my mom is gonna buy a new computer soon and whats needed is one that is very powerful, and can play rome: total war and the sims 2 (among other games) real good.
I suppose the most important things to look for would be the RAM and graphics card, also make sure the hard drive isn't too slow.
www.ebay.com has good systems that are usually custom made and neer overpriced. I got my 3 ghz gaming comp for about 1200 there. fully suped up an everyting. go there b4 u even look at dell or any of that bs.