Techsurvivors

Archives => 2003 => Topic started by: Peter on April 20, 2003, 04:32:00 PM

Title: Wondering about PCs
Post by: Peter on April 20, 2003, 04:32:00 PM

I want to get a cheep, but fully capable Pc for running games on, I'm looking at he most basic Evo D310 Microtower

1.8 Ghz Intel Celeron
256 MB RAM
20 GB HD
48X CD-ROM
Windows XP- Home
1 Year Warenty

PC Mall wants $449 for it, and I already have a 15" VGA Monitor that is unused.

I was just wondering about the pros and cons of XP- Home, and if there is any reason to have XP- Pro for games.

Thanks-
Peter

Title: Wondering about PCs
Post by: Diana on April 20, 2003, 06:01:00 PM

Hi,

I don't believe there is much difference between Home and Pro for running games. There may be some problems though in comparison to Win98. Some win98 games won't run under XP...or you have to buy an updated version.

Here is link with information about games and XP

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/games.htm

HTH,

Title: Wondering about PCs
Post by: Bernie on April 20, 2003, 08:15:00 PM

The Celeron is the lowend Intel Chip. Go here for an Athlon
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...ku=H27-F106%20P
 
 
 [ 04-20-2003, 09:18 PM: Message edited by: Bernie ]

Title: Wondering about PCs
Post by: kelly on April 20, 2003, 08:22:00 PM

Peter. Don't bother with that machine.  

Stay away from Celerons. Not worth it.

Video Card is very important.

If there's anything there's a lot of it's cheap PCs.

You want the equivelent of this.

http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/product...3420749,00.html

If you can hold your horses, we'll find something.

XP is probably good for anything up to 2 years old.

Some much older games might have problems.

Get XP anyway.

Title: Wondering about PCs
Post by: tacit on April 20, 2003, 09:58:00 PM

Yep, what Kelly said.

For games, it's very, very, very important that you have a good graphics card--preferably a 3D accelerated card. You can pick these up pretty cheap, but the built-in graphics of a low-end PC just won't cut it. (In fact, these days many games will refuse to install if they don't see a 3D-capable graphics card!)

An Athlon processor will cost you about as much as a Celeron, but give you much better performance.

Title: Wondering about PCs
Post by: kelly on April 21, 2003, 09:23:00 AM

Peter. I'm not as good at finding PCs as macs.  

This isn't too bad.

It's got Dell behind it.

http://dealnews.com/articles/50043.html

So take $75 off this.

Dell Refurbished Dimension 4550 $769

Intel® Pentium®  4 processor at 2.53GHz

64MB DDR NVIDIA­ GeForce4 MX

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/offers/speci...x_special63.htm

It includes a 17" Monitor that might be better than what you have.

There's plenty more where this comes from. Just a start.

Title: Wondering about PCs
Post by: Bernie on April 21, 2003, 09:54:00 AM

You can select what you want installed and have a system built for you here,
http://www.pcclub.com/systems_desktops.cfm

Title: Wondering about PCs
Post by: Peter on April 22, 2003, 03:41:00 PM

Thanks- Theres a P4 2.4Ghz at the Staples nearby, they want $669.99 for it without a monitor.

DVD-R/CD-RW
good deal, I think

Thanks
Peter

Title: Wondering about PCs
Post by: kelly on April 22, 2003, 08:35:00 PM

What Video Card Peter?