new system budget, advise welcomed and actually it's needed.

[blk03MitsuES]

got a new job doing taxes at HR Block for the next couple of months. so actually have a budget of $700, including shipping, for chip,mobo,ram,psu,audio and video card. i'm not creating a monster here, i just want to have a semi "up-to-date" type of system. never even had a dual core system :neutral:

Processor: must be dual core, AMD preferred but i dont mind Intel
Mobo: support of atleast 4 gigs of ram(2x2gb or 4x1gb), atleast 2 PCI express
Ram: 2x2gb or 4x1gb
PSU: whatever is needed to run sli
Audio: DTS is a must, 5.1 or 7.1
Video: 7600gt or better

as far as the video card, i already have an XFX 7600gt so i will look for another one and SLI or if there's something thats better than two 7600gts SLIed and reasonably cheap. you guys dont need to worry about HD or DVD/CD drives, i got plenty of those.

[Spawn-Inc]

Ram : any of these should do fine (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052315794%201052108080%20105241606 4%201052516065&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16820146692%2CN82E16820231122% 2CN82E16820227248%2CN82E16820227269%2CN82E16820145 184%2CN82E16820146731%2CN82E16820145176)
PSU: any of these should do fine
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010320058%201131310111%201131414178&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16817171013%2CN82E16817153059% 2CN82E16817139004%2CN82E16817153042%2CN82E16817341 001%2CN82E16817194005)mobo: Any of these should do fine (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%201070509908%20107171927&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16813188017%2CN82E16813131142% 2CN82E16813188015%2CN82E16813130080%2CN82E16813188 012%2CN82E16813188013%2CN82E16813130080R)
processor: Any of these should do fine (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2%2050001157%2040000343%201051707842%20138962750 2&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16819116037%2CN82E16819116036% 2CN82E16819116052%2CN82E16819116063%2CN82E16819115 030%2CN82E16819115015%2CN82E16819115029%2CN82E1681 9115003%2CN82E16819115018%2CN82E16819115028)
Video: any of these should do fine (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201069609641%201305520548%20106791921 %201068309611%201068509618%201068409614&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16814130085%2CN82E16814150265% 2CN82E16814127293%2CN82E16814150230%2CN82E16814150 229%2CN82E16814130311%2CN82E16814130091%2CN82E1681 4143114%2CN82E16814130084%2CN82E16814130086%2CN82E 16814130298%2CN82E16814150228%2CN82E16814150226%2C N82E16814143112) (i love my 8600GT SC, it can handle crysis on medium at 1024x786 with my celeron @3.1GHz great.

for me the brands i look for are eVGA for the video card and motherboard, for the poswer supply corsair, antec, silverstone, Enermax, tagon. for processors intel is the best right now. for ram i like corsair, ocz, mushkin. and audio cards i don't care about, don't have good enough speakers to justify the cost, but when i do i will look at creative or razor.

[doug91]

for processors intel is the best right now.

Intel is currently leaving AMD in the dust. However what is the purpose of your new system? If it is gaming then I would recommend a Core 2 Duo. If you are just going to use it for less intensive tasks, you can buy a capable AMD chip for $80-$100.

[blk03MitsuES]

kind of games i play are racing games, which benefit from good hardware but it dont need the best like some of the FPS. i'm an AMD fan, last two systems were amd's, both laptops are amd but unfortunately yes i know intel is leaving amd way behind. that why i said i might take a stab at intel if the budget allows.

[blk03MitsuES]

Ram : any of these should do fine (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052315794%201052108080%20105241606 4%201052516065&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16820146692%2CN82E16820231122% 2CN82E16820227248%2CN82E16820227269%2CN82E16820145 184%2CN82E16820146731%2CN82E16820145176)
PSU: any of these should do fine
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010320058%201131310111%201131414178&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16817171013%2CN82E16817153059% 2CN82E16817139004%2CN82E16817153042%2CN82E16817341 001%2CN82E16817194005)mobo: Any of these should do fine (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%201070509908%20107171927&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16813188017%2CN82E16813131142% 2CN82E16813188015%2CN82E16813130080%2CN82E16813188 012%2CN82E16813188013%2CN82E16813130080R)
processor: Any of these should do fine (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2%2050001157%2040000343%201051707842%20138962750 2&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16819116037%2CN82E16819116036% 2CN82E16819116052%2CN82E16819116063%2CN82E16819115 030%2CN82E16819115015%2CN82E16819115029%2CN82E1681 9115003%2CN82E16819115018%2CN82E16819115028)
Video: any of these should do fine (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201069609641%201305520548%20106791921 %201068309611%201068509618%201068409614&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16814130085%2CN82E16814150265% 2CN82E16814127293%2CN82E16814150230%2CN82E16814150 229%2CN82E16814130311%2CN82E16814130091%2CN82E1681 4143114%2CN82E16814130084%2CN82E16814130086%2CN82E 16814130298%2CN82E16814150228%2CN82E16814150226%2C N82E16814143112) (i love my 8600GT SC, it can handle crysis on medium at 1024x786 with my celeron @3.1GHz great.

for me the brands i look for are eVGA for the video card and motherboard, for the poswer supply corsair, antec, silverstone, Enermax, tagon. for processors intel is the best right now. for ram i like corsair, ocz, mushkin. and audio cards i don't care about, don't have good enough speakers to justify the cost, but when i do i will look at creative or razor.


XFX 8600gt 94.99
Thermaltake 550w psu 94.99
Mushkin 4gb ram 93.99
Asus Mobo 114.99
Intel E6550 174.99

Total $627.70 With tax and shipping