Author Topic: Cheapest computer??? (Read 1091 times)

TheGoodNews · « **on:** October 24, 2004, 09:49:39 AM »

I'm interested in trying this game out, but I would need a new computer for it. I was wondering who has the cheapest computer that could run AH2 and where did you purchase it from? I already have a work computer, so this would be a gaming computer and I don't want to have to spend an arm and a leg just to play this game. Thanks in advance.

maddog · « **Reply #1 on:** October 24, 2004, 12:02:39 PM »

unfortunately AH2 is probably more computer intensive then your other applications.... As such you will need something other then a "cheap" computer as real time demands cpu speed and graphics speed and power.

Having said a good sys you can put together yourself will cost approx $1200..... Anything less is a stopgap solution and you will be disappointed.

Roscoroo · « **Reply #2 on:** October 24, 2004, 02:16:38 PM »

if you dont have the knowledge to build your own .

then id perhaps suggest one of those Emachines like what Rich bought see this thread

I think he paid around 600 for it, then added a top end video card .

with the gf4 onboard grafics it will play AH 2 and alot of other games pritty well until you could afford a better graphics card .
(its a simple add on as long as the mainboard has a agp port)

now if you want to be inthe halo/doom/halflife/Quake game engine gaming crowd , that emachine with a added video card will handle it , but most of that crowd custom builds there pc's .

around xmas time this year bolth Amd and Intel are releasing a new 3.5 ghz extreame processor . this will ussually causes the other hardware prices to go down in price . the 939 socket processors are gonna get resonable after this happens .

ALF · « **Reply #3 on:** October 24, 2004, 04:28:42 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by maddog
unfortunately AH2 is probably more computer intensive then your other applications.... As such you will need something other then a "cheap" computer as real time demands cpu speed and graphics speed and power.

Having said a good sys you can put together yourself will cost approx $1200..... Anything less is a stopgap solution and you will be disappointed.

Im going to have to differ with that opinon. While AH2 requires a resonable computer, it by no means requires a cutting edge computer. A very cheap emachine with a half decent video card will be very acceptable.

The key is to get an AMD Athlon or Intel Pentium and stay away from the celerons/durons/semprons etc.

Emachines T3256
$599.99
CPU:     AMD Athlon™ XP 3200+ Processor
QuantiSpeed™ Architecture operates at 2.200 GHz
512KB L2 cache & 400MHz FSB
Operating System:    Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition 1
Chipset:    nVIDIA® nForce™2
Memory:    512 MB DDR (PC 2700)
Hard Drive:    160 GB HDD (7200 RPM) 2
Optical Drives:    DVD +/- RW Drive (Write Max: 8x DVD+/-R, 4x DVD+/-RW, 32x CD-R, 16x CD-RW; Reads 40x CD, 12x DVD); 48x Max. CD-ROM Drive
Media Reader:    8-in-1 Digital Media Manager (USB 2.0, Secure Digital (SD), Smart Media, Compact Flash, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Micro Drive, Multimedia Card)
Video:    nVIDIA® GeForce4™ MX graphics (1 AGP 8x slot available)
Sound:    nForce™ 6-channel Audio
Modem:    56K ITU v.92 ready Fax/Modem
Network:    10/100Mbps built-in Ethernet
Peripherals:    Premium Plus Multimedia Keyboard, 2-Button Wheel Mouse, Amplified Stereo Speakers
Dimensions:    7.25"w x 14.125"h x 16"d
Internet:    AOL Membership Included (Additional phone charges may apply. Click here for details.)
Ports/Other:    5 USB 2.0 ports (4 in back; 1 in Media Reader), 1 Serial, 1 Parallel, 2 PS/2, Audio-In & Out

Add a $150 Radeon 9600xt and your golden......you could even go with a slower video card in the $100 range if you need too....my secondary computer runs a Geforce 5200FX (the crapola line of VPUs) and it still plays VERY WELL on my Athlon 2300+

FOGOLD · « **Reply #4 on:** October 25, 2004, 01:57:10 AM »

Socket A Nforce 2 - £40
Athlon 2500+ - £40
512 Gb DDR 2700- £50
9800 Pro ------------£120
Case £30
PSU £30
Hard Drive £30

Thats £340 . If you need Keyboard/Video/Mouse add £100

ADSL Card another £50?

==£500 Sterling. Do a Dollar conversion..

Ok, it will be out of date ina year or two, but I run Far Cry on a lesser machine (2000+ XP)

Mak333 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 25, 2004, 08:04:46 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by maddog
unfortunately AH2 is probably more computer intensive then your other applications.... As such you will need something other then a "cheap" computer as real time demands cpu speed and graphics speed and power.

Having said a good sys you can put together yourself will cost approx $1200..... Anything less is a stopgap solution and you will be disappointed.

Yikes.... Went to a local store to pick up a Powerspec brand. Not very expensive but they aren't popular at all really.

P4 2.8ghz
1 Gig pc3200 Ram
DVD and CD RW drives
80GB HD
onboard sound
Comes with speakers mouse, keyboard, no monitor

Got it for 500 bucks 8 months ago

Added in a 180 dollar ATI Radeon 9600XT and used my old SB Live sound card.

- Runs AH2 very well. No problems at all.

Reschke · « **Reply #6 on:** October 25, 2004, 09:56:21 AM »

Alright another Alabama boy to fly in this game.

OK with that out of the way if you are in Birmingham DON'T GO TO COMPUTER BUILDERS WAREHOUSE in Hoover. Its over priced out the butt for anything other than cables and hard drives.

If you want someone else to build it drop me an email and I am sure that we can work something out in your price range that will fit the bill and be upgradeable for a year or two.

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 25, 2004, 07:46:43 PM »

The only thing you have to watch with those cheap computer brands is the hard drives. E-machines, much as I love them for their affordable stuff, has some of the junkiest HD's I've ever had. I've owned 3 E-machines and every one of them the HD lasted almost exactly 1 year. 2 of them had the bearings lock up and the other one had a glitch in the chips under the drive ( it actually smoked!! lol ). I know several people who bought HP's when they had deals on them at Christmas and they had lots of bad sectors on the HDs. Just sayin, even if you have to buy an extra HD its a good deal. Just make sure you have a backup before you rely on what comes in them.

Slash27 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 27, 2004, 06:50:40 AM »

http://www.abspc.com

schizer · « **Reply #9 on:** October 28, 2004, 09:24:29 PM »

Screw E-machines check into Dell any of these sites have coupons and specials every week. Recently they had $750 off any laptop $1500 and up.

http://www.fatwallet.com or

http://slickdeals.net or

http://www.techbargains.com or

http://www.gottadeal.com

buzkill · « **Reply #10 on:** October 29, 2004, 04:52:16 PM »

just build your own

msi k8n neo nforce 3 chip
64bit amd athlon xp3000+
sapphire radeon 9600xt 128 meg
1024 ddr400 (512x2)
raidmax gaming case ($55 with 350w ps)
cd rom and other drives from old machine

grand total approx. $840

more than enough for AHII (runs doom 3 with med. settings with no problem)
real bang for the buck

eskimo2 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 29, 2004, 05:30:31 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by ALF
Im going to have to differ with that opinon. While AH2 requires a resonable computer, it by no means requires a cutting edge computer. A very cheap emachine with a half decent video card will be very acceptable.

The key is to get an AMD Athlon or Intel Pentium and stay away from the celerons/durons/semprons etc.

Emachines T3256
$599.99
CPU:     AMD Athlon™ XP 3200+ Processor
QuantiSpeed™ Architecture operates at 2.200 GHz
512KB L2 cache & 400MHz FSB
Operating System:    Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition 1
Chipset:    nVIDIA® nForce™2
Memory:    512 MB DDR (PC 2700)
Hard Drive:    160 GB HDD (7200 RPM) 2
Optical Drives:    DVD +/- RW Drive (Write Max: 8x DVD+/-R, 4x DVD+/-RW, 32x CD-R, 16x CD-RW; Reads 40x CD, 12x DVD); 48x Max. CD-ROM Drive
Media Reader:    8-in-1 Digital Media Manager (USB 2.0, Secure Digital (SD), Smart Media, Compact Flash, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Micro Drive, Multimedia Card)
Video:    nVIDIA® GeForce4™ MX graphics (1 AGP 8x slot available)
Sound:    nForce™ 6-channel Audio
Modem:    56K ITU v.92 ready Fax/Modem
Network:    10/100Mbps built-in Ethernet
Peripherals:    Premium Plus Multimedia Keyboard, 2-Button Wheel Mouse, Amplified Stereo Speakers
Dimensions:    7.25"w x 14.125"h x 16"d
Internet:    AOL Membership Included (Additional phone charges may apply. Click here for details.)
Ports/Other:    5 USB 2.0 ports (4 in back; 1 in Media Reader), 1 Serial, 1 Parallel, 2 PS/2, Audio-In & Out

Add a $150 Radeon 9600xt and your golden......you could even go with a slower video card in the $100 range if you need too....my secondary computer runs a Geforce 5200FX (the crapola line of VPUs) and it still plays VERY WELL on my Athlon 2300+

I agree, my father in law bought a $500 dollar emachines and I bet it would out perform my 3 year old game machine if it had a better vidio card and more RAM. A big key is to shut down as many Windows XP BS background programs as possible. This doubled my frames per second.

eskimo

maddog · « **Reply #12 on:** October 29, 2004, 07:05:07 PM »

exactly.. But a new video card is approx $ 200 and so is fast ram.. That's a grand.... Close to my $ 1200.....

buzkill · « **Reply #13 on:** October 30, 2004, 09:10:42 AM »

where you been shopping? my 9600xt was $135 on newegg

GooseAW · « **Reply #14 on:** October 30, 2004, 09:37:26 PM »

I just bought a Gateway 550 on clearance at bestbuy.

$1,019 for:

P4 540 3.2gig with Hyperthreading
512meg ddr
200GB serial ATA HD
ATI radeon x300se 128meg video
DVD/RW,CD/RW drives
media manager ports
powered stereo speakers
17" flat screen monitor
color printer

tough to beat I think for a guy who has no desire to think about it for 2 weeks etc...

Left the house at 10AM...was flying in AH2 4 hours later.
I did upgrade to a 17" flat panel and all in one printer scanner copier for a grand total of $1,249.00. I got the last ne my store had so hurry!

I now get 70FPS with all effects on and video sliders set to "quality"...YYYEEEEEHHHAAAAA!