October 12, 201015 yr I'm a starving college student so i need to cut costs by finding a decent deal on a sub par desktop that suits my needs. I was looking around and I noticed a lot of the cheaper computers have Integrated graphics cards. Would it be difficult to upgrade the graphics card if i got an integrated card? I also wonder what you guys recommend processor wise to run runescape on max settings and play less graphic intensive games. Lastly, is it worth buying the monitor separate so I can get a good hdmi capable monitor to play my xbox 360 on also? :smile: Hopefully someone can answer some of my questions and concerns. Thank-you in advance.
October 12, 201015 yr While almost all prebuilts have a PCIe 16x slot for a video card, they normally have puny power supplies (were talking 220w or less). Id recommend building your own computer, or getting a friend to do it for you, as finding a decent prebuilt around $400 - $600 is very hard. A note - If you buy a computer monitor with HDMI for an xbox, you are stuck using HDMI audio, so you can't use Turtle beaches or surround sound.
October 13, 201015 yr Author Thanks, surround sound and headphones really don't interest me I would just rather get the monitor rather than another television since the monitor serves two purposes. I will look into building my own. I'm not sure if i'm computer savvy enough though.
October 14, 201015 yr Here's a guide to building your own. It's kind of outdated, but still works. [hide=Stats][/hide]"One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic."-Joseph Stalin
October 19, 201015 yr If you're going to build your own, $500 to $600 won't get you far, from my amateur point of view. I'm buying my own build soon, and the price exploded to nearly $1000 after adding a monitor and Windows 7 (an extra $250 - $300 alone, from a $675 build). I would suggest buying something pre-built. I'm not sure how far you'll be able to get with it, and how set you'll be in terms of upgrades, but you'll know it works and it will definitely gt you by (and I assume it will play RS maxed, or close). Again, I'm really not the most experienced, but I hope I helped!
October 19, 201015 yr Im going to have to completed disagree with you. There is nothing remotely decent for gaming in the prebuilt market, unless you go with a site like ibuypower, which is a bad idea. Windows 7 is $95 American, a decent 1080p monitor can be found for $150. Just for fun, Ill put together a build for you now.
October 19, 201015 yr Fail post is fail. I have a build using only quality brand parts that comes to $612, including windows 7. Add a $150 monitor, and that's $765 for a computer that will [cabbage] on any prebuilt even close to that price.
October 19, 201015 yr If you don't have any existing parts then building one can sometimes be a little more than pre-built if spending around $500. More than $600 though and you are going to be better off building your own.
October 20, 201015 yr I'll post my build later, on my touch right now. You would be better off getting a 1600x900 monitor over a 1920x1080, you will save some money and the picture will actually be better for games as you will be able to run higher settings.
October 20, 201015 yr I'll post my build later, on my touch right now. You would be better off getting a 1600x900 monitor over a 1920x1080, you will save some money and the picture will actually be better for games as you will be able to run higher settings. That monitor advice is bad, when I play computer games, I always play them 1920x1080, I find the graphics to be better as it makes them HD. Plus I still get over 90 fps, with only a 9800GT as graphics card which isn't expensive at all compared to recent cards.
October 22, 201015 yr If you are getting a 23 inch, then go HD, but for a 21 inch widescreen 1600x900 still gets great picture. For your needs, Sbrideau's advice is better, but if you plan to play newer games like starcraft II, you will be better off with a slightly lower resolution.
October 22, 201015 yr I'm a starving college student so i need to cut costs by finding a decent deal on a sub par desktop that suits my needs. I was looking around and I noticed a lot of the cheaper computers have Integrated graphics cards. Would it be difficult to upgrade the graphics card if i got an integrated card? I also wonder what you guys recommend processor wise to run runescape on max settings and play less graphic intensive games. Lastly, is it worth buying the monitor separate so I can get a good hdmi capable monitor to play my xbox 360 on also? :smile: Hopefully someone can answer some of my questions and concerns. Thank-you in advance. Done this type of thing for a long time but the last I built was last year so pardon me if I'm slightly out with the technologies. 1)If you can build your own. You know what parts you're getting for your money. Pre-built systems at the low end tend to use cheap and slow parts. 2) Dont fall into the trap of 'the processor is everything'. I've seen this many a time where people build a machine with a really high spec processor and because of their limit budget forget about the rest. Its a common misconception. A budget hard drive will impair your processors performance every time. You are only as fast as your slowest components. AMD processors tend to be cheaper than the Intels at the lower end of the processor spectrum, even for quad core processors. 3) The mainboard should be a decent one, but again don't go overpriced. Check it supports the processor you want and the amount/type of RAM you want, and has on-board graphics. Most will support a decent spec external graphics card if you want to fit one. Read reviews on-line about mainboards and shop around. Once I've decided on the processor I spend a good while deciding on the right mainboard for the job. 4) On board graphics is fine unless you're intending to play high spec games. Works for me on RS as I have all the settings whacked up to full. Today's on board graphics usually does the trick if it has 512mb+ but you can always throw one in at a later time. However.......... 5) Don't skimp on RAM. The first 2gb is swallowed up by your system programs and on board graphics (more if you have a higher on-board card). Minimum of 4gb but if your budget will spare go higher. DDR3 is pretty much standard RAM but there are different types so be careful that the ones you buy are compatible. 6) Fast hard drive. Solid state hard drives are still high in price to justify their costs. A fast SATA doesn't break the bank these days. 7) Buy a seperate monitor. You know what you're getting and often you can get one at a really decent price now that the technology has come down in price. Hope this helps and good luck with it. :thumbsup:
October 22, 201015 yr No reason for him to buy a SSD. J'adore aussi le sexe et les snuff moviesJe trouve que ce sont des purs moments de vieJe ne me reconnais plus dans les gensJe suis juste un cas désespérantEt comme personne ne viendra me réclamerJe terminerai comme un objet retrouvé
October 22, 201015 yr No reason for him to buy a SSD.Agreed. Many get sucked into buying them because 'they gotta have one', so I thought I'd mention it. Still too expensive considering his budget.
October 22, 201015 yr I love my SSD. Single greatest performance improvement I have ever done to a computer before. But definitely not a necessity if you are looking to save a bit of money.
October 23, 201015 yr If OP is still interested, Ill post the build I made for him. IIRC, it was Coolermaster Haf 912Socket AM3 Gigabyte MotherboardAMD x3 tri-core processor @ 3.2 GHZ4 gb G.SKILL DDR3 1333 RamWD Caviar Blue 500 GB HDCorsair 500w PSUHIS 4850 1gbWindows 7 Home Premium @Hairychest - Today's on-board graphics are decent, but they run off your system resources. Also, last time I checked, you can't use AA in RS with on board graphics. That may just be the machine I used though.
October 23, 201015 yr If OP is still interested, Ill post the build I made for him. IIRC, it was Coolermaster Haf 912Socket AM3 Gigabyte MotherboardAMD x3 tri-core processor @ 3.2 GHZ4 gb G.SKILL DDR3 1333 RamWD Caviar Blue 500 GB HDCorsair 500w PSUHIS 4850 1gbWindows 7 Home Premium @Hairychest - Today's on-board graphics are decent, but they run off your system resources. Also, last time I checked, you can't use AA in RS with on board graphics. That may just be the machine I used though. Think you've been using a mainboard with a poor graphics GPU or your processors not up to the task in helping out. Thats why I do a lot of research on the main board as the graphics chipsets can vary significantly. Here's the proof that I can have all settings on full, including the anti-alias. If you want in game screenshots or any advice just ask.
October 24, 201015 yr It was probably just a bad chipset then. I did a bit of research, and it appears that on-board chipsets have risen in strength in the last couple years. That said, If you want on-board graphics, you may be better off waiting a few months and picking up one of Intel's new sandy beach CPUs. They are said the on-board graphics capabilities of a 5670, which is an $80 card. The gigabyte motherboard that comes with the combo deal doesn't have on-board graphics, but I think it'll be worth it to buy the 4850 while it's at $99.
October 24, 201015 yr Damn, the 4850 is $99 now? That's what I have in my computer and it handles games just fine. I might have to look into picking up another and doing a crossfire thing...
October 26, 201015 yr Yep, at newegg.com, they have the 1gb version on for $99. The price probably dropped because of the new 6xxx series.
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