I'm here

What both red and ag are trying to say, 4 gb is good for normal gaming and normal computer use. I don't see why you would need more. Is your computer running slow?Do you have any problems when you have 2 or more programs open? Do you want to waste money? Do you have any problems with games running on low settings and still a bit laggy?

If you answer is no, then there's no need for you to upgrade your RAM.

Unless, you are planning to buy heavier software, or are planning on using more programs together.

If you still wanna do it, put 2 of the same sticks, gives you more efficiency.

Put those $5 towards speakers if you need them.

Red, you do have to admit gaming will go further down the Quad-core road eventually.

Jon, right now you should be fine with 2 cores.

Cozy and warm brotherly love. Makes me feel good inside.

What Red kinda meant is that the computer you'll get is an investment. You shouldn't blindly go and buy the first one that seems good. You need to know your needs, and find a computer that meets them as well as your budget. Don't give up because everything is complicated.

And personally, I have heard not so good things about WD external HDD. I don't know if their HDD is the same way.

Pretty good actually. It should work for games on medium settings. What do you mean by compatibility?

Quote from: Red on April 30, 2010, 02:49:55 PM
A tad wrong, mate. Non-apple hardware will run just as fine as apple-approved. The main reason they limit hardware is money-I've said many times that my main problem is Apple inducing ridiculous markups on every one of their products. The other, smaller reason is for everything to be more stable since everything is running according to what they've spec'd it at. Nothing to do with efficiency.

Well, I've been proven wrong after looking more into the issue.

Here's a netbook compatibility list I found:

http://www.mymacnetbook.com/compatibility-chart/

You can also google "hackintosh netbook" or something among those lines.

Quote from: Jon415 on April 29, 2010, 09:07:17 PM
Its an hp-and its 4gb standard heres the link:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto.do

Link doesn't work.

Alienware is for the ones that want to brag about having an alienware. I would say it has the most inflated prices in the market, haven't heard good thing about their customer support, which is crucial for computers like these.

The computer Red built at the beginning of this thread is better than the entry level desktop from alienware, which runs about $1000.

Quote from: Soap Mactavish on April 29, 2010, 08:20:09 PM
*stupid question* does that mean that running OSX on a netbook be practical? since the hardware is the same

Netbook? A netbook can barely run windows properly. Anyway, the hardware needs to be made by Apple so it runs as smooth as it can. What limits it is not the capacity of the hardware but who made it.

OSX was made for Apple products, if you simply insert the CD on another computer (aka PC) it will not install it. You would need to hack it. Hence the name of Hackintosh.

Apple wants its product to run on the computers they made so it is efficient, since they know how to program it and how the hardware could limit what the software can do. If Microsoft designed their own computers, Windows would run smoother on them than in Dell's, HP's or any other computer.

Quote from: Jon415 on April 29, 2010, 09:09:37 PM
What about the 5570 ?  I'm pretty sure thats the one from the original post

Again, like Red say, you could google "5570 benchmark" or "5570 review" and you could draw your own conclusions.

Some reference:
Anything over 24 fps (frames per second) should run alright, but you want to aim higher.

30 fps: Good for games that don't move a lot. Alright on others. Should be playable.

50 fps and above: good enough for most games to run smoothly and playable.

That's just reference, you will need to draw your own conclusions after experimenting.

Anyway, the 5570 its a basic graphics card. Don't expect it to be able to play today's games on settings higher than low, medium at max. The 9800 GTX is better than the 5570 but not as good as the 5750.

Hey dude!

Did you brought your sniping skillz also?

Haha. I also decided to rejoin the forum a few months ago.

Quote from: Jon415 on April 28, 2010, 09:15:58 PM
I am pretty much focusing as much as i can on the graphics card-that is the starting processor of the computer with the best graphics.  I'm looking at the Radeon Hd 5570. Do you know anything about that card?

That one is alright for gaming. For the games you mentioned, it should work on the highest settings. For newer games, it should work on the low settings maybe medium. (It is better than the GT220)

I will try and build a computer for you like red did, but including the software (Win 7) this time. I'll do that tomorrow (rather, today after school )

You cannot legally install any version of OSX on any non-Apple manufactured machine.

Plus, it won't run as smooth.

OS X is designed for Apple computers.

9800 GTX is good, but not excellent.

The ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB (not 5570 like your post says, but 5750 like the link says) is probably as good as the 9800 GTX. Maybe a bit better on numbers, but unnoticeable considering gameplay.

Quote from: Jon415 on April 28, 2010, 07:15:27 AM
AMD Athlon(TM) X4 630 quad-core processor [2.8GHz, 2MB L2, up to 4000MHz bus]

Does anyone know how good above processor is?

Good enough. If you are focusing in gaming, then you should focus on the graphics card, which is like a processor (in theory), but for high demanding activities such as gaming.

It's good for the price.

Quote from: Soap Mactavish on April 27, 2010, 05:25:27 AM
Would building A custom laptop be practical? That is the most practical computer for me.

You can't custom-build a laptop yourself.

Quote from: Red on April 26, 2010, 12:12:37 PM
Many brands have excellent warranties. Look them up and sign up for all of them to protect it for free. Some have lifetime warranties or more (XFX has double-lifetime; transfers if you ever sell it).

They do. But then you'll have to find out what's the problem and send the piece to the company instead of the whole computer to Dell if he was gonna buy that Dell computer.

Just make sure to not throw away the boxes or any paperwork inside it. I recommend putting all the boxes in one big box so you don't lose it. Very few are the brands that accept the part without the box.