new desktop question + costing

[pcg79]

howdy

i havent looked into buying a new PC in aaages but i really want to play gta iv (and have no xbox, ps3). i have no idea about any of the new fangled technology these days - no idea what graphics cards are high end and which are medium, for example. no idea at the benefits of 32bit vs 64bit (are there still program/driver issues??)
so i was wondering, how much would it cost to purchase a new pc that could run gta IV well? i would probably need everything incl OS and monitor. i have a strong preference for QUIET things (think laptop quiet). prebuilt are also preferred (have too little time to deal with the building and the subsequent things going wrong)

thanks

 

[Kryten]

You've plenty of choice really, and that's half the problem. What will run GTA4? Just about anything with a dedicated graphics card really.

Volume? Easy. If you're building yourself, it's easy to kit it out with quiet power supplies, huge heatsinks with large and silent fans, SSD hard drives instead of the mechanical ones - depends how far you'd like to go and how much you'd like to spend.

You could get yourself something at around £400 that'll do the job - but would you like to do more gaming in future? Double that money and you could really get a stonking rig, especially if you've already got a decent screen.

32bit vs 64bit. No question about it, a modern PC should have a 64bit OS. If you've no more than 4gb of ram people might question this, but it raises your upgrade options and besides which, 32bit OS's need to be left behind. Besides, compatibility is rarely an issue. If you buy yourself Vista now, you'll get a cheap upgrade path to 7 (or possibly free? Not sure). Or of course if you wait until Oct 22nd, you can get 7 as it stands.

What sort of budget are you looking at?

 

[nath]

Careful though. I've not read any GTA4 info in a while but last I heard it was a terrible port that suffered atrocious frame rates on the PC even on very powerful rigs. It's just a shame that there's no demo available for it.

 

[Aada]

I would strongly advise reading user reviews on GTA4 even people with monster pc's struggle to get good FPS.

I was going to buy it the other day as it's on play.com for £14.99 but as i read the reviews it put me off i then went to a few other online retailers and most user reviews are the same except a minority of people who some how managed to get it working good.

If you want to play GTA4 with no hassles pick up a 360 arcade which are pretty cheap now and GTA which usually goes for about £20 these days.

Ofc if you want the PC for more then just GTA4 then ignore the above

 

[pcg79]

i would go the 360 route but really, i doubt ill play many other games on it so it would be a bit redundant. the PC is a nice upgrade path for my current (aging) laptop.

i would probably be buying after october anyway, but with around £800 to play with (maybe +200 for a monitor since i currently have a 19" NEC 71VM that is like, 5 years old).

so then the minimum i should be looking at is
-64 bit (quad/dual core?) processor
- >4GB memory
- ideas for graphics?
- power requirements? minimum PSU?
- big heatsinks, silent fans etc

anything else?

cheers alll!

 

[Aada]

i would go the 360 route but really, i doubt ill play many other games on it so it would be a bit redundant. the PC is a nice upgrade path for my current (aging) laptop.

i would probably be buying after october anyway, but with around £800 to play with (maybe +200 for a monitor since i currently have a 19" NEC 71VM that is like, 5 years old).

so then the minimum i should be looking at is
-64 bit (quad/dual core?) processor
- >4GB memory
- ideas for graphics?
- power requirements? minimum PSU?
- big heatsinks, silent fans etc

anything else?

cheers alll!

The thing to think about with the 360 is most PC games are 360 ports take Mass Effect ran pretty nice on the 360 however the PC version was a farce sure PC versions look better no question but it's the stability of the games that always put me off going the PC route even though i have a nice gaming PC

I would wait with the PC until Windows 7 comes out personally it's much better than Vista.

 

[nath]

The thing to think about with the 360 is most PC games are 360 ports

That's not even a little bit true. Unless of course you meant most multi-format games are PC ports.

 

[Bodhi]

That's not even a little bit true. Unless of course you meant most multi-format games are PC ports.

I think what he means is that all games were shat out of the great god Bill's rectum shortly before it RROD'd and melted. Now all new games are direct copies of what Bill shat out until he gets a new rectum in from Germany. Naturally.

OP, buy a PS3. You can play GTA4 and inFamous. Lovely.

 

[Kryten]

Graphics - with the prices of ATI kit at the moment, it'd be silly to look elsewhere. 4890 is a good buy.

Processor - for a budget of 800 I'd suggest looking at the Intel i920 and an Asus X58 motherboard, 6gb of DDR3 memory, grab a nice cooler and case to match, 1TB+ hard drive of choice and get it whacked together. If you'd like some specifics, I should be able to knock up some better information for you.

 

[Aada]

I think what he means is that all games were shat out of the great god Bill's rectum shortly before it RROD'd and melted. Now all new games are direct copies of what Bill shat out until he gets a new rectum in from Germany. Naturally.

OP, buy a PS3. You can play GTA4 and inFamous. Lovely.

Your constant bitterness is getting tiresome, the ps3 costs almost what a semi decent pc would cost therefore the ps3 isn't an option. If he only wants gta4 then a 360 arcade is a lot cheaper.

If he wants more then gta4 then a new pc is the best but wait for windows 7 first.

 

[Ch3tan]

i would probably be buying after october anyway, but with around £800 to play with (maybe +200 for a monitor since i currently have a 19" NEC 71VM that is like, 5 years old).


anything else?

My monitor is 6 years old now I think, I'd never get a new one because of it's age. It's a great monitor. Do you really need a new monitor? If you want more screen space it's a reason to upgrade, the fact it's old is not.

 

[Dreamor]

PS3 is £219 now, I'd challenge anyone to make a semi decent machine for that price. More so if you wanted to make it a gaming machine.

OP - I Agree with Kryt, get 64bit if you can, you should always plan out how easy it is to upgrade in the future given he parts you have at present. That way you can save yourself a few quid down the road. Whilst I'm not a huge fan of them, given the guidlines you posted I'd probably get a Dell. Even there basic gaming rigs come with very good customer support (there is a deal running for 2+years Premium Support) and I know you said quiet, my brother bought 1 not long ago and its near silent. There monitors are also really stunning, but you do pay for it so maybe save a few quid and go no-monitor and buy something from places like OverClockers or eBuyer.

Good luck getting a new machine!

 

[Aada]

PS3 is £219 now, I'd challenge anyone to make a semi decent machine for that price. More so if you wanted to make it a gaming machine.

OP - I Agree with Kryt, get 64bit if you can, you should always plan out how easy it is to upgrade in the future given he parts you have at present. That way you can save yourself a few quid down the road. Whilst I'm not a huge fan of them, given the guidlines you posted I'd probably get a Dell. Even there basic gaming rigs come with very good customer support (there is a deal running for 2+years Premium Support) and I know you said quiet, my brother bought 1 not long ago and its near silent. There monitors are also really stunning, but you do pay for it so maybe save a few quid and go no-monitor and buy something from places like OverClockers or eBuyer.
Good luck getting a new machine!

I've just been on game.co.uk and play.com and the cheapest is 289 with no games for 289. Just been to gameplay as well and there's no sign of anything at the cost your saying.

 

[Dreamor]

I've just been on game.co.uk and play.com and the cheapest is 289 with no games for 289. Just been to gameplay as well and there's no sign of anything at the cost your saying.

I thought it had been announced it was due to get a price cut as soon as the 'new' version (i.e. slimmer etc) was launched? Maybe I just read the papers on it wrong, if I can find the link/scan the mag I saw it in, I will

 

[Dreamor]

Announcement due August 18th, by all accounts, but i claim rights on hearing it first

 

[Ch3tan]

The ps3 price cut was a rumour because Sony announced the manufacturing costs had dropped.