So, I can now consider getting a new machine that will be able to play the game but I am somewhat overwhelmed by all the components on http://www.ebuyer.com (where I will almost certainly be buying them). A friend is going to help me build the thing but I'd like some idea o what I need before we go and order parts. Right now I am not entirely sure what I need to be able to run the game reasonably well. I checked the system reccomendations and they looked easy enough, but when it came to looking at the components I got all confused I don't want to spend much more than £500... I guess I could go nearer £600 but I would prefer not to... it is just all very confusing. I don't need to play the game on the highest settings, just... reasonably well

For example, this http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/63119 caught my eye when I was browsing but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at. Then there are the dual core things

Then I started looking at graphics cards and got even more confused... Something like this http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/115739 is a nice price but I have no idea what it does.

Nothing is certain at the moment and my friend can probably help when he gets back but I was just hoping some people here coul give me some pointers before I go spending.

I'm not much help at system requirements but I do know that your video card should be at least PCI Express Nvidia 6600 and a Fatal1ty motherboard by Abit. This is what my hubby has and he plays Oblivion great. I on the other hand have ATI - bugged. drivers are inherently bugged. Go Nvidia, ASUS motherboard, ABit is good too.

Better to build it yourself. Definitely go to Newegg.com and you'll pay near wholesale price and low delivery.

I cannot play Obliv without lag on a 5600 Nvidia vid card, so the video card being the right strength makes a lots of difference.

Hope any of this helped.

Helped a bit. I am hopefully seeing my friend later so I can discuss it with him

Ok, when I buy computers, I spend hours planning them out. What you would want to do in theory (Depends how good you are with computers) is to buy parts and assemble (what your doin I think...). Well, AMD athlon 64 is basically the best processor you can get, but the problem is, normal versions of windows DO NOT support 64 bit processing. This makes for spending an extra $200 (not sure in £). If you do not wish to pay that for 64 bit processing, then the best intel processor is the new core duo. This provides fairly fast duel core processing (Once again, duel core does NOT double application speed, it mearly speeds up when running multiple operations which is almost all the time). A cheaper way to go would be the Intel Pentium 4 Hyper Threading 3.4 Ghz (not sure exact model, costs about 140-180), or the 1.66 Ghz duel core in same price range. Both of these cause major overheating problems which means you are going to have to get a better heatsink/processor fan as opposed to the cheap packaged ones.

As for motherboard, you are looking for high bus speed with the right slot. I do not know all the slots off hand, but I believe the HT 3.4 intel pentium 4 is a slot LGA775. You should not have to spend more than about $80 on a motherboard.

Ram you should get 1 gig of DDR ram (or 512 Is ok I guess).

If you want fast graphics, You want a PCI express graphics card (DO NOT GET A REGULAR ONE ).

blah balh blah im tired of typing... so hope thats remotely helpful ><

Hmm..for one that would run oblivion for a good price..
You want Socket AM2
I would suggest..
Athlon 64 X2 3800 AM2
1 GB Corsair Valueselect
7600 GT PCI Express
ASUS M2N-E ATX AM2
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA 3.0GB/sec WD2500KS


That's just a draft of what I would buy, no real research put in..That would run oblivion probably high, but not max graphics. But leaves room for much expansion

I don't mean to post links to different forums. But I know of forums that could prove to be much more help.
discussions.hardwarecentral.com No www

Thanks for the advice. My friend came over and did some pricing for me, so I have an idea of what I might be getting

I'm going for 1gb of DDR (obviously) and a nice 300gb HD.

Now for the important bits.

Motherboard - http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...duct_uid=110733

Processor - http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...duct_uid=111285

Graphics card - http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...duct_uid=111199

How do those things look? The 64 bit processor is exceptional value at that price.

If possible try and get a 7600 GT
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111198

That processor might be a bit sluggish, A 3500+ or 3800+, or perhaps 3800 X2 would do a better job. Im not saying that what you're buying is slow or anything. It will be a nice computer. But there are some things that should be improved upon.

Motherboard will do fine. Just read a few reviews on that particular one and no one is saying anything bad about it.
All processors today you will buy will be 64 bit. So don't judge on that. Now our next thing is RAM.

Currently RAM's prices are very high, like some almost double. It drops back down after christmas or around the time.
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/92877
Corsair Valueselect is good stuff. I use the DDR version of that RAM in my current system and I have no bottlenecks or anything.

I would suspect that this computer you have listed will run oblivion very high graphics.

Buying the 7600 GS and the AMD 3200 will leave plenty of upgrade room in the future if necessary. And that will be awhile away.
Also be sure to get a SATAII 3.0 GB hardrive.

But things are lookin' good!

The reason I'm thinking of getting that processor is because the 3500 is more than double the price of the 3200, and to me that doesn't really seem worth it.

Thanks for the advice on the graphics card. Whats the different between a GS and a GT though. I'm curious now.

Just overall performance.
The 7600 GT is better than the 7600 GS. Both are fine cards.

My current computer is probably 50% of the computer you are looking at's speed and runs oblivion medium-low graphics. So be expecting medium-high, high, or very high. Probably high or very high.

The average 7600 GT/GS card has 256 MB of RAM. That one has 512 MB. Yes it does help to have more RAM, there is no denying that. BUT you have to have the video card to push 512 MB of RAM. The 7600 GS isn't going to be able to use all 512 MB at anytime. So you're better off getting a 256 MB 7600 GT for nearly the same price.

If you wanted to put it this way..
Let's say there are two racecars.
A slow one that has a large gas tank
And a fast one that has a normal gas tank. And they are racing. The one with the small gas tank can use that gas well and to it's full extent, thus meaning it will win.

The fast one is the 7600 GT and the slow one is the 7600 GS 512 MB. You want the one that wins. (And no it doesn't cost money for gas bills )

That makes sense... sort of. I shall speak to my friend about it. Maybe get a better card instead. I won't be ordering any parts until after pay day anyway. Pay day being next week

Thanks for all the help

You're welcome PM/Post here me if you need any help!

i advise you to wait until vista comes out then they will have new technology like graphics cards that come with direct x 10 and proper 64 bit systems