Ah, The Possibilities

[SilvaDalek]

Background info, see comp specs first.

Hidden/Spoiler:

1-4 are the computers I currently have access to. #1 is at risk of having its hard-drive taken out and hitting the recycling center, like two of its comrades suffered today. #2 is at risk of being replaced by a newer model due its constant error messages and other issues. #3 is a piece of crap I wish I never got. #4 is possibly going to be loaded with Windows XP.

I face a situation with my technology which is simply bad. The only systems which seem to be compatible are the XPs and they suffer from lack of ram and good graphics cards. The Mac seems only to be good for school and the school network (which is the complete opposite of the reason why I bought the thing). The "good" computer only has a 50-50 chance of running any new games I get for it, which is completely unacceptable. I can't upgrade the graphics card's driver because the only updates available are for 32 bit Vista.

/background info

1. Pavilion a1310n - retired
-200 gig hard-drive
-1.93 gigs of ram (one of those is added)
-AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3700+ 2.19 GHz
-ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics card
-Windows XP Media Center Edition With SP2 (2002)

2. Pavilion a1630n - active
-250 gig hard-drive
-3.43 gigs of ram
-AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 4600+ 2.41 GHz
-NVidia Geforce 6150 LE
-Windows XP Media Center Edition With SP2 (2002)

3. Gateway DX - active
-640 gig hard-drive
-6 gigs of ram
-Intel Core 2 Q6700 Quad Core 2.66 GHz
-NVidia GForce 8800 GT (gamers edition or something special)
-Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit With SP1 (2007)
-NVidia GeForce

4. Macbook - active
-150 gig hard-drive
-4 gigs of DDR3 ram
-Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz
-NVidia GeForce 9400M

(Also a Vista Toshiba Satellite, a new Windows 7 Dell, and an amazing Windows 7 desktop)

Questions:
1.) Is #1 worth trying to save from my parents?
2.) Would it be worth it to clean up and work on #2 to the point where it would be capable enough to do SWBF2 modding?
3.) My dad needs a simple, fast, Windows 7 computer to keep him from having a spaz attack (to replace #2). Any suggestions?
4.) Is there anything I can do to #3 to make it...well more usable?
5.) What are the common issues with modtools with XP computers? Everything the search turns up with is about how bad Vista was for modding compared to XP.
6.) My mother has been hoarding the new Windows 7 computers, what's it like?
7.) How on earth can I make my sister give me my Satellite back? She sits on it all day playing Spore and some dumb harry magical game and refuses to even let me see the specifications on it.

[Maveritchell]

I don't see the problem with any of those; they're all better than the computer I use.

[501st_commander]

5.) I'd say graphics card.
6.) its awesome. If you want to look at the features... http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx
7.) mom, dad!!!!! get it when she is sleeping, add a pw or make a new one for that account. If she has her own accout... you have a problem..

[Dohnutt]

Yeah, they're all pretty good. #3 looks like a good gaming computer.

[501st_commander]

Yeah, they're all pretty good. #3 looks like a good gaming computer.

yea, but get rid of vista.....

[lucasfart]

If you can, i would increase the HD for your mac, then use bootcamp to install windows and you have a good laptop which you can use for anything. My computer is exactly the same as it, except with 300gb HD, so i have about 150gb for each partition. With the price of HD's today, it shouldn't cost you that much, and you can then have mac and windows on the same computer (Windows runs perfectly normally under bootcamp, as long as you still have your mac install disc).

I only have one question. Why the Diet Dr. Pepper do you need 4-7 computers?!? We have 2 for our whole family, with one being a piece of junk...

[SilvaDalek]

#3 looks like a good gaming computer.

That's the impression I was under when I went out to buy the thing and graphics card, but it can barely run BFBC2 and won't run half of my other games.

Would it be so bad to take McAfee off the XPs to free up some ram?

What graphics card would be reasonable to put in #2?

[Dohnutt]

#3 looks like a good gaming computer.

That's the impression I was under when I went out to buy the thing and graphics card, but it can barely run BFBC2 and won't run half of my other games.

What graphics card would be reasonable to put in #2?

You could take the card out of #3, put it in #2 and then get a better card for #3.
Maybe a Geforce GTX 200 series? Or a 400 series *drool*

[VF501]

How the heck can #3 not play anything? Its pretty much an older version of what I'm running and with more RAM at that.

Q9400 2.66GHz- 45nm
4GB RAM
GTS250 1GB (which is a revamped 8800/9800)

Yours is an original 8800gt which is still good, and the 65nm Q6700 which is the same as my proc essentially. If you can't run anything on that then it must be chock full of spyware and malware. Run a few scans, defrag the drives and clean it out. Reinstall Vista if you have to and get all the latest drivers. Or save cash and just buy Windows 7 Professional x64.

The GTS250 I use only has a 10-15% performance gain over your 8800GT so your 8800GT is perfectly useable for BF:BC2 at 1280x720 and medium settings. If your GT has a 1GB frame buffer then you can run a higher resolution.

Guru has the right idea for using a Mac. iPhone/iPad apps are where the money is at.

[SilvaDalek]

How the heck can #3 not play anything? Its pretty much an older version of what I'm running and with more RAM at that.

Q9400 2.66GHz- 45nm
4GB RAM
GTS250 1GB (which is a revamped 8800/9800)

Yours is an original 8800gt which is still good, and the 65nm Q6700 which is the same as my proc essentially. If you can't run anything on that then it must be chock full of spyware and malware. Run a few scans, defrag the drives and clean it out. Reinstall Vista if you have to and get all the latest drivers. Or save cash and just buy Windows 7 Professional x64.

The GTS250 I use only has a 10-15% performance gain over your 8800GT so your 8800GT is perfectly useable for BF:BC2 at 1280x720 and medium settings. If your GT has a 1GB frame buffer then you can run a higher resolution.

Guru has the right idea for using a Mac. iPhone/iPad apps are where the money is at.

The only thing I can think of that would be the problem with it is the 64 bit OS. I had a laptop with maybe 1/3 the capabilities that could run all of my games (except swfb2 and probably my much newer games).

[Teancum]

I don't see the problem with any of those; they're all better than the computer I use.

Seconded. And all those will be way more than enough for SWBF2.

[Eggman]

I don't see the problem with any of those; they're all better than the computer I use.

Seconded. And all those will be way more than enough for SWBF2.

Thirded. My MacBook comes close to being equivalent to yours, but has half the RAM. Still, it runs the mod tools and Battlefront spectacularly. I went from running the game decently at a resolution of 800x600 to fantastically at 1280x800. As an experiment I threw over 150 units into a map and still didn't see a single drop in performance. I think you'll be fine.

Edit: In your situation, here's what I would do:

1.) Spend $100 to buy a copy of Windows XP on eBay and put it on the Mac. Use this computer for modding, games, and everything else you can fit in it. Now you never need to use another computer again, because you have a single machine you can take anywhere, operate with both XP and OS X, and use for work or games.
2.) Scavenge the other computers for spare parts. If family members need a separate computer, or if you just want a desktop or something to run Windows 7, keep the best parts to build a top-of-the-line PC. Sell everything else and make loads of money.

Problem solved. Maybe throw in an extra $20 for a wireless mouse and $25 for a cooling pad for the Mac, if necessary.

[SilvaDalek]

Okay, I found Windows XP Professional With SP1

I remember seeing somewhere that it had to be with SP2 to run in bootcamp, but does it really matter?

[Eggman]

Okay, I found Windows XP Professional With SP1

I remember seeing somewhere that it had to be with SP2 to run in bootcamp, but does it really matter?

Yes. You cannot install a copy with SP1 and upgrade later; it has to be SP2 or later from the beginning.

[myers73]

umm....GET RID OF McAfee, NOW! Run Spybot S&D once every few weeks. Run CCleaner once a week. Defrag your HD. Dont look up porn. Get better graphics drivers for your #3. You have a fine computer. And also scrap vista right away, if your dad wants something fast run linux.

[SilvaDalek]

Plans have yet again drifted away from my idea.

#1 seems to be in line to get upgrades. RAM won't be too challenging to find, but i may get a new processor and graphics card. I know that XP doesn't recognize more that 5 gigs of RAM, are there any graphics card/processor restrictions?