Question to experts: is this a good computer?

[Adrian II]

I have been offered a 'bargain' for a brand new computer which will be mainly used for games and web chat by my kids. Please tell me if this set-up is any good for most modern games and related purposes? Anybody spot any bottlenecks?

Price: 599 euro (about $700)

Computer: Compaq Presario SR1519 NL

Specs:

Intel Celeron D341 2,93 Ghz
memory 512 Mb DDR RAM
160 Gb 7200 rpm hard disc
128 Mb video memory
ATI radeon X300SE + tv plug-in
DVD burner multistandard & dual layer
DVD-rom player
9-in-1 card reader
7x USB 2.0 plug-ins
2x IEEE 1394 FireWire
10/100 Mb network plug-in
Windows XP Home Edition
PS2 mouse and multimedia keyboard
extensive software-package

[Taurus]

Intel Celeron D341 2,93 Ghz

Personally I stay away from anything with an Intel Celeron in it. But that's just my preference.

However it depends what you are going to use you PC for.

Everything else is ok.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
No expert here but for what it's worth...

A Celeron is no way preferable on a gaming machine. It's for those people who use their computer as a typewriter and chat client, and occassionally play Solitaire.
512M memory is the minimum acceptable in our age. (Ours has 512 too but needs more.)
A 160G disk is just too small in today's standards. (I'm going to but a 300G in a few days.)
XP Home Edition, despite many people's positive feedback, is infamously doomed for making gamers' dreams into nightmares.

Hth!
.

[LeftEyeNine]

Unfortunately no, will be an internet-only office computer very soon

Celeron processors have low / no caches which do wonders at CPU consuming applications.

RAM is what I still have for now, but will be insufficient in a year.

Your onboard VGA sounds..well..not an ATI expert here but, I'm unsure about the capacities of x300 gfx cards..

Interesting that the machine has good extra components while basic configuration looks weak..

Hope this helps.. Briefly, if you have some more extra money, get an AMD 64, AMD Sempron (which is a lot cheaper but better than Celeron), or at least a Pentium 4 class CPU..

[Adrian II]

Interesting that the machine has good extra components while basic configuration looks weak..Thanks for the quick input, gentlemen.

So no good, huh? http://matousmileys.free.fr/sad01.gif

[LeftEyeNine]

Spend on CPU and you'll have an average system with good extras..

However, do not expect to have an eyecandy and smooth RTW experience on that machine with onboard x300..

[Adrian II]

Briefly, if you have some more extra money, get an AMD 64, AMD Sempron (which is a lot cheaper but better than Celeron), or at least a Pentium 4 class CPU..I'm looking at Packard Bell iXtreme Gold 5190 now (for 999 euro, ooff... anyway) which has an Intel Pentium 4 cpu, 1024 Mb internal memory, a 250 Gb Serial ATA (also 7200 rpm) disc.

It has an ATI Radeon X600 256MB PCI-Express video card. Is that card any good?

Sorry to test your patience... :bow:

[LeftEyeNine]

Now this configuration makes sense..~:cool:

No, not getting frustrated or something. I love dealing with hardware..~;)

[Adrian II]

Now this configuration makes sense..~:cool:

No, not getting frustrated or something. I love dealing with hardware..~;)Much obliged, LeftEyeNine. :bow:

Of course I am still awaiting the judgment of Video Card Man, a.k.a. as Beirut. :hide:

[LeftEyeNine]

I may be his assistant..

The x... series ATI cards were the counterparts of Nvidia's 6... series gfx cards..

x600 is nearly or just above (not sure) a 6600 equivalent. I'm sure you'll have a smooth RTW on that machine..

[Adrian II]

I may be his assistant...You may be his boss for all I know. I am happy to take your advice.
I'm sure you'll have a smooth RTW on that machine..I do not play Total War games at the moment, but I may consider inserting that M:TW disc. The AdrianII's are into CSI, Stronghold, Alexander, all sorts of games really. I want a smooth show indeed, I do not want to hear 'Dad/Adrian, can you help me with du jour]?' all the time.
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/spezial/Fool/bur2.gif

[Azi Tohak]

~:eek:

What the heck would anyone need 300GB for? Movies? A few hundred thousand songs (not that anyone does THAT anymore...)?

I don't know what I can do to fill up my 120GB right now.

Azi

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

I would build it yourself, if I were you. It requires very little technical know-how so long as you have a decent guide and a bit of common sense, you'll get exactly the PC you want, and you'll save yourself a bundle.

[LeftEyeNine]

BKS,

Yes that's any computer lover's preference. But I doubt if AdrianII would attempt that. A PC that you have built up lowers the overall cost around 100-200$ (at least here in Turkey). You pay a lot for the brand itself.

AdrianII,

That system will run smooth enough and look nice after fine-tuning the options of the 3D Monster attack games. If you say " I have the money, and do not want to deal with options or anything", then you may have a look at ATI x800 or Nvidia 7800 series gfx cards..

[Papewaio]

As long as you don't turn on the electricity building a PC is like building with Lego.

The most basic thing that I would overspec on is the power unit. Get one with enough wattage and with run silent options. That way your system will be a lot more quiet.

[lancelot]

I have been offered a 'bargain' for a brand new computer which will be mainly used for games and web chat by my kids. Please tell me if this set-up is any good for most modern games and related purposes? Anybody spot any bottlenecks?

Price: 599 euro (about $700)

Computer: Compaq Presario SR1519 NL

Specs:

Intel Celeron D341 2,93 Ghz
memory 512 Mb DDR RAM
160 Gb 7200 rpm hard disc
128 Mb video memory
ATI radeon X300SE + tv plug-in
DVD burner multistandard & dual layer
DVD-rom player
9-in-1 card reader
7x USB 2.0 plug-ins
2x IEEE 1394 FireWire
10/100 Mb network plug-in
Windows XP Home Edition
PS2 mouse and multimedia keyboard
extensive software-package

Although I dont claim to be any sort of expert, this package just seems average and hardly any disimilar to the many other brands out there at the mo.

As already stated, it will be obsolete reasonably quickly but unless you buy a badass machine that is true of most comps, so it no way reflects on this package.

[Ice]

DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT GET THE x300 SE. That card is pure crap. I had it and lagged from smoke on Counter-Strike. I soon upped to a x800 xt because I couldn't stand it.

[Adrian II]

DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT GET THE x300 SE. That card is pure crap. I had it and lagged from smoke on Counter-Strike. I soon upped to a x800 xt because I couldn't stand it.Right. That about settles it. Any opinions about the Packard, gentlemen? I am not the DIY type when it comes to computers, and I don't want to be. In the foreseeable future my sons will be the experts and I will be the one asking 'Junior, can yo help me install [insert completely obsolete version of Total War]?'
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/spezial/Fool/hlp.gif

[Kanamori]

If you're are getting an x'series ATI card, do not get the VisionTek one. I spent $500 on my x800 pro the day it came out, and the card has caused games from KotOR to WoW to America's Army crash and they will not replace the PoS.~:cheers: And I hate Blizzard's Tech support too.:bow:

[LeftEyeNine]

Kanamori

Game crashes are all driver / software related. Generally newer drivers include minor tunings for specific games reported to be crashing on the video card. It has nothing to do with the brand...

[Kanamori]

It causes a system restart, and I guess I've tried updating and rolling back drivers tons. I am only upset w/ the brand because there is no tech support for it, and ATI basically just gave up and referred me to them.

[LeftEyeNine]

I see.. You told that it was some games crashing, not a system restart.. System restart is generally hardware related - RAM malfunction, low power, overheating etc.. So if it is a system restart, it may not only be a driver issue.

I think you may try watching out the temperature level of your gfx card with utilities provided by ATI, in order to figure out what the problem is. And if you can do this, please let me know and so to see if I can be of any help..

Visit ATI website for the latest version of utilities..

[Lehesu]

Coming up in summer, 2006, I will be purchasing a laptop. I want a very good gaming laptop at a reasonable price~1600 U.S. Can't do desktop, so I want as good of a gaming rig as I can get, especially as I don't see any new computers in the near future after 2006. Any advice? It would be nice if I could play Rome at max and FEAR at least at medium setting.

[Kanamori]

RAM has been replaced a few times and the problem still occurs; Antec 430 watt PSU; five case fans, two cpu fans, and the card's fan; I have just decided to stay away from the programs that caused or resulted in the error, as it also leads to blue screen of death and I have school papers and such that I need.

Are there any utilities in particular you were thinking of? I am very happy someone will try to help me with the problem. Thank you.~:cheers:

[Xiahou]

If you're are getting an x'series ATI card, do not get the VisionTek one. I spent $500 on my x800 pro the day it came out, and the card has caused games from KotOR to WoW to America's Army crash and they will not replace the PoS.~:cheers: And I hate Blizzard's Tech support too.:bow:
Way back when, I had a VisionTek Geforce2 card that froze my system up regularly when playing any 3d intensive game. I finally got it to work reliably by putting a slot fan right next to it to help cool it down. Since then, I've never bought another VisionTek. Sounds like they still might have heat problems. :bow:

[LeftEyeNine]

Please do me a favor and find ATI's ready-programmed utility, Kanamori.. I just get frustrated when people hesitate doing a Google or a specific website search..

[Mouzafphaerre]

~:eek:

What the heck would anyone need 300GB for? Movies? A few hundred thousand songs (not that anyone does THAT anymore...)?

I don't know what I can do to fill up my 120GB right now.

Azi
.
Both ~;) and multiple copies of games for various mods, also sound editing software etc. etc. :charge: The approximate number & size of song files presently stored on my disk:

2297 File(s) 24,070,317,305 bytes

:cool: It works differently when you are the musician. ~;)
.

[LeftEyeNine]

Mouza, I hope that musician's archive is aware of the recent internet boomer band and their song : 84 - Hacettepe. You listened to it ?

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Didn't even hear about it. :stupid:
.

[screwtype]

~:eek:

What the heck would anyone need 300GB for? Movies? A few hundred thousand songs (not that anyone does THAT anymore...)?

I don't know what I can do to fill up my 120GB right now.

Azi

I agree. I only have a 40 Gig HD, it's not really big enough for modern apps but it does the job. All you have to do when you run out of space is deinstall something you're not using anymore.

Be nice to have an 80 or 120 Gig but it isn't absolutely necessary.

[ah_dut]

X600 and X300se especially are underpowered...you're seriously better off with the venerable 9800 pro and 512 mb RAM is fine as long as you don't psych out and Celeron is also fine if you're not completely 1600x1200 8xAA and 16xAF

[screwtype]

RAM has been replaced a few times and the problem still occurs; Antec 430 watt PSU; five case fans, two cpu fans, and the card's fan; I have just decided to stay away from the programs that caused or resulted in the error, as it also leads to blue screen of death and I have school papers and such that I need.

Are there any utilities in particular you were thinking of? I am very happy someone will try to help me with the problem. Thank you.~:cheers:

Kanamori, don't worry, I have a similar problem with my ATI gfx card, it's a Radeon 9800 Pro. I too tried everything - latest drivers, new RAM, new PS - and like you nothing works.

I eventually found an explanation hidden away on ATI's website which says there's a problem called "Infinite Loop" which can happen with any of its gfx cards with any system that is running WindowsXP. There's no fix for it so you're stuck with it.

I eventually got my own machine to run reliably by switching the system down from AGPx8 to AGPx4, which I'm told is not very different performance-wise anyhow. But if you don't have an AGP card I don't know what you can do to get around the problem. I read of one guy who fixed the problem by turning off mipmapping (in the Catalyst software) my suggestion is to go into Catalyst and try winding things back until you get your apps to run stably.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Coming up in summer, 2006, I will be purchasing a laptop. I want a very good gaming laptop at a reasonable price~1600 U.S. Can't do desktop, so I want as good of a gaming rig as I can get, especially as I don't see any new computers in the near future after 2006. Any advice? It would be nice if I could play Rome at max and FEAR at least at medium setting.

A gaming laptop capable of what you're talking about? Sure, you can get one, if you're willing to wait till about 2010. Today's (affordable) laptops can probably play Shogun at max, and MTW probably at about medium, max if you're lucky. You'd have to splash out a ridiculous amount of money for a decent laptop.

[edyzmedieval]

Laptops suck at gaming......

PC are the best, though laptops are excellent for modding. ~D

[Ja'chyra]

I would build it yourself, if I were you. It requires very little technical know-how so long as you have a decent guide and a bit of common sense, you'll get exactly the PC you want, and you'll save yourself a bundle.

Any idea where you can pick up one of those guides?

[Sigurd]

Laptops don't suck...
I play RTW fine (no lag) on mine as well as AoEIII - even though my spec is waaay under par.
AoEIII needs minimum 64MB graphic RAM and I have a 32MB ATI 9000. No problem as my laptop is quite fast with Centrino technology and 1024MB RAM.
I have another year before I can order a new one.
This time I'll personally deliver my spec demand.
At least 256MB graphics, 2GB RAM, a fast as hell HDD, If centrino is still good I'll get at least a 2,26 GHz... but hey, a lot of development can happen within a year.

[Sigurd]

Any idea where you can pick up one of those guides? Building a PC for Dummies (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764542478/103-7025239-8896661?v=glance) ~D ...

No seriously, there are some guides on the Internet that could be helpful. Myself, I use the manual that comes with the new motherboard.

Build your own PC (http://www.pcmech.com/build.htm)
Build Easy PC (http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/howto/assemblepc.htm)

[Ja'chyra]

Many thanks Sig:bow:

[Adrian II]

Laptops don't suck...Quite.

Well, Packard Bell it is, unless Videocard Man issues a red alert at the eleventh hour (where artst Thou, Beirut?).

Here is to an effortless take-off. ~:cheers: