Gaming PC Specs Help Plz

[Mambino334]

I hope this is the correct locatino for this post. If not, move me please. New to the site.

I will post the specs for the 2 computers I have to choose from. The purpose of the computer souly is to play Battlefield BC 2 / Battlefield 3 (when it's released)



Make/Model: Dell Inspirion 570 Mini Tower
Proc:AMD Athlon II x4 (2.8 Ghz)
Mem: 6GB
Hard drive 1TB
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
VC: AMD Radeon 5450

OR

Make/Model: Acer Aspire Ax3950
Proc: Intel i3-540 (3.06 Ghz)
Mem: 6GB
Hard drive 1TB
VC: Intel HD Graphics
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium


What all do I need to do to be able to play BFBC2/BF3?? Please hurry! Thanks guys!



Moved from PC Gaming

Anandtech Moderator
KeithTalent

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

Neither one of those computers will handle BC2 or BF3 at what I'd consider playable settings. The graphics cards (AMD 5450 in the first, Intel HD graphics in the second) are too weak, especially the Intel HD.

If you head over to the the General Hardware forum, read the sticky post at the top, and follow those directions, those guys can help get you squared away with parts to buy to build your own computer that will handle these games more than adequately. Don't be afraid of building yourself. It takes a little effort to learn, but it is in no way difficult. The parts only go together one way, and if something goes wrong you've got a good resource in this forum to help you troubleshoot. Give it a try.

 

[AstroManLuca]

They both suck. You need a real graphics card.

 

[sigurros81]

Unfortunately the specs you listed will not be enough. How much are you willing to spend? I think for you to play BC2 properly and eventually BC3, you'll probably have to spend around 1grand.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Is that second computer a laptop or a desktop? If it's a desktop, you could hopefully buy that and then buy a dedicated graphics card, like a Geforce GTX 560 Ti. Just make sure it has enough room inside and it has a free PCI-E x16 slot.

 

[veri745]

Neither one of those computers will handle BC2 or BF3 at what I'd consider playable settings.

...head over to the the General Hardware forum, read the sticky post at the top, and follow those directions...

This

 

[Fanatical Meat]

well assuming BF3 has similar requirements to BC2, they should work (although a quad core is recommended for BC2) assuming you get a better video card. Its super easy to change the cards, just make sure either machine has a expansion slot for it. I would bet that around BF3's release you could pick up a decent video card for about $150 that would run the game fine.

 

[CVSiN]

BF3 will not have similar requirements that game is 4 generations old now.
expect a much higher end system for BF3 than in the past unless you want to play at the worst settings they have.

expect a top end system to run it at max.

 

[Malak]

Get a console, they are cheaper than the video card you need and can play those games just fine!

 

[CVSiN]

Get a console, they are cheaper than the video card you need and can play those games just fine!

yah and then you can play a "crippled" version of the real game..

They are building this one on the PC as a primary platform.
expect a much better experience than the past 3 BF games that were console crap ports.

 

[aigomorla]

yah and then you can play a "crippled" version of the real game..

They are building this one on the PC as a primary platform.
expect a much better experience than the past 3 BF games that were console crap ports.

compared to his choices... a console is better IMO.

If thats what he's limited to, then i say get a console as well.

 

[Mambino334]

Thanks guys. Yes, they are Desktops. My friends that play it all say go with option 2 then upgrade cards but I wanted to be sure b/c its coming out of my check through the State's computer purchasing program. Go to www.purchasingpower.com and click on Desktops and you'll see the list.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

BF3 will not have similar requirements that game is 4 generations old now.
expect a much higher end system for BF3 than in the past unless you want to play at the worst settings they have.

expect a top end system to run it at max.

I wouldn't expect that, they do want to sell the game and pricing everyone out because the system requirements are too high is just dumb. I would guess any normal PC made around summer time would run it fine (assuming it has a decent video card).

 

[Mambino334]

Ok, now I read in another site http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/295325-28-core-athlon#2213621 that the i3 is better than the Athlon II x4 and will run BFBC2 but then it goes onto say that the Athlon is better. Which one guys?

 

[Malak]

The processor is not the issue here man. It's entirely in the video card.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

The worry I have with buying one of those computers and upgrading the video card is that you are more than likely getting a piece of crap power supply that may not be able to handle a decent video card. You'll have to try and check both the PSU wattage and what connectors it has when you're considering video card options. If you're too limited by the PSU, then you end up having two components to upgrade, and likely void any warranty the computer comes with.

If you put a gun to my head and made me take one of these, I guess I'd take the second, but there's no guarantee it will work out like you plan. Honestly, buying a Xbox 360 would probably be the better route in this case.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Yeah the real problem is that many cheap prebuilt desktops aren't designed to take a good video card. A friend of mine wanted to upgrade but his power supply didn't have a spare power connector for the video card, and the motherboard and PCIe slots were arranged in such a way that prevented installing a double-wide card. In other words, he was limited to single-slot cards that don't require external power. You can still get decent video cards that meet those requirements, but they're well below the power you need to run really demanding games. They're better for stuff like WoW.

 

[Malak]

Some of those machines might not even have a proper slot for a video card on them at all.

Can't even look at what that website offers without signing up, and I'm not going to be bothered to do that. I wouldn't waste any money there though.

 

[mfenn]

Both of those machines are terrible for gaming. Unless you're getting them for a steal (well south of $300), it is not going to be worth it to try to upgrade them.