Minimum tech requirements

[Netsky]

if you should be a new desktop in a couple of months, what would be the minimum techniqal requirements that your parts should have, i mean the videocard/soundcard/cooling system/proccessor /...;

thing is i am still saving, but i go out a lot and i am planning to go on vacation this summer so i don't know how much money i'll have to spend to buy a new desktop, we have a desktop at home but my mom constantly uses it for work, and my laptop is getting outdated i can play call of duty world at war at the lowest settings but that's it, the most recent games i can't play barly so i need a new one and i am going to buy one this summer but i don't know what's the budget going to be, and i can't ask what minimum buget you need, (yes i want to buy a decent desktop (so not playing games on minimum setings)) because i am european (belgian) and we have whole other prices for pc stuff, i'll probably get my stuff in the netherlands that saves me at least 30%. but i can't say now how much money i am going to have and how much that i need (with constantly changing prices and new stuff and better and better games)

 

[Putty]

AT LEAST a dual core, quad if you can. Memory, at least 2gb if you're poor. 4gb if you can. And the video card, at least a 9800 gtx.

 

[yellowbadger52]

it really depends on what games you play and how high of settings you want to play with. If you want to just be able to play the game and dont care about graphics look at new games released close to when your building your rig and get just a little better than the minimum requirements.

If you want to get the best grphics possible. buy the best of everything on the market at the time.

The best bet though would be to get a mid ranged rig. AMD has some cheap proccessors now so you can get your hands on a quad core and have to sell your kidney on the black market to afford it. I would reccomend getting 4gbs of ram as well and then figure out the best video card you can buy with the rest of your budget.

 

[Netsky]

AT LEAST a dual core, quad if you can. Memory, at least 2gb if you're poor. 4gb if you can. And the video card, at least a 9800 gtx.

i have 3 gb atm and its not good enough, the minimum is going to be 4gb with room for expansion, the videocard i don't know yet, have to look around a little bit.

 

[Netsky]

it really depends on what games you play and how high of settings you want to play with. If you want to just be able to play the game and dont care about graphics look at new games released close to when your building your rig and get just a little better than the minimum requirements.

If you want to get the best grphics possible. buy the best of everything on the market at the time.

The best bet though would be to get a mid ranged rig. AMD has some cheap proccessors now so you can get your hands on a quad core and have to sell your kidney on the black market to afford it. I would reccomend getting 4gbs of ram as well and then figure out the best video card you can buy with the rest of your budget.

well because my laptop sucks i play "old" games a lot like css or old cod or strategie games (rome total war for exemple) i can play some modern games but that are simulation games (football manager 2010)
because my mom constantly ocupies the desktop i can't play the modern games i would like to play, i have empire total war but i can't play it on my laptop or i gets overheated and most of the time i can't play on the desktop overhere :s. i really would like to play the newest cod game to, so basically i am going to play the most modern shooters (especially if they have a big online community) and the most modern strategie games and i want to buy a new desktop where the most parts are suficent to play a couple of years before they get outdated.

 

[Putty]

This is what I'm doing (refer to signature). I'm getting an i7, because it's amazing. And because I'm a digital media major, so I need a lot of cores n' stuff. As for the ram, I'm getting 6gb to start with, but in a month or so I'll get another 6gb of the same kind, giving me 12gb. As for the video card, I got a 260GTX, and will pick up another one with the ram upgrade, giving me dual sli.

Right now, without those upgrades and everything, it's costing me $1300 before $100 of mail in rebates.

The secret, bundle. I know for my case and psu, I got $30 docked off because it was an AZZA bundle. Best of all, my psu was MADE for my case, so I KNEW it worked.

Alternately what you could do is take a newer game you really really want to play (MW2) and just get hardware that matches what it "recommends". Then you'll know it works.

 

[Netsky]

This is what I'm doing (refer to signature). I'm getting an i7, because it's amazing. And because I'm a digital media major, so I need a lot of cores n' stuff. As for the ram, I'm getting 6gb to start with, but in a month or so I'll get another 6gb of the same kind, giving me 12gb. As for the video card, I got a 260GTX, and will pick up another one with the ram upgrade, giving me dual sli.

Right now, without those upgrades and everything, it's costing me $1300 before $100 of mail in rebates.

The secret, bundle. I know for my case and psu, I got $30 docked off because it was an AZZA bundle. Best of all, my psu was MADE for my case, so I KNEW it worked.

Alternately what you could do is take a newer game you really really want to play (MW2) and just get hardware that matches what it "recommends". Then you'll know it works.

isn't the 260gtx overcloked?

 

[JunK]

see this depends, because if all you have is a laptop right now that means you'll need to grab up everything including case/dvd burner+player/hdd/monitor right? or what things do you already have.
if you have to get all of the extras, that will seriously cut in on your budget

 

[Leaf]

see this depends, because if all you have is a laptop right now that means you'll need to grab up everything including case/dvd burner+player/hdd/monitor right? or what things do you already have.
if you have to get all of the extras, that will seriously cut in on your budget

DVD stuff isn't a necessity I would believe.

 

[yellowbadger52]

DVD stuff isn't a necessity I would believe.

It would be nessasary to install games on your hdd if you buy them in a store. assuming that hard is a teenager, he probably doesnt have a credit card to buy his games so he probably buys them in stores. A lot of games come on DVDs now because they hold more data than conventional cds.

If your planning on building/buying a new rig i would reccomend spending about $800 to $1000 USD on one. Spend the most on a good cpu and motherboard. The buy the best videocard you can afford at the time and you can upgrade that later.

Also, dont skimp out on the powersupply. Make sure you purchase one with enough watts and amps to properly power the system you have. Try to stay away from the stock, off brand cheap psu's that come with the case. They will fail and can cause problems in the future. Spend the money now on a good one and you wont have to worry about any problems.

 

[torzak]

A dual core CPU is a must these days, the stock cooler is fine on them if your not planning on overclocking. RAM 4GB would be fine but i recommend more if you can afford it. As for graphic card I think the Nvidia 9800gt is a good starting card. I have one and I can run any game maxed settings with AA on. Right now there only about $100 some are less, but any card between $100 and $200 will be able to run any game on maxed for a year or two. I would spend less on the graphics card and spend most the money on a good CPU and motherboard.

 

[blizbiggy]

I just priced a pc on newegg (low budget, but still awesome) for 399.64. 2.66ghz amd athlon II x4, 2gb ddr 3, 320gb hdd, decent case with psu, and 4670

no os. would suggest getting a different power supply though than the one that is in the case, but I used it before.

 

[Netsky]

see this depends, because if all you have is a laptop right now that means you'll need to grab up everything including case/dvd burner+player/hdd/monitor right? or what things do you already have.
if you have to get all of the extras, that will seriously cut in on your budget

Yeah i have to buy a whole new rig the minimum budget i am going to save is going to be 1000 euro = +/- 1500 usd but it can be 2000 usd or more (depends on how much money i'll have this summer).

 

[Netsky]

It would be nessasary to install games on your hdd if you buy them in a store. assuming that hard is a teenager, he probably doesnt have a credit card to buy his games so he probably buys them in stores. A lot of games come on DVDs now because they hold more data than conventional cds.

If your planning on building/buying a new rig i would reccomend spending about $800 to $1000 USD on one. Spend the most on a good cpu and motherboard. The buy the best videocard you can afford at the time and you can upgrade that later.

Also, dont skimp out on the powersupply. Make sure you purchase one with enough watts and amps to properly power the system you have. Try to stay away from the stock, off brand cheap psu's that come with the case. They will fail and can cause problems in the future. Spend the money now on a good one and you wont have to worry about any problems.

i am 20 by the way, and i don't have a creditcard no, and i am still a student (univesity) i earn money when i have some spare time and in the holidays i work to so i am going to earn between now and the summer minimum 4000 euro = +/- 6000 usd but because i go out a lot and have plans to go on a holiday i don't know how much i'll have to buy a complete new rig. its going to be at least 1500USD.
i don't know anything about cpu's and motherboards, that's why i am asking a little bit advise it needs to be able to play the most modern games and has to be sufficient for at least 2 years

 

[GBear]

Wow, that's one long run on sentence hehe.

Well, I'd spend the most on the CPU, motherboard, and video card. Basically, spend at least $800 on a computer. However, I'd just save up and try to buy the best quality of every component. Go for a i7, ATI 5 series (or wait for the 300GTs like I am), gskill/ocz/corsair ram, decent psu, asus/gigabyte/evga mobo, etc.