Hey guys, so today I finally downloaded and installed Blacklight: Retribution. I waited 2 hours for the patch to update, and finally got the chance to play it. After 2 overheats, I realized that the game stated my GPU (which is an AMD Mobility ATI Radeon 3200 HD GPU), and that it was last updated 67 months ago. Ouch. So, I looked to see if there were any updates available for my GPU, and unfortunately the ones I find are ones linked to the Desktop variant, and AMD doesn't even list the 3200 on their website anymore.
Basically, does anyone know where I can find an update for my GPU? I'm beginning to think this might be the ENTIRE reason as to why I overheat so frequently on some games. If it isn't, then my laptop just flatout sucks. :P
EDIT: And I can't buy a new laptop, don't have the money for it right now...
HMMMMMMMM... ever thought of buying a new laptop :shrug:
Best place I found was the AMD site (link (http://support.amd.com/en-us/download))
They list the Mobility Radeon HD 3xxx Series, but not the 3200 explicitly.
The download I looked at said it was updated around October. That was for Win7 32-bit. Don't know what OS you are looking at though.
-edit
By "list" I mean you have to select the appropriate settings in their form.
I wish sites didn't do stuff like that.
Quote from: tirpider on December 21, 2013, 05:40:27 PM
Best place I found was the AMD site (link (http://support.amd.com/en-us/download))
They list the Mobility Radeon HD 3xxx Series, but not the 3200 explicitly.
The download I looked at said it was updated around October. That was for Win7 32-bit. Don't know what OS you are looking at though.
Eh, the 3000 series is fine for me. I'm looking for a Vista 64-bit update though.
EDIT: Nevermind, I found it for my Vista OS. Will download and install now, I'l get back to you later to see if it's changed my laptop in a positive manner.
EDIT: Well, it's installed, unfortunately I've no game to test it on, since I deleted the Blacklight: Retribution exe already (big mistake, I'l need to wait 2 hours again to install the patch...). I also can't use SWBF/SWBFII, because my parents still need to find where they hid the discs from me. :( I know Warsow and TrackMania work already, so testing them wouldn't do me any good.
Either way, thanks for finding the update for me, tirpider! Now let's see if it did anything to my PC that will be beneficial at all. Or do drivers not necessarily enhance the performance of an integrated GPU?
They can. If the drivers have actually been updated.
It's completely possible that they are packaging the same (old) drivers into an updated reference driver package. (they seemed to be happy to announce they were combining all their old driver downloads into that one package.)
You will have to check the date and versions on the drivers page in device manager to be sure.
If that is the case then it will be the same song and dance.
I haven't kept tabs on AMD since their K6-2 days, so I don't know what their reputation for updating drivers is.
I hope it's good.
Quote from: tirpider on December 21, 2013, 08:33:10 PM
They can. If the drivers have actually been updated.
It's completely possible that they are packaging the same (old) drivers into an updated reference driver package. (they seemed to be happy to announce they were combining all their old driver downloads into that one package.)
You will have to check the date and versions on the drivers page in device manager to be sure.
If that is the case then it will be the same song and dance.
I haven't kept tabs on AMD since their K6-2 days, so I don't know what their reputation for updating drivers is.
I hope it's good.
Well, the update was in October 2013, and it was the latest version there. Plus, my laptop hasn't had any of its drivers updated since 67 months ago, so it should help somewhat. :XD:
Anyways, thanks for the help, tirpider!
A bit of your manhood back:
[spoiler]http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0006TNCHS/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1387723322&sr=8-10[/spoiler]
Ok, so I re-installed the Blacklight: Retribution exe, and it seems I didn't delete the first one entirely (thank goodness I didn't need to wait 2 hours for the patch!). Anyways, I ran the game, and I got a bit further on the training this time (after putting EVERYTHING on low settings and/or disabled), and my GPU didn't feel hot at all! However my CPU was still hot, and it overheated when I was about to enter the Hardsuit. So now I'm assuming I need to update the drivers on my CPU. I tried looking for it, but I can't seem to find any driver updates for the Turion x2 64.
Can someone please help me find any driver updates for this CPU?
It's an 2.3-GHz AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core ZM-84 processor. (And yes, I copied that name off my computer specs. :P)
I don't know any computer stuff like this (or at least until I get to High School next year) but see if theres anything on this,[spoiler] https://www.google.com/search?q=2.3-GHz+AMD+Turion+X2+Ultra+Dual-Core+ZM-84+processor+driver+updates&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb[/spoiler]
I don't think CPUs have drivers... They run everything on your computer, including drivers. How is something going to run it's driver if it needed the driver to work in the first place?
Also why Blacklight? If you want a free FPS that has a fair micro-transaction system look no further than the most popular one on the planet. Team Fortress 2. The best part is just look at it's system requirements
Minimum: 1.7 GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, DirectX® 8.1 level Graphics Card (Requires support for SSE), Windows® 7 (32/64-bit)/Vista/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection
Just try the darn thing for a few hours at least. Also as with any PC game you should do one of two things to get the best FPS out of it. A. Set all settings to highest and turn them down till smooth. B. Set all settings to lowest and turn them up till smooth. (Do the last one, and don't turn them all up at once. One at a time.)
Quote from: SleepGiver on December 22, 2013, 12:35:58 PM
I don't think CPUs have drivers... They run everything on your computer, including drivers. How is something going to run it's driver if it needed the driver to work in the first place?
Also why Blacklight? If you want a free FPS that has a fair micro-transaction system look no further than the most popular one on the planet. Team Fortress 2. The best part is just look at it's system requirements
Minimum: 1.7 GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, DirectX® 8.1 level Graphics Card (Requires support for SSE), Windows® 7 (32/64-bit)/Vista/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection
Just try the darn thing for a few hours at least. Also as with any PC game you should do one of two things to get the best FPS out of it. A. Set all settings to highest and turn them down till smooth. B. Set all settings to lowest and turn them up till smooth. (Do the last one, and don't turn them all up at once. One at a time.)
Ah, true... :P
As for why Blacklight, it just sort of appealed to me. I've thought of Team Fortress, but I'm not too keen on TF2's cartoony feel. I like cartoons and video games, but I generally prefer if they stay separate from one another. No offense, just a personal opinion. I'm actually considering of uninstalling the Blacklight launcher since it doesn't work on my laptop very well.
I'l admit, the requirements do look pretty good, and playable on this thing, but I'm just not interested in it. And I actually played Blacklight with everything disabled and set on low settings. I actually got a bit further, but it's clear that 20 FPS isn't balanced enough for this game to run steady on my laptop. :(
Anyways, I got my games back (parents finally remembered where they were), so expect me to around on SWBF some more, possibly SWBFII since I updated my Graphics drivers. :)
All right.
First off, you're judging a game based off it's art style. This is always and I stress always a bad idea. I've done it in the past with games like Orcs Must Die! and boy was I wrong. OMD! has a cartoon art style and this put me off it. But I did buy it and man did I love it. Watch these if you haven't already http://store.steampowered.com/video/440 (http://store.steampowered.com/video/440) they give an insight into the game's great sense of humour and how the art style works well with it.
Now the gameplay of TF2 is pretty much the best out of any FPS on the market. The classes are all diverse and there is one to fit anyone's play style. TF2 also has many, many gamemodes CTF, CP, Payload, the co-op MvM and more. All of them are brilliantly designed.
TF2 is requires you to learn completely new shooter skills. This ain't COD or BF. Your skills won't move over well. Each class has their own play style and you'll need to learn all of them. (Watching good players in action helps with this.) Their are also no direct weapon upgrades only ones for different play styles. 75% of the time stock weapons are regarded as the best ones.
Finally we have hats... Oh hats... I love hats, don't you? Then their are the Unusuals and Festives... Ah it's just so wonderful.
But I'm getting carried away from the point. You're judging something based off pictures and or videos. It's free you have very little excuse not to try it before judging it. Give it a few hours at least and then you may criticise it. Until then your opinion on it is of very little value.
Quote from: SleepGiver on December 22, 2013, 02:07:02 PM
All right.
First off, you're judging a game based off it's art style. This is always and I stress always a bad idea. I've done it in the past with games like Orcs Must Die! and boy was I wrong. OMD! has a cartoon art style and this put me off it. But I did buy it and man did I love it. Watch these if you haven't already http://store.steampowered.com/video/440 (http://store.steampowered.com/video/440) they give an insight into the game's great sense of humour and how the art style works well with it.
Now the gameplay of TF2 is pretty much the best out of any FPS on the market. The classes are all diverse and there is one to fit anyone's play style. TF2 also has many, many gamemodes CTF, CP, Payload, the co-op MvM and more. All of them are brilliantly designed.
TF2 is requires you to learn completely new shooter skills. This ain't COD or BF. Your skills won't move over well. Each class has their own play style and you'll need to learn all of them. (Watching good players in action helps with this.) Their are also no direct weapon upgrades only ones for different play styles. 75% of the time stock weapons are regarded as the best ones.
Finally we have hats... Oh hats... I love hats, don't you? Then their are the Unusuals and Festives... Ah it's just so wonderful.
But I'm getting carried away from the point. You're judging something based off pictures and or videos. It's free you have very little excuse not to try it before judging it. Give it a few hours at least and then you may criticise it. Until then your opinion on it is of very little value.
TF2 reminds me a lot of Counter Strike, though I don't have too much experience playing TF2 and even less playing CS.
Counter Strike is a completely different beast compared to TF2. They're both similar engines but gameplay wise they're flat-out different.
The closest thing to a CPU driver you will find is the drivers for the chipset on the motherboard.
But that won't have anything specific to the CPU.
If that is indeed your performance bottleneck, the only option will be to get a better CPU, which will most likely mean a new motherboard or in the case of a laptop, a new laptop.
(Sometimes there are other options, but if those applied here, this thread wouldn't exist.)
[spoiler]I'm talking about finding a board from a similar model laptop and possibly swapping it out for the old.
This doesn't always work and you usually won't know till you have the wrong pieces in hand and are trying to jam them together anyway cause you just spent way to much money for it not to work, so you finally end up ditching the frame and running the bare pieces out of an old ice chest or something and feel bad about it everytime you turn it on till you shake loose enough cash to buy another machine, promising yourself that you will never do that again... then you do it again and your wife gets mad at you for filling the bottom of the closet with dusty old computer parts that do nothing but hurt your toe when you kick them in the dark.[/spoiler]
I'm kinda divided on which is the best way to go. I like to tinker so upgrading parts and pieces is fun for me. However, breaking down a system, balancing the specs I want with the specs my core system is capable of handling amidst the rather large spectrum of choices available and weighing whether or not to trust that guy on ebay with a 98% rating... it can be a hassle. Laptops and pre-configured systems can be very much worth the price if you consider not having to deal with it a valuable thing. If you want to upgrade later down the line, it means getting a whole new system though.
My inner self tells me to only invest in things I will enjoy. But my inner self doesn't have to balance a checkbook, so ...
Been busy on my iPad (playing Pixel Gun 3D, Minecraft-style shooter), figured I'd read up on what you guys are saying.
I'l admit, I'm only judging a book by its cover with TF2, however I might give it a whirl at some point, pending when that is. Hopefully some point during the break I'l get the courage to finally get a Steam account by then.
As far as the advice you mentioned tirpider, it seems I'l have to stick with the driver upgraded GPU and a crummy CPU until I get a new laptop (which will be when I graduate probably...) I'm not exactly one with a whole lot of money (I have a job, but all my pay goes to my tuition), so I guess I'l have to suck it up and push on through the overheats (even though excessive rebooting directly after an overheat will kill it faster! Yay! :P)
Check the local wal-mart (office depot, where ever) for a laptop cooling pad.
They are pretty much a plastic box with fans on them and you put your laptop on it.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Thermaltake-CLN0019-Massive23-GT-Notebook-Cooler/33386127
[spoiler]Just kidding.
$2,648 is a ridiculous price and has to be a joke of some kind.[/spoiler]
They don't do a lot but they do help. We ran an old vaio on one for a couple of years. They typically blow air right onto the bottom of the laptop and I'm sure you can confirm that gets pretty hot even just running windows for a while.
The fancy ones will have a usb hub or some lighting nonsense on it. The important part is(are) the fan(s).
I'd recommend one that is not powered by the laptop's usb port. It seems to me that drawing extra power off the device you are trying to cool is counter productive, but really getting anything to blow cool air on the hot parts will help so that's a judgment call. I've seen them for less than $10 and for more than $50 and there is a huge range of designs.
They aren't a magic bullet, and it's not the kind of accessory you will see immediate results from. But they can help keep the machine a little cooler on a tight budget till better things come along.
It's worth noting that the wife didn't like the noise, and that's the main reason she stopped using it.
That particular laptop is one of the dusty machines in the bottom of the closet. Won't power on and I suspect heat killed it.
Quote from: tirpider on December 22, 2013, 09:47:01 PM
Check the local wal-mart (office depot, where ever) for a laptop cooling pad.
They are pretty much a plastic box with fans on them and you put your laptop on it.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Thermaltake-CLN0019-Massive23-GT-Notebook-Cooler/33386127
[spoiler]Just kidding.
$2,648 is a ridiculous price and has to be a joke of some kind.[/spoiler]
They don't do a lot but they do help. We ran an old vaio on one for a couple of years. They typically blow air right onto the bottom of the laptop and I'm sure you can confirm that gets pretty hot even just running windows for a while.
The fancy ones will have a usb hub or some lighting nonsense on it. The important part is(are) the fan(s).
I'd recommend one that is not powered by the laptop's usb port. It seems to me that drawing extra power off the device you are trying to cool is counter productive, but really getting anything to blow cool air on the hot parts will help so that's a judgment call. I've seen them for less than $10 and for more than $50 and there is a huge range of designs.
They aren't a magic bullet, and it's not the kind of accessory you will see immediate results from. But they can help keep the machine a little cooler on a tight budget till better things come along.
It's worth noting that the wife didn't like the noise, and that's the main reason she stopped using it.
That particular laptop is one of the dusty machines in the bottom of the closet. Won't power on and I suspect heat killed it.
I should seriously add this whenever I do a post concerning my laptop:
I already have a cooling pad. It has a 6-inch fan, and it has a blue light. It also runs off one of my laptop's USB ports. :P
Taking into consideration though from what you've said, perhaps a cooling pad with more than one fan would do the job. All I have is one giant 6 inch fan cooling mine down, but even then when I remove the laptop and leave it running, I think the fan's going in the wrong direction...
So, perhaps a new, multi-fanned, no LEDs type cooling pad would be more well-suited for my old hunk of junk? :confused:
I didn't know.
That's where checking reviews would come in. I don't know if more than one fan would help so much.
And my assertion about the USB power bit is subjective. Just advice if you didn't already have one. My reasons for that are grounded more in superstition than electrical analysis.
If your laptop has fans that blow out of the bottom, then the fan for your chill pad should also blow down to help the laptops fans. Otherwise (if your laptop's fan exhausts through the side or back, or has no fan) it should blow directly onto the bottom of the laptop.
The LEDs are personal preference. I can't imagine them affecting how it operates unless they get really hot.
If it's getting hotter than it used to get, then it could be because of dust build-up on the fan and other parts. Besides blocking air flow, dust can retain heat. Blowing it out with canned air can help.
The problem I have with canned air is the stress it puts on the fans when it blows across them. It can cause the bearing to wear and then you end up with a loud fan that doesn't blow like it used to. You can't always get to the fan to block it from spinning, so if you hear the whining build up while blowing out the laptop's vents (a high pitched "zing") stop blowing and let it spin down before continuing.
I wouldn't call it junk. Just getting older. Machines need maintenance after a while. And laptops start with very limited upgrade potential anyway, so their lifetime is a bit shorter than that of a desktop.
[spoiler]I just replaced an all-in-one sony that used all laptop parts in a desktop-like format. A 2-piece motherboard, integrated video/audio/lcd... It even had an integrated modem so I couldn't remove or replace it.
The only thing I could replace is the mouse, keyboard, memory, and hard drive. Because of it's design, I can't even set up the display for dual monitors. Have to use VNC or something to make it useful again.
[/spoiler]
But yeah.. laptops. That's the catch with them. You sacrifice performance and upgradeability for portability and a compact form factor. And because they have a lot of heat generating pieces in a tight space, cooling/cleaning will always be a problem with them.
I ramble (sorry)... back to your machine.
You have updated drivers and a chill pad. Have you gone over the power settings for the machine? Reducing the brightness of the display can reduce power consumption (and therefore, heat.) Tell the HD to turn off after 5-10 min. Same with the display. Any setting you can find that reduces processing power. Some settings might interfere with using it for gaming, so it's a tweaking process to find what works for you.
Since it is regularly overheating on you, you definitely sound like you are ready for a new machine. I'm on a very limited income as well and had to save up and hunt for deals to get one. And it's still not going to be the performing beast I want. The best advice I have there is to realistically look at what you can spend and get the best parts you can afford.
[spoiler]I ended up spending about $275.
$225 for an old refurbished HP 8000 elite (really a bussiness clas machine.)
$50 for a new-in-box Zotac GeForce GT 610 2Gb (Newegg said it would be here last friday (3 days ago)... I'll remember this.)
It's an intel dual core @3.16 gHz on an hp motherboard that supports DDR3 memory.
I got the full sized tower version so I could upgrade the power supply just in case I found a cheap video card that needed it. (And because I feel like a tower would be easier to cool than one of those mini-cases that are so popular now.)
All old equipment and certainly not heavy-hitters in terms of performance, but I expect to be able to play Skyrim with decent FPS if not decent quality.
There is a huge supply of cheap computers (by cheap, I mean less than $300) but you have to research and hunt to find the best-in-class type machines. And that's the hardest part... doing the research to know what is worth buying and what needs to be recycled.
I went in looking for at least DDR3 memory, a PCIe x16 slot and Win7 pro (for XP mode). I ended up getting just enough video card that if I went any higher it would need a new motherboard and power supply to actually use the card's features (even though a better card would work, it would fall over to backwards compatability with the PCI 2.0 standard. Whatever that means...)
All this (and more) knowing I'll have to replace it all again when my desire to run a modern game comes up.
blah blah blah... the more you spend now, the longer you can put off having to spend later, but it all leads to spending more later, so enjoy what you spend now.[/spoiler]
Um... I feel like I'm talking in circles now. I hope some of all this helps or is at least entertaining. Pretty sure I missed a lot and weren't we just talking about a chill pad? How did all that come out of a chill pad..... I'm going to have a glass of milk and think about the direction my life is going now....
Quote from: tirpider on December 23, 2013, 06:59:03 PM
[spoiler]
I didn't know.
That's where checking reviews would come in. I don't know if more than one fan would help so much.
And my assertion about the USB power bit is subjective. Just advice if you didn't already have one. My reasons for that are grounded more in superstition than electrical analysis.
If your laptop has fans that blow out of the bottom, then the fan for your chill pad should also blow down to help the laptops fans. Otherwise (if your laptop's fan exhausts through the side or back, or has no fan) it should blow directly onto the bottom of the laptop.
The LEDs are personal preference. I can't imagine them affecting how it operates unless they get really hot.
If it's getting hotter than it used to get, then it could be because of dust build-up on the fan and other parts. Besides blocking air flow, dust can retain heat. Blowing it out with canned air can help.
The problem I have with canned air is the stress it puts on the fans when it blows across them. It can cause the bearing to wear and then you end up with a loud fan that doesn't blow like it used to. You can't always get to the fan to block it from spinning, so if you hear the whining build up while blowing out the laptop's vents (a high pitched "zing") stop blowing and let it spin down before continuing.
I wouldn't call it junk. Just getting older. Machines need maintenance after a while. And laptops start with very limited upgrade potential anyway, so their lifetime is a bit shorter than that of a desktop.
[spoiler]I just replaced an all-in-one sony that used all laptop parts in a desktop-like format. A 2-piece motherboard, integrated video/audio/lcd... It even had an integrated modem so I couldn't remove or replace it.
The only thing I could replace is the mouse, keyboard, memory, and hard drive. Because of it's design, I can't even set up the display for dual monitors. Have to use VNC or something to make it useful again.
[/spoiler]
But yeah.. laptops. That's the catch with them. You sacrifice performance and upgradeability for portability and a compact form factor. And because they have a lot of heat generating pieces in a tight space, cooling/cleaning will always be a problem with them.
I ramble (sorry)... back to your machine.
You have updated drivers and a chill pad. Have you gone over the power settings for the machine? Reducing the brightness of the display can reduce power consumption (and therefore, heat.) Tell the HD to turn off after 5-10 min. Same with the display. Any setting you can find that reduces processing power. Some settings might interfere with using it for gaming, so it's a tweaking process to find what works for you.
Since it is regularly overheating on you, you definitely sound like you are ready for a new machine. I'm on a very limited income as well and had to save up and hunt for deals to get one. And it's still not going to be the performing beast I want. The best advice I have there is to realistically look at what you can spend and get the best parts you can afford.
[spoiler]I ended up spending about $275.
$225 for an old refurbished HP 8000 elite (really a bussiness clas machine.)
$50 for a new-in-box Zotac GeForce GT 610 2Gb (Newegg said it would be here last friday (3 days ago)... I'll remember this.)
It's an intel dual core @3.16 gHz on an hp motherboard that supports DDR3 memory.
I got the full sized tower version so I could upgrade the power supply just in case I found a cheap video card that needed it. (And because I feel like a tower would be easier to cool than one of those mini-cases that are so popular now.)
All old equipment and certainly not heavy-hitters in terms of performance, but I expect to be able to play Skyrim with decent FPS if not decent quality.
There is a huge supply of cheap computers (by cheap, I mean less than $300) but you have to research and hunt to find the best-in-class type machines. And that's the hardest part... doing the research to know what is worth buying and what needs to be recycled.
I went in looking for at least DDR3 memory, a PCIe x16 slot and Win7 pro (for XP mode). I ended up getting just enough video card that if I went any higher it would need a new motherboard and power supply to actually use the card's features (even though a better card would work, it would fall over to backwards compatability with the PCI 2.0 standard. Whatever that means...)
All this (and more) knowing I'll have to replace it all again when my desire to run a modern game comes up.
blah blah blah... the more you spend now, the longer you can put off having to spend later, but it all leads to spending more later, so enjoy what you spend now.[/spoiler]
Um... I feel like I'm talking in circles now. I hope some of all this helps or is at least entertaining. Pretty sure I missed a lot and weren't we just talking about a chill pad? How did all that come out of a chill pad..... I'm going to have a glass of milk and think about the direction my life is going now....
MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT! :o
Anyways, I read some of it, and have a generalized idea as to what you're going at. The battery in my laptop is actually shot (still need to replace it), so it just sits on the cooling pad with the charger plugged in everyday. I don't quite see how battery reducing features would be of any help, if my laptop isn't even portable in the first place. :P
As far as energy reducing features, I'm not sure how many settings would actually reduce it's heating power. I don't want to be some dude playing SWBFII with the lowest screen setting possible, and with just enough brightness to make out the reticule. From what I can gather, the CPU is my main problem anyways. The GPU runs smoothly now that the drivers are updated, and I have sinked $250 into getting 8GB of DDR2 memory for this thing already. (Still hate I blew $250 for it, I could've had a decent rig by now! :rant:)
Anyways, any idea if there's a way to get a low-end gaming rig for $70? :D I know I'm really pinching pennies with that amount, and I'm a total cheapskate, but that's literally all I have to work with right now. :(
Quote from: {Alpha}Gold Claus on December 23, 2013, 07:15:54 PM
MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT! :o
Sorry about that. I'll try to be more direct. (even if it isn't good news.)
I think you will have a terrible experience with a $70 computer.
I periodically peek into the PC Building section on facepunch, and they seem to be building good gaming computers for around $500. But they are also targeting bargain deals, used equipment, and individual components. They also have other computers to work with while they wait for deals to become available.
I would shop around and keep saving pennies. You'll learn about the different specs as you wait for the money to pile up. I wouldn't even consider spending a dime till you have at least ~$300 to dedicate to it. Not till you can look at a machine and say to yourself "I want that machine because..."
Oh god.. here it comes again...
[spoiler]I'll be honest. Shopping for a replacement machine stressed me out. It angered me to discover the cheesy way the things are marketed, and trawling through geek sites where people start fights over why a bus is bottle-necked or which logo has the most super-geek power... I hate it. And I'm an ex PC-tech. The modern techs are snobs about stats and if I had a choice, I wouldn't feed them a dime.
I've become a PC user and less concerned with the power of the machine and more concerned with the stability and usability of it.
Overclocked - don't care cause it's operating out of spec and will crash more.
Fancy Embellishments - Working at a carnival taught me that flashy lights are a way of fishing for rubes.
Super High Performance Specs - Flashy lights for folks that have money to spend on parts every quarter.
All I want is to run a few specific programs at a decent quality without having to deal with hardware (or OS) failure at every turn.[/spoiler]
.. be direct... be direct... ok
To find out what kind of budget you are looking at, have a look at the minimum and recommended requirements for what you think are going to be the highest end games you want to run.
Take those specs and shop around ebay buy-it-now offers to get a rough estimate on what the current market is for those things. Then you can start making compromises on the specs.
Like you really don't need a GTX 770 when a 670 ( or even a 550 ti, but good luck finding one) will do.
Having an SSD is cool, but on a budget, a simple 750GB to 1TB HD would be better spent.
Building a machine can cost less or it can cost more. It all hinges on what you are willing to invest more of (time or money)
ramble.. (I'm self conscious about it now)
Spend more than $70. I'd recommend something with at least an i3 or i5 processor. The Dual Core and Quad Cores are pretty dated and will barely meet the needs of modern titles (if at all). (Intel because I know nothing about AMD since the early 90's.)
Here is a basic ebay search of low end machines. They all will probably need some kind of video upgrade, and monitors will be extra, but it will give you an idea of the price ranges.
ebay search for i3 / buy-it-now / new / refurbished (http://www.ebay.com/sch/PC-Desktops-AllInOnes-/179/i.html?Processor%2520Type=Intel%2520Core%2520i3%25201st%2520Gen%252E%7CIntel%2520Core%2520i3%25202nd%2520Gen%252E%7CIntel%2520Core%2520i3%25203rd%2520Gen%252E%7CIntel%2520Core%2520i3%25204th%2520Gen%252E&LH_BIN=1&_sop=15&_dcat=179&rt=nc&_pppn=r1&LH_ItemCondition=1000%7C1500%7C2000%7C2500)
... more wall of text.. I am really sorry about all this.
I'm pretty well experienced in the whole budget gaming PC building area. I built my PC for 500 in the beginning and it was primarily for BF3 at the time.
We can make another topic if you guys want to talk about building PCs for a budget. I'm pretty good at finding sales.