Help out a n00b

I've been a console gamer for like... forever. I've never been able to get into pc gaming because it costs more and in some ways just seemed overwhelming to me. But with games like Starcraft 2 and (hopefully before too long...) Diablo 3 coming out, i feel like i should broaden my gaming capabilities. The problem is, when it comes to hardware, i'm utterly lost. So...

I recently bought a laptop for college, and it's pretty decent as far as i know. But, as i said, that isn't much.
It has 4gb of ram, an intel core i3 processor (which from what i've heard is not great...) and a pretty terrible graphics card. I think it's an HP GMA HD. But no numbers with that. I tried looking it up and all i find is 8440p GMA HD and the like, which certainly sound a lot more intense than the one i've got. At any rate, taking all that into account, i just want to know what exactly i'd need to buy if i want to be able to run games like the ones listed above...not necessarily at the highest settings or anything, but i'd prefer not to be running the bare minimum either. Find a happy medium for a guy who has no idea what he's doing and has a reasonable budget. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ha. Wow. See i really don't know what i'm doing. :) Well thanks anyway. Guess i'll be getting a job during college after all. Yay.

You can't upgrade laptops beyond RAM and hard-drive space. So there isn't much you can do to help your situation. Sorry.ProudLarry

You could build a desktop to max those games for like 600 bucks.

Seriously?
"Build" sounds intimidating, but $600 sounds great.

Seriously?
"Build" sounds intimidating, but $600 sounds great.

darkpiggy17

It's actually ridiculously simple. Just look through the stickied guide here on PC hardware discussion.

And we can help you pick out the parts. I could actually come up with something from newegg real quick if you like.

Oh wow. I'll admit that looks easier than i've always imagined building a computer would be, but that doesn't mean i think i could do it properly. Lol. I appreciate the thought, but i'm kinda afraid i'd get the parts and then totally screw something up while building it.

You won't screw it up. Just follow the guide closely and handle the parts gently and you'll be fine. I came up with something because I was bored anyway. :P

Assuming you have a monitor, mouse, keyboard and a copy of windows:

LG 22X DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH22NS40 - OEM

COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-BWN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

MSI 740GM-P25 AM3 AMD 740G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (with free copy of Blacklight: Tango Down)

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT

AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX635WFGIBOX

$552.93 before shipping and taxes (shipping should be about 25 dollars)

If you need windows, mouse, keyboard and monitor you're looking at like another 200 dollars unfortunately. You could look for combo deals and such to save some more cash but I didn't.

Geez that's a lot of letters and numbers. :O

Thanks, i would never have been able to put together a list of parts like that. Given that it's actually not all that expensive, and i'm taking your word on it not being that complicated, i'm definitely considering it. Bookmarking this page for future reference, in case i decide to try it. Which probably means a week or two before diablo 3 comes out. :)

Geez that's a lot of letters and numbers. :O

Thanks, i would never have been able to put together a list of parts like that. Given that it's actually not all that expensive, and i'm taking your word on it not being that complicated, i'm definitely considering it. Bookmarking this page for future reference, in case i decide to try it. Which probably means a week or two before diablo 3 comes out. :)

darkpiggy17

I'd recommend making a new thread about building your first computer and just posting this list of parts there and ask for suggestions. If a pile of people look at it and work from it you'll end up getting the best possible computer for the money. I just came up with that in under 5 min so I wouldn't take my word on it being the best option right now. :P I could give more suggestions such as alternative video cards, processors, cases, ect but I've gotta go. Good luck :)

Thanks for the help :)