I want to build my own computer and play the latest online games with no lag. What is the cheapest setup?
148955
Hi erik\nI tried this feat about a year ago and so far it has turned out spactaculer. Except for the fact that I bought a cheap motherboard and have to buy a new one.\n\nThe way I started was by downloading and printing out one of the booklets online.\n\nLet me just look for one now...\n\nhttp://www.tomshardware.com/2002/09/04/building_your_own_pc/\n\nthis site looks detailed and plenty of pictures, pictures are the key\n\nIt took nearly 3 months for me to complete it\nand installed the box last (cause the box I had was not the right shape) for about a month I was running with the power box outside the main box which was tricky. \n\nWhen it is complete though it is one of the most satisfying things and you learn so much. Just a side note you must know how to format and must have practise. You probably know that though.\n\nBiulding my computer is one of my best accomplishments and earned me a place to skip 3 grades to computer technology 12\n\nas for no lag you will need a faster internet connection which you have to pay quite a bit for\n\nAs for the cheapest setup\n\nI went pretty cheap first which I later found was a mistake. Pay cheap but get the custimizable motherboard. Dont make the mistake I did and get the one where they will stop making proccessors for in 2 months time. Also I found that I ripped out all the ram from my other computers and loaded this one with it providing me with 1.5 gigs of ram and 3 extra big hard drives. So interchangabilty is key. I got the case and videocard over christmas but I know they were fairly cheap and the video card (Geforce 5500) has allowed me to play tons of games.
802502
An older game like that will have no problem running on any computer you can buy now.  If you are shopping for a basic laptop, my suggestions are:\n\n1) Don't buy a celeron.\n2) Make sure you get at least 512MB of RAM (1GB is a good investment)\n3) Don't spend more than $1000.\n4) Don't buy a celeron (that's really important)
1042029
www.overclockers.co.uk or www.scan.co.uk for hardware such as cables and components. \n\nFor cheap games try,\nwww.play.com\nwww.amazon.co.uk\nwww.gameplay.co.uk
55688
If you are looking for a full out gaming computer you will need more $$$$.  But If you just want to play games and don't really care about going head to head online, you can make it happen with $1,200.  As far as components, there are a lot of good manufacturer.  You will have to look in to it and decide if you want to spend more on your motherboard or more on memory and video.  Also if you want a dvd burner or just a cd-rom.  I built my own computer that I use everyday, but I can't tell you what would be the best for you because you are the only one that would know that.  I can give you the site that I buy from.  Happy Shopping  http://www.tigerdirect.com/
934348
get a better computer, or if it is online, get cable or connect to a low ping server
470211
DO NOT buy the 400 dollar bargain machines!!!!!!!!!\n\nI do in-home technical support and too often the clients that purchase these machines complain that they run just like the old one in about 6 months.  The bargain PC's are great if you know how to upgrade the machine yourself and plan on doing so later.  If you dont know how to work on a PC then do yourself the favor of shelling out another 300 dollars to get the next model up.\n\nDual Channel is a Memory technology.  If you dont plan on gaming or doing any high powered video editing, you dont really need it.\n\nlook for the following:\n\nprocessor: 2.5GHz Pentium 4 and up, OR 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon and up.  You will not notice a difference between AMD and Intel processors.  They will function exactly the same. Typically, AMD processor machines are 20-50 dollars cheaper (or the same price with more bells and whistles) than a comparable Pentium machine.\n\nRAM (Memory): AT LEAST 512MB... try for higher if possible.\n\nHard Drive (storage space):  80GB and up.\n\nVideo Card: any video card made by intel is total junk!  If the machine advertises an intergrated intel video processor take it with a grain of salt.  integrated video processors use the computer's RAM which saps performance from your machine.  Try to find a PC with an Nvidia or ATI video card of some kind.  Most people will tell you that if you dont game this isnt necessary... Im telling you that youll sacrifice a bit of speed.  Remember, you can always install an Nvidia or ATI card later on fairly cheap and easy.\n\nCD/DVD burner:  standard these days.  most computers will come with them.  Just make sure that if you want to COPY CD's and DVD's that you have CD/DVD BURNER and a DVD READER drive.
921990
g-force or ATI cards. Either of those will work well with your machine. \n\nCheck out www.tigerdirect.com for good prices and comparrisons.
259383
A good place to start is http://www.pcpitstop.com\nIt runs online with an ActiveX plugin. It tests your whole system and gives you a rundown on things.
556591
Sadly, no many current or up-to-date games will run on your computer due to its specifications. Before thinking of purchasing a game you might want to consider upgrading your computer. \n\nSomething along the lines of an AMD Athlon 64, at least 512 MB of RAM (I reccommend 1 Gigabyte), and most likely a 60 Gigabyte Hard Drive (More if you can get it). Your video card really depends on how much you are willing to spend. A top-end graphics card can cost from $250-$500. I would recommend a lower end graphics card as it should do fine for what you are looking for.\n\nIf you're adamant on getting a racing game I would reccommend the Burnout Series, although I'm not too confident that they would run on your computer.
327696
I'm assuming you want to be able to play against other players around the U.S./World. \n\nThe easiest way, with an existing broadband connection(DSL or Cable),  would be to install a wireless router.  You would plug your cable/dsl modem into the router, and then plug your computer into the router.\n\nThen you just have to follow whatever setup instructions there are for connecting the DS to the internet through the router.\n\nHowever, I'm not sure how you would do this with a dialup connection.
585232
If you want a computer for gaming (I'm guessing you play WoW or EQ/EQ2) buying a Dell is a waste of money.  The on board graphics cards don't have the power to give good resolution and you really need about 768mb RAM or better (I use about 2gig duel channel).  You would be better off going to a local computer store and seeing what it would cost to have them build you a computer.\n\nFor optimal proformance I would suggest a minimum 2.5ghz processor, 1gig ram, and a 256mb vid card. Depending on your mother board you can build it for less than $1000 and it will last longer than any dell on the market and you can upgrade it as needed (If you have 512 Ram sticks in your computer now save them and put them in the new machine, nothing better than cutting down cost by scraping older systems)\n\nBut trust me trying to get out cheap with a gaming pc will doom you to a life of lag and fustration.  I got a buddy running w/ a standard dell package and he pulls about 15fps average and lags constantly (to compare I push around 40+ fps on the highest settings) FPS=frams per sec
576098
Hard to suggest a good one unless I know what you are intending to use it for.  If it is for on-line gaming that is a different configuration then if it is for Internet research and college class work which would be completely different from AutoCad design work.\n\nBest thing to do is figure out what you want to do with it and approximately how much you are willing to spend.  Then check out the sites:\n\nwww.dell.com\n\nwww.ibm.com\n\nwww.gateway.com\n\nwww.hp.com\n\nThen price compare for what you want.
754843
PNY Verto GeForce 6200 / 256MB DDR / AGP 8x/4x / DVI / VGA / TV Out / Video Card and  Diamond Radeon X1300 / 256MB DDR2 / AGP 8x/4x / DVI / VGA / TV Out / Video Card\nbut just buy a cheap pc with pci e
638968
Few suggestions. If it's mostly for schoolwork with no gaming planned on the machine, you could go with an Intel Celeron. If gaming is a possibility, go with a Pentium single/duo core.\n\nTry to stick with to processors at least 1.5 to 2 GHz.\nMake sure the Ram is at least 512 MB, anything less is a mistake. \n\nMost computers have good sized hard disk drives now and DVD writing capabilities.\n\nI would advise against e-machines, yes they are cheap, but the quality is just not there. They will last 1-3 years in most cases, but often less. Aim for a mid-range Dell, Compaq or HP. You can easily get a prett decent machine for anywhere between $500-$800. \n\nI'll leave some examples below. \n\nAlso, purchase some Anti-Virus and Anti-spy-ware software to better protect the machine. Especially with a younger adult using it! Good anti-virus: Trend Micro "PC-Cillin" and good anti-spyware: Webroot "Spysweeper".
464945
For $1000, you could custom build a sweet system on your own. Some nice places to get the parts are, tigerdirect.com, newegg.com, zipzoomfly.com, and pricewatch.com. If you have never built one before, then get Building PCs for dummies. It's easier than you think. other than that, if you want a prebuilt gaming system, then the websites I mentioned will have them too, as well as Dell, HP/Compaq, and other mainstream PC brands.
473167
Not really. You can get an emulator, but unless you have something with the power of a quad g4 with 2g+ of ram, it will not be worth it. Just get a cheap PC and play it on there, it will have better performance.
1013614
try netzero, they are cheap.