A new Machine????

[billyboycamaro]

Hello All!
Well i'm playing around with some options in the near future and was hoping for some input on various ideas. Im a newbie to this site, which is very sweet btw, and moderately computer literate. Im sure this thread will have a few diversions but constructive nonetheless. I am in the process of picking out a new system to build within a budget of $1000 or so. My current comp stats are listed below. I'll start off with this question: Mobo and chip? Since my current board is AGP I figured i'd start with that and make the jump to PCI Express. Opens some options for video cards in the future. Now the Chip. From what i gather the Intel Core 2 Duo is reasonable for gamers like myself. I'm not quite convinced the quads are worth it yet. Or is it? Well, i'll start with this and go from there. Thanks in advance for input and thoughts.

p.s. Or do i currently have some building blocks already for upgrades?

COMPUTER INFO


MOBO: Asus P4C800-E Deluxe

PROC: Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.80GHz

RAM: Kingston DDR400 PC3200 Value Ram 3GB

VIDEO: Sapphire X1650 Pro AGP 8X

HDD: WD Caviar SE 80GB
Seagate Barracuda 160GB
WD My-Book External 160GB

OPTICAL DRIVE: LG GSA 4160B DVD/CD

PSU: Antec True 550 550W

DISPLAY: Samsung SyncMaster 740B 17"

OS: Windows XP PRO

CASE:Antec Plusview 1000 AMG ATX Tower

 

[Cinders]

Your decision to go with a core 2 duo pretty much makes your old computer useless as far as transfering the main parts goes. I'd go with:

core 2 duo $230.00
or
core 2 quad $280.00

motherboard $110.00

memory $200.00

video card $280.00

Your case, monitor, hard drives, optical drive, power supply and OS can be reused.

 

[billyboycamaro]

Thanks for the input. That brought up some interesting options and a great place to start. Now what would be the difference in the RAM. Is the Kingston Hyper worth the extra $$$? I assume it would be more stable RAM especially when overclocking. Which i have not gotten much into and the little experience i have had has not been good. lol

 

[Cinders]

I got a little happy with the ram because I read a review that stated that the motherboard workes with Kingston ram But ASUS advertises that their motherboards work with Corsair ram, so you can try that brand if you like.