PC Specifications:

[JasonBurrows]

Are these any good?
I would like to know what sort of PC games I can play on my PC without any lag.

Spoiler: My PC Specifications

OS Name: Microsoft? Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version: 6.0.6002
Service Pack 2 Build 6002
Other OS Description: Not Available
OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation
System Name: JASONBURROWS-PC
System Manufacturer:OEM
System Model: OEM
System Type: X86-based PC
Processor: Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5300 @ 2.60GHz, 2600 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 21/04/2009
SMBIOS Version: 2.5
Windows Directory: C:\Windows
System Directory: C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device: \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale: United Kingdom
Hardware Abstraction Layer: Version = "6.0.6002.18005"
User Name: JasonBurrows-PC\Jason Burrows
Time Zone: GMT Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 3.00 GB
Total Physical Memory: 2.99 GB
Available Physical Memory: 1.66 GB
Total Virtual Memory: 6.20 GB
Available Virtual Memory: 4.84 GB
Page File Space:3.28 GB

 

[Josh]

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/
Then type the game and compare it with your computer specs.

 

[JasonBurrows]

That website I've been on before and I don't like how I near enough cannot run anything...

It is only my PC's Video Card that stops me being able to play Grand Theft Auto IV..

 

[AndyB]

That website I've been on before and I don't like how I near enough cannot run anything...

It is only my PC's Video Card that stops me being able to play Grand Theft Auto IV..

If you're not able to run alot, GTA4 will be out of the question for a while.

 

[JasonBurrows]

When I tried that website that Josh sent me.
I got this result:

Spoiler: Results for Grand Theft Auto IV

CPU
Minimum: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHz
You Have: Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5300 @ 2.60GHz
PASS

CPU Speed
Minimum: 1.8 GHz
You Have: 2.6 GHz Performance Rated at: 3.9 GHz
PASS

RAM
Minimum: 1 GB for Windows XP / 1.5 GB for Windows Vista)
You Have: 3.0 GB
PASS

OS
Minimum: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3 / Windows 7
You Have: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition Service Pack 2 (build 6002), 32-bit
PASS

Video Card
Minimum: 256MB NVIDIA 7900+ / 256MB ATI X1900+
You Have: Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family
Upgrade Suggested: Unfortunately, your Video Card does not meet this requirement.
Features: Minimum attributes of your Video Card
Required You Have
Video RAM 256 MB 287.0 MB
3D Yes Yes
Hardware T&L Yes No
Pixel Shader version 3.0 2.0
Vertex Shader version 3.0 2.0a

Sound Card
Minimum: Yes
You Have: Realtek High Definition Audio
PASS

Free Disk Space
Minimum: 16 GB
You Have: 880.9 GB
PASS

 

[AndyB]

*Specs and results*

Even so, that site wont always be right. Somes games will run, some wont.

However, with it being that the minimum settings, that's probably going to fall into what I say there. If it's over the recommended, you have a much better chance of it running.

Anyway, you may well be right with it just being the graphics card.

 

[JasonBurrows]

So if I ran GTA IV now, it might be very laggy....
Am I right AndyB?

 

[AndyB]

So if I ran GTA IV now, it might be very laggy....
Am I right AndyB?

If it would at all, yes. Sometimes if a computer has the specs, but not the graphics card it wont run. I had that problem before.

 

[Psychonaut]

here's my specs. protip: half the stuff you listed in the original post has jack **** to do with running things, if you'll pardon the bluntness.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (Dual Core @ 2.20 GHz)
Ram: DDR2, 3 gigs (not sure of the clock speed)
OS: Vista (nothing premium)
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 9800GT (512 MB dedicated RAM)

here's my advice/opinon: buy yourself a cheap graphics card, for now. research which ones get the best bang-for-buck, and try to keep it at the bare minimum to running the games you'd like to run at decent settings. with my computer, i can run TF2 on high settings, but it lags considerably if i do so, so i keep it on medium. i can't run GTAIV, i need a better processor as it bottlenecks there. the card can handle it, but my processor is the weak link.

if you have no graphics card, you're already shooting yourself in the foot. if you're on a laptop, my suggestion would be to look into buying/building a decent computer. you don't need a bunch of cores, but 3-4 is usually the norm nowadays, i think. DDR3 RAM will do a lot for speed IF YOUR PROCESSOR/COMPUTER CAN KEEP UP WITH IT. otherwise, DDR2 will be perfectly fine. but if it's the same price, why not?

if you want to upgrade the comp you're on right now, you'll need to buy a motherboard/processor/ram, and at that point you might be better off using your older/current computer as a fall-back and just buying a new one.

if you are going to install a graphics card, you'll need to know which kind of slot you have on your motherboard. most likely you'll have a PCI-Express (like mine), but you will probably want to pop your computer open and have a look for yourself. it will be on the backside/where the power cable and AV cable is, all that good stuff. just make sure you know the shape/that the card will fit, and that you have a spare power cable in your computer. if you don't have one (which should be loose from the power supply/not plugged into anything) you may need a new power supply. with those, you just want to make sure you aren't buying something that'll blow up your motherboard. so, i'd say ask an attendant at a tech store their experiences with the parts. they'll be able to suggest a brand/model. just be a smart shopper/don't buy the most expensive one.

i didn't have to buy a Power Supply until i decided to add a hard drive, but you may need to. again, popping your computer open is easy, and you can see a lot, even if you don't know exactly what you're going to be looking for.

so yeah. just buy a cheaper-side graphics card if you wanna play TF2 and things similar to it at a nice rate. later, you'll be able to buy a new computer/save some money up, since your processor isn't as high-end as some games prefer.

or, if funds are allowing, you could buy a new computer that's a quad/tri core, and get a nice graphics card for it.

i may be entirely wrong in thinking more than a dual-core is necessary for gaming, but all i know is that it's the reason i can't play GTAIV at a nice pace. i get around 10 frames per second, and my graphics card was $150, two years ago. a $20/50 (convert that, i dunno what it'd be. 15/30 pounds? considering it being on sale) one now would probably suffice for most games.

if you want to play GTAIV on your comp, i'd say you need a good $500 to drop. if you're looking to mod stuff, i'd just suggest picking up the GTA3 Trilogy somewhere (steam, or a physical store) and modding from there. GTAIV is much too intensive to be played on your average/non-gaming computer.

/wall of text

 

[NikoKing]

your specs are of meh quality. You've got the ram, but your video card isn't really great. If you've got a desktop then I highly suggest getting a cheap, but nice video card for your computer. It actually really isn't hard to add a video card onto a desktop, but a laptop it's a bit more annoying.

here are my specs (by the way, I can run TF2 at constant 50-55 FPS with these on low video settings)
RAM: 2 GB
Video Card: Nvidia GFX 5500 (probably going to upgrade, but it gets the job done)
Processor: 3.0 Ghz (Dual-Core)