Hardware [Help!] New PC - Good for Gaming?

[Thirty3Three]

My old PC bit the dust...

Anyway, doing some research and came across a desktop with these specs (Note: I'm not looking for an all-out gaming PC. Just a PC 'capable' of games such as Bioshock infinite, etc.)


Here are the specs of the PC I'm looking at:

Processor: 2.4GHz Core i7-4770S (Can be 'turboboosted'/overclocked to 3.4Ghz - states "6 MB cache", whatever that means... It's Quad-Core)
RAM: 8GB DDR3
Graphics Coprocessor: Intel HD Graphics 4600 (up to 1.75 GB)


Note: My old computer had lower specs, and was able to run BioShock Infinite/Skyrim, etc, at least, at medium quality. (My old PC had Intel Core i5-2410M Processor, able to be overclocked to 2.8GHz, same 8GB DDR3 RAM, pretty much, AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, it was weaker than this pc I'm looking at.)


Note: The old PC had, for video graphics, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6490m" graphics chip, I guess you'd say, as well as Intel i5... The one I'm looking at does not have ATI... will that limit anything on the new PC compared to my old one?

(I'm looking for a pc which is a decent price, not an 'official gaming pc', mind you.)

With the PC I'm looking at, I can run games like BioShock Infinite right? I was able to on my old, seemingly worse-spec'd PC. THANKS! <3

 

[Thanatos Telos]

Budget? Are you willing to build? (It's like legos for adults, no joke. 3 hours, TOPS. And it's easy if you study the proper videos. Finally, it gives you a better bang for the buck.)

 

[Thirty3Three]

Budget? Are you willing to build? (It's like legos for adults, no joke. 3 hours, TOPS. And it's easy if you study the proper videos. Finally, it gives you a better bang for the buck.)

Well, I'm not looking to build, really.

I just found this PC online, and the specs seem, all-around better than the one I had previously.

However, the older PC (Which is now kaput) had "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6490m", which the new PC doesn't. I'm not sure how that compares to the PC I'm looking at with its "Intel HD Graphics 4600".

I just want to be able to play a game such as BI on at least, lowest settings, with constant framerate.

If my old PC could handle that, and the specs are lesser, than I don't see why this one can't. But that's why I'm asking; I want to know before dropping money on the PC.



I'm looking for something under 1,000 which performs "Decently" with video games like Fable 3/Bioshock tier, ya know?

 

[Thanatos Telos]

The graphics are shit and the processor is one of those energy efficient models that's weaker than usual. Trust me, if you want to game, the best and most affordable option is building it yourself. You can easily do it and I can rec a video. Also, manufactured ones usually have sub-par power supplies, resulting in a PC that may/may not last.

 

[Thirty3Three]

The graphics are shit and the processor is one of those energy efficient models that's weaker than usual. Trust me, if you want to game, the best and most affordable option is building it yourself. You can easily do it and I can rec a video. Also, manufactured ones usually have sub-par power supplies, resulting in a PC that may/may not last.

But how does it rank in comparison to my last PC?

 

[Kirito-kun]

Firstly, don't buy prebuilt PCs. The only situation where it would be okay is if you find a good price on a non-gaming PC with a good CPU and other core components but lacking a good graphics card. This will allow you to simply install a graphics card and have yourself a quick gaming PC.

However, the vastly superior path is to build your own PC from scratch.

AMD APU Route

AMD A10 5800K
8GB Corsair Veangance RAM
1TB WD Blue HDD

Intel Route

Core i5-3570K
Nvidia GTX 650 Ti
8GB Corsair Veangance RAM
1TB WD Blue HDD

 

[Thirty3Three]

Firstly, don't buy prebuilt PCs. The only situation where it would be okay is if you find a good price on a non-gaming PC with a good CPU and other core components but lacking a good graphics card. This will allow you to simply install a graphics card and have yourself a quick gaming PC.

However, the vastly superior path is to build your own PC from scratch.

AMD APU Route

AMD A10 5800K
8GB Corsair Veangance RAM
1TB WD Blue HDD

Intel Route

Core i5-3570K
Nvidia GTX 650 Ti
8GB Corsair Veangance RAM
1TB WD Blue HDD

Well, I'm also using this for schooling, I just want to know if this PC can pull off the 'stuff' my old PC could. I don't really care for a 'hardcore gaming' thing. Just one that could play them on minimum settings.

I should add that my first priority for using this is for schoolwork.

Does it outperform my last PC- is what I'd like to know. In terms of 'gaming'. Or is it worse? The same? Roughly? Etc.

 

[Foxi4]

AMD APU Route...

Stop right there.

If you want to do any serious gaming at all, forget about APU's. APU's are made for energy-efficient multimedia stations, not for full-sized PC's.

To the OP: get an Intel i7, preferably the 3rd generation model. Quad-Core is fine, games no longer require a lot of processing power. You'll need at least 8GB RAM DDR3 memory and on top of that, at least a mid-range GPU. GeForce ones generally work better on Intel builds, look through some benchmarks for a good performance-to-price match.

 

[Thirty3Three]

Stop right there.

If you want to do any serious gaming at all, forget about APU's. APU's are made for energy-efficient multimedia stations, not for full-sized PC's.

To the OP: get an Intel i7, preferably the 3rd generation model. Quad-Core is fine, games no longer require a lot of processing power. You'll need at least 8GB RAM DDR3 memory and on top of that, at least a mid-range GPU. GeForce ones generally work better on Intel builds, look through some benchmarks for a good performance-to-price match.

Thanks Gene.

But, I'm not really talking about building a PC, haha! I'd use this primarily for schooling, etc. I just wanted to know, that with the specs for the new pc, listed, would I be able to play games like Bioshock on the lowest settings, etc, with no framedrop haha! My old PC (which I also listed the specs there...) could run it with no frame drops, but I'm just worried because the old pc had the whole "ATI Radeon" thing, while the new one only has "Intel HD Graphics 4600"

 

[Thanatos Telos]

Firstly, don't buy prebuilt PCs. The only situation where it would be okay is if you find a good price on a non-gaming PC with a good CPU and other core components but lacking a good graphics card. This will allow you to simply install a graphics card and have yourself a quick gaming PC.

However, the vastly superior path is to build your own PC from scratch.

AMD APU Route

AMD A10 5800K
8GB Corsair Veangance RAM
1TB WD Blue HDD

Intel Route

Core i5-3570K
Nvidia GTX 650 Ti
8GB Corsair Veangance RAM
1TB WD Blue HDD

So you're on Reddit, eh?
Anyway, the 650 ti is somewhat subpar for a 1000$.

This is much more like it:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($122.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($55.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $986.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-18 19:06 EDT-0400)

 

[Thirty3Three]

I love how nobody is answering my question. Lawl c;

 

[Thanatos Telos]

Foxi4, sorry for double post, but mentioning doesn't work for edits. An i7 makes little to no difference in gaming for an extra 100$. (In comparison to an i5.)

 

[Foxi4]

I love how nobody is answering my question. Lawl c;

The Intel HD GPU will be far inferior to the one you had and will not meet your needs. You need an external GPU - think either NVidia or Radeon, but I tend to lean towards NVidia. The Intel GPU is there for very basic needs, video streaming and basic 3D, it doesn't come anywhere close to rivaling an independent GPU with its own embedded memory. All it'll end up doing is hogging your RAM.

Foxi4, sorry for double post, but mentioning doesn't work for edits. An i7 makes little to no difference in gaming for an extra 100$. (In comparison to an i5.)

He'll use it for more than just gaming though, but I suppose you're right. I'm using an i3 and I can't complain - games don't use nearly as much CPU power as they used to these days, an i5 does sound like a good choice, but the i7 is more future-proof.

 

[Luckkill4u]

I love how nobody is answering my question. Lawl c;

Are we talking about notebooks/ultrabooks? or actual desktop pc's? I'm sure HD 6490m is better than Intel's intergrated HD 4600...

 

[Kirito-kun]

Stop right there.

If you want to do any serious gaming at all, forget about APU's. APU's are made for energy-efficient multimedia stations, not for full-sized PC's.

To the OP: get an Intel i7, preferably the 3rd generation model. Quad-Core is fine, games no longer require a lot of processing power. You'll need at least 8GB RAM DDR3 memory and on top of that, at least a mid-range GPU. GeForce ones generally work better on Intel builds, look through some benchmarks for a good performance-to-price match.

The OP was pretty clear that he didn't care about playing graphically-intensive games at maximum settings. The A10 5800K is AMD top-of-the-line APU which, when overclocked, can match a GT 640 in graphics performance.

So you're on Reddit, eh?
Anyway, the 650 ti is somewhat subpar for a 1000$.

This is much more like it:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($122.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($55.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $986.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-18 19:06 EDT-0400)

Of course, my brethren. May the glorious GabeN watch over us both.

As for the build, I don't recall the OP explicitly stating his budget. I'm more inclined to think that he's going for a more mid-range gaming PC, somewhere around $700. But yes, if he was going for a $1000 build, then a GTX 760 would be a better choice.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

The PC you posted would do shit for gaming. It would work, sort of, but the integrated Intel Graphics is crap for gaming. My estimate is you would be able to play games like Bioshock Infinite and the likes at low to maybe medium settings.


The reason everyone else is telling you to build a PC is because it's an overall better option. You get more power for your money, and you get the luxury of choosing components that cater to what you want to do.

IMO, you should build one yourself. I know you don't feel like it, but you'll really appreciate it in the long run.

Ideal specs for a budget:
Intel i5
nVidia GeForce 650 (cheap and runs about any game you throw at it at full speeds)
8GB of RAM
Then a motherboard to match your processor, a PSU (about 500W should do just fine), a HDD (you could probably just salvage the one from your old PC, unless it died which just means you can pick up whatever storage you'd think you'd need. You can also do the same for a DVD drive), and a case.

At most, this build would cost you around $500-$600, give or take a bit for the case and PSU and stuff.

 

[Thirty3Three]

So how about this? (Looking at laptops now...)

Is this better or worse than my last pc (For gaming)?

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satel...&qid=1376868037&sr=8-8&keywords=gaming+laptop

 

[Thanatos Telos]

Kirito-kun

I'm looking for something under 1,000 which performs "Decently" with video games like Fable 3/Bioshock tier, ya know?

EDIT: OT: This is a better gaming laptop for the price. Just look at the baseline model.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

The laptop Thanatos posted is a better model. Lenovo makes great laptops, so if you were looking for one of them that would be it.

 

[Thirty3Three]

It only goes up to 2.40GHz though... whereas my old one went to 2.9? Can I still ya know, play Full-speed on most PS2 games vita PCSX2, and Bioshock infinite, and whatnot, as I could with my old laptop?