re: PC Gaming Computer Specs

You need a HD6870 at minimum. 6450 will be a slideshow at BF3. I have 2 6950s and it rocks BC2 on 3 monitors at over 100 fps. I have over 3000 into my setup though. What resolution are you looking to play at?

Fastest Chips

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does he do laptops?

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He sells them but doesn't specifically build gaming laptops, I don't think, but will double check with him to make sure. I'll shoot him your specs in an email along with Stout's to him this morning when he gets here.

baytiger, he does not handle gaming laptops. He said they are good for about a year until the next big game comes out and so much harder to upgrade. Sorry.

Stout, go to the LOB and I will post the link to it over there since they tend to frown upon linking businesses that sell things on here, especially when you're friends with them.

It was all good until you got to:

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AMD Radeon HD6450 Graphics With 1GB of video memory

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I have a 6850, which is much better and still not expensive, and it handles any game I've thrown at it at max graphics.
LINK

The 6450 won't get you running many video games very well. You'd be better off going with a 5800 or 5900 series.

Think of it like this, the lower the number, the shittier the card, within the series, like 5x or 6x series. So 5950 > 6450, etc.

My computer cost me $650 w/o an OS. 500 GB HDD, 4 GBs RAM, AMD Athlon II x4 3 GHz quad-core processor, 600w P.S., ASUS M4A87TD mobo, DVD/RW drive, and my Radeon HD 6850 and it has handled everything I've thrown at it at max graphics. Though I didn't play Crysis 2

I built an Intel based system last year for $1,000. It was my first time building a game rig but it worked out better than I had hoped.

I'm also building my roommate's computer at the moment (just waiting to slap down the CC info) using much of the same components but with minor upgrades.

What's cool is my computer is still running everything I throw at it smoothly at max settings. Even BF3 Alpha on my 1 year old system ran exceptionally well.

Here's some of the main components from the newer computer I'll be building soon if you're interested:

• EVGA P55V Intel Motherboard
• Intel Core i5 2.8GHz Quad-Core Processor
• EVGA GeForce GTX 570
• 8 GB of SDRam DDR3
• SAMSUNG 1TB 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive

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Good advice, its all about getting the best bang for ur buck. U can buy a video card now for $200 or one for $400 but the $200 card will play anything for the next year and a half at max settings and then n 2 years u can get a card better than the $400 card for $200.

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Yep.

For some reason, people have it in their head that they need like 8+ gigs of RAM, which is stupid. Unless you plan on doing video editing, a gaming machine has no real use for that much RAM. I never see 3GB being used at once and I multitask quite a bit. I'd say maybe go with 6 if you're not on a super tight budget but I see no reason right now to get 8+ GB of RAM. Cut and save whereever you can if you're on a tight budget, as I was. Having additional RAM doesn't speed up your computer if you're not using what you have already.

Looks pretty good (outside of the questionable vid card)

You will want to get 64 bit form of Windows.

And if you are willing to spend more, dump it into the RAM. You can never have enough of that...especially for FPSs

And I would recommend NEVER getting a gaming laptop. Really not worth it. You will pay a premium to get something that you won't be able to upgrade, and in practice it is essentially a mobile desktop rather than a portable computer.

You'll be doing good getting a half hour out of the battery if you try playing a game while not plugged in.

Made the mistake of getting one as a graduation gift from HS. While it was nice to be able to play BF2 in a lecture hall....the novelty wore off before long and it was more trouble than it was worth.

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Best way to do this Stout is tell us the max you want to spend.

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+1

And are you building the computer, or buying one.

EDIT: I see you already said you were thinking of building one.

FWIW, if you wanted to buy one, but still have a high degree of customization control over the components inside, look at Ibuypower.