Picking computer parts...

[Interlord1]

Basically, I checked out the specs of my PC to see if it could run battlefield 3, atleast at minimum settings, And it turns out that I can't. This is rather annoying, as it is only the video card that is not good enough. I'm considering buying a new computer entirely, as it was my parents who bought this one thinking it was gaming computer, only to realise it wasn't much of one (Not wanting to sound like an ungrateful spoilt brat, it is pretty good), But anyway, Can anybody reccomend a cheap video card to buy, and if not, any ideas where I can get good gaming PC's for under £400, if thats even possible. Also, does anybody know where to sell a PC? I'm in the UK. If anybody could answer my questions or help me, Thanks. I'd hate to have to get battlefield 3 on xbox.

[Interlord1]

Just realised I left out some important details. Currently I have a GeForce 9400 GT, I need a graphics card with these minimum requirements and a price tag of hopefully less than £50

Video Card
Minimum: (AMD): DirectX 10.1 compatible with 512 MB RAM (ATI Radeon 3000, 4000, 5000 or 6000 series, with ATI Radeon HD 3870 or higher performance)(NVIDIA): DirectX 10.0 compatible with 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA GeForce 8, 9, 200, 300, 400 or 500 series, with NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or higher performance)
You Have: GeForce 9400 GT
Features: Minimum attributes of your Video Card
Required You Have
Video RAM 512 MB 2.2 GB
Pixel Shader version 4.0 (ATI 4.1) 4.0
Vertex Shader version 4.0 (ATI 4.1) 4.0

(Yes that is pasted from can you run it)

[Skgoa]

IMHO nothing you can buy for 50 pound is going to be worth it. Depending on what other parts you have in your computer, a 100 pound grafics card should serve you well. Radeon HD 5830 or 6790 are good choices at this price point.

edit: The important point here is that you shouldn't go for the cheaper models of a generation. Its almost never a good deal in the first place and the component will be obsolete before long.

[Interlord1]

I can list the other specs in my computer, if that would help. I need to know whether to just get a new PC or a new graphics card.

[Skgoa]

Well, then I guess knowing your computer's specs would be helpful.

[Interlord1]

Okay then. I've got a AMD Athlon(tm) X2 250 Processor, a CPU speed of 3.0 GHz, 3 GB of ram (Technically 2 2 GB cards, but i'm on a 32 bit operating system) I have windows 7 home premium, 32 bit, build 7600, a GeForce 9400 GT graphics card, A sound card (It doesn't seem to specify) And a 500 GB hard drive. Any suggestions? Or do you need any more info?

[Skgoa]

A new computer it is, then. You should be able to get something in the Intel i5/Radeon 6000/6GB DDR3 range for 400 pounds.

[Interlord1]

Does this computer look any good: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/view/Vort ... gaming-pc/

Also, does anything look unneccesary that I could downgrade/remove in the configuration for that, I need to make it as cheap as possible for my parents to consider it.

[Zaune]

Does this computer look any good: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/view/Vort ... gaming-pc/

Also, does anything look unneccesary that I could downgrade/remove in the configuration for that, I need to make it as cheap as possible for my parents to consider it.

You can probably ditch Office totally unless you have to work with custom spreadsheets and Access databases with loads of macros; for ordinary home or school users, OpenOffice works just fine. Don't bother with Bullguard either, there are several much better freeware options. And are you really going to use a memory card reader very often? Lastly, you can probably recycle the RAM from your current machine, so just get one 2GB stick. And you might want to reuse your current PC's hard drive as well as a backup.

Oh, and one thing I'd actually suggest you add to the specification is a surge suppressor, if you don't already have one.

[Dave]

OpenOffice works just fine.

LibreOffice is the better supported derivative since Oracle scared all the developers away from OpenOffice. [/nitpick]

[Zaune]

Duly noted; I hadn't heard of LibreOffice, and I rarely use anything but gedit for word-processing anyway.

[Stofsk]

Does anybody have an opinion on what's a good graphics card? I don't want to hijack the thread but I figure we're here discussing various computer parts for some dude who wants to upgrade, so it's kinda on-topic.

Basically what do we need to know to make a good investment? AMD vs nVidia; flip a coin, or is one card manufacturer superior to the other?

[starslayer]

That changes from cycle to cycle, really. For most people, bang for the buck is most important. Right now, that's AMD (in general, anyway). There have been times when that crown went to NVidia, and so on. If you just want the fastest card bar none, then a GTX 580 is technically the fastest right now, but you can get a 6970 for $150 less which is almost as fast. It all depends on the pricing scheme each manufacturer has adopted at the moment.

To determine which card is right for you, I would say you should ask the following questions:

-What is my budget?
-What do I want the card to do (latest games, just throw a picture up, etc.)?
-Am I happy with medium/low settings in games, or do I always want max settings?
-What resolution am I gaming at?

Really, just about any of the cards put out by either company could be a good buy, depending on circumstances. To me, a good graphics card is one which does what you want it to at the lowest price. To decide between them, I would really just look for reviews on various sites that throw up performance benchmarks, and compare cards in your price range (Anandtech is great for this, actually; go to the main site and click on "Bench" at the top to compare different cards). Then comparison shop to find the best deal, and get that card.

However, the actual board maker can matter. Generally, good NVidia brands are EVGA, ASUS, Galaxy, Zotac, and MSI. Good AMD brands include XFX, MSI, ASUS, and Gigabyte. Don't go near Visiontek (a shell of its former self) or Diamond (same, if they were ever really all that good).

[Napoleon the Clown]

Regarding graphics cards, occasionally a game will have a conflict with a certain line of cards that normally would handle the requirements with ease. I'll be damned if I can remember an example right now, though. If you're worried enough about it just check around to see if a game you have or want to get has any sort of conflicts.

[Interlord1]

How about this computer then? Anyone see any serious flaws with it?
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-llano/

[phongn]

How about this computer then? Anyone see any serious flaws with it?
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-llano/

The integrated GPU on Llano is probably not going to cut it for Battlefield 3.

[Interlord1]

Oh, I don't suppose you could tell me a graphics card from the list of ones that you can choose in the configuration that would be okay with Battlefield 3?

[HeadCreeps]

OpenOffice works just fine.

LibreOffice is the better supported derivative since Oracle scared all the developers away from OpenOffice. [/nitpick]

I haven't ever seen those, so do either of those have decent support for web queries? It's the thing mso excel does with Data tab->from web. I noticed when you use a lot of web queries (say, 5000) in MSO Excel, the entire program has performance issues just by being open and not doing anything but scrolling around the sheet.

[Interlord1]

Video Card
Minimum: (AMD): DirectX 10.1 compatible with 512 MB RAM (ATI Radeon 3000, 4000, 5000 or 6000 series, with ATI Radeon HD 3870 or higher performance)(NVIDIA): DirectX 10.0 compatible with 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA GeForce 8, 9, 200, 300, 400 or 500 series, with NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or higher performance)
You Have: GeForce 9400 GT
Features: Minimum attributes of your Video Card
Required You Have
Video RAM 512 MB 2.2 GB
Pixel Shader version 4.0 (ATI 4.1) 4.0
Vertex Shader version 4.0 (ATI 4.1) 4.0

Actually, now that I read through what can you run it says about graphics cards, it looks like I can run it. It says DirectX 10.0 compatible with 512mb RAM, And it has to have NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or higher performance. Is it possible that can you run it just didn't recognize my graphics card correctly?

[Executor32]

No, because the GeForce 9000 series is misleading. An 8800GT and a 9800GT are the exact same thing, and your 9400GT is actually worse in most aspects than an 8400GS. Out of the options available from that page you linked, the cheapest ones that meet or exceed the performance of an 8800GT are the GeForce GTS 450 and the Radeon HD 6670, at £68 and £55 more than the base price, respectively. The HD 6670 would be the better of the two choices, as not only is it cheaper than the GTS 450, but it also offers better performance.

[Interlord1]

Should I get an AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2Ghz Processor and a HD6670 then? Anyone know how much wattage both of them would use?

[Executor32]

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/

Aside from that, a good quality 500W PSU is enough for most midrange PCs.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Should I get an AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2Ghz Processor and a HD6670 then? Anyone know how much wattage both of them would use?

I can tell you off-hand that the Phenom is 125 watts. The normal idle temperature for it is in the mid thirties, so don't worry if it is in that are at idle and hits the 40s under load. The graphics card, on the other hand, is more of a concern for heat. Not for itself, for everything else. Make sure you get a case with really good air circulation because GPUs run damn hot.

[Interlord1]

How will I know if it has good circulation then? Its not got a lot of open space in it, and the only cooling unit is on the processor. Or thats what it looks like, anyway. It already has a GPU in it, and I haven't had any problems with heat so far, apart from the occasional processor overheat. I'm hoping the HD6670 will be similar in heat and power usage to the 9400 GT.

[Number Theoretic]

Make sure that nothing (or as few cables as possible) obstruct the GPU's air intake and outtake. Buying a new and larger heatsink for the processor might also be a good idea if you want to keep your CPU temperature as low as possible.
Oh, and if you are still concerned about heat buildup in your case, just leave the case
open after installing your components.