Can my bro's PC play BFBC2, and if so at what settings.

QX6600 @ 3.2 Ghz

2Gb RAM, not sure on exact details of it, probably reasonably decent sticks.

8800GT

Ty

Well, I'm not up to date on hardware, so just grabbed a set-up off a website my bro buys his PCs off, since it had an acceptable price. I'm guessing by your response that it should handle things fine.

Thanks all.

When Battlefield was first released, I really liked the idea of it. I then played the demo and started to get rather frustrated with it. I felt that the visuals were rather poor, considering how much hardware they required. And as you say, I found the imbalance between vehicles and infantry really annoying, vehicles probably weren't the be all - end all problem of the game, but it felt like you could be terrible, and still do well with a vehicle.

Just a quick thing on hardware, am not really up to date on what can run what atm.

Would:

- Power Supply: Corsair Extreme 600W
- CPU: Intel Core i5 760 OC'd @ 4.00GHz
- Motherboard: Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Titan Fenrir CPU Cooler
- RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

-Sapphire ATI Radeon Hd5850 1024mb GDDR5

Be able to run everything smoothly at high settings? Is there anything in that set-up that bottle-necks the rest, or have a better alternative availible?

It's been several years since I last purchased a computer, it was an Alienware (I know, not always the best choice, but I got a good deal), it was high end at the time, OC'd Core 2 Duo (this was when they were first released), 7900gtx, etc. I bought it solely so I could enjoy CS:S, DOD:S, HL2 and WoW (which I've now quit, thank god) in high detail. I found both CSS and DODS exceptional as multiplayer FPS games, the good graphics were just a bonus, but the gameplay stood out above anything else I've played since.

I'm now looking at upgrading my whole PC again, but am really questioning whether the latest FPS releases are really good enough to warrant me spending £1000 ($1500) on a new high spec PC.

I know there's a lot of good single player FPS that I need to catch up on over the last couple of years, Bioshock, Crysis, Mass Effect, FEAR, etc. But are there any multiplayer FPS games that truely stand up to CS and the like? I know there's COD, but I feel like the latest incarnations have been purely focused around a console, I played CODMW2 at a friend's, it was good, but not great. Is Battlefield BC2 good for multiplayer? Does it have the same quality of play that CS had, allowing plenty of play without getting bored, and still being a very skill based game? Are hackers a big issue in multiplayer games these days?

As much as I like single player, online FPS is what I'm really into, are there any games that've been released in the last couple of years, of are due to be released in the future, which make spending a large amount of money on an up to date computer worthwhile?

Also, is there any upcoming big jumps in technology that would make it wise for me to hold out for a while before buying a new PC? I saw Nvidia have some 3D hardware or something, is this the new up and coming thing, or is it still a bit into the future before it becomes the mainstream norm?

A lot of questions there, I know, I've got a lot to catch up on! Would appreciate any help you can give to a returning PC gamer!

Terribad rig inc:

Alienware Aurora "Insert 4 random digits here"

7900GTX 512mb

E6300 Conroe @2.1Ghz

1gb Patriot 800 memory

Asus P5n32-SLI SE Delux

Thermaltake 700W PSU

Samsung SP2504D

Samsung Sync Master 2032 BW.

Atleast my moniter is nice!

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-072-OK

Check out the other systems they put together gaming systems. dont forget to factor the OS as its not included.

About PSUs:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/index.php

12v rails on psu are important - you say that you might swap the 9500 for the 8800. Well I've tried the 8800 with a cheap 500w PSU (the type that comes with a standand prebuilt) and it coudn't cut it. Read through this website. Ive had many PSUs - and what have I learnt : dont skimp.

Google '9500gt review benchmarks' ... you get the idea. It is likely that many of the new games will need more of the settings scaled back to hold the framerate even at 10x7.

4u70

That system you linked me looks excellent value compared to all others I've seen, I'm pretty much set on ordering it now. However it only comes with a 450W Corsair power supply, so I'm planning on swapping that out for a 700W~ one in the near future, but will the 450 one cause any problems for the GPU/CPU?

I've no problem with components under-performing (until I upgrade the PSU), but will it cause anything like random BSOD or freezes while using a 450W one?

I'm looking to buy a low-end gaming PC, that can support the newer games (COD4, Grid, TF2, Crysis) on a low resolution moniter (1020x768) but with medium to high texture and "effects" (smoke, water, etc) to still allow the games to be enjoyable visually, depsite the low resolution.

I've found what I deem to a be a reasonably priced System from Cyberpowersystem.co.uk (apparently a lot more reliable than their American counter-part). It's priced at £450 and seems to contain enough power to suit my needs.

Case:Raidmax Sagitta II Mid-Tower Case (Black Color with Black front panel)

CPU:(Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 CPU @ 3.0GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit

Motherboard:(Quad-Core support) MSI P31 Neo-F P31 Chipset LGA775 FSB800/1066/1333 DDR2 Mainboard

Memory:(Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (G.SKILL Value Select or Major Brand)

Video Card:NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express

Hard Drive:Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

Optical Drive:SONY DUAL FORMAT 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (SILVER COLOR)

Sound:HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIOOS: Windows Vista Home premium 32bit.

Power Supply: Standard Case power

Things that I am considering the change are:

1. Video card - I'm not sure how well the 9500gt performs, it's said to be slightly better than a 8600gt, but then that makes me start to think it's slightly bottle-necking the rest of the system. Would it be worth going for an 8800gt instead, despite it increasing the overall cost of the system by around £66?

2. Operating system - with memory upgrades being a very cheap way to upgrade in the future, I'll hazzard a guess that it's worth spending an extra £9 for a 64bit version to allow 4 gig of ram to be placed in at a later date.

3. Power supply - I believe the one suplpied with the case is 425W, I'm not sure if this is enough. At worst I could use the 425W one, and then upgrade it when I buy another video card. But I really don't want something as avoidable as not enough power to be holding back the system, on the other hand I've VERY tight for cash, and any upgrade is already stretching my pocket's depth.

Any and all advice is appreciated.

P.S I'm NOT interested in building my own PC yet, once my current one has been replaced I'll play around with it and learn how it works, until then I don't really trust myself (a 16 year-old kid) to be fooling around inside a PC case, when I've yet to carry out a precedure as simple as upgrading ram by myself.