Newbie needs help with hardware

[TaKut]

I have been playing UT2004 off and on for a year, and really like it more than any other FPS. So I have decided to buy myself a new puter in honor of UT3......but I am totally ignorant of what to get. Alienware is nice but the salesguys at the various shops all want me to do a custom job, which is great, but I have to make decisions about stuff that I know nothing about.........all suggestions will be seriously considered.....Help

[Drintion]

If you don't know enough about computers to know what to get, I don't think you should try to custom build this yourself (if you have help thats fine) but otherwise, there's a lot you can mess up.

There's a thread on Beyond Unreal that really puts together the tech specs, which can be found at:
http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=176029

but the main points=

Get a Dual Core Processor (Right now Intel appears to be king with its Core 2 Duo, but you can still get nice deals from AMD)

Aim for around 2 Gigs of Ram (DDR2 800/667)

Get A decent videocard
Nvidia= (listed in ascending power): 7800 GT, 7900 GT, 7800 GTX, 7900 GTX, 8800 GTS (320 meg) 8800 GTS (640 meg), 8800 GTX

I'm not fluent in ATI, but I do know the 2900 XT has been SURPASSING the 8800 GTX for DX9 mode of Unreal Engine 3 games at lower resolutions.

(DX or Direct X is Microsoft's API. The latest one is DX10, which the 8000 series from Nvidia or HD series from ATI can use for extra benefits of it's new design. Right now the difference is SUBTLE at best, which is why getting a card that can run Unreal Engine games well in DX9 mode might be worth while)

Those are the main decisions if you buy 3rd party (like Alienware, Dell, Velocity Micro), because most of the other options you either: don't have control over/ it doesnt make as much of a difference (your processor, ram, and gpu (videocard) are the most influential parts of your computer)

But the exact tech specs aren't known, so maybe wait until the demo comes out, which Epic claims to be 1 month from the release date (which would be October)

Sorry if I treated you overly noobish ^_^;;

[icecone]

PS3?

[TaKut]

Thanks Drintion, these salesguys throw all these names of cards at me, but don't really give any info on them. Also, they have been pushing me for quad core at quite a lot more $$$.

Is UT3 in DX9 or DX10?

[ziadoz]

Intel Core 2 Duo (E6850, E6600)
P35 Motherboard (Asus, ABit, Gigabyte)
2GB DDR2 RAM
8800 GTX
600W PSU (Silverstone, Enermax)

That'll sort you out for UT3. It better had since that's roughly what I bought too.

[FrostBiteEST]

You dont need high end pc to play ut with normal framerates.

[Mental]

I remember the day i built my 1st PC(i'll spare you all the analogy).I didn't know a dang thing about building my own rig....but with minimal searching and reading i managed to build what i consider the most stable computer i've owned to date.

With that being said,i think the sales guy is right....building your own PC is the best way to go....and as far as what to build,i would get the best components you are able to afford and go that route.

Any questions you may have can be searched up on the internet quite easily...and besides....if you buy a pre-built PC you'll get a ton of **** you don't really want on your gaming rig to begin with(i.e. Vista).

P.S. BFG Tech makes great hardware.

[myaghy]

what about 8400 GS ?

[Madmanxan]

all this info is handy thanks guys, lol my dad custom builds my computer so its no problem to buy the parts then add em in

[myaghy]

Do you guys think that this configuration will allow me to play ut3.It is a hp notebook
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7500 (2.20 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
383MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
2GB DDR2
Thank you very much

[theeDEATHMASTER]

I don't think so, if it does, it will be at a snail's pace. lol, is that a laptop.

[[dczZz]]

I am going to have to wait until December or January to play, unless something comes out in time that will allow me to run it decently at 1920x1200

[TensorWM]

at the guy above me, wait it out until the new line of GeForce series comes out which will hopefully be by the end of Q4