You opinions please

[stephen64]

Will this computer be any good for playing future games like Doom 3 and unreal 2 Compaq AMD Athlon xp 2200+ 256mb ddr ram 60gb hard drive 64mb ge force 4 Firewire dvd rom and dvd burner drive and 15 inch TFT flat panel monitor are the nec flat monitors any good? thanks

[Budfred]

Looks good to me, although the RAM is a little light for some games, 512 or more would probably be better. Also, your OS can make a big difference for RAM requirements.

Budfred

[saphalline]

...15 inch TFT flat panel monitor...
Flat panel monitors aren't generally the best for gaming because of ghosting, lots of it. They are getting better as the LCD technology matures more and more, but the vast majority of them will just not perform like a good CRT.

Not only that, but flat panel monitors usually have one resolution that is rendered perfectly, called its "native resolution". 15 inchers have a native resolution of 1024 x 768, or sometimes 1152 x 864. Thus, you can't really go higher than that because the LCD simply doesn't have any more pixels left. This is a big concern for me since I like playing games at 1280 x 1024, which would require at least a 17" flat panel monitor.

I certainly didn't want to rain on your parade here, but I thought I should warn you of the gaming dangers of LCD monitors. LCD's consume far less power than a standard CRT monitor and are the absolute best for text and 2D work (most 2D games, also) but fast 3D rendering and DVD/movie watching are severely lacking. If I were buying that PC, I would either opt to swap the flat panel for a CRT monitor (go ahead and ask, they want to make the sale!), or just buy a 19" CRT monitor to go with it.

The GF4 cards have built-in support for CRT + LCD configs, tho not all models include this so check the back before you buy! Most also include a cord for LCD to CRT, or vise-versa, in case you want dual-CRT's or dual-LCD's. If you've got the cash and the GF4 on that PC has the ports, a CRT as your main display plus a flat panel LCD for surfing, writing papers, etc. would be very cool! :cool: I wouldn't mind that at all... maybe I should include that in my upgrade list...

[stephen64]

Ive been playing Halo on my xbox, which is a brilliant game but the experience didnt seen to compare to my fond memorys of playing Half life, unreal, Quake and Quake2 on hi res with keyboard and mouse.
I think Im going to take the plunge again and buy a new PC,what with the imenent release of Doom 3, Unreal 2 and deus x 2, I just hope Windows xp is more stable than m.e

[Budfred]

Win XP is definitely more stable than ME, but also more hassle. Be prepared to delete a bunch of unnecessary stuff to get it running smoothly and to register it with MicroSoft or lose the ability to use it. You don't really own it you see.... MS keeps a hand on it at all times and the price you pay is just for the privilege of using it on their terms.

Budfred