Right lads,
Im getting back into gaming(Ive missed you all:) ) and need a bit of help with a new (mid range) machine.

Bear in mind now Ive been using a laptop with an x700 for the last 3 years and I think Im long over due a new machine.

So options.

Been offered 2 machine over the weekend,both are retail machines.

First one is a compaq destop with a c2d e2160 with onboard graphics and 1 pci x16 slot.
From what Ive been reading about this a psu upgrade (its standard atx psu btw) and a fast radeon will make it into a decent enough machine as long as your not into over clocking as its limited in the bios.The CPU is fairly budget though(This one Im been given for FREE)

The other one is an Advent Ptg 9003 with a Phenom x3 8600 @ 2.3 ghz with a radeon 4350.Now this one is 300 euros but this has a 450w psu which according to the support site will run any fast radeon/nvidia with about 50-70w to spare.

Have a 17" Monitor thats native res is 1280 x 1024 SXGA resolution, 800:1 contrast, 5ms response time so if I can play everything at that res Ill be happy.

So what you reckon?Or can anyone come up with another recommendation.

Richie, whats your max spend m8, peeps on here will do the rest.

Max spend is whatever BF1943 will play on whenever they release the specs.


1100 euros was the quote for the stuff below.Was hoping for half that to be honest.
Phenom II X2 550 AM3---Is the x3 better than the x2?
Asus M4A79XTD EVO AM3
Gskill 4GB DDR3 10666--An extra 2gb ram for the Advent is only 44 euros.
Antec Sonata III Quiet Case 500W---Power supply should be fine for a 4850 in the Advent
RADEON HD4850 Pro PCI-Ex 512MB---150 or therabouts.
1TB Sata HDD--320 is fine at the minute for me.
DVD-ROM Sata
Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit---Advent comes with Vista
19" LCD Monitor (8ms response time)--Not needed
Mouse USB--Not needed
Keyboard USB--Not needed.

So based on that its going to cost me 500 for a decent enough system if I buy the Advent and stick a 4850 (or similar into it)

Cheers Gerry.
I went for the phenom in the end.Just picked up another 2gb ram (800mhz)
All I need is a new psu --Can anyone recommend a decent one.And Ive just got to make a decision on the gpu--I can get a radeon 4890 for 115 or a gtx260 for 128.

Thanks Grim.4890 was what I was going to go for.
One more question and probably a stupid one--How thick are these cards?The 4350 takes over 1 pci slot aswell(about 35mm thick)--would the 4890 be similar?I only need 1 pci slot for the wireless card but if the 4890 is any thicker Im a bit stuffed for space

radeon 4890 is the best of those two

corsair are the best psu manufacturer atm this one will suite you fine and is fairly cheap  http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

Same as the one in it so.Is a 4890 overkill @ 1280*1024 though?
Just been playing the Batman demo here with everything at high @1280*1024 and Im amazed how well it looks with this shitty card.

welcome back to the fold richie \o/
 :?:

And please dont say WoW

They're playing Borderlands, it seems.

its WoW for FPS players.

Don't know if it's any good, though.

Waiting for MW2, L4D2, and BF43. Will probably buy MW2, and look for a dedicated server hack.

BTW, when do you say you'll have the PC? LAN out near your neck of the woods, on next weekend, in the Glenroyal (over the train station bridge, on the right, 5 minutes down the road from you). Pay ?20, and come out for the Saturday Seems they'll have some machines running L4D2. Check out www.gamecon.ie for info.

Have it now.Just need to sort out the graphics card,psu and ram.

Cool. Won't be going to said LAN, me thinks, as I've been invited to some house party in G-G-G-G-Galway