AWKWARD ZOMBIE

anybody

That's just paying extra for something anybody could do himself or herself.

Panties, to clarify, you don't need computers that fast. 16 gb RAM is overkill for anything you would want to run, i7 processors are fucking insane, etc.

when i say smoothly I mean not fall under 20 fps. because that's bullshit. at least, maybe be able to livestream it too.

what do I need?

I'm expecting my computer to be able to handle Skyrim (although maybe not at maximum settings or anything like that), but to be safe, you should go a bit higher:
AMD Phenom II X4 940 (about %150 of my CPU's capability, for around $100)

General rule for DDR3 RAM seems to be $10 a gigabyte; you'll almost definitely never need more than 4 but 6 is nice too.

Doubtlessly, the weakest part of my system is my graphics card, and EN9500GT GeForce. I don't have any experience with ATI cards, so someone else has to chip in on that. The way GeForce cards are ranked, though, is by their hundreds-digit. EG an 8800 card beats a 9500 card. The thousands-digit is just the series, although you obviously don't want a 3900, because that would be so outdated it wouldn't even be funny. You probably want a 9800, which can be gotten for as low as $60

You'd obviously need a new motherboard to deal with these fancy components, which would run you at least $100, likely more. Be careful with this part, as some motherboards can be really picky about what RAM they'll accept. Also be sure to match the CPU slot, and ensure that it has at least on of the proper PCI slots for your graphics card (usually a PCIe x16).

The last component you'll really need is a power supply, which can be anywhere from $30 to more than $100 depending on your components. There's a very slight chance you can reuse the one from your current computer, but I wouldn't count on it if your current computer wasn't built for gaming back when it was made.


Finally, you should check which form factor your current box is, if it's an ATX you'd be hard pressed finding a motherboard that wouldn't fit in it.


Overall, it would cost about $350 (ideal) to $450 (if you're unlucky with power supplies and cases).


My computer is only 4 gigs of RAM and (as stated) only about 2/3s of the CPU I recommended, and I've yet to see anything but iTunes (shittiest program ever) freeze it up, even with almost ten programs running on Windows 7.
Speaking of Windows 7, you should look into it as well, it's a great OS. Unfortunately, it will run you another $100+.


Some final things to consider-my computer runs everything I've thrown at it fine on my smaller screen, but stutters a bit on my HDTV. I have no idea what the upper limits of the above setup are, but remember to try turning off anti aliasing if a game is running slowly. Even 2X AA is, by my understanding, effectively running the game at twice the normal resolution so that the game can merge two colors into one pixel to create a smoother effect. Playing at 8X, or even 16X, as I often do, is obviously a huge number of pixels rendered. You should consider the size of your screen, as size affects performance more and more dramatically the more you anti alias your games*.

Also never trust the "recommended settings" in games. Portal insists that I need everything set to medium, but runs fine, as I've stated, with everything cranked up to absolute maximum. Don't get discouraged if a game insists you need it to look like shit, it's lying.

* the actual workings of anti aliasing may be entirely different, this is just how I believe it is done.

More important than the amount of RAM is the speed of it.