Puppy/Dolphin Ratings - How are they?

[Pipboi]

Puppy -
Case: NZXT GAMMA Classic
Power Supply: Corsair CX500 V2
CPU AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
Heatsink: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Motherboard: ASUS M5A97 AM3+ 970
Memory 4GBPNY Optima DDR3 10600
Graphics Card: Gigabyte GTX 550 Ti
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB
DVD Asus 24x SATA DVD+/-RW

1) How will this system run. For example how will it be able to run games such as Skyrim and Guild Wars 2?
2) Will I be able to get most (preferably all) of these parts at the local Best Buy?
3) Since I don't know much about building a PC or much about the components that go into it, would it be more efficient to just buy one premade?

[Cyanotical]

it will be able to run them, Skyrim doesn't have very demanding requirements, i dont know about guildwars, but keep in mind, that is a base budget computer, and will not last very long before you need to buy another, or invest in upgrades

no, you will not be able to buy this at best buy, and i would avoid ever buying a computer from a retailer, if you want a dell or hp, order it from dell or hp

there are several websites that can do prebuilt computers for you, but expect to pay a decent premium

[Varyk]

Okay, but not great. Some of those parts can be upgraded to add a pretty big performance boost. Replace the CPU with an i5 2500k, the GPU for a 560 ti, the PSU for a HX650, change the ram and mobo to Intel 1155, maybe a 128gb SSD and you should be fine (high/ultra) with any game that isn't cutting edge as far as graphics (Crysis 3, Battlefield, etc).

Probably not, not that buying a comp from best buy is a good idea anyways.

Probably, most prebuilts have crappy/cheap GPU's and power supplies if theyre under 1000 dollars tho, so watch out for that.

[Deleted]

1. It will run Skyrim, but not maxed out. How well depends on resolution. Guild Wars 2 no idea as it hasn't been released yet. Based on early benchmarks and indications from the beta, it will run but not maxed out.
2. Probably. It's really easy to order online though.
3. No. Building a computer is very easy and straight forward. Just take your time.

With ~$550 to spend, I'd opt for something like this though:

Budget Gaming 550

MoBo: MSI H67A-G43 (B3) – $79.99 CPU: Intel i3 2120 – $124.99 RAM: G.Skill 1600MHz 2x4GB – $39.99 GPU: ASUS Radeon 6850 – $149.99 HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB – $79.99 PSU: Antec VP-450W – $37.99 Review Case: NZXT Gamma Classic – $39.99 Review -------------------------------------------------- Estimated Total Price – $553

Recommended for: Budget gaming build that can tackle most newer games. Enough if you only play World of Warcraft.

[Quintana]

I built a very similar system to the Puppy in December of 2010, only differences being a 6850 which will out perform the 550 Ti in many games. I play WoW, Diablo 3, full ultra settings and get around 50 FPS at 1080p and Battlefield 3 with a mix of high/ultra settings hovers in the mid 40's. I will likely use that setup for at least one more year, before I give it to my wife and upgrade to something else. That said unless you plan on overclocking you will be selling yourself short, by not spending a few more dollars and building something similar to the Dolphin setup. It's going to largely out perform the Puppy in any game current or not, plus picking up a Z77 motherboard will give you a better upgrade path as well.