How easy is it to become a PC gamer?

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I have so far been a console gamer since I first became interested in gaming, partly because I sucked at using keyboard controls on the few games I tried on PC. Mind you, I sucked at just about everything back then so I reckon with practice I could now get the hang of it. However, I've recently been thinking about trying to get into PC gaming, firstly because there are some good games, such as Counter Strike, that as far as I know are not on consoles (or at least no-one else plays on consoles). Secondly because I'm sick of the endless PC vs Consoles war that everyone and their dog on this site seems to think is important and I want to prove that it is possible to like both. But that's another story...

Trouble is I'm not sure the computer I have at the moment is good enough to run Steam and some of it's best games. I don't know exactly what model it is, but it is a relatively new Dell that uses Windows 7 and that cost a lot of money. However, it's not designed for gaming and is only a laptop, and according to my brother (who's a much bigger tech head than I am) says that there's no point in me even installing Steam let alone buying any of the things I want from it.

So is he right? Is there no way my laptop is powerful enough to run games like Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2 (I'm not even going to think about Crysis) well, and how much would it cost to get one that can? (I still want a laptop if that's possible as they're so much more convienient for work.

 

[HotFezz8]

you want strategy games; pc. absoloutely, just get a good enough rig and a total war game (medieval 2, shogun 2, rome, or empire, in that order).

you want shooters or games with that element; console. easier controls and cheaper rigs.

 

[HotFezz8]

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/CYRI/intro.aspx

 

[Houi]

without actually specifications for your laptop, we can't really give you an answer. if you can find out what cpu, video card and how much ram you have, then we can answer.

that said, laptops are not often made for gaming and if it wasn't bought for gaming originally then your brother is probably right.

 

[BlackIvory]

we'll need to know the specs on your laptop, specifically: CPU, RAM, Graphics card and motherboard (oh and HDD too).

You can find out most of those if you just right-click on Computer and go to properties, and it should say so there. For more in-depth you can download a program called Everest which gives great detail into your system, and post a log here

 

[PatSilverFox]

Pc gaming isn't all about the high performance games.
I'm sure your laptop could run flash games ;3

 

[lacktheknack]

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/CYRI/intro.aspx

This is correct.

Also, if yours really is that bad, a decent laptop that will play older games will set you back about $600, $400 if you know where to look. Look for one that has a graphics card, a chipset won't do it.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

you want strategy games; pc. absoloutely, just get a good enough rig and a total war game (medieval 2, shogun 2, rome, or empire, in that order).

you want shooters or games with that element; console. easier controls and cheaper rigs.

Trouble is their are some really good shooters that I know you can't get for consoles:
Counter Strike
Half Life 1
Crysis
Team Fortress 2 (ok, This one you can get for the 360 on the Orange box but no-one plays it on Xbox Live.)

 

[Rednog]

Going to put no, especially on a laptop, most have integrated graphics which essentially it probably won't run games unless they are more than like 5 or so years old.

Edit: From your list above, half-life 1 and Counter-Strike will pretty much work on anything, very old games tend to require little to no power.

 

[Bobic]

You'll probably be able to run the original counter strike on your laptop, it's over a decade old. I can't give a definitive answer on Counter Strike: Source because, as the poster above me mentioned, we'd need to know some specifications. However that shouldn't need too powerful a computer to run. Just because it's a laptop doesn't mean it can't run games. I have a £500 samsung laptop and I've got over 100 steam games, so it could well be worth it.

 

[shado_temple]

You'll definitely have to find the specs of your laptop somewhere online and post them here so we've got something to work with.

Otherwise, you might actually be able to play counter strike; I know I've gotten that game to work on some pretty awful computers before, so there might be a chance for you yet.

 

[Kahunaburger]

You can run most modern games on a modern PC with no problem - the main issue is the settings. I can run stuff like Bad Company 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 on my laptop, for instance, but I have to turn the settings down haha.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

You'll probably be able to run the original counter strike on your laptop, it's over a decade old. I can't give a definitive answer on Counter Strike: Source because, as the poster above me mentioned, we'd need to know some specifications. However that shouldn't need too powerful a computer to run. Just because it's a laptop doesn't mean it can't run games. I have a £500 samsung laptop and I've got over 100 steam games, so it could well be worth it.

Counter Strike Source would be the one I would get.

 

[pejhmon]

Counter Strike and Team Fortress 2 both use the source engine which was made about 6 years ago. As long as your PC has a graphics card you should be able to run those games, or at least on the lowest settings. Depending what you play greatly influences how far your rig will go, but you don't have to have an amazing computer to get into PC gaming. I use my mid-range laptop (bought it new for ~£700 (~1100$) 2 summers ago) and it runs most things fine, it's just that I know I wont be able to play high graphics games like crysis but that's what the xbox is for. Valve tend to make their games with usability in mind so a computer running windows 7 will, almost by default, be fine for steam. Other games like Killing Floor, older Total War titles (Rome, Medieval 2 ... just not empire onwards), Starcraft 2 (low settings, which tbh isn't that much worse than high) etc all fall under this category as well. Indie games should be absolutely fine too.

My suggestion is to just go for it, the only real thing that may hold you back is harddrive space which is still easily overcome with the availability of external harddrives. Download steam (that's free) then download Alien Swarm (also free), if you can run that then you should be fine.

 

[Twuk]

You more than likely have one of the Inspiron Dell models, which are common amongst non-gaming consumers. However, I would like to point out that MY Dell Inspiron is a gaming power house because of just a couple of hardware upgrades and some creative thinking.

Typically, to have a reliable rig, you need only a few things to be better than par in order to enjoying gaming. The first being the processor; the more cores you have the better. Second is obviously the video card, but there are other factors that play into this as well (amount of RAM, etc.). Upgrading all of these things individually can be costly, so it can really save you a lot of money if you upgrade, say the processor, in advance before you buy. Like the above posters have said, unless we see some specs, I can't really offer you much help on the matter.

If you DO manage to get a good rig set up, meet your new enemy - heat. Especially with a laptop, expect that thing to torch right up if you were to just game on it with it sitting on your bed. You could spend a bunch of money on a cooling fan, or you could be broke like me and have to innovate by positioning a small fan underneath the laptop. While not entirely practical for PC controller-Esq games, it does wonders while using Emulators or anything else that much cause a ton of heat problems, especially since the fan has three speed settings, shooting out TONS of cool air directly underneath to where the vents are.

Best of luck to you and your new hobby! PC gamers and Console dudes must unite in order to save the world!

 

[Fooz]

run dxdiag
which you can find using the search function on the bottom of your start menu
that will give your specs.

Other than that it should be easy enough to upgrade things like RAM (even on a laptop). GFX and cpu are a pain to mess with on laptops though.

yeah, just follow this, it will tell you everything you need to know about your computer

O.T.: usually Laptops that are built for gaming aren't really that good due to bulkiness and low battery life, and Laptops that aren't specifically built for Gaming are even worse but for different reasons such as they usually have an integrated Graphics Card which isn't any good

 

[HotFezz8]

you want strategy games; pc. absoloutely, just get a good enough rig and a total war game (medieval 2, shogun 2, rome, or empire, in that order).

you want shooters or games with that element; console. easier controls and cheaper rigs.

Trouble is their are some really good shooters that I know you can't get for consoles:
Counter Strike
Half Life 1
Crysis
Team Fortress 2 (ok, This one you can get for the 360 on the Orange box but no-one plays it on Xbox Live.)

yeah but they old. i -graphicwhore- don't play no old game.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Ok, I'll type up what is says on my system properties. I hope you can all make some sense of it because I can't.

Manufacturer: Dell
Model: N5010
Rating: 4.6 Windows Experience Index
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU P6000 @1.87GHz 1.86 GHz
Installed Memory (RAM): 4.00GB (3.80GB usable)
System Type: 64-bit Operating System

 

[Bobic]

You'll probably be able to run the original counter strike on your laptop, it's over a decade old. I can't give a definitive answer on Counter Strike: Source because, as the poster above me mentioned, we'd need to know some specifications. However that shouldn't need too powerful a computer to run. Just because it's a laptop doesn't mean it can't run games. I have a £500 samsung laptop and I've got over 100 steam games, so it could well be worth it.

Counter Strike Source would be the one I would get.

Well that's still quite an old game, there's a good chance your computer could run it.