Well I'm currently running one of those cheapo Toshiba laptops. 1.4Ghz Celeron M, 256mb nasty ram, 64m of which is shared with the X200M graphics! Wow, just amazing! 
Anyway, I decided an upgrade is in order. I figured with what money I have, a $1300 AU budget is my absolute maximum for just the tower setup. So I've put together a few things, and I would appreciate some advice/critcisms One thing I know is really down is the CPU.. I was trying to look at some way I could afford an X2 processor.. but they're just too pricey. Then the whole Conroe idea came along.. but.. I want this PC now.. I NEED it. I'm not looking for a mind blowing system, just something that will run the latest games at high detail levels. So this is what I have put together:
MOTHERBOARD. PRICE - $185
MSI K9N Platinum Socket AM2 Motherboard
PROCESSOR. PRICE - $170 or so
AMD Athlon64 3500+ Socket AM2 (GD)
HARDDRIVE. PRICE - $115
Western Digital 200 gig 7200rpm SATAII JS (120gig is $96) (GD)
RAM. PRICE - $235
Corsair 2Gb PC5300 DDR2-667 Value Select Kit (VTI)
GRAPHICS. Price - $470
XFX 7900GT EXTREME 256meg DDR3 520MHz Dual DVI TV-Out SLI Ready Model: PV-T71G-UDERn (GD)
POWER SUPPLY. Price - $109 (GD)
Antec 450watt Smart Power ver2.0
TOTAL - $1283 - NO CASE, DVD PLAYER, KB/Mouse, screen etc.
VTI = vtechindustries.com.au
GD = gamedude.com.au
ALL PRICES IN AUD
Thanks
Edit: Also forgot to add, that after I upgraded the CPU, I was thinking I would then grab a 75gb raptor? But that's in the future anyway.. haven't even got the system yet.
Anyway, I decided an upgrade is in order. I figured with what money I have, a $1300 AU budget is my absolute maximum for just the tower setup. So I've put together a few things, and I would appreciate some advice/critcisms
One thing I know is really down is the CPU.. I was trying to look at some way I could afford an X2 processor.. but they're just too pricey. Then the whole Conroe idea came along.. but.. I want this PC now.. I NEED it. I'm not looking for a mind blowing system, just something that will run the latest games at high detail levels. So this is what I have put together:MOTHERBOARD. PRICE - $185
MSI K9N Platinum Socket AM2 Motherboard
PROCESSOR. PRICE - $170 or so
AMD Athlon64 3500+ Socket AM2 (GD)
HARDDRIVE. PRICE - $115
Western Digital 200 gig 7200rpm SATAII JS (120gig is $96) (GD)
RAM. PRICE - $235
Corsair 2Gb PC5300 DDR2-667 Value Select Kit (VTI)
GRAPHICS. Price - $470
XFX 7900GT EXTREME 256meg DDR3 520MHz Dual DVI TV-Out SLI Ready Model: PV-T71G-UDERn (GD)
POWER SUPPLY. Price - $109 (GD)
Antec 450watt Smart Power ver2.0
TOTAL - $1283 - NO CASE, DVD PLAYER, KB/Mouse, screen etc.
VTI = vtechindustries.com.au
GD = gamedude.com.au
ALL PRICES IN AUD
Thanks
Edit: Also forgot to add, that after I upgraded the CPU, I was thinking I would then grab a 75gb raptor? But that's in the future anyway.. haven't even got the system yet.
