Is this a Decent gaming build?

[AC]

Dell Black Inspiron 570 Desktop PC with AMD Athlon II X2 250 Processor, 6GB Memory, 1TB Hard Drive and Windows 7 Home Premium with Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Option: Computers : Walmart.com
My Dad is buying me this PC on Friday. Is it any good for any type of gaming at all?
(This will be my last thread asking this )

 

[whs]

I would call it an 'entry model'. The graphics are weak, but you can play some games. See here:

Gaming on integrated graphic Ati radeon HD4200 - YouTube

You can always add a better graphics card later. Check whether it has an available PCI x16 slot.

 

[Thorsen]

Looks like you could put card in it. I would advize that over the onboard graphics.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/insp560mt/en/cs/cs_en.pdf

System Board Connectors
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Memory four 240-pin connectors
PCI one 124-pin connector
PCI Express x1 two 36-pin connectors
PCI Express x16 one 164-pin connector <<<<<
Power (system board) one 24-pin EPS 12V connector
(ATX-compatible)
Processor fan one 4-pin connector
Chassis fan one 3-pin connector​

Front USB connector three 9-pin connectors

 

[Thorsen]

It also says it has a 300 watt power supply so depending on what you put in it, I would also say you might need a better PSU....

Graphics cards are relatively inexpensive for something that will play modern games. I have a Radeon 6750 6850 in one of my PC's and it does well... was only about $100 $130 from newegg

 

[AC]

Thanks for the responses. What PSU and Graphics Card would you advise?

 

[Kobra1294]

Not a terrible build, but if I were you I'd build my own. It's a little bit more tricky than just buying a prebuilt, but it could save some big cash and you could get better parts. Plus, when something goes wrong, you know exactly how to take everything apart to troubleshoot for error.

Thanks for the responses. What PSU and Graphics Card would you advise?

It really depends on what you like and how much you're willing to spend. I'm an NVIDIA fan, so I just upgraded to a GTX 560. If you've got the cash shoot for an upper 600 series. If you like AMD, there are some pretty sweet GPU's out there like the upper 6/7k series. AMD is the cheaper choice, but NVIDIA has always been my favorite. For the PSU I'd recommend looking in to how much wattage you're going to need. Most mid-high end PSU's are 600+ watts. I wouldn't recommend anything less than 600. I'm going to need more than 600 before long here. Make sure you get one with a good efficiency rating as well.

 

[AC]

I'd love to do that, but my dad just really wants to surprise me with this, ever since my laptop mobo failed, I've been using his. But he seems really set on buying me this one because it's on sale at Walmart with speakers and a 24 inch monitor. The only reason I know he's getting this is because I heard him talking to my mom about it like two hours ago.

 

[Kobra1294]

Well then. In that case I'd say just throw a few upgrades in to it. A new GPU and PSU would still be awesome. Just make sure everything can fit in to it properly.

 

[AC]

What PSU and GPU would you recommend?

 

[Thorsen]

I think from lowest price/best pricepoint:

meh: HD6750 - $100 Slightly better is HD7750 - $100 Newegg.com - Radeon HD 7750

Comparison: Video Card Comparison - GPUReview.com

then there is HD 7770 - $120 Newegg.com - Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition

If you go up to next price point, HD6850 -$140 (this is way better than 6750 and 7750 and just higher than 7770)

Comparison: Video Card Comparison - GPUReview.com

Comparison: Video Card Comparison - GPUReview.com

or if your budget is higher, the 7850 - $180

Comparison: Video Card Comparison - GPUReview.com


It depends on your budget... also look at the space in your case. You might need a slim card or a shorter card due to case constraints.

you can look at the specs to see if you need a better PSU here: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator


Note: these are just the options for Radeon, you can also look at Nvidia as Kobra mentioned. Use the GPU comparison site I used above. it is a great tool.

 

[whs]

A GTX 460 is probably enough. The 500 and 600 series are slightly more powerful but also a lot more money. See the comparison of the high end cards here: PassMark Software - Video Card Benchmark Charts

And this is a good PSU: Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

 

[AC]

Great, the HD6850 fits my budget just right. So overall, this could handle Mafia 2, and GTA IV on at least low settings?

 

[Kobra1294]

My guess would be medium-high, with 6gb of ram and a semi-nice processor you'll have no trouble.

 

[AC]

Great! This is a great step up from my Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.2 GHz Single Core/2GB RAM eh?

 

[Kobra1294]

Quite! I've got a Phenom 2 3ghz x4 and 8gb ram. I also have a gtx 560 and I can run it on max. Now if only I could solve my bsod problem, I'd be in business. Anyways, with your build you shouldn't have trouble playing games. Maybe not on ultra, but you still surpass most minimums.

 

[Thorsen]

Great, the HD6850 fits my budget just right. So overall, this could handle Mafia 2, and GTA IV on at least low settings?

Should be playable on high settings. graphics card would not be the bottleneck. your CPU and ram are a little lower, but still doable:
(disregard notebook stuff, still good site for looking up playability of games on desktops)
Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech


I would also then compare the 6850 to Nvidia's offers to see which side comes up on top....

Looks like Radeon 6850 is better than Nvidia 650 and around the same price, the next one up Nvidia 660 is way pricier... haven't looked at the higher 500 series though. one of those might be competitive right now...

 

[Kobra1294]

Great, the HD6850 fits my budget just right. So overall, this could handle Mafia 2, and GTA IV on at least low settings?

Should be playable on high settings. graphics card would not be the bottleneck. your CPU and ram are a little lower, but still doable:
(disregard notebook stuff, still good site for looking up playability of games on desktops)
Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech


I would also then compare the 6850 to Nvidia's offers to see which side comes up on top....

Yeah, I'd agree that high is completely possible. 6gb isn't really bad considering almost no game uses that much ram. IM(biased)O Nvidia will come out on top, just like intel does, but when it comes to price/budget, AMD is a VERY comparable opponent.

 

[Thorsen]

Great! This is a great step up from my Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.2 GHz Single Core/2GB RAM eh?

Yes I think you will be impressed. and any newer graphics card will be a step up from the on-board....

Also remember to get rid of all the bloat-ware that will come on the machine lol.. that stuff slows it down more than anything.

 

[AC]

Great! This is a great step up from my Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.2 GHz Single Core/2GB RAM eh?

Yes I think you will be impressed. and any newer graphics card will be a step up from the on-board....

Also remember to get rid of all the bloat-ware that will come on the machine lol.. that stuff slows it down more than anything.

Oh, Gawd, I know how bloatware slows a computer down. I took a SONY VAIO with so much crap and bloatware from AOL and Norton, and there were so many processes on startup, it wasn't even funny. Reinstalled it with a Digital River ISO and the original product key, and that thing was a rocketship.
Anyway, thanks guys, you all get +Rep