Buying a new computer for <> $400 - Advice?

[Korto]

It's that time of decade again. The wife's computer's refusing to start up (maybe just a loose something. The last time this happened wriggling the ram helped, this time it didn't, but it's pretty old and she wants a replacement anyway), and she's managed to allocate $400 for it, give or take a little.

Now, I know little about computers, and my wife knows less.
We're looking at ebay, we don't actually care if the computer's new, reconditioned or secondhand. Its most stressful work would be games, we tend to enjoy games like Heroes of Might and Magic, and Total War; no internet play, just between ourselves. Other than that just light internet, word processing, programming, and the like. No video editing etc.
We're looking for a computer that is compatible with what's modern, and will age well (ie, stay compatible for a good length of time)

I've formed the opinion from looking around that we should get 4gb ram and speed around 3MHz. About 500gb HDD if it's a new computer, minimum.
Obviously different processor chips are different, some likely are better than others, but that's the limit of my knowledge on the matter.
Of course, using ebay we don't necessarily have a wide freedom of choice.

I can also give you a link at the page I'm looking at, if anyone likes

I'm also open to unsolicited offers.

I'm seeing Intel Pentium E6500(2.93GHz x2) Dual Core mentioned a few times. Any good? Complete rubbish?

[adam_grif]

I've formed the opinion from looking around that we should get 4gb ram and speed around 3MHz.

3MHz won't run Heroes of Might and Magic, unfortunately.

she's managed to allocate $400 for it, give or take a little.

...

Location: Newcastle, Aus

Jesus. Talk about ultra-budget. The computers on that ebay list are fine except that they don't have video cards. That's a big issue if you're playing Total War games, modern ones especially. HoMM3 will run on my netbook's integrated video cards so that's not a problem.

If possible I recommend saving money until you can allocate 600+ to a new PC, and even then you will be stretching it to get anything capable of gaming. If that's not possible, you'll just have to do without a video card.

[Mr Bean]

Very important question

What can you re-use?
Right now you are telling me you have
No Case
No Monitor
No Keyboard
No HD
No Ram
No Video card

[weemadando]

An older E8400 core, 4gb RAM and a 3y/o video card are the core of my completely serviceable gaming box which set me back about $1200 for a totally new box when purchased. Right now, with some leftover bits that you can scavenge - you can get quite a lot for your $400.

I mean, PCDIY my local retailer has a $450 box that it pretty goddamn potent for that amount of cash. I'm sure that someone on this board would have an older PCI-E graphics card lying around that they could pony up and you could have a damn good box right there.

You can ignore anything Grif says about PC gaming. If he thinks HoMM won't run on a 3Mhz processor, he's correct. A 3Ghz should do the business quite handily for any HoMM iteration. Seriously. What fucking HoMM game since HoMM3 has required anyone to look at getting a new system?

[Korto]

3MHz won't run Heroes of Might and Magic, unfortunately.

Sorry. Brain typo. Meant 3GHz.

Mr Bean, her monitor's carked it, but I can probably replace that easily enough. Keyboard and mouse are fine.
As for the box and all within, as I said, I don't know much about these things. We we given it by a friend who was replacing his system, more than a year ago, and it looks on the old side (it runs XP).
You sound to be proposing replacing bits, which is reasonable, except I don't know anything about it. My gut feels that I may have to replace so much due to out-of-date gear that it would be cheaper to replace the lot.
It's a Super Power. I can't see any numbers on the outside of the case to narrow it down, but I do see a 3 1/2 inch floppy disk drive. That's reassuring.

[weemadando]

To be honest, at this point, getting the older bits for a rebuild would probably rack up just as much cost as getting the current in production stuff.

[adam_grif]

You can ignore anything Grif says about PC gaming. If he thinks HoMM won't run on a 3Mhz processor, he's correct. A 3Ghz should do the business quite handily for any HoMM iteration. Seriously. What fucking HoMM game since HoMM3 has required anyone to look at getting a new system?

Did you just say "he's correct, stop listening to him"?

He said he wants compatibility with modern games, and a system that will still be compatible for a long period of time. He also specified the total war series as something he enjoys playing. The dual core processors he listed are fine, as is the amount of RAM, but he's not going to get away with an integrated graphics card with modern gaming. The I5 2500K IGs are the best and most modern IGs in the business and they barely play CoD4 on lowest setting. The EXXXX series had a significantly less powerful IG.

If he wants to buy the 400 dollar system at the top of that Ebay list it will do him fine except he will need to throw in a graphics card with it, which will push him way over the 400 dollars. If he can buy that system, then do without a video card for 6 months while he saves up some money for a nice low cost GPU like a GTX 460 768mb version, he will be fine.

[weemadando]

You are a fucking idiot. He doesn't need a fucking current gen GFX card.he could quite happily rock a second hand GPU and still be effective.

[adam_grif]

You are a fucking idiot. He doesn't need a fucking current gen GFX card.he could quite happily rock a second hand GPU and still be effective.

The 460 isn't current gen, "you are a fucking idiot". I also have no idea why you're under the impression that it's advisable for someone who wants to future proof to purchase a second hand card that came out in 2009 or earlier.

[weemadando]

He's building a 400 dollar machine. If he can get a freebie card from someone who's upgrading then that's great. And honestly, a card from 2008 is still relevant and indeed highly functional. So he has 2xAA not 16xAA? Big fucking whoop. Name a game in the past three years that locks out older hardware like we used to get with the DX shifts.

[adam_grif]

Name a game in the past three years that locks out older hardware like we used to get with the DX shifts.

How about the upcoming BF3, which won't support DX9?

Look, it's not as simple as "I can only run 2xAA", if you're running an 8800 you're going to be setting your games on medium at a moderate resolution right now without AA/AF, and in the next few years it's just going to get worse. If as you say he can get a free card then great, but even if he does he should still be looking to make a near future purchase when it's financially feasible to do so.

If he can recycle his current GPU that should be sufficient to tide him over, unless it's like an MX440 or something.

[starslayer]

Jesus. He doesn't need a 460, or anything close. An 8800 GT would honestly be just fine for his purposes. So he has to lower the res or some settings; so what? He's on a tight budget. Those eBay systems he's looking at are fine for his needs, and he can save up for a cheapo GPU later. I imagine the monitor he'll be getting will be small too, so real high res is not even in the picture anyway.

[LadyTevar]

Do what I did: Buy a notebook/laptop from Asus
I am able to play World of Warcraft on this, and it cost only $300US