n00b question I'm sure (processor speed)

Reagan

I've been using the same computer for ~6 years and I think it may be reaching the end of it's capabilty to run the games I want (and it may be dieing).

Currently I'm running:
Pentium4 2.66 GHz processor
1.5 GB of RAM
RADEON X700 (256 Mb)

When we bought it, it wasn't top of the line or anything, so I was confused why many computers I'm looking at for replacements have lower GHz.

My n00b question:
How do multicore processors stack up?

The main game I play has a system requirements of "3.0GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 or AMD64X2 (or higher)" (which I currently don't quite meet, obviosly). Would it run on a "AMD Phenom™ X4 9100e Quad-Core 1.8 GHz" or a "Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor 2.4GHz"?

PeregrineFalcon

GHz is only one metric of processor performance. Core architecture (C2D vs A64 vs etc) is another.

Your P4 will get absolutely cockpunched by even the lowliest modern dual-core machine.

Jump in the build thread (stickied) give a price range and ask for some suggestions.
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=90217

Reagan

This is what I'll be using now.

Gateway - TV Desktop with Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8200
Quad 2.33GHz
8GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GT120 (1GB)

I don't have the time to deal with building one from scratch

Triko

To upgrade from my crappy Dell system with Celeron cpu, I bought a used Pentium 4 3.0ghz chip for $25, and about an extra $125 dollars to upgrade the RAM, PSU, and graphics card. My system is powerful enough to run most new games now on low-medium settings (monitor only 15" anyway); sure I can't run games on high settings, but it beats the hell out of buying a completely new PC.

I figure I can hold off for another 2-3 years on a new system, a good investment for only $150, imo.

lowlylowlycook

STOP!

Checkout the computer build thread. Even if you don't make your own computer it will tell you what parts you should get.

One problem with prebuilt computers is that they have shitty configurations, especially for gaming. That gateway is no exception. Don't buy it! Neither the CPU nor that Video card are what you want.

Dark Shroud

With gateways you also have to check out the mother board. I had an emergency situation and had to buy an off the shelf PC from BB. The intel chipset on the mobo will not let me update to any type of duel core processor, not even a Pentium D, despite being Socket 775. I've gotten 5 years out of this thing and it will still be good for documents & web surfing for a few more years.

Yet it's a POS P4 3.0ghz hyper threaded x86 only CPU with 1mb L2 cache locks up often. It wasn't until Vista that I could even get any real noticeable performance difference between hyper threading enabled or disabled.

GrimReaper

Reagan wrote: »

This is what I'll be using now.

Gateway - TV Desktop with Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8200
Quad 2.33GHz
8GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GT120 (1GB)

I don't have the time to deal with building one from scratch

A note, make sure it comes with a 64bit version of windows. Otherwise that 8GB of RAM? You're only realistically gonna be using 3GB with a 32bit version of windows.

EDIT: Ah, just noticed it says 64bit on the bestbuy page. Ignore me then.

Smug Duckling

Even if you don't have time to deal with building one from scratch, there are lots of places where you can order a computer and specify exactly what parts you want and they'll build it for you.

Robman

Building a computer from scratch takes an hour or two of real work, then you can do other shit while you install the drivers/OS/games.

If you've got time to game, you've got time to build a system.

freakish light

There are still problems that can come up apart from just putting the pieces together. When I built my current computer (and it was the first one I assembled) for some reason the hardware wouldn't read off of my IDE DVD-ROM drive, even though it recognized it in BIOS. I have no idea how a regular non-tech-savvy person could have figured that one out, especially since it took me about two hours to diagnose and a trip to Best Buy to pick up a SATA drive to fix it, on top of the three or so hours it took me to put the whole thing together.

It was worth it, but even with everything I know about computers it was a trying experience at points.