Confused about my two computers...

[FrAgGEr]

Rather have 2-3gb at least D:

Well you're loving stupid, how about you do some god damn research.

[Ad Bot]

[Jsk2003]

Did any of you look at the Compaq's video card?

It sounds like a loving integrated card.

Integrated cards will always fail.

Buy a new gpu.

[Bisjac]

A TV monitor has WAY less refresh rate and color depth then a computer monitor. also usually dont support as high resolutions. so i would assume games can run much easier on it.

i googled both video "cards" and they both appear to be integrated. that means you should not be playing games at all. until you get a real video card into one of them.
i have no advice to what one you upgrade, they are both pretty low end for gaming.
but whatever one you go with, you may want a faster processor (if those are single core, because they look it)
and MAYBE another gig of ram if you feel like it.

[Jsk2003]

Wtf, BOTH ARE INTEGRATED?!

Holy stuff @ OP.

[n0cturni]

A TV monitor has WAY less refresh rate and color depth then a computer monitor. also usually dont support as high resolutions. so i would assume games can run much easier on it.

i googled both video "cards" and they both appear to be integrated. that means you should not be playing games at all. until you get a real video card into one of them.
i have no advice to what one you upgrade, they are both pretty low end for gaming.
but whatever one you go with, you may want a faster processor (if those are single core, because they look it)
and MAYBE another gig of ram if you feel like it.

Both integrated? Too expensive to upgrade right now, then. :(

But still, I'm not aiming for anything that high, just something to run Source games and maybe Far Cry, and I've been doing pretty well on Source games with a laptop with a little 128mb integrated ATI.

[Jsk2003]

What's your budget?

[Bisjac]

an average game comp as of today, would be about:
2g ram
512m video card (or 256 is fine if your PCI)
any dual 2.0 or better PCU

you could build a new comp with this for 500 or less.
or from one of your comps, upgrade  to it for about 300

* by average game comp, i pretty much mean something that can meet the required settings.
a 256m video card can cost you 40-60 bucks. depends what you want

[Jsk2003]

I made this list of things that costs around $700.

Motherboard   ASRock P43Twins1600 LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157130
$84.99

Processor   Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
$169.99

Graphics Card   PNY VCG88512GXEB-FLB GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133232
$119.99

Ram      x2 Patriot 1GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220298
$35.99     (Remember x2)

Power Supply   COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-650-PCAR 650W ATX from factor 12V V2.01 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171014
$99.99

Computer Case   Rosewill R230-P-BK Black 0.5mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075
$26.99

Hard Drive   Western Digital SE16 WD2500AAKS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136161
$59.99

DVD Drive   LG Black 22X 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144
$24.99

Input      Microsoft A4B-00007 Black 104 USB + PS/2 Standard  Mouse Included
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109035
$29.99

[n0cturni]

Motherboard   ASRock P43Twins1600 LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157130
$84.99

Budget would probably be less than that, so I'd most likely only be able to upgrade the RAM. On the Compaq.

[Jsk2003]

Less than $85?

And you're expecting to turn Crap-Ram, Crap-gpu, and Crap-Processor all into gaming things?

[Bisjac]

i would upgrade video card over ram.

because that 314 or whatever mb its using is coming from your ram right now.
a non integrated card will have its own memory.

so basically, once you have a video card, you also gain up to 314 ram

and the best available PCI GPU will be extremely cheap

[n0cturni]

Less than $85?

And you're expecting to turn Crap-Ram, Crap-gpu, and Crap-Processor all into gaming things?

No, just one of the above.

@Bisjac, I don't know, I thought it would be ram since a lot of people who have Vista say you should at least have 2gb, and all I have as of now is 1gb. If you have to replace the motherboard to put in your own video card, then I can't afford it right now.

256mb vram is fine for me now, I'm just expecting to play Source games and Far Cry.

Also, I'm trying to get the Compaq upgraded, not the E-machines.

[Bisjac]

the thing with integrated cards is, that 256m is coming from your memory being used FOR vram.
you actually have 0 vram
Just as your processor is being wasted also. while a video card will have its own

so that 1g of memory you think you  have for vista and games, is not all there.
gettign a PCI video card wouldn't require you to change your motherboard.

40-50 dollar card could change a lot for you

[Reactor Worker]

Here is a computer build I have compiled for $  . Notice that I also included other unforeseen extras that you will need to actually use the machine.

$84.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337&Tpk=GA-EP35-DS3L

Quality brand, decent features, acceptable price. Great potential for upgrades later and compatible with many, many parts.

$119.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052

Dual core, 2.53 GHZ processor. Should easily satisfy your needs. Perhaps consider upgrading this part if your budget allows for it.


$36.69 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134635

Good brand, good price, compatible. No real reason to splurge here. You could go with 4 GB of RAM but I honestly think you won't need it.

$99.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133239

The 9600GT is almost exactly as powerful as the 8800GT and runs cooler and costs less. For the games you mentioned, this card should easily max out the settings at high resolutions. If you do have money to spare, there are plenty of options to upgrade to. Send me a PM for more info.

$49.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119106

Picking a case is a pretty difficult thing to do for someone else because we all have different tastes and needs. This happens to be the same case I bought when I built my gaming PC. It has plenty of space but isn't too big to fit on the desk. I wouldn't pay any less than $50 for a case because the quality really drops off at that point. Also, avoid cases that come with power supplies as they almost always end up being really low quality.

$59.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341012

Avoid cheaping out on the powersupply as it is a really critical component. If it fails, it could damage some or all of the other computers, some have been known to catch fire or even explode. The one I have recommended above is the cheapest PSU I could offer in good conscience. I would really consider upgrading this component if you have the money.

$54.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148261

I'd stick with either Seagate or Western Digital when it comes to hard drives. This one in particular is 250 GB but for some extra dough you could upgrade to a larger capacity drive.

$29.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140030

Not a very exciting component, but a necessary one. This is a combo DVD/CD writer with all the bells and whistles. Decent price, good brand. The upgrade I can think of is if you want a blueray disk drive but those things are really expensive.

$99.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

Another necessary to any new computer is the operating system. I recommend 64 bit as it allows you to use more RAM. I use 64 bit myself and have had no compatibility problems with it (despite the commonly associated myth). All 32 bit apps run just fine on it. Also, don't buy into the bad hype about Vista, there are many benefits to using it, but I won't go into the details here.

Extras...

I am guessing you already have a mouse and keyboard, they should both work just fine with this build. Same goes for speakers.

The only new thing you may want to consider is a monitor. I myself use a 22" monitor, but I am sure even a 19" monitor would be a vast improvement over your current one.

$159.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009127

Here is an example of a monitor you may wish to consider. Just make sure you check out what the maximum resolution of a monitor is before you buy it and compare it to similar models.

Total cost (without monitor) : $631.61

[n0cturni]

the thing with integrated cards is, that 256m is coming from your memory being used FOR vram.
you actually have 0 vram
Just as your processor is being wasted also. while a video card will have its own

so that 1g of memory you think you  have for vista and games, is not all there.
gettign a PCI video card wouldn't require you to change your motherboard.

40-50 dollar card could change a lot for you

Yeah, it's the video card. Tried running HL2 on medium and the screen would flash black, with Vista saying how the drivers failed and recovered. Ran it on DX8, no problems, but low frame rate. I only have around 40-50 to spend on a video card, so is anyone open to suggestions? Looking for a 256mb card. or more