What kind of PC do I need?

[AA7Dragoon]

Dell is Hell.

[chris]

@ Chris: Is this Norse? I can't read it, but I'll see if I can find equivalents.

just scroll down to the table. Those are the specs.

To put it quite simply:

at least 2 gigs of ram.

an 8800 nvidia card. Currently the best one (by best I mean price/power balance) is the 8800 GT so try and get that one.

a 3.0 GHz dual core OR a 2.4 GHz quad core (depends on what you intend to do. 3.0 gig dual core is better for gaming than a quad core but a quad core allows you to multi-task extensively.

[IskatuMesk]

ew nvidia

[chris]

is better than ATi unless you want to play CSS maps on gmod.

[wibod]

is better than ATi unless you want to play CSS maps on gmod.

Or you enjoy paying more for virtually the same performance.

[chris]

not really. For the same specs, an ATi card is cheaper than a nvidia one. but eh difference is that nvidia is ahead of ATi and has cards with better specs.

[Lavarinth]

not really. For the same specs, an ATi card is cheaper than a nvidia one. but eh difference is that nvidia is ahead of ATi and has cards with better specs.

And the fact there's a lifetime no questions asked warranty.

[chris]

lifetime warranty? is that with ATi or nvidia?

[wibod]

not really. For the same specs, an ATi card is cheaper than a nvidia one. but eh difference is that nvidia is ahead of ATi and has cards with better specs.

I'd like to point out something to you, most of the tests performed for these cards use identical hardware aside from the graphics card as opposed to a system that's built as an ideal platform for the card. When people with 8800s were crying about how they could only play Crysis at 20fps on medium I never had it drop below 20fps with all possible things maxed. I could do this because I know how my computer works, and the difference between top end cards is negligible if people actually know how a computer works.

[Lavarinth]

lifetime warranty? is that with ATi or nvidia?

nVidia. wibod is correct. Look at Isk- He'd go all out on FPS for games using a 9800 Pro.. Which is highly outdated by now.

[wibod]

lifetime warranty? is that with ATi or nvidia?

nVidia. wibod is correct. Look at Isk- He'd go all out on FPS for games using a 9800 Pro.. Which is highly outdated by now.

I'd also like to point out that ATi is very good with their warranties and will replace cards that are outside of their warranties unless you were doing something retarded with it, and unlike nVidia I've never had an ATi card cause problems or need to be replaced.

[Lavarinth]

lifetime warranty? is that with ATi or nvidia?

nVidia. wibod is correct. Look at Isk- He'd go all out on FPS for games using a 9800 Pro.. Which is highly outdated by now.

I'd also like to point out that ATi is very good with their warranties and will replace cards that are outside of their warranties unless you were doing something retarded with it, and unlike nVidia I've never had an ATi card cause problems or need to be replaced.

I've never had issues with nVidia, but I have four dead ATI cards here that wont be replaced since they're out of warranty...

[wibod]

lifetime warranty? is that with ATi or nvidia?

nVidia. wibod is correct. Look at Isk- He'd go all out on FPS for games using a 9800 Pro.. Which is highly outdated by now.

I'd also like to point out that ATi is very good with their warranties and will replace cards that are outside of their warranties unless you were doing something retarded with it, and unlike nVidia I've never had an ATi card cause problems or need to be replaced.

I've never had issues with nVidia, but I have four dead ATI cards here that wont be replaced since they're out of warranty...

It's cause you're an American.

[Negi]

What you need is a heterosexual computer.

(No offense AA7.)

[Anonymous]

I'd go with ATI simply because their drivers aren't retarded.

And as for Nvidia outperforming ATI... no. Especially not for the same price.

There is quite a big difference between horrendously biased review sites and actual gaming.