Hi can anyone help me?

[Laverick]

Hi im looking to buy a totally new computer. I would like to spend around 1,500 (maby even 2000 english pounds) i would like it to be a fantastic gaming computer. I am a little nieve when it comes to technical computer info so would you guys perhaphs be able to help me out? i have 'built' my own pc on dell but it is way over my price range (being a whapping 3,127) but i think the specs are good;

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo X6800 Extreme Edition processor (2.93GHz, 1066MHz, 4MB cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 (incl Operating System Re-Installation CD)

SUPPORT SERVICES Premium XPS Service, 1 Year (incl. Gaming and On-Site Support)

MEMORY 2048MB Dual Channel DDR 533MHz [4x512MB] Memory

HARD DRIVE 640GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x320GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache]

OPTICAL DRIVE(S) 16x DVD+/-RW & 16x DVD Drives

GRAPHICS CARD DUAL 1GB nVidia™ GeForce™ 7950GX2 Dual GPU SLI graphics cards

PHYSICS PCI CARD 128MB Ageia™ PhysX™ PCI Card
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObje...ONd5qrh/2.?p=0
I was aslo looking at an apple mac computer and here is the link to it: [url]
Would you lot be able to recomend some pc's I would greatly appreciate it thanks!!

[H_man]

Get 2*1GB ram, much faster.

[Arakorn]

Instead of buying an XP Media Center, why don't you buy two sticks of 1024MB 800MhZ DDR2 RAM instead? Vista is coming out soon... Other than that, looking good!

[AlfonsoVIII]

My thoughts:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo X6800 Extreme Edition processor (2.93GHz, 1066MHz, 4MB cache) (Very nice)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 (incl Operating System Re-Installation CD) (Get XP Pro, Media Center isnt that great for games)

SUPPORT SERVICES Premium XPS Service, 1 Year (incl. Gaming and On-Site Support) (Your getting a XPS, that is like buying a Linocln which is nothing but a renamed Ford)

MEMORY 2048MB Dual Channel DDR 533MHz [4x512MB] Memory (Overblown for gaming in the totalwar series, but since it is a Dell and you have to get the RAM from them since the components they make only work on Dells, then this is fine, but buying a Dell limits future upgrades).

HARD DRIVE 640GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x320GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache] (Fine, but you pay for the amount of storage, so if you know you need this size then fine, but if not get 1 hdd and maybe even less size like 200GB)

OPTICAL DRIVE(S) 16x DVD+/-RW & 16x DVD Drives (Fine)

GRAPHICS CARD DUAL 1GB nVidia™ GeForce™ 7950GX2 Dual GPU SLI graphics cards (Do not need it as performance gain is marginal, get one now and go with the second one when your games start slowing down, in 2 years from now)

PHYSICS PCI CARD 128MB Ageia™ PhysX™ PCI Card (Fine)

[Laverick]

cheers guys, do you think that a dell would make a better gaming pc? also do you lot think that this is a good spec?

PROCESSOR Intel® Core® 2 Duo® E6600 Processor (2.4GHz, 1066MHz, 4MB)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition (Does not include Operating System Re-installation CD)

SUPPORT SERVICES Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only

MEMORY 2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x1024] Memory

HARD DRIVE 500GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache

OPTICAL DRIVE(S) 16X DVD+/-RW Drive

GRAPHICS CARD 1GB nVidia™ GeForce™ 7950GX2 Dual GPU graphics card

PHYSICS PCI CARD 128MB Ageia™ PhysX™ PCI Card

Accessories
MONITOR Dell™ 19" Value Flat Panel (E197FP)

SOUND CARDS Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music card,PCI w/Dolby Digital,7.1 speaker surround and THX certification

SPEAKERS Dell™ A225 Stereo Speakers

KEYBOARD Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY)

MOUSE Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black

FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader

MODEMS No Modem

and its in my price range at 1,551

[Peter]

The first one is a bit over the top and you probably would create a list once again when Vista and DX-10 arrives, So in my opinion go with the rig that gives you the best bang for the buck but still is top notch parts.

for example you could go after this template

: Intel E6600 2,4ghz
: 1gb of RAM DDR2 667mhz
: ATI X1900XT graphics card
: 250gb HDD sata 16mb ( todays standard?)
: and a nice 19 screen

dont go over the top when it comes to computers because they age very fast and has to be upgraded every year it seems just to stay alive lol

[AlfonsoVIII]

Honestly, I work on Dells and I think they are not good, that is my opinion, although I should say I like Dells as they help my bottom line, lol. Anyways, your rig is good, the only thing I would say is that increase the processor speed if you can keep in budget, otherwise buy it. But beware that you plan on having that system for a couple years and I doubt you will have problems unless you want to get Vista, which will require new video cards.

[Laverick]

I just wantd to say thank you all so much for all your help. Say i brought the spec quoted by peter but brough a 3.4 Ghz processor and the best/extremely good, but not budget breaking, graphics card avaliable (what would that be?) would it
1. be a great gaming pc
2. run medieval II maxed out with no lag? (my one dream in life lol)]
3.Have longevity

[Belisarius]

Please dont tripple post, but guys help him out lol.

Moved to the basement for more help.