How long until I'll need to upgrade?

**I Am Herenow** · June 06, 2007, 03:24 PM

OK, I found this computer on the net - if I buy it with the best possible items,

1) Will I be able to play M2TW at the highest resolution, best settings, with the maximum amount of men on the field, without ANY lag?

2) For how long will this PC be the cutting-edge, capable of running any new game on max. settings fine?

3) How long until it is no longer even average, and I will have to upgrade if I want to play new games?

Cheers!

**spartan_phalanx** · June 06, 2007, 03:27 PM

What's the specs of this computer you found?

**Shaun** · June 06, 2007, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by I Am Herenow

OK, I found this computer on the net - if I buy it with the best possible items,

1) Will I be able to play M2TW at the highest resolution, best settings, with the maximum amount of men on the field, without ANY lag?

2) For how long will this PC be the cutting-edge, capable of running any new game on max. settings fine?

3) How long until it is no longer even average, and I will have to upgrade if I want to play new games?

Cheers!

Are you for real? We. Need. The. Specs. Of. The. P.C.

**shadowarmy75** · June 06, 2007, 04:12 PM

If you are talking about the most cutting edge expensive system you can buy, I think it'll play games reasonably for at least 4 years.

**Zuwxiv** · June 06, 2007, 06:24 PM

Well, let's see. You'll need DX 10 for the next few years.

So, here is what you would (approximately) need:
Dual 8800's. The good ones.
Around 8GB of RAM. Maybe 4.
About 1TB of hard drive space.
HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray capable disk drives. I'd go HD-DVD myself.
A processor that hauls ass.

Overall... If you're spending one penny shy of over $5000 on your computer, it's not going to play the best games two years from now with best settings. Don't waste your money. Nothing you buy now will play every great game with the best graphics more than 4 years from now, let alone 3, and 2 is unlikely.

I just bought a new computer for just a tad over $1k. It has a DX10 video card, room for upgrading that, 2 gigs of fast RAM, a very nice mobo, and an awesome case. Can it run Lost Planet (a very new game, not sure if it is out yet but the demo is here) on max settings? No. Not close. Good settings, yes, but not max settings. But it will last me for about 4 years or so until I will be forced to upgrade to play games, and by then I will have upgraded it anyway.

The most cutting edge systems today are good-to-mediocre systems a year from now. Don't buy the best. Buy what is on the line between "very good" and "Best but unfathomly priced."

Why spend $5000 today? Spend 1500 or 2000 now, and then spend another 500 on upgrades a year from now. You will still be able to enjoy everything now on highest settings, and end up with the same system a year from now. But for half the price.

**invictus** · June 06, 2007, 06:34 PM

You speak lies and are misinformed!!! Na im jk, but it really just depends on the person. For me, ill buy the best vid card and cpu and could careless about the rest. -Leon

**I Am Herenow** · June 07, 2007, 10:51 AM

Oh, oops! I forgot to add the hyperlink!

Never mind, it's there now.

**Garnier** · June 08, 2007, 08:15 AM

Like Zuwxiv said, don't buy the very best, as currently its not a huge boost over the second best, and its generally double the price. I would get a $1,500 computer now, and then buy say, another $1,500 computer in two years or something. Rather than spend $5000 now for a PC that will not be cutting edge forever. Never buy the absolute best is my rule of thumb.

**Erik** · June 08, 2007, 10:45 AM

I second that. (or is that third?)

More specifically: you don't need a quad core processor, and you don't need DDR2-900.
You can save hundreds of dollars by picking a dual core CPU and DDR2-800 instead, and you won't even notice the difference.
And then you can use that money to buy a new CPU one year from now, which will be a lot faster than anything on the market today.

**Garnier** · June 08, 2007, 02:07 PM

Quad core isn't going to be needed for games for a LONG time I think. After all, there aren't even many dual core games out yet.

**I Am Herenow** · June 08, 2007, 03:19 PM

Would M2 benefit from a dual (and, indeed, quad) -core processor?

**Elrond** · June 08, 2007, 05:16 PM

No - RTW and M2TW only support one core.

**OTZ** · June 08, 2007, 08:06 PM

Heck, I say if you got the cash go for it. I would!

That being said, as others have stated, you can certainly spend less and still get a great rig...

**spartan_phalanx** · June 08, 2007, 11:20 PM

Core 2 Duos are so cheap now and their performance is more than adequate for the hardcore gamer or enthusiast. You can get two E6600 for the price of the Q6600. I would say put the money into faster memory or hard-drives. You'll likely see more pertinent performance increase that way. By the time core 2's have past their prime quad's will be what core 2's are now or even less.

If you getting it for bragging rights then by all means. Either way your going to have a top notch system.