A question for you computer experts.

Wizegui

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Joined
May 3, 2006
Messages
2,466
Location
Richmond, BC
Car(s)
'93 Toyota Tercel, '01 Swagger Wagon
Basically, the issue is that I really want to play GTA IV, but my PC sucks:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice
Asus A8N-E Mobo
1 GB PC3200 DDR1 RAM
Asus Geforce 6600 256 MB Vanilla
250 GB Seagate SATA II Harddrive

My dad has been shopping around for a new computer and he is planning to buy this soon

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10111629&catid=

The thing I'm planning to do is to add a video card and possibly get a bit more ram so that I can at least play GTA IV. The thing is, I noticed that this rig only has a 250W PSU (Shocking to me, considering that when I bought my PC a few years back, my 420W PSU was considered to be quite small). Can it handle a new video card (maybe an 8800GT) or will I have to upgrade the PSU as well before I can add anymore stuff to it. Thanks.
 
A good brand 250W should be fine, a no-name 250W might make problems. To be on the safe side, get a Seasonic with 330 watts (S12II) or something similar.
 
Is it just me or has computer consuption decreased since I built my PC? There was a time when it was considered safe to buy a 500W PSU. I have a spare 300W PSU that I can use any time I want, so it might not be an issue. I just wanted to make sure.
 
I wouldn't go with a factory built computer.
For that budget, you can get a reasonable rig if you build it yourself.
 
Is it just me or has computer consuption decreased since I built my PC?
Partly yes, partly no. Processors have become quite efficient, graphics cars still eat loads of watts. It's just that brand name PSUs have become quite good nowadays, and if you ask people before you buy, you'll learn that big watts only are for small penises. :mrgreen:
 
Yeah, you only need MORE POWAR if you've got more lumens coming out of your case than my living room and 18 penis-enlarging fans.

Computer stuff really plateaued the past couple of years in terms of getting smaller, so everything's been getting more efficient instead. :D
 
I'd still get the biggest PSU I could get from a quality manufacturer to be safe. The last time I built a system, that meant an Antec True550 for ~$100. Antec and Enermax were the big ones back then.
 
Go with Fatmouse advice - if you want to upgrade, more discs and drives and other cards you do not want to muck about with the PSU as well - 500 - 550 Watts I would go for.
 
My Enermax 420W (apart from the first one that I had that died on me after a week) is still going strong today. Normally, I would prefer to build my own PC, but my dad has quite a few Future Shop gift cards that needs to be used, so yah. Any hope of my current rig running IV in the lowest possible settings?
 
My dad has been shopping around for a new computer and he is planning to buy this soon

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10111629&catid=

The thing I'm planning to do is to add a video card and possibly get a bit more ram so that I can at least play GTA IV.

Not enough ram, go with 4gb ddr2, just to be on the safe side. Video card wise, ATi 2100 will definetely not be able to run GTA 4, you will need at least a HD4800 series or equivilient card (9800GTX or better). As for the CPU, AMD X2 4400+ will not be able to run the game smoothly.

To be really honest with you, this pc is too weak to run any modern games, it's barely better than your current PC.
 
Even that PC with a new 8800GT or 9800GT won't run GTA IV better than my current rig? I probably would have resorted to building my own PC if I didn't need a laptop for University next year...
 
^

It will be, but you wouldn't be able to unleash the full potential of your 8800/9800GT.

Your CPU will be the bottleneck of the whole machine.

To be honest, it's far better to build your own machine.
 
To be honest, if I didn't need a laptop for Uni, I reckon that I can reuse my PSU, hard drive, and all the other stuff and get a complete quad-core system with an HD4830, 4 gigs of RAM, and a matching motherboard for around $550.

-Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 8MB Retail Box
-Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2C mATX LGA775 954GC 1PCI-E16 3PCI SATA2 Video Sound LAN Motherboard
-Corsair Value Select 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2-667 CL5 240PIN DIMM Memory (2x)
-Radeon HD 4830 575MHZ 512MB GDDR3 1.8GHZ PCI-E Dual DVI-I

Then again, it's not me whose buying a new computer, so I'll just have to suck it up and wait a few more years for a new PC. Thanks for all the advice guys, but I think I might be keeping my current PC for now.
 
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Nothing will play GTA4 except an Xbox 360 or PS3. Runs like dogshit on even a bleeding-edge PC.
 
True, it runs best on a console. The PC version is just a badly console version ported to PC. Most of the times I can run it perfect at the highest settings, but I have encountered endless glitches and bugs.
 
^

Apart from the first and second GTA, pretty much all other GTA games are quite buggy. Lots of glitches and wall bugs.
 
^Ni! I have GTA3 and have not found any bugs so far
 
Nothing will play GTA4 except an Xbox 360 or PS3. Runs like dogshit on even a bleeding-edge PC.

I must have been blessed by the Gods then. :rolleyes:

Are there glitches? Yes... I was just trying to purchase a hot dog from one of the carts and dude wasn't there, I turned around and he was peddling his crap again.

But it does run... if you consider tiny glitches to render an application unusable then you must not be a fan of Windows either. :p


Although I do agree that if Wizegui is doing all this just for GTA IV then he might as well get a console to play it. You could always buy a used 360 or something off craigslist, finish the game, then sell both the console and the game. Of course there may be other PC games in the future he wants to run...
 
cheapest method- get yourself an Xbox 360 arcade.

there i said it, even my incescent hate for that thing cannot change the matter of the fact.

but if u want ALOT more functionality, for a bit more money (i mean ALOT of functionality, blu-ray, streaming content from ur PC etc) then get your self a PS3.

thats what i did =)
 
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