I've kinda lost touch. What's todays bestest most super-duperest games computer available in Australia atm? No internet, just games, games, games. 
Games computer
- Thread starter Brenda Irwin
- Start date
If you're looking for a games console then your best bet is to go into the store and try them out. The purchase decision will probably come down to who (and what ages) will be playing the games and then what games are available for each console.
Wii is great for the whole family except that some of the games are not challenging enough for older kids. Not much difference between XBox and PS3 . Both are good consoles and have plenty of good games available.
hth
EC
Wii is great for the whole family except that some of the games are not challenging enough for older kids. Not much difference between XBox and PS3 . Both are good consoles and have plenty of good games available.
hth
EC
G'day Brenda
If you really want a PC to play games on, my adive is don't, nothing works properly and the next games you buy will require you to buy a new video card or more RAM etc.
Game consoles, Xbox360, Wii, PS2, PS3. The Wii is nice a bit more physical than the others which is good. The PS3 has a blue ray player in it which is a nice bonus. Same as any computer related stuff, find the software / games you want to play and then buy the hardware to run them. If the games you want come on all 3 major / current platforms then you need to look at other features.
In my family the wife uses the Wii the most. The kids use the PS2 or Xbox360 and Wii about the same, no clear winner.
Give us a bit more info and lets see what we can do.
Regards
Graeme
If you really want a PC to play games on, my adive is don't, nothing works properly and the next games you buy will require you to buy a new video card or more RAM etc.
Game consoles, Xbox360, Wii, PS2, PS3. The Wii is nice a bit more physical than the others which is good. The PS3 has a blue ray player in it which is a nice bonus. Same as any computer related stuff, find the software / games you want to play and then buy the hardware to run them. If the games you want come on all 3 major / current platforms then you need to look at other features.
In my family the wife uses the Wii the most. The kids use the PS2 or Xbox360 and Wii about the same, no clear winner.
Give us a bit more info and lets see what we can do.
Regards
Graeme
Not sure what sort of computer you're using but I've had gaming computers for 10 years, usually self built but there are now many affordable computers set up for gaming sold by Dell, Alien, Acer and others. Even many mid range computers can now play modern games.
Nothing works? Not sure what you mean there. If you know how to use a computer then you can get games to work.
As for upgrading, these days you can keep the same video card for 3+ years and still be able to run the latest games.
Now we are getting somewhere. Video card and RAM, thats the stuff I think we need to look at.
Trouble is, when you upgrade and upgrade, eventually the old fav's don't want to play on the new stuff and you reach a stage whereby it is no longer possible to upgrade the old computer further.
We thought a good idea might be to leave the one desktop as is, and perhaps get a new computer with a bigger cp, better video card and megga RAM.
For example Game for Windows "Hellgate london" reqires Windows Vista (we only have windowsXP), processor of 1.8 GHz for XP or 2.4 GHz for Vista, Memory of 1GB RAM for XP or 2GB RAM for Vista, a hard drive of 7GB, an 8speed DVD-Rom, a video card of 128MB with Pixel Shader 2.0 support (Supported chipsets NVIDIA GeForce 8000 to support DirectX 10.)
Games for Windows PC DVD "Supreme Commander" recommended requirements 3.0 GHz or equivalent AMD or better, 1GB of RAM or better,
10GB available hard drive space, 256 MB video RAM, with directX 9 Vertex shader / pixel shader 2.0 support (Nvidia 6800 or better).
Both games are running extremely slow on the old computer.
Trouble is, when you upgrade and upgrade, eventually the old fav's don't want to play on the new stuff and you reach a stage whereby it is no longer possible to upgrade the old computer further.
We thought a good idea might be to leave the one desktop as is, and perhaps get a new computer with a bigger cp, better video card and megga RAM.
For example Game for Windows "Hellgate london" reqires Windows Vista (we only have windowsXP), processor of 1.8 GHz for XP or 2.4 GHz for Vista, Memory of 1GB RAM for XP or 2GB RAM for Vista, a hard drive of 7GB, an 8speed DVD-Rom, a video card of 128MB with Pixel Shader 2.0 support (Supported chipsets NVIDIA GeForce 8000 to support DirectX 10.)
Games for Windows PC DVD "Supreme Commander" recommended requirements 3.0 GHz or equivalent AMD or better, 1GB of RAM or better,
10GB available hard drive space, 256 MB video RAM, with directX 9 Vertex shader / pixel shader 2.0 support (Nvidia 6800 or better).
Both games are running extremely slow on the old computer.
Hi Brenda,
As a game enthusist, the games you're trying to run would tax anything more than 18 months old.
I've generally found Dell to be competitive on pricing and very reliable. Take a look at their XPS range for gaming.
Make sure you're running 4 GB of RAM and a high end video card (not an integrated one) and you should be fine for most games out there. You can get a fairly great system for under $3000 fully tricked out. It should be able to last 2-3 years before you need to upgrade anything...
As a game enthusist, the games you're trying to run would tax anything more than 18 months old.
I've generally found Dell to be competitive on pricing and very reliable. Take a look at their XPS range for gaming.
Make sure you're running 4 GB of RAM and a high end video card (not an integrated one) and you should be fine for most games out there. You can get a fairly great system for under $3000 fully tricked out. It should be able to last 2-3 years before you need to upgrade anything...
Might be worth having a look here Brenda
http://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=2
Umart usually are much more affordable than name brand boxes, but they have name brand compnents in the boxes.
Dave
http://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=2
Umart usually are much more affordable than name brand boxes, but they have name brand compnents in the boxes.
Dave
I have a local (Ipswich) computer experts store which I will email and see what we can come up with. Now at least I know something of what we need 4GB RAM.
http://www.worldwidepc.com.au did us a really great deal last time when we bought monitors and they really knew their stuff. Son's birthday is toward the end of next month so he better be really nice to me until then. Lots of coffees made for me for starters.
http://www.worldwidepc.com.au did us a really great deal last time when we bought monitors and they really knew their stuff. Son's birthday is toward the end of next month so he better be really nice to me until then. Lots of coffees made for me for starters.
worldwidepc - Their prices look a tad high, but then if they are offering you good advice it might be worth paying the extra
http://www.worldwidepc.com.au/ProductDetail.asp?product_id=1751
This doesn't look too bad if you already have the monitor. I would probably swap the bluray drive for a DVDRW drive (unless you had a need for BR) and add another 2GB RAM (making 4GB).
You'll have several components that make up the computer (and to make a decision on):
CPU - At the moment Intel is the best bang for buck, go with one of their C2D chips, the E8400 is a solid CPU for gaming/multimedia & anything else. I have the E8200 and it is a cool running powerhouse. Note that now there are DUAL core CPUs the specifications on game boxes are somewhat obsolete. Ie Supreme Commander "requires" 3.0Ghz, my E8200 is only 2.66Ghz, but there are 2 cores and it would eat that game for breakfast
RAM - Personally I don't think it's worth the premium for branded over generic/cheap brands, ADATA/Kingston have both been good to me and they are in the cheaper bracket. Go with 2GB minimum, probably 4GB if the PC is to last you more than 12 months.
GPU - This is the graphics card. Many of the Nvidia (chipset brand) cards are the same even though they are branded differently. Companies often just chuck a different sticker on it and box it uniquely, so don't worry about going cheap/generic on the GPU. 512MB+, something like an 8800GT or better should suit.
Motherboard - Gigabyte or Asus boards have always served me well.
PSU - Supplies power to everything else, make sure you get a quality PSU as the cheaper brands can easily fry the rest of your components. Try to avoid PSUs that come with the case or dodgy brands (like codgen). Antec/Thermaltake/Corsair/Seasonic, try to stay with a well trusted brand here.
Hard Drive - 320GB should be plenty for most, stick to Western Digital or Seagate if you can, they are the two most trusted brands.
Really depends on your budget as to how all out you go. You can build a reasonable games machine for under $1000 if you already have a monitor, you could also quite easily spend over $3000. Personally I think Dells XPS gaming machines are pretty overpriced, but their support would be good if anything went wrong and they look SCHMICK!
Goodluck.
http://www.worldwidepc.com.au/ProductDetail.asp?product_id=1751
This doesn't look too bad if you already have the monitor. I would probably swap the bluray drive for a DVDRW drive (unless you had a need for BR) and add another 2GB RAM (making 4GB).
You'll have several components that make up the computer (and to make a decision on):
CPU - At the moment Intel is the best bang for buck, go with one of their C2D chips, the E8400 is a solid CPU for gaming/multimedia & anything else. I have the E8200 and it is a cool running powerhouse. Note that now there are DUAL core CPUs the specifications on game boxes are somewhat obsolete. Ie Supreme Commander "requires" 3.0Ghz, my E8200 is only 2.66Ghz, but there are 2 cores and it would eat that game for breakfast
RAM - Personally I don't think it's worth the premium for branded over generic/cheap brands, ADATA/Kingston have both been good to me and they are in the cheaper bracket. Go with 2GB minimum, probably 4GB if the PC is to last you more than 12 months.
GPU - This is the graphics card. Many of the Nvidia (chipset brand) cards are the same even though they are branded differently. Companies often just chuck a different sticker on it and box it uniquely, so don't worry about going cheap/generic on the GPU. 512MB+, something like an 8800GT or better should suit.
Motherboard - Gigabyte or Asus boards have always served me well.
PSU - Supplies power to everything else, make sure you get a quality PSU as the cheaper brands can easily fry the rest of your components. Try to avoid PSUs that come with the case or dodgy brands (like codgen). Antec/Thermaltake/Corsair/Seasonic, try to stay with a well trusted brand here.
Hard Drive - 320GB should be plenty for most, stick to Western Digital or Seagate if you can, they are the two most trusted brands.
Really depends on your budget as to how all out you go. You can build a reasonable games machine for under $1000 if you already have a monitor, you could also quite easily spend over $3000. Personally I think Dells XPS gaming machines are pretty overpriced, but their support would be good if anything went wrong and they look SCHMICK!
Goodluck.
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Been assembling computers for over 10 years now and never seen PSU "frying" anything.
The only difference between cheap PSU and brand names (apart from fancy box) is that latter are usually rated according to their working capacity and are quieter. The cheap ones are noisy and rated to the maximum, so if you need 500watt PSU you are best taking 550 or 600 watt. Other than that they are the same.
Now my son has me reading PC Powerplay magazine and I am feeling geeky already.
Question: Is an Intel Quad core CPU even better that a Dual core CPU?
My son, who doesn't really know much either likes the sound of Q9550 with 2.83GHz, FSB of 1333GHz, and 2 x 6 MB of cache
Worldwidepc has suggested an Intel dual core CPU E8500 with 3.16GHz, FSB of 1333GHz, and 1 x 6MB of cache.
You have probably already figured out the next question is how important is the cache part?
Question: Is an Intel Quad core CPU even better that a Dual core CPU?
My son, who doesn't really know much either likes the sound of Q9550 with 2.83GHz, FSB of 1333GHz, and 2 x 6 MB of cache
Worldwidepc has suggested an Intel dual core CPU E8500 with 3.16GHz, FSB of 1333GHz, and 1 x 6MB of cache.
You have probably already figured out the next question is how important is the cache part?
In laymans terms, quad or dual core is a reference to how many CPUs are in the same chip. Obviously a quad has 4 and a dual only has 2. The chips run in paralel, which for optimised programs means better performance.
Most games don't take full advantage of quad cores yet, but almost any serious game released in the last 18 months will make use of the dual cores.
Cache is quite important as it's a tempory buffer where programs can be stored within the CPU, as opposed to storing it in RAM which takes a little more time to loan (it's like your sitting at the table with your dinner, instead of dinner being in the kitchen and you have to take a moment to get it before eating).
More is always better, but honestly you probably don't need the ultra state of the art system which you pay a premium for. The Worldwidepc is probably more than suitable for your needs but the more expensive system will be a little better (at a 50% higher cost I bet).
Most games don't take full advantage of quad cores yet, but almost any serious game released in the last 18 months will make use of the dual cores.
Cache is quite important as it's a tempory buffer where programs can be stored within the CPU, as opposed to storing it in RAM which takes a little more time to loan (it's like your sitting at the table with your dinner, instead of dinner being in the kitchen and you have to take a moment to get it before eating).
More is always better, but honestly you probably don't need the ultra state of the art system which you pay a premium for. The Worldwidepc is probably more than suitable for your needs but the more expensive system will be a little better (at a 50% higher cost I bet).
So because you haven't seen it it doesn't happen? Why don't you post about how generic PSU's are no different (apart from noise) to corsair/seasonic/etc on a dedicated computer forum and get yourself laughed off it. I'm sure there are some quality generic PSU's out there also, but unless you know what you are buying you are best off going with a known quality brand.
http://www.corsair.com/cinema/movie.aspx?id=622747
As for the CPU, the Q9550 will be around twice the price of the E8500, definitely not worth the extra. You might even find for it's intended use that the E8500 is actually faster (ie for games) than the Q9550. Currently games don't take advantage of 4 cores (at least none that I am aware of to date).
I've been building my own gaming machines for a while (a few friends as well).
My next build will have
CPU - E8500 Core2Duo
RAM - 4GB DDR2 800mhz RAM any old brand will do if its DDR2 800mhz
Hard Disk - Either Western Digital or Seagate 500GB SATA II 16mb cache
Graphics Card - ATI HD4870
Very important is a quality power supply.
To give you an idea on price I built a similar machine 3 weeks ago for a mate and it cost $800 including a good case, quality PSU and Pioneer DVD burner.
It shouldnt be to hard to find this for about $1000 already completed with windows.
I wouldnt bother with Quad core for a while unless you plan on doing things like encodeing videos, very very few games can use 4 cores.
Intel's new Nehalm or i7 platform is being released in November this year and will probably take 6-12 months to be somewhat mainstream, so whatever you buy now will be outdated in 6 months but thats how its always been and will be.
PC games tend to run better with a higher CPU speed rather than more 'cores', ie a dual core E8500 @3.16ghz will run most games slightly better than say a Q9450 @2.66ghz
So here's what you looking for
CPU E8500 $20 dearer than the E8400 so why not, (There aint that much difference really)
RAM 4gb is a bit over kill but its that cheap now why not, just make sure its 800mhz or PC6400 (same thing)
HDD I'd suggest to go for a larger HDD not only because of the extra space but larger HDD have the information squashed in which means it will take less time to find the information.
VGA - In order for performance (rankings are very subjective but it gives you an idea)
ATI HD4870X2
Nvidia GTX 280
Nvidia 9800GX2
ATI HD4870
Nvidia GTX 260
ATI HD3870X2
Nvidia 9800GTX+
ATI HD4850
these are only the top 8 out of hundreds
My next build will have
CPU - E8500 Core2Duo
RAM - 4GB DDR2 800mhz RAM any old brand will do if its DDR2 800mhz
Hard Disk - Either Western Digital or Seagate 500GB SATA II 16mb cache
Graphics Card - ATI HD4870
Very important is a quality power supply.
To give you an idea on price I built a similar machine 3 weeks ago for a mate and it cost $800 including a good case, quality PSU and Pioneer DVD burner.
It shouldnt be to hard to find this for about $1000 already completed with windows.
I wouldnt bother with Quad core for a while unless you plan on doing things like encodeing videos, very very few games can use 4 cores.
Intel's new Nehalm or i7 platform is being released in November this year and will probably take 6-12 months to be somewhat mainstream, so whatever you buy now will be outdated in 6 months but thats how its always been and will be.
PC games tend to run better with a higher CPU speed rather than more 'cores', ie a dual core E8500 @3.16ghz will run most games slightly better than say a Q9450 @2.66ghz
So here's what you looking for
CPU E8500 $20 dearer than the E8400 so why not, (There aint that much difference really)
RAM 4gb is a bit over kill but its that cheap now why not, just make sure its 800mhz or PC6400 (same thing)
HDD I'd suggest to go for a larger HDD not only because of the extra space but larger HDD have the information squashed in which means it will take less time to find the information.
VGA - In order for performance (rankings are very subjective but it gives you an idea)
ATI HD4870X2
Nvidia GTX 280
Nvidia 9800GX2
ATI HD4870
Nvidia GTX 260
ATI HD3870X2
Nvidia 9800GTX+
ATI HD4850
these are only the top 8 out of hundreds
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If you compare apples to apples - ie. same spec PSUs, there is a good chance they will even be made at the same plant, just carry different labels.
You place too much importance on a brand name, which in times of global economy is a bit naive.
By same spec I hope your not only referring to the wattage.
I agree with hobo, No way would I be putting a gereric brand PSU in a gaming machine.
Currently an old DELL Inspiron 6500, had it for 5 years and only play FreeCIV on it, it runs apps and lets me do work. DELL are very good with warranty.
The "If you know how to use a computer" bit gets them everytime. How many nights have you spent sorting out a friend or family members computer trying to get games X to work on it only to find the cheap RAM is at fault or the cheap video card that should work doesn't work?
I just tell them to buy a new one, Name brand that meets the specs of the software they want to use. Only takes 5 minutes on the phone and after a few years they don't hassle you to fix their stuff. Swap a box is nice and easy.
Consoles are easy, buy a game, take it home, stick it in, it works! Yippeee.
PC's on the other hand, people buy second hand games, new games, they don't check the specs, they just want to put the game in and have it work. No tweaking, no upgrading, no spending of more time and money, no patches, no reading FAQ's, no stuffing around.Cheers
Graeme
MCSE, CNE, B.Bus (IT), SUSE advocate
