[AWLFayte]

I've got the option to buy 2 different PCs in my price range.
I am a gamer, I enjoy playing games like WoW, and Counter-strike:Source.
I'd like to eventually get into games like Left 4 Dead, and COD.

PC 1: $325
Specs:
Dell Optiplex GX270
Dell 19" Widescreen LCD monitor
Dual Core Intel P4 HT @ 3Ghz
2GB RAM
500GB hard drive
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet port
ATI Radeon 9600 PRO 256MB dedicated AGP video card
8 USB 2.0 ports
DVD-RW drive
CD-RW drive
Floppy drive
Keyboard
Mouse
Altec Lensing 2.1 Speakers
Windows XP Pro with SP3
Office 2003 with SP3
Adobe reader
DVD player
Picasa 3
Nero
Windows MediaPlayer 11

---------------------------------------------------------

PC 2: $350
Specs:

HEC PRIME case (blue LED's in the front, can be turned off to watch movies)
585w power supply (2 big 12v rails)
Biostar Nforce 4 mobo
AMD x2 cpu
2gb ram
7900GS gpu
DVD/CDRW
80gb OS drive
200GB storage drive

Dell LCD
Viewsonic Keyboard
Razer Diamond back mouse

Has vista ultimate and office 2007 installed on it right now.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Which would be better for gaming?
Which Graphics Card is better for gaming?
Which is more powerful and easily upgradeable?
I'm kind of a Parts Noob.
Please help! I'm buying one in a few hours!

Thanks

 

[Exavion]

The latter is good, but considering it has Vista on it, which consumes more RAM... I'm not sure. They're both quite old and I'm not sure it would be very wise to buy them. Perhaps try to save up at least 600-700$ and go for a good CPU and GPU, with 4 gigs of RAM.

 

[McNinja]

The second PC is faster bu I would agree with Exacion and wait to upgrade with some more money.

Both computers are going to be costly to upgrade an getting a Pentium is a waste of money.

 

[Aus_Karlos]

PC 2 will cope with CS:S but only just.
Take Exavion's advise, save up and buy a decent one.
You wont be able to play L4D on any of these systems, the game will start but the fps will be to low to play properly.
An up-to-date systme would be something like this.

CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz ($169 US)
RAM: 2GB-4GB DDR2 RAM OCZ Blade ($65 US 2x2GB)
M/B: ASUS P5N72-T NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ($200)
HDD: 500GB HDD
GPU: Nvidia 9800GT - GTX260 ($189 - $264)
PSU: 850W [for 9800GT] - 950W [for GTX260] ($300 - $350)
Case: anyone that can fit this all in and have room to breath. ($100 - $300)

Total: $1073 (using the lower prices)

Its a bit more than what your paying for your other systems but its worth it. This rig will be able to play games from CS:S to Crysis with out any problems and future games to come.

 

[Exavion]

Don't forget cooling fans too. They're not too expensive but it's still more cash to factor in.

And while that cost may seem steep, it's better than spending a little less but barely being able to play anything.

 

[linderman]

dont even consider system #1



system one is a single core Pentium processor ............ way out dated for gaming

 

[linderman]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Inspiron-5...goryZ179QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



you would want to upgrade the video on this but its a better start !

 

[oldjoe]

System 1 would be a much better option. Dell does use good parts.

 

[AWLFayte]

What about these 2 PCs:

I have a C2D E6600 on an ASUS P5D DELUXE WIFI motherboard in an antec p180 silent gaming case ,250 gb HD, and CD/DVD/RW. It has a 650 power trio antec PSU and 4 gigs of brand new G SKILL PC6400 gaming ram with huge heatsinks and massive cpu heatsink.

The core components on this system are much higher end than the other pc I had listed. I would sell it for 450 with the 8800 gts
If you downgraded the ram and cpu cooler to 2 gigs and a stock cooler I'd go 400.00

or

I also have an alienware aurora extreme (silver) with an amd FX 53 , ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE mb 4 gigs of ram dvd/rw 250 gb HD I'd install the 8800 gts and sell that for 400.

Which is the better deal? and do these compare to the ones posted above?

I need to know ASAP, I'm buying one today!

Thanks

 

[McNinja]

CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
$225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103675

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
$140
after rebate $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

RAM
Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
$75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220286

PSU
Corsair 750w
$120
after rebates $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Case
NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$110
after rebates $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

HDD
Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive (bare drive)
$70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136298

GPU
EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
$250
after rebate $230

DVD Burner
LG 22x Sata
$25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152

CPU Cooler
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
$55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019

Total $1070

after rebates $995