Computer Advice

[textmum]

I wish to replace my computer for a new one, its is mainly used for WP, internet and games. Does anyone have any recommendations? Price up to about �800. Thank you

[fo3nix]

Any computer these days can manage most things. The more intensive stuff, games, video editing, audio editing, and more advanced photo editing, can require extra stuff.

You mention games. What sort of games do you play now, and how future compatible do you want it to be? Want the very latest stuff, or slightly older hardware thats cheaper but a little slower will do?

[textmum]

The games played mainly are Sims type games e.g. SIms, Zoo ****** 2, the latest add on has really stretch the computer and it is so slow. I am looking for one that is likely to last 3 years minimum so needs to be fairly up to date I imagine.

[fo3nix]

Ideally get one with a dual core processor, 64bit ideally again. pentium D, core 2 duo, something like that. Pentium 4 should suffice, but maybe not in a few years time.

RAM: go for 1GB, but as much as you can get again.

Graphics card: ATI or NVidia, just go for the best one you can find. Make sure it's an actual card, and not internal graphics. See how much memory it has, ideally something like 256MB.

hard drive: just as much space as you can get. ~120GB minimum.

[beebrook39]

Yep' ...fo3nix is spot on...it's time that the sellers came clean about the "integrated graphics" hype...stay well away from them and go for a dedicated video card ..Look in "Computer Buyer&Upgrades" magazine....

[beebrook39]

and look at the reviews on Desktops.They usually cover the under �800 models.You will find a decent piece of kit for this price these days with a decent PCI-e graphics card and probably a good LCD monitor too..Make sure the Operating system is supplied on a disk also..It's a big help if ever you need to reinstall or repair in the future...Sorry my reply is split....my broadband connection dropped....Thats another story......................