Hey everybody,

Just wanted some opinions. Is this system I have selected (From the DIY section) going to do me any good? I wanted to build my own and have selected the following parts from Austin Computers (all prices Australian):

Intel Celeron 2.6 socket 478 ($121.33)
Asus P4S800-MX motherboard ($64.28)
Lemel 512MB DDR RAM - PC3200 (400mhz) ($57.55)
Hitachi (IBM) 80GB PATA 2mb 7200rpm HDD ($76.48)
Liteon CDRW + DVD [52x35x52] ($55.66)
EZCase 400GTS [400w] ($35.75)


Hey, it's budget. All I want is to run iTunes, M$ Office, Sims 2 University and internet... that's about it really.

Is any of this going to work very well? Or am I wasting my time?
Thanks muchly

-Michael

Save money on your office suite. Download openoffice from openoffice.org. It's free and about 98% compatible.

I'd ditch the intel and asus board.

I run with an Athlon 2500+ XP and an MSI K78N platinum 2 board - that's what I have and it runs fast and wasn't too expensive.

I've heard of too many problems with ASUS.

I have too, but i have an Asus, never had a bit of trouble

Do you have a video card? Sims 2 is pretty demanding ,if you plan on using integrated graphics..good luck, i tried running sims 2 on a 5200 and i had to trun it wayy down. THe AMD board wouldnt be a bad option, its really is your choice.

Sean

Thanks for the reply guys.

I already have Office, my Dad used it for two other computers in the house and I think I'll stick with it (for now) because I'm used to it. But I will look into OO.

AMD seems to be alot more expensive - but is it any better in performance? See I'm trying to make a system which is cheap-ish but still runs effectively. The Sims 2 is pretty full on, but that ASUS board said it had graphics already on it... I'm not too keen on buying a real expensive Graphics card at the moment! But I guess all I need is hardware which will do the job, which is available in Perth.

I know there is an on-going debate between AMD and Intel, but really, which is cheaper compared to it's competing brand? (ie Intel 2.4ghz compared to AMD 2ghz is cheaper [only an example])

Michael - confusing himself.