New PC advice please

[marksteven]

Hi all.

With Uncle Kevs moolah, I am looking to get a new PC (this one wont open MS Word...). Below is what I am looking at. Please give me some advice on whether you think they are alright (and if all the parts would all work together). In both builds the case, keyboard, mouse and speakers are fairly generic.

PC 1. INTEL

MOBO: Intel S775 Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L
CHIP: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 (2.80GHz/45nm/1066FSB/3MB) LGA775
RAM: Desktop DDR2 Ram 2GB Kit (2x1024MB) PC8500 1066MHz Kingston HyperX KHX8500D2K2/2GN 5-5-5-15
VID CARD: PCI-e (nV) 9500GT 1GB Sparkle SF-PX95GT1024U2-HP (550/800MHz)
HDD: 3.5" HDD SATA-300 500GB 16MB Seagate (7200rpm)
DVD: 5.25" SATA DVD Buner/Rw Samsung SH-S223-BL 22x Black (oem)
MONITOR: WideScreen LCD Monitor 19" ASUS VH192D (5ms)
PSU: Power Supply 650W Coolermaster eXtreme Plus RS-650-PCARE3-AU (with SATA Cable)

PC 2. AMD

MOBO: AMD AM2 S940 Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3P
CHIP: AMD AM2 Athlon 64x2 Dual Core 6000+ (3.0GHz/2MB/89w)
RAM: Desktop DDR2 Ram 2GB Kit (2x1024MB) PC8500 1066MHz Kingston HyperX KHX8500D2K2/2GN 5-5-5-15
VID CARD: PCI-e (nV) 9500GT 1GB Sparkle SF-PX95GT1024U2-HP (550/800MHz)
HDD: 3.5" HDD SATA-300 500GB 16MB Seagate (7200rpm)
DVD: 5.25" SATA DVD Buner/Rw Samsung SH-S223-BL 22x Black (oem)
MONITOR: WideScreen LCD Monitor 19" ASUS VH192D (5ms)
PSU: Power Supply 650W Coolermaster eXtreme Plus RS-650-PCARE3-AU (with SATA Cable)

According to itestate.com.au the prices for the above would be PC 1: $1054 and PC 2: $952

Thanks in advance.

[rovingcowboy]

come on now is this a post just to get a site link in your signiture ?

cause the only thing different is the amd and the intel cpus.

how many other forums have told you it would start a cpu war and that both listed are good.

[Peke]

Well,

Take this from my 20+ Year of Experience I think that both are too expensive.

Other than that I would Chose PC 2. AMD but it really depends on few questions:
1. What you will do with that PC? (Audio, Video, Gaming, Server, HTPC, ...)
2. For How long you plan to keep it ?
3. Do you plan to upgrade in near future?
4. Why do you need old FireWire 400 IEEE1394 onboard and pay extra when you can easily add Firewire 800 later? (see http://www.firewire-1394.com/firewire-8 ... 1394b3.htm for example)

Here is Link to my Current Main PC hardware spec http://www.sysprofile.de/id59377

I'll Highlight In Red What i do not like

PC 2. AMD
MOBO: AMD AM2 S940 Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3P Older Model and small range of CPU supported
CHIP: AMD AM2 Athlon 64x2 Dual Core 6000+ (3.0GHz/2MB/89w) Outdated CPU and most likely with inaccurate spec or even used one as I have seen this CPU only once. I would rather say it is (3.0GHz/2MB/125w) or (3.1GHz/1MB/89w)
RAM: Desktop DDR2 Ram 2GB Kit (2x1024MB) PC8500 1066MHz Kingston HyperX KHX8500D2K2/2GN 5-5-5-15 I would Rather Go to 2x2048 DDR2 4-4-4-12 than 1066 as AMD CPUs work Synchro on 800Mhz
VID CARD: PCI-e (nV) 9500GT 1GB Sparkle SF-PX95GT1024U2-HP (550/800MHz) I do not like nV for Multimedia as most of their cards do not have own Audio on HDMI but passthru from MOBO I would Rather Suggest ATi HD 4670 with 1GB for same money and trust me this is true http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php ... &card2=579
HDD: 3.5" HDD SATA-300 500GB 16MB Seagate (7200rpm) I would Take 32MB Models they are much faster
DVD: 5.25" SATA DVD Buner/Rw Samsung SH-S223-BL 22x Black (oem) Rather use SONY-NEC (Optirac) with LabelFlash and Region Free than Samsung, also avoid LG but this is personal opinion
MONITOR: WideScreen LCD Monitor 19" ASUS VH192D (5ms) Would Rather go with some cheaper BENQ 24" models and full HD res but again matter of choice and how your eyes feel when you look at it
PSU: Power Supply 650W Coolermaster eXtreme Plus RS-650-PCARE3-AU (with SATA Cable) Really no need for that as you see on my Main PC I have 520W Real power and my GPU is more power hungry that 4670 I would suggest COOLER MASTER Elite 332 RC-332-KKR2 with 420W PSU

So here is what I suggest:
MOBO: MSI 790XT-G45 due its Great CPU support http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=prodc ... od_no=1856 (Unlocks most X2 BE CPUS. tested 6 X2 x550 and all were unlocked flawlessly) and quality http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=prodd ... od_no=1856
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550 3.1GHz AM3 Black Edition cheap and powerful almost every CPU gets unlocked on X4 945
PSU/CASE: COOLER MASTER Elite 332 RC-332-KKR2 420W Great case and PSU
GPU: Power Color ATi HD 4670 1GB
RAM: KINGSTON 4GB (2x2GB) 800MHz DDR2 HyperX KHX6400D2LLK2/4GN

With these changes you should be almost in same price range but quality should be almost twice.

Enjoy.