Is this a halfway decent computer for gaming?

[Eel O'Brian]

HP Pavilion a1410n Media Center Desktop - http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4922352

I'm not looking to blow the doors off Oblivion or anything, just run games at a decent framerate with some of the specials turned on.  Since I currently own a crap P4 1.8 ghz Dell from 2003 with a 64 mb vid card, just about anything is better.  It's a tax-free weekend here in NC, so I'm looking to upgrade a bit.  I can always invest in a better vid card a little later.

Keep in mind I'm a complete fucking distinguished mentally-challenged fellow when it comes to processors, clock speeds, and such.  I don't even know what the fuck an Athlon really is, so any advice would be appreciated.

[Vagabond]

For the games it sounds like you'll be playing, it'll be fine... You can get 20-30FPS on Oblivion's lowest settings.

However, I'd upgrade to a higher PCI-E card ASAP.

[Eel O'Brian]

Thanks.  For $50 more, is this better?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=153716&catOid=-12962

It has a dual-core processor, otherwise the specs are pretty much the same.

[LiuKangBakingAPie]

The computer I built myself three years ago is better than that and cost just as much overall (considering I carried over basic shit like the CDRW drive and case).

I can tell you for sure that that's a screaming rig for Starcraft and Counter-strike.

Edit: Same with that Circuit City one. You're cheaping out huge on the video card, and that's the most important part.

[Vagabond]

If you think it's necessary, go for it. Dual Core gives you some stability in the newer XP releases, and if you update to Vista it'll be a great speed/stability increase.

But not many games use it. I think Oblivion does though. It won't make the game any prettier, though, but it'll stabilize framerate.

HOWEVER, as that is a LightScribe DVD, look over the drive (Google Search) and make sure it is compatible with the DVD medium you are interested in buying (The cheaper ones), because LightScribes are sometimes VERY picky when it comes to disc burning.

Nothing like buying that 30 dollar 100-DVD spindle, thinking you have a SEXAH deal, just to find out your lightscribe doesn't burn te discs...

[heavy liquid]

I bought the HP a1310n a few months ago for $600 which is a bit down from the 1410.  I've since added an extra gig of memory, so it's now 2 gigs total, and added a GeForce 7900GT video card.  It runs games like butter.  F.E.A.R. looks really good, and I tested the frame rate for Half-Life2: Lost Coast which turned out to be 73.45.  Nice! 

I would get what you can afford, but plan to buy a decent video card and add maybe a gig of memory.  This is if you're like me and don't want to build your computer from scratch.

[Van Cruncheon]

The integrated video REALLY hurts it as a game performer. If you do buy either rig, fork out $150 for either an nVidia GeForce 6600 or a Radeon 1600.

[Eel O'Brian]

I ended up buying the HP Pavilion Media Center a1520n -

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=153716&catOid=-12962

along with the GeForce 7600 GS:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=152206&catOid=-13043

which was 120.00 after rebates.

I think the only thing I'll have to upgrade in the near future is adding more RAM.

Thanks for the help, everyone!

[Van Cruncheon]

Not bad. Enjoy!

[Eel O'Brian]

Man, FUCK Norton Security Suite and Anti-Virus.  Whatta resource hog.  UNINSTALL PROGRAM

[Matlock]

I kinda like Windows Live Onecare, myself.

[Lo-Volt]

Man, FUCK Norton Security Suite and Anti-Virus. 

Good man.

[morphix]

Get this!



This graphics card is the best, just look at the box.

 

[Shuri]

who cares about pc gaming

[Eel O'Brian]

Me, evidently.