Radsoc

SimCity Warlords 2 Sudden Strike 2 Alpha Centauri Battlezone Red Alert

What\'s your current CPU? I would wait for Ivy Bridge + 1 month, that is about to be released.

Well, the only way to find out is to find reviews and look at test results. There is no general AMD > Intel, or Intel > AMD result.

I burned two ASUS boards in a row for my old X2 4800+, but got them replaced by the warranty. Then I finally got a Gigabyte board as replacement along with a replacement for the CPU (to the AM2 version), a SATA 2 HD and new RAM . It lasted for years. A couple of weeks ago the comp shut down randomly from time to time, I eventually found that a component on the board had blown up and burnt. It was a hard time finding an AM2 board, and when I did I found one online which cost about 70€ incl. shipping etc, which is a bit much considering the age of it. I can\'t send you a board, but I can direct you to a shop located in Sweden where I got my board from.

Two cores is a minimum, but if you want to run other programs in the background you will benefit from it even if you\'re a gamer only. And with the new consoles being heavily multi-core it also means that more games will be using more cores, also when ported or made for the PC. Four cores minimum is a must for any computer that is set to last for the next few years. And the cores also have to be good, that\'s why i7 is the only alternative. I\'m not saying that you should buy any enthusiast i7\'s like the Extreme editions (they are a waste of money), but the cheapest of the high-ends in the latest generation usually has the best value. You can\'t get the best value components for less than USD 1500. I completely understand the 'budget' constraint, and my opinion is that he shouldn\'t buy anything at all under those conditions. So I won\'t suggest a build, because there is none. He should save his money for a later time when he can buy something that lasts. That\'s what will benefit him the most. Otherwise he will just be able to play Shogun 2 (barely) for a while, then he quickly will be back in the same situation as before. The one and only real budget computer is a good one that holds for years and not for days or months. Buying three computers in three years is much more expensive than buying one and perhaps upgrading the GFX after 1.5 yrs.

Even if VAT and other factors are accounted for I still get a minimum of about USD 1.4k . I wouldn\'t settle for less than a GTX 670, an i7 processor, and 6-8 GB RAM. I don\'t include a monitor or SSD-primary in the budget.

Don\'t buy anything for below $1500 (a low estimate). You will be disappointed and you will also find that the use-value of such a computer is close to zero. You would buy something that won\'t work well for games like Shogun 2, something that\'s already outdated. What some people have posted for that price is worse than my 3+ year old rig, of which only the chassi retains its original value. To be very frank you just pay a lot of money for overpriced trash that\'s already old, and don\'t get the value (or performance) you look for. Save your money until you can buy something that works, and that for a couple of years, and not something that works so-so from day 0 and a month on. And if you really are serious about saving money you should build it yourself. It might seem a bit harsh for a beginner, but you don\'t get anywhere without an effort. The hard thing is to find components that fit together well, and that\'s what you need help with.

Wow cool. Good work!

You can get a computer for 200 bucks too, but that would just be money down the drain. But it all depends on what you want to do with the computer. Better save your money until you can buy something that holds for three years without problems. A computer for $400 USD won\'t be significantly better than your current one, whatever that one is. Just use your old OS, you can install it on your new computer. I use XP 64, the performance is better than that of 7. If you really have to buy an OS you can get discounts if you are a student. I get it for free. However, don\'t settle for anything low-end. It\'s bad value.

The best idea is to save to reach the treshold where performance/value is best. I think you need at least $1k . GTX 670 will be released in May. Go for that one.

i7 920 @ 2.9 GHz on air. 6 GB DDR 3 Triple-Channel 896 MB GTX 260

Don\'t buy a laptop for gaming unless you have no other choice. Supreme Commander and SimCity are CPU intense, while the other games aren\'t very GPU demanding. So it looks like the CPU will be more important than the GPU for you. And GPUs are easier to replace (no need to change the MB). My strategy is to buy a cheap one from the latest gen and upgrade when I need to. I can still run almost everything I want on my GTX 260 (definitely those games). GTA V might be demanding, but I think it\'s being limited by the console hardware anyway. CPU is still important there for traffic etc, but you most likely need a lot of VRAM as well if you want to max things out.

I think you need about £1000 to get good performance/value. (i.e. that lasts for 3 years, with no or minor upgrades). Right now I\'m waiting for the GTX 670. Not sure about the CPU, but definitely some i7. I will reuse my old GTX 260 for PhysX. Modular power supply with 4+ PCI-e rails. (2 for GTX 260, and 2 for the 670). The chassis has to fit 4 slots for GPUs and some PCI. Most likely a somewhat bigger than standard has to be used. I\'ve got 6GB RAM currently, but never used that much. So I\'ll aim for that again. Small SSD for the Windows-HD. 1 TB+ total storage. Reuse old ones. Soundcard (very important for the sound quality, old ones are as good). Mainboard with PCI-e 3.0 USB 3.0 Gigabit ethernet Later on: Retina 24' Screen (probably next year) (They seem to call it 4K HD) Approx: £150 Chassis £350 GPU £350 CPU £100 SSD £50 HD £150 Mainboard £100 RAM £100 PSU

Next time.

That\'s cool, but you must have done something extra? I mean a lot of people have had all A\'s without receiving any recognitions.