Computer Jargon

[warspite1]

Help required please. I am looking to buy a new computer - I have seen one with the following specs that seems to meet my budget. These specs mean either nothing, (most of it), or is faguely familiar (about two items)... and so is largely a lot of Gobbledegook.

Question - would this computer be able to cope with games like the Total War series and Civ 5? Many thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Processor Intel® Core™ i7-2600
- 3.4 GHz
- DMI: 5GT/s
- 8 MB L3 cache
Operating System Windows® 7 Home Premium
RAM 8 GB
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce 3GB GT 545
Hard drive 2TB
5400 rpm
SATA G3
BDROM: 4x / CD: 48x / DVD: 8x
Memory card reader 15-in-1 memory card reader
Video interface 1 x DVI
1 x VGA
1 x HDMI
3 x PCI-Express x1
1 x PCI-Express x16
Audio interface High Definition Audio 7.1
1 x audio line out
4 x analog audio out
1 x digital audio out

[ilovestrategy]

Everything is good except for the hard drive, depending on whether you're talking about a desktop or laptop. If desktop I would get a hard drive with 7200 RPMs. 5400 is unacceptable on a desktop. Even though 7200 is better, 5400 is ok on a laptop because of the price.

I game on both, I know.

Civ V chugs on my 4 year old desktop, it's good you're getting a decent machine.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy

Everything is good except for the hard drive, depending on whether you're talking about a desktop or laptop. If desktop I would get a hard drive with 7200 RPMs. 5400 is unacceptable on a desktop. Even though 7200 is better, 5400 is ok on a laptop because of the price.

I game on both, I know.

Civ V chugs on my 4 year old desktop, it's good you're getting a decent machine.

Warspite1

Thanks for responding ilovestrategy - these computer thingys leave me cold....

I must confess RPM on a computer (it's a desk top btw) is not something I've ever heard of. Are you saying that at 5400, this particular hard drive is no good for CIV 5?

[Phatguy]

I have a 5400 on my slightly older system.....It's not so bad....TW,civ 5 and it's ilk work fine..but if you can upgrade to a 7200 do it......

[warspite1]

Thanks for your time guys [:)]

[parusski]

If feasible, upgrade to 7200. Everything else in this system is nice and should keep you sailing for years.

[ilovestrategy]

5400 is not bad, it's just that hard drives are so cheap nowadays that you can get a much faster 7200 for a few bucks more. In this case, you'll get a lot more bang for your bucks. Or Pounds, Euros or what ever it is that you guys spend over there.

I'm just teasing, nothing serious intended. [:)]

[Phatguy]

or better yet, buy yourself a 7200 and keep both hardrives in your box. I have two, in both of my systems.....ILS is right.They are cheap.

[n01487477]

ORIGINAL: apathetic lurker

or better yet, buy yourself a 7200 and keep both hardrives in your box. I have two, in both of my systems.....ILS is right.They are cheap.

I agree; The biggest throughput bottleneck these days is HDD speed. So I'd just have 2*7200 or 1*7200 + a 1TB USB 3.0 external HDD (just for backup).

Other points to consider:
[*]I'd be making sure your motherboard(m/b) is not a generic knock off - what brand / model? Same with ram ... System builders knock corners off with cheap components.
[*]Can the m/b take the latest SSD (solid state drives - yep I know they're a bit unreliable and expensive still; but what about 2-3 yrs time)
[*]USB 3.0 ports for external devices
[*]What cooling is provided?
[*]There are two Gt545's one with better ram ...
[*]What power supply are they giving you? 650 watt or higher?
[*]A second GPU port for dual monitor support or output ability.

Anyway, I'm sure it will be fine for your purposes anyway. I just hate generically made computers.

[Knavery]

Use the 5400 as a storage drive and go with the 7200. Hard drives are cheap as hell. It's a no-brainer.

[TonyE]

I would bump your operating system up to Windows 7 Professional as well so that you get the license to use a Windows XP Virtual machine (google Windows XP Mode) for some older games that don't like 64-bit operating systems.

[planner 3]

I also agree with TonyE pro is the way to go.

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]