I've been out of pc gaming for a while. I've heard that some new games will only work on Vista. But as it is, a lot of new games released since last year or two ago will not even work on a Win98 system.

I think what the tech is saying is that your 3 year old machine may have problems running the latest releases of games.

Computers running Vista are usually Dual-core. And for gamers, the more ram the better, thus the recommendation for 3 GIG. I think you need at least 1-2GIG for most games these days. Graphics cards needs depends on the type of games your son plays. The more action and graphically intensive, the higher you can afford the better. Nvidia8800 is supposed to be popular one right now.

It kind of depends what sort of games your son likes to play, and how nice he wants the graphics to look. The high end of computer components does exist mostly for gamers. WoW is not very graphically demanding.

He probably doesn't need Vista. I don't expect many games to require Vista over the next two or three years. There are a couple of them from Microsoft - their attmept to push people into getting Vista - but they're nothing special anyway.

He doesn't need 3 gigabytes of RAM, though he probably needs 2. But, memory is very cheap nowadays.

He probably does need dual core, but almost everything is dual core these days. He won't necessarily need an especially fast dual-core.

He doesn't need an Nvidia 8800, and almost certainly won't get one on that budget, but a good graphics card is the key to playing most modern games, and the place where money is best spent in a gaming computer.

At that age you could probably try challenging him to select components up to the budget and put the computer together himself, which might save you some work.

So it depends more on what your son wants to play, as opposed to what you want him to play?
Or, to what you can afford?

Wow.


Who is in control in your family?
And what are the priorities?



If it works fine, as you say, why change?

And really, why does a 5 year old need a computer?
There are much better learning experiences for your 5 year old, than a computer - don't you think?

???



Personally, I think your priorities are really skrewwed UPP!!!

I found a system for you (not refurbished for around the right price of 400 dollars.
You will have to get windows vista or add it to the basic configurator for 89$ OR buy windows XP cheaper...(still good for a few years)
WWW.ibuypower.com
THIS IS THEIR BASIC 429 dollar configurator as a base.

AMD Athlon X2 DDR2-800 PCI-Express System Configurator
EagleTech Sidewinder Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply Black
AMD Athlon™ X2 4200+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
6 free things if you check the boxes
Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink
Asus M2A-VM AMD 690G Chipset w/6-channels, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Single PCI-E MB This motherboard can have up to 8gigs of memory in 4 slots, I checked.
which is good if you go vista in the future (Only Vista can recognize over 4Gigs and use it.)
2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand
NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS 512MB w/DVI +tv Out Video
(You could upgrade this to the "recommended by others" at 8800 but it will cost you lots)and this is ok as is at 8400. (I have an 8600 and it's more than ok)
160 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache]
[** Special !!! ***] 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
(I used to buy creative labs soundblaster Audigy SE for like 49 bucks..but the onboard is all you really need nowadays)
600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System
network card Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Mitsumi 1.44 MB Internal Floppy Drive Beige (If not needed you could save 5 dollars by dumping this item)
No monitor
PS/2 104 Key Windows 98 Keyboard Beige
Logitech Optical Internet Mouse Black
Build-in USB 2.0 Ports
OS None- Pre-formatted Hard Drive Only Option to buy Windows Vista home basic for 89$ Currently I have XP Home Basic and don't feel the need to upgrade yet to Vista..
Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support
Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) No Rush, Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days
TOTAL $427.00
You should look at upgrading a few items later if needed such as another 1gb of memory especially if you go with vista...a better wireless optical mouse and wireless keyboard at best buy, etc..

And I don't agree with Moosetech 13 about your priorities...Kids in Kindergarden
at age 5 are using learning programs and there are many educational games available...my daughter has several and it's best to not have to fight over one computer for time to play.

Yes, children are picking up computer skills as early as kindergarten nowadays. If they don't they might run the risk of being a little behind, it seems as things are moving so quickly forward. So different from one's generation.

As others have said, some tech guy lied to you.

Try using Pricewatch to do a little shopping. Check Tiger Direct and Newegg are also great shopping sites and they tend to be a little easier to deal with on the off chance you were sold a broken item.

I think I was about 12 years old when my father managed to misconfigure the boot chip on the motherboard and told me, "It's your computer, if you ever want to use it again, you fix it!" Great learning experience for both of us. I learned about how a computer works, my father learned not to play around with things he didn't understand.

Your preteen could put together a component shopping list within your budget. Have him tell you why he's getting everything. ("Johnny, why 2 gigs of RAM? Wouldn't 1 be enough?" "Mom, if we only get 1 gig, a lot of programs will be using the hard drive as extra memory, and that really slows things down.") If his answers don't make sense or he's not sure, you can probably find a few tech geeks willing to lend a hand around here.

One thing I will say is that you want to get yourself a copy of Windows XP soon. On June 30th, Microsoft will no longer sell XP. Even now people are hoarding new disks and smaller retailers are running out. I expect the price to jump on the 1st of July. XP Home should be good enough since you're not running the fancy networks XP Professional supports.

When everything arrives in the mail, you have a great Saturday afternoon project!

I keep seeing cool games I want to be playing need Pixelshader. I don't know how popular that is as a requirement, but I know Company of Heroes and Europa Universalis 3 both need it, and both were games I would have bought had their requirements been lower.

I don't know much more about graphics cards than that.



Are you the kind of person who enrolls your kids in sports they don't want to play, making life miserable for the kid and the coach who has to play him?

What's wrong with putting a computer in the budget? Should she pay more than she can afford? What point are you trying to make here? You think the money would be better spent elsewhere? Maybe, but it's not your money to make that call. If Tova wants a computer, she can have one.

Games require more computing power than most other applications. Things run more smoothly on a dual core processor.

Hey Moose?

Bite me.

I know what is best for my family.

 

Exactly.

Plus, we have a speech recognition program which is shown to help kids with speech delays.  My youngest has a speech delay..meaning his articulation is not perfect when compared to others his age.

Thanks.

Thanks!  That helps a lot...I am not exactly computer savy, but my son is a good kid, and I want to get him something he will like, but not spend too much....hahaha.

I am going to look at this.

Thank you for doing all the work.

Wow.

To everyone else...thank you guys so much.  I knew there was some serious smarties on this site and helpful too!

Thank you!  Thank you!

Windows Vista? Avoid it! If it costs you more, avoid it! (And, trust me, odds are it won't)

Sorry for double post, but the basic config. Twilitdelit describes is much better than my gaming rig, and much cheaper.

Twilit....I looked at the system above...and its seems like a good deal, but then I found this.....

Can anyone tell me if this is better?

I think the graphics card is pretty weak in the Gateway. Any time you're using a video card with shared memory, you're not going to be running games well. That said, you could get this box, and see how the software you want to use actually runs. If it isn't good enough, add a better graphics card later.

Great....I'm ordering it tonight...THANKS!

Would like to know of the results of your decision to order the PC that same night. Am curious.

From my point of view, as a father of a 9 year old and a 5 year old who won't leave my wife's or my laptops alone, I can see how you are looking into getting a new PC. My wife's laptop is just slightly slower than mine, I bought mine specifically for gaming, games that need lots of power, so I spent a pretty penny on it. My 9 year old likes the games I play so building a PC that can not play them would be out of the question. The purchase would be pointless.

As many have said correctly said, the system depends on what your child will play or what you allow him to play (lol). My child's taste in games equals mine so, as I said, the PC would not fall in that $400 budget. Which is why I have not bought or built one for him yet. But if yours on plays lite weight games, then that Gateway (though I personally would never refer Gateway) will be fine, except maybe for the graphics card. I mean if you gonna get a graphics card, make it at least a decent one. I have an nVidia 8600 GS for my laptop. Just enough power to play my Call of Duty 4 game.

Please give us details of how your adventure with the Gateway PC goes.

There are only a handful of games that require Vista (as in, won't work on XP) and most of those didn't get great reviews. Most games still run on XP, with only th highest settings requiring Vista.

As for a gaming rig, if you can build one from the ground up, you can get some great deals on newegg.com to keep the cost down, and if you've already got a monitor, that will knock the price down as well.

However, a lot games out there (Including most from a little company called Stardock) are fairly hardware friendly. As long as he's not playing bleeding edge games, you can be a little behind. My rig is now about two years old and still runs everything just fine. It all depends on how "future proof" you want to be.

Yeah, my son's is about 3 years old and it works fine, so I figure ANYTHING newer will be at least as good right?



My husband ordered the Gateway and says we will upgrade the graphics card if he needs it...but since he only really plays WOW on it, and uses it to surf and do homework, I don't think we'll need to upgrade the card....we'll see.

We got it for just over $400 with shipping....good enough for now...it should arrive at the end of the week.

Once that's up and running we'll see if he needs the new card.

Ok, it works great.

Hubby picked up something that makes the graphics card 8500...I don't have any idea what that means, but my son assures me its rockin.

Thanks to everyone again.

HUGS all round.:)

Dang, you can get a 8000 series a graphic card that cheap? Dang... things are getting cheap.

The PC I use is an awesome rig that cost $1100 dollars, has 3 gigs of ram, and 8800 GT (Crysis! Yay!), and quad core Phenom at 2.3 gigahertz. Its the Gateway FX 7020, and it rocks. If any of you need a new gaming computer, check this puppy out. If you want to overclock, though, you'll need to upgrade the power supply. The stock power supply is only 400 MW.


Etrius

I don't know...we bought the graphics card thing separate. It was marked down from $125 to $70...

My husband think we will eventually have to get a new power supply as this one is just 300 or whatever.

I'm just glad its over. It "should" be the last one we buy for him. He will be old enough to have a job by the time this one poops out if it lasts about 3 years...woot!

hmmm, 300? I would say you may wanna get one very soon. At least 400. Would recommend more but am not sure how much power you gonna put this PC thru. I'm impressed you got such a video card for such a deal. Good for you. And good for your son. He's got power to spare. lol