BIG fan SMALL wallet. Civ V desktop recomendations for a BROKE college student.

[US_of_Cleveland]

Ok, Ive been a DIE HARD Civilization fan since I was 13 years old. Im going on 21 now and Ive been living without the ability to play the game for months because of a PC (I'm having withdraws). Also, I'm a 3rd year college student so price and value are major factors in my decision on what to buy. I would like to spend around $800... $1000 max (I am beyond poor lol), so what i am here to ask you all today is if I should:

A. Buy an already built PC (Dell, Alienware etc.) and which.

B. Buy a custom built PC, and if so from where?

C. Buy parts to have the PC put together by a third party (from where, by whom)


Any help would be greatly appreciated, but information about parts, pieces and hookups should be as basic as possible. The ONLY PC game I will be playing is Civilization V and its expansion, and I want them to play AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE WITH A SYSTEM IN THAT PRICE RANGE I just want to play the damn game...can a brotha just play some damn CIV 5???

And as a disclaimer, I have absolutely have NO desire to build the PC myself LOL.


Thanks in advance folks, Ive been a regular visitor to this site and know you all can help me out.

[tokala]

Here you go:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883229335

or some comparable system from another vendor.

CPU is as fast as it gets for Civ5 purposes, you won't need more than 8GB RAM, and a HD 7770 is fast enough for maximum graphics settings, unless you use a display larger than 1920x1200.

[The_J]

Is that really needed? I guess a system around 600 would also do the job.

[tokala]

Originally Posted by US_of_Cleveland

and I want them to play AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE WITH A SYSTEM IN THAT PRICE RANGE

The OP was fairly specific, no

Of course you can get by with a lesser system.

Especially if you are not afraid of installing a video card into a pre-built office system.

$500 for an i3 system, e.g.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883108951

+ another $100 for a HD 7750, e.g.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102969

will get you 90% of the CPU power of the $800 system and would be fast enough for max graphics on a 1600x900 display.

[US_of_Cleveland]

Will lagging be minimized?