- Apr 24, 2012
- 5
- 0
- 10,510
Hi all,
I have not been much of a gamer for a few years, and have fallen out with keeping up with the latest specs and graphic cards and processors and everything else (my knowledge even then wasn't all that advanced, I never delved too deeply into knowing everything), and feel lost in knowing what to look for right now. I am a fan of Guild Wars, and want to try Guild Wars 2, which be be released soon, and what I have now won't support the game. I have googled around and read some sites and forum posts, but I am still lost.
The thing is, I have not purchased a new desktop for a long time. The graphic card in there is still PCI, with a motherboard that doesn't support AGP or PCI-e (I'm not even sure what GC is the "standard" now). I bought a laptop, and since am not a big gamer anymore, very rarely, if ever, even turn on the desktop. So that one probably won't run GW 2. I ran the "can you run it?" test on my laptop, and what failed was the GC, since its Intel graphics with 64 MB dedicated memory, while the game requires 256.
I don't know if it's ideal for me to get a desktop, since I don't use it that much, but it seems that most laptops don't game that well, and if they perform alright, they're pretty expensive (for my budget). So I am wondering...is it possible to spend less than $500 on something that would perform well? If I could spend $350-$450 on a desktop setup that could run this well, I probably would do it. It's just that I'm wondering, if I will spend that on a desktop, I might as well pay a bit more and get something that will play other modern games as well...doesn't have to be top-of-the-line to play crysis type of gaming rig.
So, which of these options seem best/most feasible and would cost the least while giving me something that would work well with this/similar games? A) Buy a new laptop that's a bit-higher end that could run this. (What price range would I be looking at, and what specs should I search out?) B) Buy a really cheap walmart-esque desktop, and swap out the graphics card and add some RAM. (Would this work, and should I make sure to have any specific spec?) C) Just go to Best Buy and buy a mid-range desktop, or build my own custom one.
I'm just not sure which route to go, and really want to play this game. On the surface, a laptop seems best, because that is what I use in my daily life, but if it would cost a lot I would consider a desktop dedicated for gaming.
Lastly, what about something like this posting on Craiglist, does this sound like it's a good deal, and would work? http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bar/2952664353.html
If I could get something cheaper like that on CL that would run GW 2 well and other mid-range games, I would probably be satisfied with that for now.
One more thing, actually. How does the release of Ivy Bridge affect this? Should I care much? If it's recommended I buy a prebuilt or build my own, is it worth it to wait for a system that has this?
I have not been much of a gamer for a few years, and have fallen out with keeping up with the latest specs and graphic cards and processors and everything else (my knowledge even then wasn't all that advanced, I never delved too deeply into knowing everything), and feel lost in knowing what to look for right now. I am a fan of Guild Wars, and want to try Guild Wars 2, which be be released soon, and what I have now won't support the game. I have googled around and read some sites and forum posts, but I am still lost.
The thing is, I have not purchased a new desktop for a long time. The graphic card in there is still PCI, with a motherboard that doesn't support AGP or PCI-e (I'm not even sure what GC is the "standard" now). I bought a laptop, and since am not a big gamer anymore, very rarely, if ever, even turn on the desktop. So that one probably won't run GW 2. I ran the "can you run it?" test on my laptop, and what failed was the GC, since its Intel graphics with 64 MB dedicated memory, while the game requires 256.
I don't know if it's ideal for me to get a desktop, since I don't use it that much, but it seems that most laptops don't game that well, and if they perform alright, they're pretty expensive (for my budget). So I am wondering...is it possible to spend less than $500 on something that would perform well? If I could spend $350-$450 on a desktop setup that could run this well, I probably would do it. It's just that I'm wondering, if I will spend that on a desktop, I might as well pay a bit more and get something that will play other modern games as well...doesn't have to be top-of-the-line to play crysis type of gaming rig.
So, which of these options seem best/most feasible and would cost the least while giving me something that would work well with this/similar games? A) Buy a new laptop that's a bit-higher end that could run this. (What price range would I be looking at, and what specs should I search out?) B) Buy a really cheap walmart-esque desktop, and swap out the graphics card and add some RAM. (Would this work, and should I make sure to have any specific spec?) C) Just go to Best Buy and buy a mid-range desktop, or build my own custom one.
I'm just not sure which route to go, and really want to play this game. On the surface, a laptop seems best, because that is what I use in my daily life, but if it would cost a lot I would consider a desktop dedicated for gaming.
Lastly, what about something like this posting on Craiglist, does this sound like it's a good deal, and would work? http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bar/2952664353.html
If I could get something cheaper like that on CL that would run GW 2 well and other mid-range games, I would probably be satisfied with that for now.
One more thing, actually. How does the release of Ivy Bridge affect this? Should I care much? If it's recommended I buy a prebuilt or build my own, is it worth it to wait for a system that has this?
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