Looking for a "Decent GAMING COMPUTER"

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by harvastmoon, Jun 25, 2007.

  1. harvastmoon

    harvastmoon Private E-2

    My son is trying to play Civ 4 on my work laptop and I have to put an end to it fast.

    He has saved up $1500.00 but not sure what to buy. Used is a definite option, can anyone make any recommendations?

    I would prefer a laptop over a desktop but I don't know much about which computers are best for playing these types of games.
     
  2. viper_boy403

    viper_boy403 MajorGeek

  3. harvastmoon

    harvastmoon Private E-2

    Thanks for the info but maybe I should just give him my Dell Inspiron 8000 and upgrade it. I have had it for 5 years and it still works great. Then maybe I should get a new computer since i work from home.
    Do you think the Inspiron is worth spending money on for upgrades?
     
  4. viper_boy403

    viper_boy403 MajorGeek

    a 5 year old computer wouldnt be worth upgrading to game. although it could work fine for a while if used for things except gaming. You can get a nice desktop for about $1200 with the ability to upgrade in the future

    here are some other nice laptops that fall in his price range:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16834220123,N82E16834220137,N82E16834220181

    personally id go with this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220163 and add an extra gig of RAM since vista is a memory hog but its up to you, each of those should run Civ 4 perfectly
     
  5. Wyatt_Earp

    Wyatt_Earp MajorGeek

    I would check out http://www.powernotebooks.com/

    Keep in mind that the prices don't include an operating system and they say it doesn't include wireless LAN, but I thought that was built in to the motherboard... dunno. In any case, if you add Vista Home Premium and the "built-in WLAN" it comes out to about $100 cheaper than the ASUS laptops on newegg. Though those are not a bad price.
     
  6. harvastmoon

    harvastmoon Private E-2

    Can you recommend a website that will check my entire system and suggest upgrades that can be made to my computer to bring it up to current standards as much as possible?
    Guess I am looking to see what upgrades I can make before it becomes cost ineffective and turns out that a new laptop would be the better way to go.
     
  7. Wyatt_Earp

    Wyatt_Earp MajorGeek

    You won't be able to upgrade your Dell much. Most likely, you would only be able to upgrade the processor and RAM. Everything else is built into the motherboard, but if you post the model number of your laptop, we can tell you for sure.
     
  8. harvastmoon

    harvastmoon Private E-2

    Here it is:

    Dell Computer Corporation Inspiron 8000
    Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4 (build 2195)
    700 megahertz Intel Pentium III
    Board: Dell Computer Corporation Inspiron 8000
    Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
    BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A10 05/01/2001

    256 Megabytes Installed Memory
    Standard floppy disk controller
    Intel(R) 82801BAM Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 244A
    Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
    Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]

    Intel(R) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2442
    Xircom Cardbus Ethernet 100 + Modem 56 (Modem Interface)
    3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
    Xircom CardBus Ethernet 100 + Modem 56 (Ethernet Interface)
     
  9. viper_boy403

    viper_boy403 MajorGeek

    yeah, its not worth it, its probably not even possible
     
  10. Wyatt_Earp

    Wyatt_Earp MajorGeek

    So, what is it that you are looking for? Does your son want a new laptop? or just one that is at least as good as this one? If you're just looking for a laptop like this one, your best bet would be to check out the Buy,Sell,Trade forum here at majorgeeks as well as www.ebay.com . I'm sure you could pick one up for under $300.

    If you want a low-end laptop which will still be leaps and bounds better than your Inspiron 8000, I would check out www.techbargains.com/dellcoupons.cfm for the best Dell deals. You would be able to get a pretty good laptop that would be able to do anything your Inspiron could do times 50.
     
  11. hopperdave2000

    hopperdave2000 MajorGeek

    Your current Dell 8000, being 5 years old, is as good as it's going to get. Sure, you could put in more RAM and a bigger 7200rpm hard drive, but why??? You'd still have the PIII 700mhz CPU, and there's not alot, if anything, that you can about the CPU. The laptop should be OK for surfing, and some office type stuff, but it won't, EVER, be a gamer. And gaming laptops are not cheap; cramming that kind of power into such a small space is expensive. $1800 is probably the cheapest you'll find for a decent gaming laptop, where an $1800 tower, will totally rock the casbah! ;) And a tower is ALOT more flexible when it comes to upgrades as technology moves forward.

    hd2k
     
  12. askantik

    askantik Sergeant

    Dave summed it up nicely...
     
  13. harvastmoon

    harvastmoon Private E-2

    I just bought this laptop on Ebay and was hoping that my son could use it for civ4 . It seems to be working but the graphics are a bit slow and sometimes a bit garbled. Is it good enough to run civ4?
    I am not sure but I think the Graphics card isn't even 32mb but I couldn't find where this info is shown. I know a bit about computers but am having trouble with issue.
    The min for civ4 is 64MB but best at 128MB. I don't think it has either of these? I had tried asking the seller but he never got back to me and I was silly enough to assume it would have min 64MB because it was a Pent4 and I won the auction. Can anyone give me some advice on what I should do?!!!

    Thx-Lynda


    Operating System
    Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600)

    System Model
    IBM 236686U
    System Serial Number: 99VKXD8
    Enclosure Type: Notebook

    Processor a
    2.00 gigahertz Intel Mobile Pentium 4 - M
    8 kilobyte primary memory cache
    512 kilobyte secondary memory cache

    Main Circuit Board b
    Board: IBM 236686U
    Bus Clock: 400 megahertz
    BIOS: IBM 1IET61WW (2.02b) 12/12/2002

    Drives
    200.00 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
    176.66 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
    _NEC DVD+-RW ND-6650A [CD-ROM drive]
    IC25N040ATCS05-0 [Hard drive] (40.01 GB) -- drive 0, s/n CLP425F4G6TB5A, rev CS4OA61A, SMART Status: Healthy
    WD 1600JS External USB Device [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 1

    Memory Modules c,d
    512 Megabytes Installed Memory

    Local Drive Volumes
    c: (NTFS on drive 0)40.00 GB29.42 GB free
    e: (FAT32 on drive 1)160.00 GB147.23 GB free

    Network Drives
    None detected

    Controllers
    Standard floppy disk controller
    Intel(r) 82801CAM Ultra ATA Storage Controller-248A
    Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
    Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]

    Display
    ATI MOBILITY RADEON 7500 [Display adapter]
    Default Monitor (2x)
    IBM 1024x768 [Monitor] (16.1"vis, August 1999)
    PNP ThinkPad TV [Monitor] (August 1999)

    Bus Adapters
    Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller (3x)

    Multimedia
    SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio

    Communications
    Agere Systems AC'97 Modem

    Other Devices
    Microsoft AC Adapter
    Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery
    HID-compliant consumer control device
    HID-compliant device
    USB Human Interface Device (4x)
    IBM ThinkPad Fast Infrared Port
    HID Keyboard Device
    Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
    HID-compliant mouse (2x)
    IBM ThinkPad UltraNav Pointing Device [Mouse]
    Generic USB Hub
    USB Composite Device
    USB Mass Storage Device
    USB Root Hub (3x)
     
  14. askantik

    askantik Sergeant

    I did a Google search and this is the system requirement for video:

    The video in that computer is the absolute minimum required to run the game. The game WILL run-- but not too well...
     
  15. Kiprusoff

    Kiprusoff Private E-2

    im a little confused here, if he has 1500 to spend why would you buy something thats only a little newer than your inspiron off ebay?
    for $1424 you can get a dell xps 1210 laptop with

    Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHZ 4MB 667MHZ
    2GB DDR2 667MHZ
    160GB 5400RPM
    Nvidia GeForce GO 7400 Turbocache 256MB
    Dual layer DVD-RW drive
    Built in WebCam
    Vista Home Premium

    or for $1074

    Intel Core 2 Duo 1.83GHZ 2MB 667MHZ
    1GB DDR2 667MHZ
    80GB 5400RPM
    Nvidia GeForce GO 7400 Turbocache 256MB
    Dual layer DVD-RW drive
    Built in WebCam
    Vista Home Premium

    i believe one of those would be the way to go seeing as he has the financial assets
     
  16. harvastmoon

    harvastmoon Private E-2

    Well...... I made a typical mean parental decision and don't think it something he should do right now!!!

    I feel awful but really now spending that kind of money just makes me a bit crazy.

    So I agreed to something much more reasonable....



     
  17. Kiprusoff

    Kiprusoff Private E-2

    well the decision is really yours because its your child,
    but in my opinion if he is mature enough to keep the
    computer in good condition then i would allow him to spend the money
    but this computer could be a good way to see if he is mature enough
    to take care of a laptop, then maybe let him buy a more expensive
    new one if its really what he wants and if he would take care of it
    but thats just my $0.02
     

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