Jim, It all depends upon your budget, really.
Games and AutoCAD are RAM memory hungry and need a fast CPU, plus a fast graphic card and a fast response TFT monitor. "Work" applications like Word or Excel have less requirements. For a real game-oriented PC, expect to pay: 1) around $350 for CPU like Core Duo 3.3 Ghz (max $1750 for Core 2 Extreme QX9775) - games yet to support Quad Core CPU ranging from $250 to $550) 2) Brand name graphic card with at least 512Mb of onboard DDR3 memory, between $350 and $500 (pro-games take two cards with two monitors ;-) 3) Brand name motherboard - from $200 up to $400 for Core 2 Extreme 4) Brand name DDR3 RAM memory 4Gb - two 2GB modules for example, OCZ Platinum - $450 5) water cooler for the CPU and graphic card - $500? otherwise, your PC may get noisy 6) $800 or more for 24" - 26" TFT monitor 7) $200 for brand name low noise power supply unit remaining things like DVD-ROMs, hard drives etc are not that critical for performance, and will cost less. >From the other side, for a $1000 you can still build a decent PC ))) So it is always better to give your budget in such tasks! Good luck! Vladimir Thursday, August 14, 2008, 8:54:38 AM, you wrote: > All, > I want to buy a new computer to use at home for both myself (for work) and > for the kids (for games). I will have it built for me but need to make sure > that it has all the necessary bits and pieces for it to be able to handle > the latest generation of computer games (video card, processor, sound card > etc) as well as run MS Office and such programmes as AutoCad. Can anyone > give me advice as to the configuration and specification for such a > computer? > Thanks > Jim _______________________________________________ Expat mailing list [email protected] http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat http://www.expat.ru/forum/
