Getting a new pc...

1: The 8800GT will probably be outdated in a week with the launch of the HD4850. I'd strongly advise waiting to at least see if availability and performance justify the card.

2: 4GB of RAM is probably overkill, if you want to pinch a few pennies, pinch them here, not on your power supply.

3: A quad-core chip is also overkill for most people. Pinch a lot of pennies here and get the E7200. LGA775 is almost dead anyway, there's no sense in spending $300+ on it right now.

4: Minimum? Technically, a decent 380w power supply could handle that rig. I wouldn't advise cutting things so close to the wire however. A good power supply is literally the heart of your computer. You don't want it running near its maximum output to power your machine, and if you like saving money, your little budget power supply money-saver could easily turn into a costly "replace all the components your power supply killed on its way out" project that will cost you a hell of a lot more money than an extra $30-$50 now on a power supply that's high-quality.

5: I'd go with 64-bit. If you want 32-bit, you might as well stick with Windows XP in my book.

Ok... the 8800GT was outdated when the 8800GTS 512 came out that point is mute. Now about the 4850 Ive read and heard that it will from 10-20% faster than the 8800GT so for most people that 10% isnt a great big deal if the stories are true. Now the only reason I would get 4gb of ram was if you were going to use Vista 64 bit. Ya now and up to a year from now quads wont come into there own because for the most part they are just now shifting into recomending dual cores over single cores for gaming.

Now about the PSU, As a good rule of thumb is to get 100 watt more than you need for future upgrades and less stress(longer life) of the PSU. What to look for is the 12v rail/s with Amps (A) for the most part, 28A or above is fine. also look for effiecenty ratings on PSU's if it has a 70% or greater rating at max load then you know its a good psu.

Well I am buying a pre built and I don't think it will allow for HD4850 since it has limited option while teh 8800gt is an awesome card. 4 gigs isn' too bad imo, it will last a while and since I am running on vista, it gives me the extra psh in my games. So in the future, possible towards the end of the year, I will just upgrade my gfx card and still have an awesome rig. Only thing I am worried about is the 64bit drivers, haven't heard good stuff about it. Thanks!jjj13

I would assume that most builders will have HD 4850 available starting day it launches (At least I know iBuyPower typically offers hardware on launch day). With the launch a week or so away, I can't think of very many reasons not to wait.

I can but i don't want to. I want to keep it so there is no need to upgrade again. But I will if i have to.jjj13

Intel > AMD performance wise.

You really don't want me getting a quad core huh? But how are the AMD chips? I some how found it cheaper to get AMD instead of intel. jjj13

If you want to save money, I strongly suggest you do it at the processor rather than at the power supply. And I wouldn't get an AMD chip right now unless you're building a seriously low-budget machine or an HTPC (and even then mainly for the 780G chipset).

I can but i don't want to. I want to keep it so there is no need to upgrade again. But I will if i have to.jjj13

Ok I took it down to 3gigs setting the vista back down to 32bit saving about $50. I added a E7200, a cheaper case and 650w PSU sor furture upgrades. This is all go with a HD4850. Sound good? btw the famous question, how will it run crysis?jjj13

By looking at the 8600gt and how it runs, I think I should be able to put it all on high at a decent resolution.

8600gt wont run it on high. an 8800gt or so will.

an 8600gt will run it on about low/medium to mantain an average of 20-30 fps. (smooth rate)

My fault I meant 8800. :P

My fault I meant 8800. :P

Whats your budget? if it is 2,500 or around that. you can get



64 bit operating system (Vista Home Premium)

a quad core (Q6600 @ 2.4)

a 9800 GX2 with 1G ddr3 memory

4gigs of DDR2 memory

22in monitor

mouse, keyboard

780i SLI motherboard

logitech 5.1 sound system

320gig hard drive

600W power supply

with a case that looks like an alienware, but its not...its really cool..

for around 2grand. Thats without shipping and handling, and taxes.

Im expecting it to come to around 2,300 with everything.

Go to NCIX.com, go to the left and hit PC configurator, then there will be a list of pcs under "Buy a PC", go next to it and hit "PC builder"

Select the cheapest one, remove antivirus and office package (about 300 dollars off the price right there) and hit the specs you want. I reccomend the one above that i just showed you.

I decided to settle with this

Intel CPU :Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 2.83GHz, 1333FSB (Dual Core) 6000KIntel

CPU Fans :Spire Socket 775 Intel fanIntel

Motherboards :PC CHIPS P53G,PCI Express, DDR2, Onboard Video, Sound, LAN, USB 2.0DDR2

memory :3GB (3x1GB) PC5300 DDR2 667 Dual ChannelPCI-Express

Video cards :GeForce 8800GT 512Mb PCI EXpress 16X dual head, tv out

Hard Drives :250.0GB Hitachi/ IBM 7200rpm SATA2 UDMA 300 8m CacheDVD Recorders :Samsung 20x DVD Recorder Dual Layer +R/RW -R/RW (black)

Sound Cards :AC 97 3D Full Duplex sound card (onboard)

Network Cards :Ethernet network adapter (onboard)Cases :PowMax Black Mid Tower ATX Case w/ Front USB

Power Supply :Okia 500W ATX Power SupplyOperating

Systems :Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium DVD

And I may wait for the HD4850 although I have had trouble with ATi cards in the past.