Buying a new computer

[taurias]

so ive been looking around some sites for a new computer, and i want your opinions on this 1: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/eMachines+-+Desktop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor/9533588.p?id=1218120178410&skuId=9533588#tabbed-customerreviews

i want it to be able to play most games on mid to high settings, and im thinking of adding a better graphics card via the PCIe slot, if u can recommend a good gpu for under 100$ that will run on that pc that would help me a ton....

Heres the specs if u dont wanna click the link

Warranty Terms - Parts
1 year limited
#
Warranty Terms - Labor
1 year limited
#
Product Height
14.2"
#
Product Width
7.1"
#
Product Weight
18 lbs.
#
Product Depth
16.2"
#
Processor Brand
Intel®
#
Processor
Intel® Pentium®
#
Processor Speed
2.6GHz
#
Screen Size (Measured Diagonally)
NA
#
Screen Size (Measured Diagonally)
NA
#
System Bus
800MHz
#
Cache Memory
2MB on die Level 2
#
System Memory (RAM)
4GB
#
Type of Memory (RAM)
DDR2
#
Hard Drive Type
SATA
#
Hard Drive Size
750GB
#
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce 7050
#
Video Memory
256MB (shared)
#
Audio
High-definition (7.1 channel)
#
Speakers
None
#
Network Card
Built-in 10/100 Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
#
Wireless Networking
None
#
Recordable DVD Drive
Yes, double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
#
Recordable DVD Drive Speeds
8x DVD+R DL; 8x DVD-R DL; 16x8x16 DVD+RW; 16x6x16 DVD-RW; 5x DVD-RAM; 48x32x40 CD-RW
#
Direct-Disc Labeling
No
#
Digital Media Reader or Slots
Yes, digital media card reader
#
Available Expansion Bays
1 (3.5"), 1 (5.25")
#
Available Expansion Slots
2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16
#
USB 2.0 Ports
6 (2 front, 4 rear)
#
IEEE 1394 Ports
0
#
S-Video Outputs
None
#
Serial Ports
None
#
Parallel Ports
None
#
Game Ports
None
#
Keyboard Description
eMachines PS/2
#
Other Control Devices (mouse, etc.)
eMachines PS/2 mouse
#
Operating System Platform
Windows
#
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
#
Software Included
Adobe Reader; Microsoft Works; Cyberlink PowerDVD and more

 

[taurias]

heres it at the emachines site: http://www.emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=ET1831-03

 

[aford10]

What games did you have in mind?

The CPU is a bit outdated and has a slow FSB. The OEM BIOS isn't going to allow you to do much, if anything, to OC. Meaning, you'll be stuck with a slow CPU. That means you can only get a midgrade video card, or your CPU will bottleneck the video card.

 

[taurias]

Darkfall, AC2, MW2, LFD2, farcry 2 (lol a lot of sequels), oblivion, fallout 3, and borderlands

 

[taurias]

and would this be a better pc?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Desktop+with+AMD+Phenom%26%23153%3B+X4+Quad-Core+Processor/9156478.p?id=1218038551741&skuId=9156478

 

[aford10]

If you threw a 4670 or something like that in it, you could probably reach medium settings on those games.

 

[taurias]

which 1? the 1 in my first post the post before ures?

 

[Guest]

Another thing to consider is it's actually an Acer seeing as eMachines is owned by Acer.

Anything made by Acer these days means piss poor tech support and poor or missing documentation.

Companies owned by Acer that I know of are eMachines, Gateway and Packard Bell.

If you want a good gaming system, get yourself a Core i7 or better, running a 64-bit OS and DDR-3 so you can take full advantage of the system.

The Gateway FX6800 series, even though they are made by Acer, are still decent systems, but require a fairly good level of technical expertise because of the factory setup & configuration along with other existing problems. But once you do a fresh installation and do what ever needs doing, it's a solid system.

There's a thread here with a lot of help/information on the FX6800 systems.
Gateway FX 6800-01e BIOS Update from Gateway Unsupported . This thread really takes some reading through to find All the useful stuff.

This is the one I own FX6800-01e

I plan to upgrade the Video card next year hopefully to an ATI 5870 or a 5970

The best thing you can do is to get the upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium, install a new hard drive to SATA Port-1 (to avoid problems with the hidden EISA partition). Install the upgrade, but as a fresh install to the new drive. Don't Reinstall any of the Gateway/Acer crap.

Then Register your system and contact Gateway support, tell them that you were not able to create the restore disks using the Gateway Recovery Manager cause the system kept freezing up every time you tried to do this and that you would like them to send you the Restore Disks. This way you'll have them on hand in case they are ever needed. Once you get the restore disks, you can wipe the original drive and delete the EISA partition if you choose to or you can leave the EISA partition.

 

[aford10]

The first one you posted. The 2nd one has an even slower, it just has 2 more cores.

What's your price range?

 

[taurias]

500$ preferably close to 400, cause i will probably buy a better graphics card with the remaining money...

 

[aford10]

You would be much better off building one yourself, in all honesty.

If that's not something you're interested in, check out ibuypower and cyberpower. You can do a lot more customization.

 

[taurias]

cyberpower ive seen a ton of horrible reviews, and i looked at building one my self, but i quickly ran out of money when i added the cost of the OS to it.... i shall probably build my own pc when i decide to buy again after this 1...

this is the computer i configured at ibuypower:http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Configurators.aspx?mid=182 though im not sure because it has an amd athlon II...

 

[aford10]

You didn't have an OS selected. I adjusted some settings to include the OS, increase the CPU and video card, smaller hard drive, and no card reader.
http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Configurators.aspx?mid=182#PageTop

It's not a high end system, but I don't think you can get any better for your budget. It won't require you to add on a video card. The AMD x2 550 is a very nice dual core gaming CPU. The 4670 is capable of playing the games you mentioned on medium settings without a bottleneck.

Keep in mind this system also doesn't come with a monitor. Do you have one?

The changes I made have it a little over your $500 budget, but dropping anything down will significantly impact the performance.

 

[taurias]

hmm the link shows the default price... can u post the specs so i can select em?

 

[aford10]

IC...Here's the changes I suggested to go along with the defaults:

Base components:
CPU: change to phenom II x2 550
video card: change to ATI Radeon 4670 512mb single
Free game (if you want it, it's free)
Hard drive: change to 320GB single
Flash media writer: Change to none

Software:
Operating system: Change to windows vista home basic 64 bit

That's all the changes I suggested. It comes to $547. It's got a good enough video card that you wouldn't need to get another. You should get medium settings on most games. BUT, it doesn't come with a monitor.