Custom Gaming Computer...

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I'm not too knowledgeable about laptops, but $600 seems like barely enough to have decent graphics to play the latest games. I would say maybe bump your budget up to $800. Laptop parts are more expensive because they have to be made smaller.

But hopefully someone who knows more can chime in and have some good news for you.
 
Icyguy said:
So all I need are these items:
Video card
CPU
1GB more of RAM.

If you haven't done the RAM upgrade, check www.crucial.com and click on the memory analyzer. It's a quick way to find out what the maximum RAM you can install is. I've used Crucial RAM in the past and it's done well. This computer uses dual channel PNY DDR2 RAM though. The memory analyzer will also tell you if your memory is dual channel and thus should be installed in pairs.
 
^Done that already. ;)

So…what about this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157541

I'm not sure what I'm looking for regarding the video card memory usage thing…?
 
Double post, but it's my topic. :p

I think I found the cheapest gaming laptop: http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m11x/pd?refid=alienware-m11x&cs=19&s=dhs&~ck=mn

I can make it 4GBs of RAM for only $45 more, and I think everything would be perfect for me then. ^^
So $650 isn't bad. Hopefully I can order this in a few months. And I know it won't last forever, but I don't mind having to buy another one in a year or two.
Just in case, though, I'm posting here before I get serious. :p
 
Time to revive my topic again (and triple post!). :p

I got a new computer a few weeks ago, as I already announced on the forums. But now that I'm making some (okay) money I want to upgrade it a bit.

The memory has to be DDR2, so I may or may not upgrade it. I'm thinking I'll add a 4GB stick to replace two of my 1024MB sticks and make it have a total of 6GBs.

But the video card(s) I would like to upgrade more than anything else. I want this thing to run Battlefield 3 at max when it comes out. (I could probably run it at low to medium right now)

My CPU is fine with me, though, so I won't be upgrading it.

I found the best graphics card I could for under $200 and here it is: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161348&

It's near the top on videocardbenchmark.net and it's very cheap so I think it's the best choice for me. My PSU will support it and I have good cooling, etc.
Does anyone have anything to say about the 6850 or the HIS brand? I remember CreepinDeth recommended the 6870 over the GeForce 460 to Grindspine, but said it was better for overall performance and the 460 was better for tessellation (DX11). Is the case the same with the 6850?

My specs, after the upgrade(s) would be:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz (Been tinkering around with overclocking this…but probably won't)
6GBs DDR2 RAM (400MHz or 800 FSB MHz)
ATI Radeon 6850 1GB GDDR5 256-bit
700GB HDD
etc

I think that's a rather good computer. :p
My current PC is good, but it struggles on DX10 and 11 games and that's apparently the new "rage". Bad Company 2 would look so great on DX11. :D
 
Good questions.

In regards to the 6850, yeah, it will have less tessellation power compared to Nvidia, but not by a whole lot. I own the diamond version of the 6850. I'll probably step up to the 6890 next. I'll look into it a bit more. When I made those recommendations, the cards were still young.
 
Yeah, okay. I just looked at the 6870 and it has 900MHz core clock instead of the 720MHz the 6850 has, as well as more steam processors, OpenGL 4.1 instead of 3.2, etc… If Newegg's rebate system works then I think I'll get the 6870, since it would only be $10 more.
 
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