Looking to upgrade computer for low cost and need assurance...

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

Looking at ebay prices of some of the components listed makes me think we're talking outside my price range. So I'm probably going to go with something more like what I liked (not sure why the link wont work except that somebody beat me to the buy).

 

Between what I have, and what I was thinking to buy, I'll be at least twice as good off as I am now, and I'll get to dabble in many more games. It isn't like I have all day every day to play these games, or run around pretending something like Skyrim or Diablo 3 is the real world.

 

I questioned the specs of that item I linked, which is a refurbished dell inspiron 5547, 8 GB memory with Intel HD graphics. Processor speed of only 2.7GHz. Terabyte drive. Anyway, the benchmarks make it sound like I can play games I can't play now, at least as well as I can play these games I do have. The games I do have will play lightning fast. That is win win in my book. And only $399 + tax, delivered in only two days.

 

I just don't want the windows 8 which it comes with. Blech.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

Most expensive computer I ever purchased was a Micron back when they were strong and popular. That thing cost me 3200, top of the line at the time. Very next year, everybody had better computers than I did, and I could barely play anything they were playing. I hesitate years now to bother upgrading the simplest things, and I certainly wait until most games are ancient before purchasing anything they require.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Deathangel008]

               

Looking at ebay prices of some of the components listed makes me think we're talking outside my price range. So I'm probably going to go with something more like what I liked (not sure why the link wont work except that somebody beat me to the buy).

i usually "think" in €, and the hardware that i mentioned in post #7 is less than 500€, at least in germany. sorry.

when i click on the link i get this message:

"Unfortunately, the system was not able to process your request.


We apologize for the inconvenience. Please try again. If this error re-occurs during business hours (M-F, 8am-6pm CST), you may also call . (M-F 8am to 6pm CST) for assistance from a Dell Outlet sales representative. Thanks for shopping Dell Outlet!"


 

I questioned the specs of that item I linked, which is a refurbished dell inspiron 5547, 8 GB memory with Intel HD graphics. Processor speed of only 2.7GHz. Terabyte drive. Anyway, the benchmarks make it sound like I can play games I can't play now, at least as well as I can play these games I do have. The games I do have will play lightning fast. That is win win in my book. And only $399 + tax, delivered in only two days.

which CPU and which "Intel HD Graphics"?

anyways, how about buying a mini-ITX system with an i3, 8GB RAM and enough HDD space? should be more powerful than the dell notebook, and if you need it later you can easily add a dedicated graphic card, which you cant with a notebook.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

Yeah, that I item I was going to buy got snatched up. The cart was only holding items for 15 minutes. The sale ends tomorrow, so people are grabbing the last bits. I should have gotten it, but I'm still not sold on anything I'm looking at.

 

The one I was looking at was HD 4400 and I believe the processor was 4th gen i5-4210U or i7-4510U and a mix of other 4th gen i5s and i7s. They don't have any left of the one I was going to buy. Just 1.7 GHz left for that price.

 

I've been looking at some of the other alienware small boxes. Something like the x51 is only slightly outside of my price range, and building that from parts might actually save enough to put it under.

 

I may simply have to wait.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Jedijax]

               

Save, old son, SAVE. I have what many thought was a monster pc down here (This is third world, son!!!) about 5 years ago, and it still can't play Dragon Age, Mass Effect or Skyrim at override ultra settings. By that, I mean using ultra hd mods and fancy lighting effects and stuff that really make pc games destroy consoles. The most important thing is ALWAYS the graphics card, so you're better off getting something along the lines you mentioned, but nothing fancy on the videocard dept. Then, save all of your dough and sell some organs to get a top-of-the-line NVIDIA. I have been harvesting my body for years now in order to get me a 970. My rig has a 3.2 gig 8 core CPU, 6 gigs in ram and hopefully soon, the 4gig videocard. Hope it helps. Truth... it is a ******.

Close

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Gruftlord]

               

Just for the record: yes, the alienware alpha is totally capable of running skyrim at max settings and official high resolution textures (though a fey performance tweaks to the game will help a lot, like mods that add additional occlusion plains, or mods that reduce the resolution of rain drops). It will do your texture work with ease, though loading up big programs may take a while, but they should benfluid once fully loaded.

As others have suggested: an additional small ssd and/or an extra 4 gb of ram (especially for texture work with modern resolutions) could do wonders, though that doesn't mean you need them right away.

Win8 has no problems running nwn and i do enjoy the OS's fluidity very much (loading programs doesn't slow down the UI's responsiveness as much as it does in win7. Though of course if you want to use said program you still have to wait dor it to finish loading. You cam just do other stuff on the pc in the mean time)

 

Btw: the i5 you posted is not much different than the i3 in the alpha really. The i3 may even be better.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Deathangel008]

               

The one I was looking at was HD 4400 and I believe the processor was 4th gen i5-4210U or i7-4510U and a mix of other 4th gen i5s and i7s. They don't have any left of the one I was going to buy. Just 1.7 GHz left for that price.

both of this CPUs are ultra-low-voltage versions (the "U" behind the number) which i would avoid to buy. they both have only 15W TDP, and when it is reached either the CPU or the iGPU or both will start to throttle. both have the intel turbo boost (the i5 4210U up to 2,7GHz, the i7 4510U up to 3,1GHz), but still any current desktop i3 4XXX without turbo is faster.

all desktop i3 41XX have the Intel HD4400 and 3,4GHz or more, and all desktop i3 43XX have the Intel HD4600 and 3,5GHz or more.


i´ll qoute myself because i still think that this is the best solution: 

anyways, how about buying a mini-ITX system with an i3, 8GB RAM and enough HDD space? should be more powerful than the dell notebook, and if you need it later you can easily add a dedicated graphic card, which you cant with a notebook.

 

 

to get me a 970. My rig has a 3.2 gig 8 core CPU, 6 gigs in ram and hopefully soon, the 4gig videocard.

if you want to have a real 4GB card go for the R9 290 '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

Thanks for the inputs. I'll be saving a bit more before I make any decisions. The only reason I am even looking is that our house deal fell through, so there is this imaginary extra money in the bank. Of course I lost my job, which was what put that money there in the first place. So yeah, very likely imaginary. But fun to think I could be doing everything faster and in better quality.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_s e n]

               

in the past 2 months I upgraded my old pc with new video card (asus radeon 250x 2gb edition: about 110 euro on amazon), 8 gb ddr3 ram (2x4 modules:about 80 euro on amazon) and some used six core processor (AMD phenom II X& 1055T, the best my old motherboard asrock n68c-s ucc could support) for about 90 euro including shipping from south korean seller on ebay. considere there in the states pc stuff costs at least 1/3 less than here, with 250 dollars I think you can get a machine that runs fairly all new games, maybe assassin's creed unity and witcher 3 will run at low settings but for others you can run with medium-high video options at 1920x1080 resolution. it all depends on the motherboard you currently have, if you dont have to change it, upgrading other components is really a 5 minutes easy work