for your help and information. You've really given me some ideas to think about! I will do some more research, and make a good decision.
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