Newbie buying computer - help spec please - first post, Power enough to run Assassin'

[Vatchez]

Hello, I cannot find decent gaming computer in stores. Looking to buy as a present for someone who prefers Windows XP. Went online with latest issue of PC Gamer magazine in hand to compare GPUs and CPUs. Trying to find a machine that could run the following games smoothly in higher settings with good FPS and no lagorama: Assassin's Creed, Crysis, GTA4, Oblivion in the Kingdom outside the City (would frame rate be decent outside the City).

Do you think the following specs would suffice? (xtra ?? when I have no idea if what I am getting is worth paying for or if I should actually upgrade)
i7 920 Processor (4x 2.66GHz/8MB L3 Cache) - Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ 120mm Radiator?? Motherboard?? Asus P6T Intel X58 Chipset CrossFire and SLI Supported w/7.1 Sound, Triple-Channel DDR3, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, 3-Way SLI PCI-E MB 3-Way SLI ) Memory ( 12 GB [2 GB X6] DDR3-1333 Triple Memory Module Corsair) Video Card ( 2x NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT 1GB w/DVI + TV Out Video - running SLI mode ) Hard Drive ( 1 TB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] ) CD/DVD Drive (16x DVD-ROM Drive - Sony) CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( LG 22X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive) Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard ) Network Card?? ( Killer K1 - Online Gaming Accelerator - w/ 333Mhz Network Processing Unit + Lag Reduction Technology ) Operating System Not Vista? ( MS Windows XP Professional w/ Service Pack 2 ) Power Protection?? ( Network 10/100/1000 LAN Surge Protector) ( Professional wiring for all cables Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound interface between CPU and heatsinks )

 

[brayden430]

Thats fine but if if you want to save some money there are a few things you could cut out a single 285 would be ok and good quality air cooling would be sufficient and personally id say go with AMD/ATI

 

[TheDivineBoss]

It's nice that you listed all your stuff, but it would be handy if you put it in a nice line, you got unlimited space on your post. I can't read a damn what your specs are.

Motherboard:
Processor:
Memory:
Graphic Card:
(etc)

 

[Reaper2008]

All good, but ditch nVIDIA and go for ATI. Also, you may wanna wait up on windows 7.

 

[Deathcom3s]

All good, but ditch nVIDIA and go for ATI. Also, you may wanna wait up on windows 7.

Why ditch Nvidia? Nvidia far outclasses ATi.

 

[Gilles]

Why ditch Nvidia? Nvidia far outclasses ATi.

I'd say nVidia is the more supported, but ATI is cheaper. Neither is really "better" since it's card-to-card. The whole nVidia vs ATI thing is as stupid as Intel vs AMD.

Vatchez, I'd suggest you build the computer yourself. It will save you money, and you'll get a better computer.

About that build, it's not really an ideal gaming computer. Budget gaming computers should have higher end cards with lower end everything else. I'm guessing you like to save money? If not, the computer you listed looks fine other than the video card and probably the power supply. I'll get to that though.

An i7 processor is overkill for gaming. Duel Core would suffice, although you might want to go for quad since imo it won't be long before games start supporting them. Their also not as expensive as they used to be.

Liquid cooling is useless imo. Fans do the job just fine.

The memory is overkill as well. 4 GB of DDR2 800 is all you need.

I'd go with a much better video card. The 4890 is the best bang for buck right now imo.

Hard drive doesn't really matter. Get what size you want. Don't get a solid state drive unless you have plenty of money to throw at this thing. If you don't know what that is, don't worry about it.

What about the power supply? That's a key component, and probably the biggest reason to not buy pre-built unless you know exactly what parts are in it. A cheap power supply will actually decrease performance and can shorten the lifespan of other hardware. Getting a good power supply is important.

 

[Deathcom3s]

Gilles, if you get a Core i7, you have to get DDR3.

 

[Gilles]

Which is why I said both were overkill, and I'd get neither.

 

[BlargHonk]

WAIT, DON'T BUY IT

( Professional wiring for all cables Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound interface between CPU and heatsinks )

The place your getting it off of is either Ibuypower or CyberpowerPC, both of which are HORRIBLE manufacture, I mean they like to buy all recertified and open box shit, and don't test them. They also have literally no intelligent tech support people.

Also, graphics card is not up for it, GTX260/4870 is basically what you would want with a pre-built, but I still recommend building one yourself because 1. It's cheaper 2. better quality parts

and that list doesn't even show a power supply >.< Most likely your going to get one without the needed power for 2 9800GT's



Anyways, found a nice Gateway with a 260 and i7



PM me if you decide to build it yourself