What should I be looking for in a new computer?

Question

I'm looking around for a new pc/laptop. Apart from internet etc, I want to be able to play the latest games on it. What should I be looking for in terms of graphics capabilities?

Looking to spend about £500, not much I know - that's why I want a clear idea of what I need.

Answer 1

For £500 you can forget about getting a new case, monitor, mouse etc.
To play the latest games at a reasonable pace you will need a CPU of at least 3.2 Ghz (AMD are best for a budget), RAM at least 1GB DDR and for Hard Drive go for at least 100GB E-IDE at 7200 rpm.

The other thing you have to take into consideration is a graphic card, at least 256MB. Do you want a AGP or the newer PCI-E. AGP are cheaper being old technology, but PCI-E have more power for the same amount of memory.
So, CPU £110 plus fan, RAM £60 if you shop around, Hard Drive £60, AGP £100.

If you want to go for the PCI-E graphics card then you will have to upgrade the motherboard, so you can spend another £110 on the Motherboard and maybe an extra £30 on the PCI-E graphic card.
For even more performance you could go for a SATA Hard Drive, which are about the same price as normal hard Drives.

Oh and Pedro 3 answers above this one. Don't forget about punctuation...

Answer 2

Big Ram first off! Make sure it is expandable in the ram area also. Find a system that is expandable to at least three gigs of ram. Try to stay away from units that have onboard video altho this is a hard thing to do. To play the latest video games you will need a video card with at least 256 megs of onboard ram. Try to find a unit with a plug in video card. This ram is separate from your system ram and is on the video card itself. You might want to find a system with a card that has pixel shading technology because this is the latest rage in video games and a lot of newer games wont run without it. I would also suggest against a laptop because they are expensive to upgrade and have no where near the flexibilty a desktop has when it comes to replacement parts. You will need at least a three gigahertz processor also. Keep in mind a system like this will cost a small fortune and if you have any experience at all you can build a system for a third of the cost.

someone else stated that 64 megs of vidram is enuff......DONT THINK SO HOMEY!

Answer 3

www.newegg.com To play the latest games reliably and without heat issues you're going to have to build it yourself.


CPU 4000MHZ.
RAM 2 Gigabytes.

Video Card; 512 Meg Nvidia.
7200 + RPM hard Drives, Large capacity.

500 Watt Power Supply,

Large Case with many fans to keep it cool.

= Won't be able to buy this anywhere. PC Manufacturers do not make their systems with adequete cooling.

Answer 4

If you want to play games on it then you would be better with a desktop PC rather than a Laptop as Desktop PCs ternd to be a lot faster than Laptops. What i would advise you to do is go into you do is to go into your local computer retailers ie PC World tell them what you are looking for and the price that you can afford and see what they can do for you.

Answer 5

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN A COMPUTER THIS WELL WHEN THINKING OF BUYING A NEW PC/LAPTOP LOOK FOR THE VERY BEST

my comeputer
my desktop pc new this year
microsoft windows xp professional

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core ProcessorMemory - 2024MB DDR-400 RAM
Hard Disk - 900 GB Serial ATA Hard Disk (3 x 300GB)
Graphics - ATI Radeon X3600 256MB PCI Express Graphics Card
7. Multi-Format Card Reader/Writer

tv out connection card for ps2/3 play staion to link up to your pc
Optical drive - Double Layer 16x Multiformat (+/-) DVD-Rewiter Drive


X-Top Expandable Multi-Screen 30 Screen LCD Multiple Monitor Display the wolrds most adfvanced and robust multi -screen family of displays .computer The X-Top's uniquely expandable and ergonomic structure enables 1000's of configurations - from 1 to 3 rows with 64 integrated LCDs.

Designed for powerful multi-screen computing, management and
presentation - such as: general application use, stock trading, high-presentation, surveillance,
teleconferencing and NOCs (Network Operation Centers


http://www.9xmedia.com/Pages-products/2000_Computers_landing%20Page.html

5 COVER AND SUPPORT replace for new if pc end life
like the 30screen monitor

that is the computer's i have so i guess it is my favroite computer's
btw i work for microsoft
like the 30screen monitor



my comeputer
laptop new this year
Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core Processor Memory - 2024MB DDR-400 RAM
Hard Disk - 900 GB Serial ATA Hard Disk (3 x 200GB)
Graphics - ATI Radeon X3600 256MB PCI Express Graphics Card
7. Multi-Format Card Reader/Writer
tv out connection card for ps2/3 play staion to link up to your pc
Optical drive - Double Layer 16x Multiformat (+/-) DVD-Rewiter Drive

MONITOR
X-Top Expandable Multi-Screen 30 Screen LCD Multiple Monitor Display the wolrds most adfvanced and robust multi -screen family of displays .computer The X-Top's uniquely expandable and ergonomic structure enables 1000's of configurations - from 1 to 3 rows with 64 integrated LCDs.

Designed for powerful multi-screen computing, management and
presentation - such as: general application use, stock trading, high-presentation, surveillance,
teleconferencing and NOCs (Network Operation Centers

http://www.9xmedia.com/Pages-products/2000_Computers_landing%20Page.html

5 YEAR COVER AND SUPPORT REPLACE FOR NEW IF COMPUTER DIE
like the 30screen monitor


that is the computer's i have so i guess it is my favroite computer's

Answer 6

Depends on your wallet. For Graphics iMac Tiger dual core is the
best, and prices have been lowered. Visit an Apple Store.

Answer 7

Main important things graphic cards (if you want to see it to play games mainly)

I would concentrate on RAM, HARD disk space, and speed (pent 4 will do)

RAM = at least 1 gig
Hard disk= at least 100 mb
Video RAM = at least 64mb ram

Answer 8

Graphic card nvidia or ati 128mb and up now of days its going to be
Nvidia 6800gt and up to play at ful detail and for ati well lets say 1800xt or someting. graphic cards ranging from 200- and up r wat u want for best gaming and cpu for p4 is 3.0 and up and amd is like 3800 and up.. I have Sli 7800 gt and amd 4800x2 dual core 64bit with ram at 4gig dual channel memory.. its custom built by me >.<

Ram= 1gig

graphic card = 1800xt ati or geforce nvidia 6800gt and up

hard drive= fast speed 74gig raptor at 10,000 or okie hard drive is like 160gig 7,800 or so dont remeber

Cpu= P4 3.0 and up, AMD 3800 and up

CD Rom with DVD

Answer 9

it matters what your budget is going to be, and if you want a laptop or desktop.

if you want a desktop i suggest a 7600 GT graphics card. high performance, but wont kill your bank account.

Answer 10

You want as much hard drive as you can find.

You also want to get the most RAM as you can.

With these bases covered, you can do what ever you want to do.