Seriously, my X1600 is cooking my lap, here.
December 29, 2010 2:05 PM Subscribe
Budget computer! Catch: Games.
I love my 2007 Macbook Pro, but it's really time I got a new desktop computer to use for gaming. Except, I can't really drop a whole bunch on a nice rig, so here's my question:
I don't have any desktop peripherals since I got rid of my last one years ago (i.e. No monitor, no keyboard, no mouse) so I'll be needing to get those, too. Would it be a terrible idea to get a reasonably-priced Dell deal with everything included for $500-600 and then eventually throw in a better GPU if I needed it? I'd pick up something with an i5 processor if it's in my budget but if not, is a high-end C2Duo better than the i3?
Keep in mind that the games I will be playing won't be really intensive. Civ IV (maybe Civ V, but it's a real hog, so probably not,) TF2, Poker Night at the Inventory, Penumbra, etc.
I don't think I really need much, it's just that the poor Radeon X1600 in my MBP is just dying trying to keep up, even on things like Poker Night (which I totally don't understand, it's not that intensive, really!)
If this is a terrible idea, where should I look for a $500 PC that can run games and has a monitor included? I'm not opposed to building it myself if I can get the component parts, but I really don't want to have to search for every piece and research to make sure it's all going to play nicely. I know Newegg has some "kits" but the internet seems to think that these often fail because Newegg puts pieces in them that aren't selling by themselves because they suck.
Thanks for the input!
I love my 2007 Macbook Pro, but it's really time I got a new desktop computer to use for gaming. Except, I can't really drop a whole bunch on a nice rig, so here's my question:
I don't have any desktop peripherals since I got rid of my last one years ago (i.e. No monitor, no keyboard, no mouse) so I'll be needing to get those, too. Would it be a terrible idea to get a reasonably-priced Dell deal with everything included for $500-600 and then eventually throw in a better GPU if I needed it? I'd pick up something with an i5 processor if it's in my budget but if not, is a high-end C2Duo better than the i3?
Keep in mind that the games I will be playing won't be really intensive. Civ IV (maybe Civ V, but it's a real hog, so probably not,) TF2, Poker Night at the Inventory, Penumbra, etc.
I don't think I really need much, it's just that the poor Radeon X1600 in my MBP is just dying trying to keep up, even on things like Poker Night (which I totally don't understand, it's not that intensive, really!)
If this is a terrible idea, where should I look for a $500 PC that can run games and has a monitor included? I'm not opposed to building it myself if I can get the component parts, but I really don't want to have to search for every piece and research to make sure it's all going to play nicely. I know Newegg has some "kits" but the internet seems to think that these often fail because Newegg puts pieces in them that aren't selling by themselves because they suck.
Thanks for the input!
Sorry I can't give a complete answer, but I have a computer I first bought back in 07, and it uses the Q6600 quad core processor. Even now it has little or no problem with modern games, and seeing as the processor is several years old now, you will pick it up quite cheap. Hmm, a quick look over eBay sees them at around $200 US, which is a big chunk of your budget, but I can't recommend it enough.
posted by dougrayrankin at 2:14 PM on December 29, 2010
posted by dougrayrankin at 2:14 PM on December 29, 2010
Before you think about building a new system, how much RAM do you have in the MBP? Given that your computer has issues with Poker Night at the Inventory, I suspect the video card isn't your problem (I play Starcraft 2 on a unibody Macbook which has an even slower graphics processor).
posted by thebestsophist at 2:14 PM on December 29, 2010
posted by thebestsophist at 2:14 PM on December 29, 2010
A couple of months ago I paid $450 for a Dell Inspiron 570 (not including the monitor, which I think was about $100). I don't play games that much, but I do play Civilization V, and it runs just fine. Minecraft runs just fine too.
So I think your budget is entirely reasonable, and I know Dell gets a lot of grief for their build quality but I've been much happier with the Dells I've bought than any other brand (including my Mac which died of a sudden, fatal, and professionally disastrous hard drive crash) and this one feels genuinely zippy.
posted by Jeanne at 2:21 PM on December 29, 2010
So I think your budget is entirely reasonable, and I know Dell gets a lot of grief for their build quality but I've been much happier with the Dells I've bought than any other brand (including my Mac which died of a sudden, fatal, and professionally disastrous hard drive crash) and this one feels genuinely zippy.
posted by Jeanne at 2:21 PM on December 29, 2010
Response by poster: Sorry, should have included in OP, my Macbook Pro has a 2.33 Core2Duo processor, 3Gb of RAM (the max for my computer unfortunately,) and the Radeon X1600 GPU.
posted by InsanePenguin at 2:49 PM on December 29, 2010
posted by InsanePenguin at 2:49 PM on December 29, 2010
Response by poster: And I would definitely be picking a desktop that had discrete graphics rather than integrated.
posted by InsanePenguin at 2:49 PM on December 29, 2010
posted by InsanePenguin at 2:49 PM on December 29, 2010
So I think your budget is entirely reasonable, and I know Dell gets a lot of grief for their build quality but I've been much happier with the Dells I've bought than any other brand (including my Mac which died of a sudden, fatal, and professionally disastrous hard drive crash) and this one feels genuinely zippy.Well, can't fault the build quality but in terms of aftercare... fuck me I've never went through anything as horrific. I had an SSD fail in a Dell Mini 9. I spent a total of fourteen hours listening to muzak and explaining to the flow-chart following "Technical Advisor" how it couldn't possibly be a problem with the Ubuntu operating system as the netbook has never had Ubuntu on it, and a total of four separate and distinct operating systems were all unable to read from or write to the disk. In the end I gave up, bought a new SSD myself and sent a photocopy of my posterior to the head of Dell in the UK.
posted by dougrayrankin at 2:59 PM on December 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I've recently begun a similar process. I started with Tom's Hardware - more specifically, their System Recommendation page. Then I went to Newegg and looked at cheaper options and user reviews.
posted by Acton at 3:16 PM on December 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Acton at 3:16 PM on December 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: How "future proof" do you want it to be? If you see yourself upgrading in the next few years you would be better off building something on newegg with current formats.
If you are cool with it being much less upgradeable you can find a very decent system on craigslist in the $250 - 300 range that will easily run those games as well as newer titles (with visuals turned down)
I sold my last desktop on craigs for $250. I used it to play TF2 (with settings maxed) and a bunch of other steam games, as well as crysis with medium detail.
It was:
Core 2 duo E6600
2GB ddr 800
8800 GTS graphics
1TB sata drive
X-fi platinum sound card
Just look for something similar and you should be covered for at least a few more years.
posted by Esefa at 5:27 PM on December 29, 2010
If you are cool with it being much less upgradeable you can find a very decent system on craigslist in the $250 - 300 range that will easily run those games as well as newer titles (with visuals turned down)
I sold my last desktop on craigs for $250. I used it to play TF2 (with settings maxed) and a bunch of other steam games, as well as crysis with medium detail.
It was:
Core 2 duo E6600
2GB ddr 800
8800 GTS graphics
1TB sata drive
X-fi platinum sound card
Just look for something similar and you should be covered for at least a few more years.
posted by Esefa at 5:27 PM on December 29, 2010
Best answer: The Ars System Guide is 100% the way to go. I built a very respectable gaming PC based on something halfway between their budget + midrange box for about $600 that has worked great for the last 18 months and still plays new releases very respectably. I had a monitor, though, so that'll drive the price up a bit. Their budget box is a great place to start, and if you have more money to spend just throw it at the video card and you'll add some moderate future proofing.
posted by heresiarch at 6:13 PM on December 29, 2010
posted by heresiarch at 6:13 PM on December 29, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by nadawi at 2:10 PM on December 29, 2010 [2 favorites]