What to look for in a gaming pc ...?

[shadowgem]

Hi, i'm new and really don't know much about pc's at all except that the last one i bought for my son was a total waste of money because its much too slow for his internet games (it cost about £500) despite the seller telling me that it would be appropriate. He plays games like World of Warcraft and Tibia etc. I've promised him that i will look into getting a more up-to-date pc but i really don't know where to start.

Can anyone advise me what i should be looking for and what kind of price range i can expect for a pc that will work? I'm on a tight budget and I'd be really grateful for any advice- thanks.

Shadowgem

 

[V_R]

Just the tower or do you want the whole lot? (Monitor, mouse, kb etc)

Welcome!

 

[shadowgem]

Thanks for your reply. I guess i could make do with the monitor and all the extras i've already got - so just the tower to cut down the cost.

 

[Abarbarian]

Whats the pc you have now , it may be possible to upgrade it .

 

[floppybootstomp]

Before you go thinking about upgrading your current PC or buying a new one, what Internet connection do you have?

 

[shadowgem]

Eek this is where i show my ignorance - i'm not sure where to look on my pc for all the specifications - but when i got it checked at a shop they said that it is possible to upgrade it, but definitely not to the latest best graphics card because it wasn't made with an extra socket (hope i've got this right).

I remember my internet connection is 8 something - its SKY, not the slowest, the next one up. But someone told me that in our area there's not much point having a higher connection because the telephone lines have a limit.

Sorry to be so thick about this, it's so frustrating to be the dark about so much!

 

[shadowgem]

Sorry i just realised that i didn't answer what kind of pc i have now - its an Acer Aspire and it has an AMD Sempron Processor 3000+, 1.81 GHz, 704MB RAM.

Not sure where to look for the graphic card details ...

 

[floppybootstomp]

It sounds as if you have a cable internet connection with an 8Mb connection speed.

Your friends are right (if it is cable) the more people using the cable service the slower your connection will be.

However, the specs you have are more than capable of running World Of Warcraft online, assuming you have a seperate graphics card and not inbuilt graphics. The minimum amount of graphics memory for WOW is 32Mb, by the way.

If the shop says you don't have 'an extra socket' it's likely you have onboard graphics - and therein lies your problem.

If that is the case, the only way you're going to be able to play online games smoothly is by replacing the motherboard & processor, possibly the RAM and buying a seperate graphics card.

We can make suggestions as to a replacement system here if you're confident of doing the work yourself, let us know.

If you want to buy a complete machine, however, the other guys can probably help you better than I can, I never buy tailor made units, but I would point you to Novatech, they make some good systems.

 

[shadowgem]

It sounds as if you have a cable internet connection with an 8Mb connection speed.

Your friends are right (if it is cable) the more people using the cable service the slower your connection will be.

However, the specs you have are more than capable of running World Of Warcraft online, assuming you have a seperate graphics card and not inbuilt graphics. The minimum amount of graphics memory for WOW is 32Mb, by the way.

If the shop says you don't have 'an extra socket' it's likely you have onboard graphics - and therein lies your problem.

If that is the case, the only way you're going to be able to play online games smoothly is by replacing the motherboard & processor, possibly the RAM and buying a seperate graphics card.

We can make suggestions as to a replacement system here if you're confident of doing the work yourself, let us know.

If you want to buy a complete machine, however, the other guys can probably help you better than I can, I never buy tailor made units, but I would point you to Novatech, they make some good systems.

Thanks so much for replying - i remember now that that was what the guy at the shop said - it has integrated graphics at the moment. In a way, i'd really like to do the work myself because i really want to get it exactly right, but how tricky is it? How do you learn how to work on a pc (I have no experience in stuff like this other than a gcse in Physics!).

 

[V_R]

Eek this is where i show my ignorance - i'm not sure where to look on my pc for all the specifications - but when i got it checked at a shop they said that it is possible to upgrade it, but definitely not to the latest best graphics card because it wasn't made with an extra socket (hope i've got this right).

I remember my internet connection is 8 something - its SKY, not the slowest, the next one up. But someone told me that in our area there's not much point having a higher connection because the telephone lines have a limit.

Sorry to be so thick about this, it's so frustrating to be the dark about so much!

You could download this and install it, that should tell you what your motherboard is. If you post the model and make we may be able to help you more.

Skys 8 meg service is ADSL, but you may not be getting the full 8 meg, its 'up to' 8mb.

If you want to know what your speed is have a look here - http://www.dslzoneuk.net/adsl_line_stats.php?id=DG834GT#DG834GT

The post your downstream rate, SNR and attenuation.

 

[PotGuy]

To be honest if he is only palying games like WOW, you could get away with just putting a decent graphics card in rather than replacing the whole PC.

Depends if it is being used for anything more strenuous than Warcraft.

 

[floppybootstomp]

To be honest if he is only palying games like WOW, you could get away with just putting a decent graphics card in rather than replacing the whole PC.

Depends if it is being used for anything more strenuous than Warcraft.

Um, if you read the thread you may just pick up on the fact the motherboard has no graphics card slot

Which, tbh, is a bloody shame, cos the rest of the machine is, as you say, quite ok.

 

[shadowgem]

You could download this and install it, that should tell you what your motherboard is. If you post the model and make we may be able to help you more.

Skys 8 meg service is ADSL, but you may not be getting the full 8 meg, its 'up to' 8mb.

If you want to know what your speed is have a look here - http://www.dslzoneuk.net/adsl_line_stats.php?id=DG834GT#DG834GT

The post your downstream rate, SNR and attenuation.

Thanks, i downloaded it and here is the model of the motherboard:-

Board: Acer K8VM800MAE
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. R01-B2 08/30/2005

I tried clicking on the other link to check my speed but it said it wasn't secure - not sure if i did it right.

Hope i've done this okay,

Thanks guys for helping.

Shadowgem

 

[V_R]

Hi,

Is that the Acer T135 by chance? Just a guess but Google dont come up with much, but that model Is mentioned a bit. Either way it seems its a Gigabyte board with an AGP slot and socket 754 CPU. In which case that limits your options a little if you wanted to upgrade. Can you confirm this by having a look in Belarc and copying some more info about the pc? Things like the cpu type, Graphics port or similar etc. I know you said 'AMD Sempron Processor 3000+, 1.81 GHz, 704MB RAM.' So if you can expand on that that would be good.

 

[Abarbarian]

You can get Athalon 64 3400 for £56 and Aria are doing that X800GT for £30 and a 1GB of ram would be about£25 That wouln't be a bad upgrade if the mobo will allow .

 

[shadowgem]

Hi, here is all the info on the pc:-


[size=+1]Computer Profile Summary[/size]Computer Name: Acer-86e9bf2e61 (in WORKGROUP)Profile Date: 23 August 2007 09:46:31Advisor Version: 7.2tWindows Logon: Click here for Belarc's System Management products, for large and small companies. Operating System System ModelWindows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600) Acer Aspire T135 R01-A3
System Serial Number: 925S870U8354107AAAEK02
Enclosure Type: DesktopProcessor a Main Circuit Board b1.80 gigahertz AMD Sempron
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
128 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Acer K8VM800MAE
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. R01-B2 08/30/2005Drives Memory Modules c,d76.86 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
54.11 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1633S [CD-ROM drive]

Generic USB CF Reader USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 2
Generic USB MS Reader USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 4
Generic USB SD Reader USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 1
Generic USB SM Reader USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 3
ST380013AS [Hard drive] (80.02 GB) -- drive 0 704 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' has 256 MB
Slot 'A1' has 512 MB Local Drive Volumes c: (FAT32 on drive 0)38.22 GB15.55 GB freed: (FAT32 on drive 0)38.63 GB38.56 GB free Network Drives None detectedUsers (mouse over user name for details) Printerslocal user accountslast logon[img]file:///C:/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/trans.gif[/img] Rachel22/08/2007 23:03:20(admin)local system accounts[img]file:///C:/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/trans.gif[/img] Administratornever(admin)[img]file:///C:/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/trans.gif[/img] ASPNETnever[img]file:///C:/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/no.gif[/img] Guestnever[img]file:///C:/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/no.gif[/img] HelpAssistantnever[img]file:///C:/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/no.gif[/img] SUPPORT_388945a0never

Marks a disabled account;

Marks a locked account HP DeskJet 840C/841C/842C/843Con LPT1:Microsoft Shared Fax Driveron SHRFAX:Controllers DisplayStandard floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller] (2x)
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] (2x)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
VIA Bus Master IDE Controller VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP [Display adapter]
NUL 17.1 [Monitor] (17.1"vis, August 2002)Bus Adapters MultimediaVIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller (4x)
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller Realtek AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller
Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio DeviceCommunications Other DevicesAgere Systems PCI Soft Modem

Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC primary Auto IP Address: 192.168.0.3 / 24Gateway: 192.168.0.1Dhcp Server: 192.168.0.1Physical Address: 00:0F:EA:319:AB Networking Dns Server: 192.168.0.1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
PS/2 Compatible Mouse
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Root Hub (5x)Virus Protection [Back to Top] McAfee VirusScan Version 99.9.99 Realtime File Scanning On

Hope this provides what you're looking for - couldn't see graphics card mentioned at all ...

 

[shadowgem]

I just googled the Acer and found this info in a review :-

Graphics is the Aspire T135's weak spot. It comes with an integrated S3 UniChrome graphics processor that has limited 3D capabilities. This is fine for productivity applications, but those wanting to use the system for 3D graphics will also find the system lacks an AGP or PCI Express graphics slot restricting the system to this integrated processor.

So I'm wondering whether it would just be best to get a new system, as my son will probably want to get online for the latest games as they come out. When i took the box to a dealer he said i could get £50 for a trade-in for a new pc with the latest graphics - but this seemed frustratingly low given i paid so much for it.

 

[PotGuy]

Um, if you read the thread you may just pick up on the fact the motherboard has no graphics card slot

Which, tbh, is a bloody shame, cos the rest of the machine is, as you say, quite ok.

...

Very sorry indeed.

How very embarrrasing.

I was clearly in a rush and that is why I made a twat out of myself... *shuffles off and sits in the corner*