Update for gaming?

[Oct9th04]

My son has a toshiba satellite I bought 3 years ago.he is a gamer in the truest sense and clearly the laptop is not up to snuff for his requirements.. I would like to upgrade vs buy new but I'm not sure if it is possible. Any suggestions?

 

[Proximon]

There is probably not much you can do with the laptop. I would need a model number.

 

[gity69]

Well when it comes to gaming the all important piece is the GPU. I'm not 100% sure but upgrading the GPU on a laptop is nigh impossible. If he really loves pc gaming and you dont want to spend a fortune you cant do better than a 500-600 dollar desktop. If mobility is a must good gaming laptops run in the $1000 range and I would be happy to offer recommendations for either of these options. If upgrading is the only option RAM is cheap generally easy to install but would only provide for marginal improvements in performance. I would need a specific model number to give recommendations for specific parts.

 

[Oct9th04]

Well when it comes to gaming the all important piece is the GPU. I'm not 100% sure but upgrading the GPU on a laptop is nigh impossible. If he really loves pc gaming and you dont want to spend a fortune you cant do better than a 500-600 dollar desktop. If mobility is a must good gaming laptops run in the $1000 range and I would be happy to offer recommendations for either of these options. If upgrading is the only option RAM is cheap generally easy to install but would only provide for marginal improvements in performance. I would need a specific model number to give recommendations for specific parts.

 

[Oct9th04]

Thank you for the input! I am looking to buy something for his birthday and I am a "Mac" I have no understanding of gaming. I bought the laptop for college and he truly uses it to play Warcraft. Can you recommend decent brands/models either desktop or laptop?

 

[Proximon]

You need to set a budget then. A desktop will give the best value for gaming. With a monitor and everything prices for a pre-built will start around $800, or $700 if you build your own.

 

[Oct9th04]

You need to set a budget then. A desktop will give the best value for gaming. With a monitor and everything prices for a pre-built will start around $800, or $700 if you build your own.

 

[Oct9th04]

Budget for a PC desktop can be up to 900. What would you find the "necessaries"?

 

[Proximon]

22 inch monitor
AMD Radeon 7770 graphics
Intel i5 processor
1TB hard drive
8GB memory

That would be minimum specs.

 

[gity69]

http/www.ibuypower.com/Carts/ShoppingCarts.aspx
I did a build at this site because they have had some decent reviews in the past. I went with the amd fx6300 because as a gaming pc you want it to be favor the gpu (video card). The 6300 will be more than enough (and I couldn't find any good gaming builds that offered an intel i3). The new Radeon 7790 is a lot cheaper than its nVidia new competitor the GTX650 ti boost on this site so I went with this respectable GPU for its low power which allowed me to squeeze in some extra savings with the power supply(and still use a decent brand). All needed items are covered with a nice 24' 1080p monitor as well. Here is a toms review of the 7790 http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7790-bonaire-performance,3462.html

 

[Proximon]

The link to your shopping cart won't work for him, but the ideas sound fine.

 

[gity69]

Ah your right so i will list components.
They give you a wide choice of cases just whatever meets your aesthetic/price needs
AMD FX-6300
Cooling and RAM are good at default choices
Radeon 7790
Motherboard Default ASUS
Power Supply Corsair 500w
HDD default 1TB
Software and Monitor choices as needed

 

[Oct9th04]

Ok gity, so where do I take this list of specs you provided to obtain a pc? Should I go to ibuypower?is it possible to go to bet buy and get all of this?

 

[gity69]

I would go with iBuypower, they let you do the custom build just start with the amd fx 6core and you can go from there, if you have any questions I would be happy to help