Lucky sister! I'm sure she'll share the gaming enjoyment.
Memory and processor
512MB should be your minimum for memory, and 1GB is even better. Equally important are your processor and your graphics card. AMD has emerged as a quality competitor to Intel, and systems using AMD's components usually cost less than their Intel-based counterparts. Anything 3.2GHz (or 3200+, in AMD marketing lingo) or faster should be enough.
Graphics card
As for a graphics card, we highly recommend one that uses
Nvidia's GeForce 6800 GT chip. At $400, they are expensive, but they present the
best value of any card on the market right now. If that's more than you're willing to spend, look for a card that has DirectX 9.0 support and at least 128MB of memory.
Getting specific
If you're searching for a few ideas, look at some of our recent reviews. While you may not find the exact setup you're looking for, they should at least help you generate some ideas.
ABS Ultimate M5 64
Cyberpower Gamer Infinity 6800GT
Dell Dimension XPS
HP Compaq X Gaming PC
Velocity Micro ProMagix PCX
Shuttle XPC 95000g
Falcon Northwest Fragbox 2
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