Can Acer Aspire M3201 be used for gaming?

[cragside]

My brother wants a bargain gaming PC and is wondering whether to buy my girlfriend's desktop and add a new graphics card.

The system is the Acer Aspire M3201.
Here's the specs [with Windows Vista Experience Index scores]:
AMD Phenom 8450 Triple-Core Processor 2.10 GHz [5.3]
2GB DDR2 RAM [5.9]
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics [4.1]
Gaming graphics 894 MB [4.0]
WD Caviar Blue 640GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200rpm 16MB cache (WD6400AAKS) [5.9]
Vista Home Premium (or could try Win7)

I reckon it's worth no more than £180 as it is. Could it be used for gaming? Not high-end, just enough to output to a monitor with a native res of only 1280x1024 but with fairly decent settings.
If so, obviously adding some more RAM and buying a dedicated gfx card is essential, but which card would be suitable for this PC and would get the most out of it without causing a bottleneck?

Thanks.

[Pancake]

Going on the fact my Thinkpad gets 5.9 on the graphics with the switchable 3470, and its tough to game. No.



COD4 is a bit less than playable to my standards, on lowest res and settings

Specs in sig

[simonpreston]

If you want half decent gaming without breaking the bank then I heartily recommend a Radeon HD 5670. Costs about £50. I have one here and it's a decent little performer, plus as it draws all it's power through the PCI-Express slot, you can get away with using a 300w PSU. I reckon that system with that card can would play games from a couple of years ago without too many problems. Would probably have a decent effort at new stuff too, as long as you aren't expecting miracles (ie, low res, low detail)

[KeyboardDemon]

I think paying £180 for it is very generous as you can get refurbished models with warranties for £230. Personally I wouldn't consider paying over £150 for it, add a GPU like the 5670 as suggested above and you'll have on OK PC that will do for gaming at low settings/resolutions. A lot depends on the size/resolution of the screen being used.

[cragside]

Thanks. The monitor is a bog standard 17" at 1280x1024. So if I added the HD 5670 and maybe some more RAM, and it sounds like it would play new games but on low rather than medium settings.

I'll see how much £££ he can stretch to, maybe get something newer

[dave87]

If it is going to be a financial struggle I'd seriously consider getting an xBox or PS3.

The thinking is this:
- it isn't a high spec machine now
- games only get more intensive on resources
- most games are available on the consoles anyway - and they will always work.

I'm staunchly in favour of PC gaming, but all of my recent purchases have been on the 360....mainly because I can pick up and play at any time, and although my system is still a fair spec (Q6600 @ 3.1ghz, 6gb RAM, HD4850) I'm not likely to get the very best at 1920x1080. I'd rather sit in the armchair and play on a 40" screen too

[cragside]

Had the same thoughts for myself as my games crash a lot, but I can't do shooters on a game controller - need a keyboard and mouse