Inexperienced Computer Gamer Needs Advice Please

Hey, so my computer just died on me which was a very sad occasion but considering I've had it for eight years it has served me well. I used to be heavily into PC games but then moved over to the consoles once my PC became pretty much obsolete. Well I'd like to once again get into PC gaming and would like your advice on what computer I should get. It has to be affordable so building one from scratch is out of the option. I'm not entirely sure nowadays what classifes as "good" in order to play the modern day PC games so if you can please tell me how these rigs would run a game such as Dragon Age or the most recent Call of Duty that would be fantastic.

The first option is this: http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-pavilion-elite-computer-featuring-amd-phenom-ii-955-processor-hpe-501f-hpe-501f/10161954.aspx?path=d3d92e61b108dbeb6255cdb6b619525den02

And the second option is this one: http://www.futureshop.ca/EN-CA/product/id/10160870.aspx

Thank you very much, any information is super appreciated.

I'll only comment on the first one since I own a HP.

It's fine, except for the Mobo RAM. Only 4 GB for 64-bit Windows? No way.

I bought a HP with 8 GB RAM, much better way to go with a 64-bit OS.

4GB is fine for Gaming. I'm using 4GB right now and I have no problems playing any game currently avaliable.

The Video Card is the thing to look out for with PCs, everything else tends to take a backseat provided the CPU won't create a bottleneck. The first system has the stronger card and so that would be my first choice.

Something like this would give a lot more bang for buck though: Click. The difference is that with the one you linked you'd be stuck on medium/high settings and with the above you'd be fine on max settings at 1080p.

Not saying you need to go with that. Just saying you need to shop around for more than HP machines.

"It has to be affordable so building one from scratch is out of the option." Building one from scratch is the most affordable way to get a good gaming computer. If you have the ability to build one then I suggest you go with that.Croag821

And this. Building your own computer is actually a whole lot cheaper than purchasing one prebuilt. If you have even basic mechanical knowledge (the ability to read a manual and match parts to sockets; obvious stuff, like Lego almost) then it's often the way to go.

It has to be affordable so building one from scratch is out of the option.

Odin945

Lolwut. Building one from scratch IS an affordable solution. Here's a build I just whipped together that will be leaps and bounds in gaming performance over those two systems:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Processor, pricematched to 126.84
G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3-1600 4GB Memory, pricematched to 45.10
Seagate 7200.12 1TB Hard Drive
LiteON DVD Drive, pricematched to 17.33
XFX HD 6950 1GB XXX Video Card
ASUS M4A87T Motherboard, pricematched to 84.99
Coolermaster HAF 912 Case, pricematched to 48.96
Seasonic S12II 620w Power Supply
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Operating System, pricematched to 93.79

Sub-total, w/o shipping, insurance and taxes: 759.98
Grand total: 905.75*
Grand total w/ in-store PC Assembly service: 955.81*
*Assuming 13% tax.

Hey, so my computer just died on me which was a very sad occasion but considering I've had it for eight years it has served me well. I used to be heavily into PC games but then moved over to the consoles once my PC became pretty much obsolete. Well I'd like to once again get into PC gaming and would like your advice on what computer I should get. It has to be affordable so building one from scratch is out of the option. I'm not entirely sure nowadays what classifes as "good" in order to play the modern day PC games so if you can please tell me how these rigs would run a game such as Dragon Age or the most recent Call of Duty that would be fantastic.

The first option is this: http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-pavilion-elite-computer-featuring-amd-phenom-ii-955-processor-hpe-501f-hpe-501f/10161954.aspx?path=d3d92e61b108dbeb6255cdb6b619525den02

And the second option is this one: http://www.futureshop.ca/EN-CA/product/id/10160870.aspx

Thank you very much, any information is super appreciated.

I jave coreI3 and playing all latest games... ATI 5000 series is best for gaming...Playing all games you want to play...Yoy said that you like Dragon Age ..So for this game your processor is heavy bcoz strategy and RPG games need heavy processors..

Odin945

Ah, thank you very much for all your help!