Question for computer gurus...

[makist]

Our Fry's Electronics is going to be doing a promo on this computer and I was considering buying it if the price is right. What do you guys think of this computer for gaming?

This a link to the computer:
http://shop2.outpost.com/product/3598164/

Heres the specs:

Specifications:
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 2.80GHz
Front Side Bus: 533MHz
Memory: 512MB DDR RAM (exp. to 1.5GB)
Memory Speed: 2100 MB/sec
Secondary-Level Cache: (L2) 512Kb advanced transfer cache
Hard Drive: 120GB 7200rpm Ultra DMA
Motherboard: ECS L4S5ADX+ rev 3.02
Optical Drive 1: DVD +R/+RW/-R/-RW/CD-RW Drive
Optical Drive 2: DVD-ROM Drive
Flash Drive: 6 in 1 Memory Card Drive (CF, SD, MMC, Microdrive, Memory Stick, SmartMedia)
Floppy Drive: 3.5" (1.44MB)
Video Graphics: nVIDIA® GeForce4® Ti4200 graphics card with VGA & DVI
Video Memory: 128MB DDR Memory
TV Tuner: Cable Ready, Video Capture
Audio: Integrated sound card
Network Card: 10/100 Mbps High Speed Networking
Modem: 56K V.92 PCI Modem
USB 2.0 Ports: 4 (2 on Front, 2 on Back)
IEEE 1394 Ports: 2 (1 on Front, 1 on Back)
Other Ports: 2 PS/2; 2 serial; 1 parallel
DIMM Slots: 3 (2 open)
PCI Slots: 5 (2 open)
AGP Slot: 1 (occupied)
Drive Bays (Full): 4 (2 occupied)
Drive Bays (1/2): 2 (2 occupied)
Hard Drive Bays: 3 (1 occupied)

Accessories:
Office/MultiMedia Keyboard
Optical Mouse with Scroll Wheel
Headset Microphone
3 Piece Subwoofer Satellite Speaker System:
Speaker (2): 5" Full Range + 2" Tweeter + 4" Subwoofer
Frequency Response:
Subwoofer: 40HZ - 160HZ
Satellite: 100HZ - 20KHz
Control Panel: Power / Volume / Bass

Size:
Satellite: 80mm (W) x 225mm (H) x 80mm (D)
Woofer: 136mm (W) x 236mm (H) x 270mm (D)
Power Supply: 330W, 12 Volts
Warranty: One-year limited hardware warranty

Software:
Microsoft® Windows XP Home Edition Operating System
Corel WordPerfect Office 10 (Full Version)
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0
Intervideo WinDVD 4
Intervideo WinDVR 3
Microsoft Windows Media Player 8
Ulead VideoStudio 6 SE
Ulead DVD Movie Factory
NTI DVD Maker 6 Gold
Ulead PhotoImpact 7 SE
Ulead PhotoImpact 7 Album SE
Funcom Anarchy Online (30 Day Trial)
Serene Screen Marine Aquarium (Fry's Demo)
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™ 5.0
Norton Antivirus™ (90 Day Trial)
QuickTime Player 5.0
RealNetworks RealOne Player
ACT! Express 5.0 / Side ACT! 2000
System Recovery Disks

[Jaryn]

This is a better deal.

[Physics Theory]

That really isn't a good deal... for that price you should at least get a monitor to go with it.

Hell even just going to Dell.com will get you a computer with the same specs, a 1 year service warrantee and at least a 17" LCD monitor.

but do what makes you happy.

[Dualdor]

Not quite a guru but some things I would consider just off the top of my head:

-p4 3 ghz with HT(hyper-thread)
-800 mhz fsb
-minimum 1 gig of pc3200 ddr ram, non-parity and latency of 2.5 and below
-geforce fx 5900 ultra (if cash is no problem, comin within a month in usa last i heard or can get now if you look harder), ati radeon pro cards 9500 version and up, geforce 4 ti 4400 or 4600
-devoted sound card, anything but integrated sound card (built-in the motherboard, somewhat of a resource hog, and inferior performance)
-8x agp support
-wireless networking capabilities
-removable storage such as a zip drive
-hard drive with serial ata-150 support and 8mb buffer cache
-RAID controller


note: some of these go hand in hand.

[makist]

I know the price is high, but I can tell they are about to do a promo on them because a bunch were brought into one of the stores that are opening so like I said, if the price was lowered enough it may turn out to be a good deal. How does it perform though?

[Merton]

Games being released later this year will run pretty poorly on that ti-4200, or any of the geforce4 line.

You don't necessarily need SATA/raid for gaming. ATA-100 will suit you for a long while. If you're comfortable with building your own PC or want to learn (it's really easy) then get the following:

Thermaltake Xaser II case - $100ish

1700+ Thoroughbred core (you want to find one with that exact stepping. Most decent online sites will guarentee a certain stepping). This processor will almost guarentee an overclock to 2ghz. Most run it at 2.2ghz-2.5ghz on air assuming your case has good airflow. Up to 3ghz on water/phase change cooling. - $72


Asus A7N8X-Deluxe nforce2 motherboard. Has onboard sound comparable to an audigy, not a resource hog. Also has two onboard nics, firewire, SATA and 4 USB ports able to expand to 6. Make *sure* you get a deluxe and it's revision 2.0. The others are prone to problems. - $132

. Corsair XMS pc3200 memory . Do NOT skimp on the ram. Just having lots of it wont guarentee system stability/better performance.

Thermaltake volcano 9. This is to keep your overclocked 1700+ happy. Right now mine's at 2.1ghz and, with help from the 5 fans in that thermaltake case, runs at 41-45 degrees depending on the load. Once I get some new ram i'm gonna push it to 2.3ghz at around 50 degrees.

An antec 400w+ powersupply - Varies. Antec are essentially the kings of the power supply market. Don't skimp on this because more often then not noname powersupplies *will* cause system stability issues. I know this because i've killed a motherboard before with a noname 300w.

There's your barebones gaming system at a good price.

Now...if you insist on buying a pre-built system, make sure each and every part is relatively up to date. Most companies will sell you something like "BRAND NEW ULTRAFAST 3GHZ PC!!!11". But they'll give you a video card that's already or about to be outdated, a shoddy case with piss poor air movement (heat will kill your components, not right away but it will), noname ram that will probably cause you countless bluescreens and strange errors, and noname powersupplies that run the chance of killing your motherboard. I'd suggest using a "system builder" feature found on most online sites and choosing the parts yourself. Research each one, remember that you're trying to buy something that won't be outdated in 3 months. It'll also come out cheaper then buying from retailers.

[Froofy-D]

I'm gonna wait until later this year when processor prices break at 3Ghz+. Also waiting till a game comes out that will actually be worth upgrading for. HL2, EQ2, Doom3, HaloPC, WOW etc... will probably need at least a 3Ghz+ processor to get a decent frame rate.

[LOL katmay sux]

pretty much what merton said, except geil ram, as its dirt cheap and reliable, but its up to you. As well a barton core athlon, you dont seem to be the type to overclock.

As far as the computer you were looking at, it could be built for under 1000$ im sure.

the a7n8x is more of an overclockers nforce2, the previous revisions were prone to a few problems, mostly south/north bridge heat related. It's still good, I have one and love it, but it might not be your thing unless you dont mind tweaking and troubleshooting. and you will want the latest bios

[Buzze]

That is excellent advice, Merton, and I completely agree.

Also, I wrote something about how the Radeon 9800 Pro was better than the 5900, but after a little research, I am converted back behind nvidia.

I have been thinking of upgrading my PC again for PS or any other FPS that comes out so I can actually run them, heh.
I'm into shooters and whatnot because it doesnt require a relatively insane amount of time invested to have any fun (EverQuest).

[Sean]

I suggest going with one of the newer P4's that just came out. 2.4's, 2.6's, and 2.8's all with 800fsb and Hyper-Threading enabled. They're all really sick, but priced quite well - 185, 235, and 290.

Decent review from Tom's: http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030521/index.html

[Chaotic]

You should check out www.ibuypower.com
Relativly new it seems, only seen things from them recently, but they offer a great amount of customization, and things are dirt cheap as well, also offer AMD and Intel mboards/processor options, as well as tons of options for everything else. Pretty rock solid company from what i've read, and I believe my next comp will be from there.

[fade]

go with Jaryn's link. and for the love of god dont get a dell. they fucking SUCK. they put shit in there to actually SLOW your computer down. dells=not gaming machines. jaryns link is the best deal. or if your savvy with puters build your own here

[Froofy-D]

and for the love of god dont get a dell. they fucking SUCK. they put shit in there to actually SLOW your computer down.

Care to elaborate on this? They sell PCs for cheaper than most, so obviously they aren't using top-of-line parts for everything. But I highly doubt somone at Dell is saying "Hmm we need something that will SLOW this PC down a bit".

[Tristinn]

My parents got a 2ghz celeron computer from Emachines (they didnt ask me) and ive noticed it runs slower than my 700mhz p3.

Dont know what those companys do to them but they really slow them the fuck down. I wish I knew how to fix that shit.

[Merton]

It's cause celerons fucking suck :p