Uni is finished, what should I do with my comp..

B&W · 27 May 2008 at 16:19

Hi guys just finished uni and would like to play new games such as crysis.

My pc is quite old now, p4 3ghz, x800 xtpe, 2g ram.

I have a good sound system, tft, printer, mic, headfones and printer. I want to keep this for my next system.

I also have two SATA hard disks, a 120gb and a 200gb.

Now im not sure what to do with this current pc, I dont think it would fetch for much so dont really wanna sell it. I could keep the 120gb hard disk in there and it would stiill be functional.

What do you reckon guys, what can I use it for? I do have space to keep it under the desk but I just dont know what I could do with it.

There's a family pc downstairs and my bro has his own laptop so it wouldnt be of any use to them.

Now to the good bit, spec me somethin that would run crysis and all the latest games nice and fast on a 19" tft.

Bare in mind I have printer, monitor, sound system, sound card and a 200GB hard disk. Would like a fast primary hard disk tho (not raptor just a good SATA).

My budget is £600 max, would prefer it to be closer to £500. Oh and I need a good gaming mouse/keyboard...

aproctor · 27 May 2008 at 16:25

tbh the base unit is probably easier to ditch and use as a second system or break up, i would just back up the data from the hdd and move to a bigger one, or you could raid them.

there are loads of threads on this already, ive posted one for £300 spec checks, but there is one i did for £350, you could just update the case and psu and upgrade it a bit.

otherwise just wait till the new gpus coem out in a bit then you should be able to get a 3870 or a 8800gts for around a tonne.

B&W · 27 May 2008 at 16:29

ah right when would the new gpus be coming out?

aproctor · 27 May 2008 at 16:30

next month

ati - apparently will release a solid mid range - think £100-£200

nvidia - top end stuff - think £300

B&W · 27 May 2008 at 16:35

ok m8, sounds good. due to uni and stuff ive been out of the computer related hardware stuff for a while now. how much memory is recommended these days for the latest games and is Vista suitable now, or do people still prefer XP?

aproctor · 27 May 2008 at 16:44

i prefer xp, but if you may as well get vista (64bit only) as things are only going to get better (and have) 4gb is generally considered the sweet spot just get a 2x2 set of ddr2 800.