new System

OK here's the situation. I have a very old system which heats up badly when I play...the power unit is on it's way out...the CPU is straining to play GW

I also have no income to speak of so I asked my tech to put together a system that would enable me to play GW and not break me. I will likely go with the upgrades suggested and the Atalon over the Intel but could you please check this out and see if you spot anything here that might not be compatible with the game requirements and gameplay. Thanks.
Here are a couple of system quotes. Please note these prices are based on availability. These are about the best system for the money. They are listed with nVidia cards, but we can change to an ATI card, although it will be a bit more expensive. Note the price jump with similar Intel systems.



VELOCITY GAMER AMD AM2 A64 X2 3800+ $659.00

AMD A64 AM2 Dual Core Processor

512mb DDR2 Memory

ABIT KN9 AMD AM2, 2GHz Bus,DDR2 800,SRaid,7.1s,GBL

eVGA GF7300GS 256MB DDR2 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDTV/SLI

18xDVD+/-RW DL (DVDRW+CRW+DVD)

3.5" P1.44W Floppy

80gb Serial ATA II 300mbps

AOpen KA50 Case 350W Case

Integrated 10/100/1000 LAN

Integrated 7.1 audio

AOpen keyboard PS/2

AOpen Wheel Optical Mouse PS/2

Edifier R10 2pc. Speakers

Apacer 15 in 1 Card reader


Upgrades

Microsoft OEM Windows XP Home $99.00

Extra 512mb DDR2 533 memory upgrade $65.00

eVGA GF7300GT 256MB DDR2 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDTV-7/SLI $10.00

Acer AL1706AB 17" Black 8ms 500:1 $189.00


Above system including Windows XP and upgrade to 1GB RAM: $823


Intel systems:



ULTIMATE GAMER INTEL E6300 1.86GHZ $1,219.00 (Windows XP Home)



ULTIMATE GAMER INTEL E6400 2.13GHZ $1,259.00 (Windows XP Home)



ULTIMATE GAMER INTEL E6600 2.4GHZ $1,359.00 (Windows XP Home)



INTEL CORE 2 DUO Processor

1GB DDR2 Memory

ABIT AB9 LGA775, Intel P965 (c2d),FSB1066/800,DDR2 800,GBL,7.1s,SRAID,GuRu

eVGA GF7900GSKO 256MB DDR3 PCI-E 2xDVI/HDTV-7/SLI/HDCP

18xDVD+/-RW DL (DVDRW+CRW+DVD)

3.5" P1.44W Floppy

160gb Serial ATA II 300mbps

AOpen Impression Black 400W ATX2.0 MID TOWER

Integrated 10/100/1000 LAN

Integrated 7.1 audio

MS Multimedia KBD & OPTICAL MSE black

Edifier M1300 2.1 Speakers w/ Subwoofer

I would swing for this one: ULTIMATE GAMER INTEL E6400 2.13GHZ $1,259.00 (Windows XP Home)

The AMD w/ Upgrades will play GW very nice but swing for the Intel with the E6400 if you can.

umm...NO INCOME

It's going to be hard swinging this as it is.

what is your budget and how do you feel about going to a local computer store and getting parts and having them assemble it?
or do you have a working knowledge of computers so you can assemble the computer yourself.

when buying gaming systems from companies that offer them a long with "customization" you pay a higher price.
something like this:

INTEL CORE 2 DUO Processor
1GB DDR2 Memory
ABIT AB9 LGA775, Intel P965 (c2d),FSB1066/800,DDR2 800,GBL,7.1s,SRAID,GuRu
eVGA GF7900GSKO 256MB DDR3 PCI-E 2xDVI/HDTV-7/SLI/HDCP
18xDVD+/-RW DL (DVDRW+CRW+DVD)
3.5" P1.44W Floppy
160gb Serial ATA II 300mbps
AOpen Impression Black 400W ATX2.0 MID TOWER
Integrated 10/100/1000 LAN
Integrated 7.1 audio
MS Multimedia KBD & OPTICAL MSE black
Edifier M1300 2.1 Speakers w/ Subwoofer

...is a good choice, but buying parts yourself can buy 2GB of budget performance ram and still save a few $100.

nVidia GeForce 7300 <----- If you upgrade anything, upgrade this.

This is going to affect your gaming capabilities significantly. If at all possible, bump this up to at least a 7600. This is going to make a much bigger difference with games than upgrading from the Athlon to the Core 2.

If the second number in the model of the GPU is under "6" (ex., gf 6600, gf 7600, x1600) you're not looking at a video card that's made for playing games, and the performance will be poor.

if you really want the cheapest system possible, you'd have to build it yourself (or find someone who won't charge you too much) and look for good deals on parts.

OK..this guy is building it for me. I think the prices are really reasonable and the AMD seems far more within my budget than the Intel.

I emailed him with some of the replies I got from this board and from my Guild boards and he has replied with this.
Hi Louise, these are the other options for the video cards with the AMD setup. This would be above the base system price.



eVGA GF7600GS 256MB DDR2 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDTV/SLI $40.00

eVGA GF7600GT 256MB DDR3 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDTV/SLI $70.00

eVGA GF7900GS 256MB DDR3 PCI-E 2xDVI/HDTV-7/SLI $135.00

eVGA GF7900GS 256MB DDR3 PCI-E 2xDVI/HDTV-7/SLI/HDCP $155.00

eVGA GF7950GT-KO 512MB DDR3 PCI-E 2xDVI/HDTV-7/SLI/HDCP $145.00

eVGA GF7900GTX 512MB DDR3 PCI-E 2xDVI/HDTV/SLI/HDCP $375.00



The video card is a ‘what can I afford right now’ option. If you think you can swing the extra, then I’d do it. I believe my son actually has the 7600GT, he’s extremely happy with it, and did not want a GS at all. I included the 7300GT option specifically because I don’t think you’d be happy with the GS, and for the extra $10 it’s well worth it. As the one poster says, the 7900 is the most ‘future proof’ of the bunch, the value of that card is going to slide rapidly down to the same level as the 7600. If you want to spend more, but still get a good value, I’d suggest the following of the above:

eVGA GF7600GT 256MB DDR3 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDTV/SLI $70.00 ß probably your best option if you want to spend more than the extra $10 for for 7300GT.

eVGA GF7950GT-KO 512MB DDR3 PCI-E 2xDVI/HDTV-7/SLI/HDCP $145.00

if u get the 7600GT you'll be pretty much set for Guild Wars and still be able to enjoy new games provided you do not mind having low-medium settings with any eye candy off (such as AA, AF, HDR)

who is "this guy" you are referring to? the person that works at Velocity Micro computers?

if you can, post the specs of your final choices before actually making the purchase.

He is my tech. I will probably go with the 7600GT Thanks all.

It is all good with 7600gt, but I don't understand at all, why he would recommend you 7900gtx at the highest end price level. Really makes little sense, given that you can tget a 8800 series cards with that price. That being said, I'd double check the rest of his recommendations, as well.

I think he was just trying to show me the price differences. I am going with the 7600GT
Thanks for all your input.

build your own from newegg

No offense, but I think it's pretty obvious that the OP isn't interested in doing that.