New PC tell me what you think

Ok i have some done some shopping around and found this i am a bit concerned about the processor but he other stuff looks pretty good. Let me know what you think www.vigorgaming.com Hornet AE system

PROCESSOR AMD Athlon 64 X2 AM2 4000+ Processor at 2.1GHz, 2000MHz FSB, 512KB X 2 Cache

RIG COOLING Vigor Cool BlastTM Air Vent with Dual 90MM and 80MM (Top) Case Fan
RIG POWER Standard AMD/Intel Certified 500 Watt Power Supply
MB CORE LOGIC MSI K9N4 SLI-F nVidia nForce 500 SLI w/2000MHz FSB
MEMORY 2GB Corsair TWIN2X2048-5400C4 DDR2 675MHz Memory (2 X 1024MB)
HARD DRIVE 1 200GB S-ATA II 7200 RPM Hard Drive
VIDEO CARD (SLI SLOT 1) nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB Xtreme Edition @690MHz, DVI and TV Out
OPTICAL DRIVE 1 Internal DVD+CD Rewritable Combo Drive 16X52X32X52
SOUND Digital High Definition 3D 7.1 8-Channel Sound
NETWORK PORT Onboard Gigabit (10/100/1000Mbps) PCI Network Card
I/O PORTS 1 Parallel, 1 Game/Midi and 10 USB ports
OPERATING SYSTEM Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2 w/Original Disc
Price: $888.00

I have to say that the system that flyinhigh spec out looks really nice especially if I go with the Radeon x1950xt's that Dex recommended...although I am a bit concerned about what hit sinks/fans/whatever else cooling systems I may need to get....and to ensure that the case that I pick has sufficient venelation and stuff. I am gonna skip on getting a new monitor/keyboard/mouse at this time since i can easily talk my wife into getting one of those later... :-) so how does what Dex and Flyinhigh compare to what i have posted above compare any ideas??

Again thanks guys for all your help.

I think I'm hungry.

Impossible to tell. In the interests of assuring you get the minimum required performance out of the system, send it to me for a more in-depth technical analysis.

Will it still be a good machine in a year or two? Sure it will, but you won't be playing very many new games on once DirectX 10 takes off. The ATI Radeon X1300 Pro is DirectX 9 compatible so you will be able to use it for a good while, but once more developers start using DX10 that card will be worthless. If you are willing to shell out the money the ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT will be released mid-way through the month for about US$450.

You can check out a bench mark testing of that ATI card comapred to the GeForce 8800 here.

nVidia also already has out some cheaper 8 series GeForces(or atleast I think they do, or are about to), all of which are DX10 compatible.

point 1: how much do you have to spend?
point 2: if it aint core 2, intel gets it azz handed to it by ANY amd chip for less money.
point 3: vista sucks, get xp.
point 4: that x1300 is outdated now, i wouldn't go for a ati anything right now, go for a 7900gs

point 5: can you put legos together? if you can you can build a computer.

i have probly around 200 computers built and i service them at work all the time. my job is to make sure that my employer gets good dollar to performance from this stuff. dont buy high end... ever..... go mid grade, you can make rocking for 700$ not including monitor, keyboard, mouse, speaker.

If you really want to buy that Dell, I would recommend making the following changes:
- Get the Core 2 Duo E6300 for an extra $40 (much much better than Pentium D 915)
- Upgrade to the 160GB HD for an extra $50 (80GB is not nearly enough these days)
- Switch to the Digital Flat Panel for an extra $50 (it makes a big difference compared to analog)
- Get the Dell A525 speakers for an extra $10 (not sure how good they are, but I'm pretty sure the monitor-attached speakers are junk)
- Save $178 by switching to Vista Home Premium and dumping Norton Internet Security

More RAM and a better graphics card would be nice, but Dell's upgrades are overpriced. You can upgrade these yourself when you feel that you need it.

for $1k you can really do better than Dell without to much sweat. Check out www.newegg.com and/or pick up a copy of PC Gamer or whatever PC game type magazine is available to you. check some of the other new PC find posts in this section as well for some ideas and help

excellent guys thanks for you help and i think i am gonna look around a bit like was suggested thanks for the detailed reply Storm Lord

yeah, i too would be inclined to look around.. dont think that PC is too hot, seems like its all old spce components they trying to clear out... for 1000 bucks you must be able to pick up something pretty sweet that will do the job for a year or two

Pentium D - junk, get a Core 2 Duo
Vista Business - junk, get XP
The video card is junk. Well, not junk but pretty close. The ATi X1950 Pro is a sweet card at an awesome price. It flat out rocks. It's worlds ahead of anything short of the nVidia 8800 series.

1GB or ram is basically the bare minimum now. Dell will rip you a new one to double it, look elsewhere. The 667 speed is rather slow now-a-days too.

The hard drive is okay. 80GB is lots unless you're a download RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO.

Get the DVD burner, they're cheap and way more useful.

If you can build your own, do so. That money will be wasted on a pretty crappy Dell. A grand won't get you much anymore, but it will get a lot more than from Dell.

I have to agree with some of the above, Vista sucks (atleast until Service pack 1 comes out), Xp rules. If you are gonna use Vista ur gonan need a Serious boost in Ram, 1 gig Ram isnt enough for a Vista based system u need atleast 2 Gigs. Same with the Harddrive Vista is gonna take up a good proportion of ur Harddrive leaving u with little room for other programs or documents, a 200gig HD would be better and there fairly cheap to pick up.

Processor isnt too bad but could be better if ur using Vista. Not sure about The graphics Card (Im not expert at them) but it seems ok

So overall its not too bad but its a Little Underpowered for a Vista System which could cause problems if u multi-task or have high demand programs (which most newish programs/games are.)

ok, good now that we have a price base. 1000 $ is easy.

so on that note

processor: intel e6300 core 2: 167$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005
mobo: biostar : 75$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138034
ram: geil 2 gig: 93$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820144047
hard drive: 250 gig: 65$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144417
case: any atx spec case thats under 50$

power supply: FSP 58$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954

monitor: 19 in 160$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824112177
video card: basically any 7900gs: 145$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130056

keyboard: whatever floats your boat, keep it under 50$

couple of fans: 6$

windows xp mce: 110$

total: 979$ plus a little shipping and depending on accessories (mouse, keyboard, case, operating system ) may be cheaper.

this is a kick azz rig. to know a bit off the price go for a lower vid card

and is lightyears ahead of a @$%&&$# dell.

This is the system I built last September with parts off of Newegg.com. I listed the prices so you can get an idea of what I paid 8 months ago to build a pretty decent gaming machine, though I wish I could have gone socket AM2 and gotten a dual core processor on my MoBo you work with what you can get. Since building this I've also adding another 7600 GS of the exact same brand and model. Prices since I built have gone down too, especially video cards. With S&H this system came out to US$1,248.11. I'm sure shopping on Newegg you can find parts to build something better than this, and maybe even cheaper.

Not bad, but now that the Radeon x1950xt's are down under $200 you'd be out of your mind to buy a 7900GS or a 7900GT. The x1950xt blows the doors off those GPUs when it comes to speed, pixel shader power, image quality, and shader features (FP16 HDR and MSAA at the same time, anyone?).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102067

ok so i really like the system that Dex and Flyinhigh have speced out but i am not sure what I need as far cooling goes and the type of case to get? Also do i need somehting with more power than 520w since I will be getting the Radeon x1950xt's series card?

Ok well hopefully i wll get a little more help.

I really have no clue as to what type of Case I need to get I want something that will have enough fan slots and vents etc.

No clue on type of heat sink that i need do i just need one for the CPUs or do i need one for the video card and for the memory as well. or do those last to need independent fans??

Also does 450w supply enough power for this rig...i read somewhere that the ok so i really like the system that Dex and Flyinhigh have speced out but i am not sure what I need as far cooling goes and the type of case to get? Also do i need somehting with more power than 450w since I will be getting the Radeon x1950xt's series card i heard somehwere that they need 550w but now i can't find that post. You guys are great and truely a lot of help. If you happen to need something in game just let me know!!

if your gettigna 1950 you may want ot bump up to a 550 to 600 watt psu, cuz they are a power hawg. also there is no point in getting a sli board if your running a ati card.

Here are my system specs for comparision:

Intel 651 3.4 ghz cpu
Intel D975Xbx extreme Mobo
2 gigs kingston ram
2 WD raptors mirrored
ATI X1900XTX
HP DVD rewriter
Cd rewriter (I forgot the manufacturer)
and a water cooling system (not realy needed for the cpu but helps keep the interior temps down)
All powered by an Enermax Noisetaker 2 420 watt psu. Unless you plan on going sli or crossfire anything over that is unecessary.

Mega Mouse