Very interested in buying a new pc.

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RalliArt882

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Hi, currently I'm using a HP a350n that has the following:

Intel Pentium 4 with HT technology @ 2.8Ghz
1GB Kingston RAM
160GB Harddrive
ATI 9600 Series graphics card 128mb

When i first got this pc two and a half years ago, it was very nice for it's time I would say. It is still fast, but it's just not cutting it for games. As computer games gradually became more and more demanding hardware wise for my pc, i veered away from pc gaming and bought an xbox360 for my dad's house. The problem is, it stays at my dad's house, and I'm not interested at all in moving a $500+ worth of hardware from house to house every week (parents live in same town).

Well, I worked all this summer, and i noticed that getting my first real pc built for gaming is very realistic now, so i'm exploring the topic. I did talk to people about my current rig's potential, but they said I would be replacing virtually all of the hardware anyway, so i might as well scrap it and get a brand new one.

Months ago, I found an add in a magazine from a company called ibuypower.com. So I looked up their website, and their deals looked pretty good to me (alot better than Alienware or *gasp* Dell XPS). For the past two weeks i was thinking about a AMD 4200+ X2 dual core, until the Core Duos came out. Here's what my curent intended setup is:

First, click this: http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=119

I don't know how to change the options, and then paste a link with the intended options, so you're just going to have to change the options to what i say i suppose...

NZXT Trinity ATX Mid-Tower Case w/400W Power Supply Black
Cold Cathode Neon Light Blue
** iBUYPOWER Recommended ** NZXT PF-500 500 Watt Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB)
CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit
** iBUYPOWER Recommended ** ECS 965T-A i965P Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0 Dual PCI-E MB
1024MB [512MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand
Nvidia GeForce 7900GT 256MB
250 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache]
16X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System
Onboard network card, logitec mouse and keyboard

Total price comes to $1276. Thats about as high as my budget wants to go by the way. No, building my own is not an option. I'd rather let the pros do it. So what do you guys think about this setup?

Yes, i know the first think you might think about is the 1024mb RAM. I'll double it in the future. The question is how? If this machine is like my current one, it has 4 RAM slots. If i leave the new one as it is, it will have 512MBx2. If i double the RAM, do i scrap those 512mb sticks, and replace them with 2x1042MB sticks? Or just put two 1024mb sticks in and leave the other two 512mb in also? Sorry I know a little about computers but not enough to tell wether or not that's efficient. Thanks very much and I'm glad i found this site.
 
If it is a possibility to build it I would suggest that since you can do it alot cheaper, you can always get it off of newegg.com.

2 Gigs is the max usable (without lag) RAM a computer currently can handle, 3 gigs will lag it down, just go wiht 2 x 1024
 
If you are not into overclocking your pc at all, this will do OK on gaming etc, I am not sure it'll run everything smooth on ultra settings though, because the RAM is value-select and the motherboard seems to be very low budget motherboard.

CPU Is good, question is---do they have it in stock!?!?! I highly believe you'll be reciving this computer in the next following weeks if in this month at all.

Last, I'd suggest two things, A: Get ATI Radeon x1900xt, its higher priced, but it does amazingly good even if you don't overclock it at all.

B. Build your own computer, you could get better RAM and better water cooling for around same price range [I got my rig for around 1300$ and it has much better ram, much better better water cooling..]

heres two stores I like to buy from:

www.zipzoomfly.com computer parts.
www.newegg.com - also computer parts, bigger selection range usualy.
www.petrastechshop.com - water cooling shop, HIGHLY recommended.

-Jo.
 
Do you know what kind of resolution i could be running reliably with a good framerate? Also, what's wrong with the mobo i selected? Yeah I did notice it was on the lowish price-wise lol. I guess i want to know the same about the RAM i selected.

About building my own rig. I would just rather not. I'm the kind of idiot who would break something.

Edit: No I do not think i will be overclocking at all. I've heard of it, but I've heard bad stories of how people really mess up their rigs doing it. I wont even take the risk on $1200+ worth of equipment.
 
What do you mean the ram is valueselect, the only reason you buy better RAM than valueselect is to overclock.
 
By the way Yoad I'm really not sure if they have the Core 2 Duos in stock. They only added those processors to their site a coulpe days ago i noticed. It's odd how they dont say if they are in stock or on backorder.
 
Can you guys please tell me what's up with the motherboard? Honestly I'm a dope when it comes to telling the difference between quality. After looking at the sticky on these boards talking about SLI, I feel i don't need it anyway. When the time comes, I'll just get one single really good card.
 
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