Decent PC specs for oldish games?

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

My current PC specs are:
Windows XP,
Athlon 1500 (was 2200 but has suddenly dropped to 1500?!),
512mb RAM,
80GB memory,
Radeon 9500 pro,
DVD drive,
CD-RW Drive.

I'm tempted to get the Dell Dimension C521 PC posted on HUKD for ?188.07.
The specs for it are:
AMD? Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3600+,
Genuine Windows XP,
1024MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512],
250GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst cache,
Integrated nVidia? GeForce? 6150 LE graphics,
16 X DVD +/- RW Drive,
Dell Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY),
Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black,
Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio,
13-in-1 Media Card Reader,
Microsoft? Works 8.0 - English.


It'll be mainly used for surfing, music, documents & maybe a little DVD watching. I havent bothered playing any games on my current PC for a while because they kept crashing for some reason or another, so I'm just wondering if its possible to play the following oldish games on the Dell C521:

Quake III, Call Of Duty GOTY, Alien v Predator.

Would it be possible to play Quake IV or are we talking older games only & if so do u guys have any to recommend to me?
Thanx in advance!!

[Bort]

That pc will run the old games fine (aslong as they don't have issues with XP). The integrated graphics card will choke on newer games like Q4.

You should get performance around the same as these tests.

I actually fixed up a neighbours c521 last week. Aslong as you don't want to upgrade (dreadful case) or build your own, it's reasonable for the ???.

[briareos_kerensky]

Athlon 1500 (was 2200 but has suddenly dropped to 1500?!),

That's strange...the XP2200+ should have a real clock of 1800mhz...BTW, you can also try to revitalize your existing system with an other Gb of RAM, a new CPU and graphic card...Athlon XP 3000+s should be a bit hard to find but dirty cheap, as well as Radeon X800 cards.

BTW, about the new system: it's a low end system with an integrated card, good for office work but it's on the same level (or even below) of your Radeon 9500, if you can I'd spend a bit more to get a decent discrete graphic card.

[Magnakai]

Sounds like some setting in your bios has gone cuckoo...
Your CPU is probably underclocked.

Are there any good low-profile graphics cards? If so, stick one in and you're onto a decent entry level computer. If not, it's work only I'm afraid.

Still, you should be fine for the older games you mentioned.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

That's strange...the XP2200+ should have a real clock of 1800mhz....

Yeah its a bit odd innit?
I bought my current desktop about 4 yrs ago from an ebay seller called boxing_0 who works for Aria.co.uk as thats what was on the receipt when I got the unit. It was ready built but I paid a bit extra for an upgrade from Athlon 1800 to 2200 & extra RAM & memory. When it arrived the bloody graphics card was loose inside as they hadnt screwed it in & thats when I started to get worried. NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM ARIA.

Anyway, I noticed the drop from 2200 to 1500 about 2 months ago after watching after my system boot up. I dunno whats going on though.

BTW, you can also try to revitalize your existing system with an other Gb of RAM, a new CPU and graphic card...Athlon XP 3000+s should be a bit hard to find but dirty cheap, as well as Radeon X800 cards.

I dunno about installing a new processor. I'm ok with Graphic Cards as I've done that with my 9500, but a processor & RAM maybe a bit of a job tbh.

BTW, about the new system: it's a low end system with an integrated card, good for office work but it's on the same level (or even below) of your Radeon 9500, if you can I'd spend a bit more to get a decent discrete graphic card.

So all I need to get it running old stuff smooth is a better card right? So do u have any recommendations in the slim graphic cards dept?
I'm such a lazy bastard & dont want to balls up my current system, eventhough its f**ked already!!

[Magnakai]

I dunno about installing a new processor. I'm ok with Graphic Cards as I've done that with my 9500, but a processor & RAM maybe a bit of a job tbh.

RAM's dead, dead easy. If you've installed a graphics card, you'll find it pretty hard to screw up to be honest.

CPU is a bit more sensitive. You can damage them easily. The hardest part is putting the heatsink/fan on. Which is often actually the trickiest single in in building a system. It's still not very difficult, you just have to be careful. PCs are a piece of cake to put together, they really are.

[elkatas]

If its possible to play the following oldish games on the Dell C521:

Yeah, easily. In fact, if you get new GPU for that Dell, it should run well most games that were released last year.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Yeah, easily. In fact, if you get new GPU for that Dell, it should run well most games that were released last year.

GPU?

Sorry mate I'm pants when it comes to computer stuff!!

[elkatas]

GPU?

Graphics processing unit, a.k.a graphics card. That Dell package is otherwise pretty decent, but it has integrated* GPU that is very poor performance wise. Quake III, Call Of Duty GOTY, Alien v Predator would work smoothly, but anything more recent wouldn't work at all. For 60-80 euros you could get card that would run something like Half-Life 2 and Civilization IV very well, and Quake IV decently. You could get card for even lower price, if you are willing to buy used card.

* This means that computer has GPU integrated to the motherboard physically. Integrated GPUs aren't never that great performance wise, but then again, many users don't need super-expensive GPU.

[Magnakai]

This one's sold by Dell, making me think it'd definitely work.

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=A0968435

£40

It's never going to be a ninja PC, but you'll get by.
Not sure how good that card is, but for a small form factor PC you'll always be limited.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

I dont need a ninja PC tbh. Just summat for going online with, do a bit of word processing, DVDs now n then, music & of course a bit of a dabble on Quake 3, AvP, COD, maybe Quake 4 etc.
Theres a link on HUKD for an XP version too so do u think that it would run faster/better if I had XP as the OS?

What about buying from Dell over the phone & haggling? Would I get it even cheaper?

[Magnakai]

It's already pretty rock-bottom low, but it's worth a shot. Maybe you could get the graphics card thrown in if you're lucky, but even that seems a bit extreme.


As far as XP/Vista goes... well, XP is probably less resource hungry. It's up to you. I might go for Vista, and if it turns out to be useless, then install XP from my old discs and then keep Vista around for a more appropriate future PC.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Can I use my current XP Pro OS disc/serial code on another PC?
I thought it could only be used with 1 pc & if u wanted to use the same OS u had to buy another with a new unused Serial code.

[wakka]

Can I use my current XP Pro OS disc/serial code on another PC?

The license can be transferred, but only if it's not an OEM verson.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Err let me check