this is a pc i built at HP, i don;t have much money, i just want something that can play counter strike, 1.6, Orange box, and maybe guildwars 2. these don't have to be run at the highest specs (well cs can be)
Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
Decent dual core (Athlon 5600 would be good/or equivalent Core 2 Duo), 2 GB RAM, WinXP, and for good measure I'd get a GeForce 8600.
Now for kicks I think you might be a good candidate for one of the new AMD 780 chipset boards which do have a built in true GPU on them (and you can allocate system memory as video too). It's got a GPU the equivlent of a Radeon 3450, which would probably run all those games fluidly with the exception of the Orange Box, which in case you could buy a cheap card like a Radeon 3450, and run the integrated GPU with the dedicated GPU in crossfireX mode which will provide you with the power you need for those games. When you're ready to move up to more intensive games, just get a Radeon 3650 or 3850 class card. Now this is one solution. And of course going the Nvidia solution with an 8600 would be good too.
Yeah, the 8500 should be able to run those games you listed, but thats the best it will get. It's not really a gaming-oriented graphics card. Try to get an 8600 series card if you can, that will give you alot more mileage for a little more money. Or even an 8800gs or 9600gt if you can afford it.
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