hey! i have to build a new pc, and there are some basic limitations.


1. It must run DOOM 3
2. It must be under $1200.
3. It must have W!N XP, and W!N only. (not my pc, i tried to negotiate for slack dual-boot.)
4. It must run Doom 3.
5. It has got to be decent for gaming, (not on high quality at 1600x1200, but medium at maybe 1024x768)

doom 3 requirements: 384 mb ram, 64 mb video card, 2.2 gb hd, 1.5 ghz processor.

i don't give a damn about half-life 2.

any suggestions on specs or stores or websites?

i would prefer ati and intel, but i guess nvidia is ok.

newegg.com

good place to start for parts online. i personally use a hardware wholesaler in my area, but then i own a business so i can get away with that.

99% of the time i can beat newegg prices that way, but not always.

I'd say ATi over nVidia for Windows, ATi suck ass for their Linux support though. AMD over Intel for gaming too. My gaming computer is:

AMD Athlon XP 3200+
512MB RAM
128MB ATi Radeon 9800 Pro

and runs Doom 3 with most settings on high. Cost me about £600 (excluding monitor)

I like tigerdirect.com, resonable prices and they have good deals on barebone kits.

a Nvidia will be much better for doom III and linux, so i would say that if you go that rout. for pure windows i don't really have a prefernce in vid cards, currently have a ATI 9600XT. runs doom III fine.

my rig for that is
AthlonXP 2400+
1024MB DDR 2100
ATI 9600XT
windows 2000 pro


i would get a AMD athlon64 if you want power, P4 is also good. Not sure about sempron and aviod celeron
building you own is always the rout to go.
anything you build will run with windowsXP, well unless you buy wierd and off the wall parts.

Currently ATI is a bit faster on DX but it changes all the time:
sometimes ATI is faster, sometimes nVidia. What doesn't change
is the fact that ATI Linux drivers suck AND they cheat on
benchmark tests. Ive had an ATI card before and i wish i would
have bought an nVidia instead. Go for nVidia, the small DX
advantage of ATI doesn't justify all the other problems with ATI.

My feelings mirror what everyone else is saying.

You can get a decent P4 2.4GHz system with 512 MB RAM, and a medium end nVidia card for under $1200.

If you keep the HD size reasonable (not over 100GB) then the price shouldn't be bad. Also, to keep the price down I would suggest a build your own, or no-name system. You pay like $400-600 for the name plate on the box...

so far, picked a p4 2.4ghz, 1gig ram, nvidia geforce 6200 w/256MB. gonna go wi-fi, with two other computers. all the stuff i got from newegg.

6800 GT is the best bang for buck card out there but still pricey. However the 600GT whoops even the 9800XT and costs only 225 for the agp version so that may be worth a lookign at. I prefer AMD as well over Intel its cheaper and faster.

gonna go like this:

intel p4 2.4 ghz(sorry, it's just better for xp)

aopen motherboard

wd 200gb hard drive

1 gig pc3200 ram

liteon dvd+rw drive

nvidia GeForce 6200

all from newegg.com, about $750

what do u think?

I think amd supports XP just as well as intel. Never seen a difference, and I couldn't tell you the number of systems I touch every day.

Make sure you get a good thermal compound (paste) for it. Don't use the stock stuff they give you... arctic silver 5 is nice. I just used it on a system I built.