Gaming Thoughts on this computer

[kevan]

http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/computers-l...sktop-pc/650468

Thoughts please for my friend.

 

[bowlofspiders]

My main concern would be what wattage the power supply contains. Everything else looks great. Graphics card will need an upgrade in the future. Looks like a great machine!

 

[kevan]

220W
He wants it for gaming mainly.
Minecraft
BC2 (If he gets it).
Maybe BF3 later
then other games like
Terraria
TF2

Its a small ass case though makes upgrading a real pain...
I was silly not to mention what he wanted it for

 

[Chikaku-chan]

It sounds really good. Wish I had one....

 

[kevan]

To ruin Skyrix's fun its for him.

 

[PettingZoo]

220W
He wants it for gaming mainly.
Minecraft
BC2 (If he gets it).
Maybe BF3 later
then other games like
Terraria
TF2

Its a small ass case though makes upgrading a real pain...
I was silly not to mention what he wanted it for

Upgrading prebuilts aren't usually that much of a good idea, considering they sometimes use motherboards that aren't all too friendly toward upgrades as well as case size and psu you've mentioned.

You've also mentioned he would like to play video games on it, even more so maybe BC2 and BF3 the HD6570 is quite a low end card that wouldn't necessarily perform well with those games. As well as this the graphics card severely bottlenecks the CPU. My best advice would be to tell him to look up some helpful videos on youtube about building a computer, consider the Logical Increments PC Buying Guide and head on over to Umart.com.au if he lives in Melbourne/Brisbane/Gold Coast. Not trying to sound like some sort of advertisement but I've bought plenty of stuff from there, even components for my own build and building for some friends of mine and they have fantastic prices for Australia and a vast selection.

Seriously the price and performance of building over a pre-built is well worth it, get involved with him in learning how to put everything together (it's seriously just Lego for big boys) and get the parts and then put it together, could be a pretty fun thing to do over the weekend or something.

 

[kevan]

He's already deposited, this is just second opinions.

 

[PettingZoo]

He's already deposited, this is just second opinions.

Oh.. well poor performance on most modern games for him then I guess

 

[kevan]

I offered to build him a computer multiple times but yeah.

 

[Originality]

For his needs, it should be good enough. I don't expect it to play BC2 at high settings (let alone maxed), but it should be playable. The others have low requirements (excluding BF3).

Don't expect to be able to upgrade it. If in the future he needs a better comp, he should start over from scratch using the parts guide I keep linking in these type of threads, and presumably kevan's help building it. Theres nothing in this computer that's future proof.

 

[kevan]

Why isnt the processor future proof? As apps go on, they should support
quadcore or in this case hexacore processors. Therefore it should get better...
For a little while.

 

[Splych]

Why isnt the processor future proof? As apps go on, they should support
quadcore or in this case hexacore processors. Therefore it should get better...
For a little while.

it's almost impossible for a computer to be future proofed actually .
computers will always be updated , and there will always be something better to come out then the previous generation .

 

[scrtmstr]

You should also keep in mind that this pc isn't upgradable, because the case is so damn small. You can't get anything in there. Everything that's in it right now barely fits in there. That was also something to considder.

 

[kevan]

Why isnt the processor future proof? As apps go on, they should support
quadcore or in this case hexacore processors. Therefore it should get better...
For a little while.

it's almost impossible for a computer to be future proofed actually .
computers will always be updated , and there will always be something better to come out then the previous generation .

I understand that it's impossible to future proof a pc. I just thought this one would hold
up better.

 

[Originality]

The CPU (Phenom II X6 1035T) was only a mid-ranged CPU at the time. It's not as fast as the 1090T which was the only AMD CPU to hold up to the Intel Core i series at the time, and it will still be roughly 40-80% weaker than equivalently priced Intel CPUs today. It still has the technology that will disable half of it's cores to boost the speed of the other cores, which is important for games since they only use 2 cores (usually), but that doesn't change the fact that it's a last-generation mid-ranged AMD CPU, which is 3 strikes against it.

AMD A6 and A8 has just been launched and makes a marked improvement over the Phenom series. Also Bulldozer is supposed to be released very soon, and they're all supposed to be priced very competitively compared to Intel CPUs. These CPUs are future proof because you can expect them to serve you well for the next 5 or so years.

As for the graphics card (HD6570), it's a budget card. Judging by the size of the case, it's probably also a low profile card. Put simply, it's not very good, however it's enough for now. As more modern games come out you will have to push the settings lower and lower until you're just not satisfied with what you're getting. As a rule of thumb, budget graphics last a year, mid-ranged last 3 years, and high-end graphics last around 5 years. I got a HD4870 and it still holds up well playing all games at high settings (it's comparable to HD5770 or HD6770).

Also the case, motherboard and PSU are at a dead end in terms of upgrading. Judging from the air vents in the case, it's a BTX case/motherboard which is backwards compared to most cases/mobos (which are ATX). Basically, it's not designed for upgrading or even over clocking, it's designed to meet the users needs for a comparatively low price. Even the graphics card will be upside down in an attempt to save space, which is typical of BTX motherboards. Not to mention a 220W PSU doesn't even give you much room to add extra drives.

This is why I say it's not future proof. In a year or two you'll want an upgrade, and this computer will either be handed down to someone who has no special needs, be converted into a server/media storage computer, or be put aside to gather dust (like 4 of my computers). This is just based on my observation however, as I do know people who can make such a computer last 6 years... But that's not most people.

 

[p1ngpong]

I found a picture of the inside of the case while browsing a review of a different version of this machine here.

I don't think anyone needs to say anything more about the impossibility of upgrading this thing.

Your friend should avoid this.

 

[kevan]

Yeah its too late anyway... Can be closed now.

 

[Chikaku-chan]

I offered to build him a computer multiple times but yeah.

But the thing you forget to mention is.... MY GRANDPARENTS WOULDNT LET ME GIVE YOU THE MONEY!!!
(Yes an all caps rage for a major factor you forgot to mention)

 

[Originality]

I offered to build him a computer multiple times but yeah.

But the thing you forget to mention is.... MY GRANDPARENTS WOULDNT LET ME GIVE YOU THE MONEY!!!
(Yes an all caps rage for a major factor you forgot to mention)

Then buy the parts yourself (or through your grandparents) and have him come over to help you put it together. If they still don't agree, then you just haven't presented your case well enough (or they're rather stubborn).

Anyway, live and learn for next time. In the meanwhile, enjoy the computer you do have. It may not be upgradable, but it's still not a bad computer.

 

[Fishaman P]

AMD A6 and A8 has just been launched and makes a marked improvement over the Phenom series. Also Bulldozer is supposed to be released very soon, and they're all supposed to be priced very competitively compared to Intel CPUs. These CPUs are future proof because you can expect them to serve you well for the next 5 or so years.

Actually, the benchmarks I've seen say that even the best A8 doesn't out-process the lowly Core i3 540.
But if you don't need processing power, I hear it has wicked graphics integrated, and discrete AMD graphics cards can work alongside the integrated graphics.
5-way CrossFire anyone?