Hardware questions plus which computer should i purchase?

[bugsbunny500]

Hi im looking into buying a new computer, specifically for gaming. I do not need some powerhouse thats gonna break my bank. I am currently looking at a HP Pavillion, HP Pavilion AMD Athlon II 440 Triple-Core Processor Computer (P6532F) - Future Shop Exclusive - Future Shop
So my first question is, how are graphics card rated? This one has an ATI Radeon HD 4200. I want to play a game like StarCraft II or Company of Heroes, which requires 256MB NIVIDIA GeForce 6800 series or better . . . k so what does this mean? How am i suppose to compare the ATI one to the NVIDIA? is it the last numbers that determine how good it is? The game also requires a Pixel Shader, where do I get this, or does it come with the video card? What should I look for when I am buying a monitor?
Can you please tell me if you would recommend buying this computer to play new games, on medium settings? Lastly I need a monitor, would this be a good one? Emachines 21.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor With 5ms Response Time (E211H BB) - Future Shop

 

[Sean W.]

what is your budget. and let me be the first person to tell you that most of the time you can build a better computer for cheaper than buying one.. but not always, soem times you can find a good deal...
but anyway, what is your budget?

 

[patonb]

The way video cards go, the 1st number is the newness... ATIs go 3xxx, 4xxx, 5xxx Nvidias go 6xxx 7xxx, 8/9xxx, Now its... gts 2xx 3xx gtx 4xx

The second number is how good it is, so a 4870 is better than a 5350 in ATI, and for nvidia its weirder due to how they renamed products... a 9800gtx+ is alkso a gts250, but the general thing is higher the 2nd number, the better it is.

Now, the hp you linked is okay, but the ATI 4200 is not a true video card, as it is built onto the motherboard, and uses the RAM from the system. It should play it, but how well will be the issue, its not great.
You could add a stand alone card, but could easily be an extra $100.

As Sean said building can be better, especially if you have an old one to reuse parts from, like keyboards, hard drives dvd drives etc. But building at your 5-600 budget can be tough as Windows 7 is $100 itself.

If you have to go with a prebuilt, like the HP, I'd go this one for $50 more: Gateway Intel Core i3 540 Computer (DX4840-01C) - Future Shop Exclusive - Future Shop

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