My first attempt at PC gaming, are these good starting specs?

-Never4ever-

-Never4ever-

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Long story short, buddy is building a new rig from scratch, offers to sell me his old setup for $200 (tower only). I'm sure he's not trying rip me off, but I just want to know how good of a deal it be.

Specs:

Processor: AMD 3.2ghz single core processor
Ram: 1gb DDR2
Graphics: Nvida Geforce 9600 "gso" 1gb of video memory
HDD: 320gb 2.5" 7200rpm Sata 2.0
Power Supply: 500w

This will be my first attempt ever at getting into PC gaming. any idea on roughly how much more it would cost to fix it up so that it matches what a modern average machine is capable of running?

Many thanks!
 
[quote name='-Never4ever-']Long story short, buddy is building a new rig from scratch, offers to sell me his old setup for $200 (tower only). I'm sure he's not trying rip me off, but I just want to know how good of a deal it be.

Specs:

Processor: AMD 3.2ghz single core processor
Ram: 1gb DDR2
Graphics: Nvida Geforce 9600 "gso" 1gb of video memory
HDD: 320gb 2.5" 7200rpm Sata 2.0
Power Supply: 500w

This will be my first attempt ever at getting into PC gaming. any idea on roughly how much more it would cost to fix it up so that it matches what a modern average machine is capable of running?

Many thanks![/QUOTE]

This is not a good deal. Video card is really old, single core processor is no good. You'll barely be able to play anything modern on this rig. You would be better served to save up about another 300 bucks and get something decent.
 
[quote name='docvinh']This is not a good deal. Video card is really old, single core processor is no good. You'll barely be able to play anything modern on this rig. You would be better served to save up about another 300 bucks and get something decent.[/QUOTE]


Agreed. I just built a rig for my mom in April for $300 that smokes this.
 
Well there are the DIY kits from Newegg/TD those are okay some of those come in at $300-$400 and you may still have to get a better power supply/graphics card

Toms hardware usually has $500 builds that are decent.
 
thanks guys. i think ill let my other friend get this instead.

So if I want to invest in something decent, i'll likely need $300-400. correct?
 
few general guild lines

You want a dx 11 vid card. they make cheap/low end versions but thats what ya want :)

600-750watt psu in case u want to upgrade your card to a better one in the future.


u want your colored ram slots to be full. some just use 2 ram slots really fast and other use 3 really fast.



make sure teh core is at least a quad or better and the mobo has pci express 2.0(mostly again for vid cards hehe). single core is like a p4 hehe. :)
 
Hardware-Revolution this website was been extremely useful for me, they have a few guides for different kinds of builds on there, this is what I think your looking for. I built my gaming pc mainly from their recommendations, I didn't build exactly what they recommended but it did give an excellent start on what to look for when putting together my own pc
 
If you want to build for 400 or less, take your time and get each piece only when its a good deal. Will take you longer to get everything together but you'll get a lot better value.

I wouldn't recommend Llano for a desktop right now because the integrated graphics still don't compare to getting a 6770 and getting a phenom II X4 and a 6770 costs almost about the same as a Llano setup.
 
Unless you're going to college and can get it via their IT department, expect to spend $100 on an OEM (meaning tied to your mobo) version of Windows 7. This is a cost that many build guides ignore or only mention quietly.

Even the CAG build guides don't include the price of the OS.
 
[quote name='Vinny']Unless you're going to college and can get it via their IT department, expect to spend $100 on an OEM (meaning tied to your mobo) version of Windows 7. This is a cost that many build guides ignore or only mention quietly.

Even the CAG build guides don't include the price of the OS.[/QUOTE]

Their are other ways to get Win 7 on the cheap.

I don't know your area but beside using the student discount you can get a cheap copy from Craigslist ($25 to $40) ((Some of these are sold by students who have double copies)), Strand Bookstore ($10 to $50 - These copies are 2nd hand but you can verify them with a phone call and/or checking online before buying - they even have a rep that will print out the receipt for saying so for you) and Computer Shows ($25 to $80 - I would always check before dropping dollars.)

Most ppl on CAG don't put the price of the OS because chances are they got it for free or dirt cheap. I have a few copies of Win 7 - 5 in total - sold 2 of them for $40 on craigslist myself - keeping 3 just in case my family needs them for work or school. I'm sticking to XP and Linux myself.
 
It looks like Microsoft upped the price of the student copies from their student discount stuff as well as putting new restrictions on it. It's now:

Windows 7 Pro Upgrade - $65; Restricted to purchasing 1 every 12 months

Previously it was:

Windows 7 Pro Upgrade - $30; Restricted to purchasing 3

Not sure when this happened.
 
[quote name='-Never4ever-']Long story short, buddy is building a new rig from scratch, offers to sell me his old setup for $200 (tower only). I'm sure he's not trying rip me off, but I just want to know how good of a deal it be.

Specs:

Processor: AMD 3.2ghz single core processor
Ram: 1gb DDR2
Graphics: Nvida Geforce 9600 "gso" 1gb of video memory
HDD: 320gb 2.5" 7200rpm Sata 2.0
Power Supply: 500w

This will be my first attempt ever at getting into PC gaming. any idea on roughly how much more it would cost to fix it up so that it matches what a modern average machine is capable of running?

Many thanks![/QUOTE]

I think both the processor and the RAM capacity are not good. They simply can't bear nowadays games especially the RAM. You will have hard times loading new scenes and play games at a decent level. Just do some search in the forum and you'll find many great deals.

Have fun!
 
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