First time desktop buyer looking for some insight on this processor and graphics card

[Deleted]

I usually play WoW on my laptop and have gotten weary of my fps problems, particularly since MoP so decided to invest in a desktop. I'm a console gamer and don't really know anything about PC specs although I gather these are someway better than a 4 year old laptop. It's a cheap range gaming quality PC for about 700 euro so please bear that in mind. I'd hope for it to be able to run the current generation of games on the highest setting and have some sort of lifespan on it so any tips appreciated.

I'm using Dell, not building from scartch. The current parts are:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i3-2120 Processor (3.30GHz, 3MB L3 Cache, 2C)
Graphics Card: 1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640
RAM: 6GB 1333MHz 1x4GB + 1x2GB) Dual Channel Memory

It's also an option between Windows 8 and 7, any advice on that? I'm upgrading from XP so either are probably going to annoy me somewhat. Thinking the newer version is the better one unless there's something vista-esque inherently wrong with it.

Any comments however small appreciated, thanks.

[chaud]

That GPU is fairly weak and not going to play most games well. Windows 8 is better in most ways except for the start screen, which you can bypass with a third party start menu replacement.

[BicycleMafioso]

I prefer Windows 8 personally, but this is a controversial choice.

I would agree with Chaud; If possible, I'd really upgrade the GPU. GTX 650 or HD7770 is the least I would go. 640 is fairly worse.

[Deleted]

That GPU is fairly weak and not going to play most games well. Windows 8 is better in most ways except for the start screen, which you can bypass with a third party start menu replacement.

I'd really upgrade the GPU. GTX 650 or HD7770 is the least I would go. 640 is fairly worse.

Thanks for the replies.

Most of the reviews I've seen for the GT 640 seemed to show reasonable fps for recent releases like Skyrim, is the 1GB video memory part significant or just that there are better in the price range?

What is the benchmark you're using for this. Would it for example play WoW on the highest settings flawlessly? Are there current releases which it'd struggle to play smoothly on average settings?

[BicycleMafioso]

The lower the resolution, the better it will run. The GT 640 would be more than reasonable at resolutions lower than 1680x1050. What games do you play in entirety?
If you're fine with lower settings, GT 640 will be fine; I'd hate to settle with that quality if you want it to last you a long while though.

[Deleted]

The lower the resolution, the better it will run. The GT 640 would be more than reasonable at resolutions lower than 1680x1050. What games do you play in entirety?
If you're fine with lower settings, GT 640 will be fine; I'd hate to settle with that quality if you want it to last you a long while though.

WoW, Guild Wars 2, LoL, TF2 and some Ps2/GCN emulation would be the main things I'd intend to use it for. Using Skyrim as an example though not specifically that but it'd be nice to have the option to be able to play recent releases like that, perfectly ok not playing it at the highest setting though if it was struggling on anything but low that'd obviously be a problem for future games.
I'd be happy for 2-3 years of being able to play recent releases smoothly, I'm not expecting anything more.

I'm looking at Dell pre-made towers out of the sheer convenience of not having to wade too deep in a field I don't really understand, (I know the value pitfalls in that). But with that I don't have the option of changing the GPU apparently, how does the cost of ~$700 strike you for value?

[ati87]

I suggest you find a friend or a website that will do the actual building because in my experience buying a desktop directly has a limited lifespan unless you buy a overpriced gaming computer.

The graphic card that is included is almost budget level and same can be said about the CPU. In a year or 2 your computer will reach the end of it's lifespan for majority of the games.

So just find somebody ( a store. friend or a website) that will assemble the parts because for the price of 700 euro you could probably get a computer that is 2 times better.

[Deleted]

I've an option of upgrading to a Intel® Core™ i5-3330 Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.20 GHz) for an extra 90 euro. I believe this is a quad core instead of dual, is that a worthwhile upgrade or nothing significant?

[BicycleMafioso]

I'd say no. The GPU is where I'd upgrade.