So here's the deal. I'm going to buy a new computer by the end of the summer, and I have a somewhat peculiar goal in mind. GTA4 will be released for PC someday. It will. I'm banking on it. WTF kind of specs do you think I'd need to be able to run a game like that?

I just have no concept of what's recommended for highly demanding games like that. I don't know anything about graphics cards and whatnot, and I don't want to go over the top and buy some bankruptcy-inducing computer that is overkill just because I don't know what I'm doing. I also don't want to make the mistake I made with this laptop and get stuck with something that can't even handle pretty low-key simulation games. I'm not a hardcore gamer (well, obviously) but I'm super OCD about graphics being perfect and awesome. Awkward combination.

So, if you can offer any words of wisdom about graphics cards and everything else, please do. :)

Just out of curiosity, are you planning on buying from a manufacturer or building one yourself?

In predicting what kind of specs you'll want for GTA4, it would be good to know when Rockstar is planning to release it for PC. Now, I've not heard of any release dates (and a cursory Google search didn't turn up anything, which means it doesn't exist ), so we can assume they're going to follow the same thing they always do: release for console, wait a year or two, then release for PC.

In that case, I would want to build/buy a computer that will be not too expensive now, and have room for upgrading later. For example, when looking at how much RAM to get, I would want to make sure that there were 2 DIMMs open for more. I would get an SLI motherboard so that I could add a second video card down the road. I would make sure the CPU socket is the newest one released by whatever CPU manufacturer you go with, to avoid lock-in with an old design. Then when GTA4 comes you can drop 50 on the game and another 150 or so getting your computer more badass (if needed).

To be honest I'm not the gamer I once was and there may very well be something I haven't considered since I got out of that scene about 2 years ago.

Do you know how much are you going to be willing to spend? I can give advice for what best to get for x amount of money. Also, I wouldn't say that GTA IV will be more graphically intense than other games out today, like Crysis, so it should definitely be possible to build something that won't need upgraded once it's released.

Are you buying parts and putting something together yourself, or buying it pre-built?

I'm probably going to go with pre-built. Computers aren't really my area of expertise, so unless I enlist the help of a friend (as if computer-savvy Case students are rare...), I'd be kinda screwed. I'm hoping for around $1000, preferably a little less so buying a nice flat-screen monitor doesn't drain me of all my money :)

I'm open to the idea of buying something that can be upgraded down the road when the game I'm planning around, you know, actually exists. But yeah, not needing to upgrade anything would be sweet.

Thanks, guys!

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsdt_420?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

The first computer you will almost definitely have to upgrade the video card in. Maybe not, but probably.

The second computer is more expensive, but I would guess it will be able to run GTA IV if and when it does hit PCs. The 8800GT is a damn nice card, it can run very graphically intense games at very high resolutions.

If you're not going to be doing much gaming and such until GTA comes out, you might as well go ahead and get the cheaper one. By the time GTA comes out, you'll be able to get a better card for the same price difference. Or you could just get something like the 8800GT much cheaper.

Thanks again, guys. I appreciate it. Now, time to wait for the paychecks to pile up a bit ;)