recommend me a system

[silent]

hi

building a new system for a mate on a core 2 duo one. i have the following for £583 delivered. can you better it?

Abit IP35 mobo
Core 2 duo 6550 1333 mhz processor
2 gig of corsair xms2 800 ram
500 gig sata 2 samsung spinpoint hdd
sapphire 2600xt pci-e dx10 card
sharkoon rebel 9 case with 250mm side fan
550 wt corsair psu
optiarc sony dvd rw sata drive
19" LG 194WT widscreen tft.

would you cahnge anything?

has a 500-600 budget and wont be upgrading anytime soon after purchase.

he has win xp pro.

all from scan.

[staffsMike]

I'd probably have the E6750 for £10 or so more.

Other than that it look's good.

Most will suggest you get a DX9 gfx card though which isn't a bad idea if he's willing to upgrade later on.

7900gs / x1950 pro etc.. give better performance than the 2600xt but aren't future proofed. Given the weak performance of the 2600xt even at DX9 i wouldnt expect much from it at dx10

[silent]

ok, thats cool. with dx10, will the good dx9 cards play all the new future games when they reach us, but just not as good?

[staffsMike]

it depends whether they are DX10 only.

Games like bioshock and crysis are DX9 and DX10 but if a game comes out (can't think of any on the way) that is DX10 only then he won't be able to play. That said he won't be able to play them if he's using XP either so DX9 will be fine for a good while yet.

[acrobat]

I don't think there will be any DX10 only games, for a loooong time. Not any good ones anyway Its only recently that some games have appeared that are shader 3.0 specific. And thats been available for years. I think there might be some that try to show off, but they would be ruining their earning potential because the game would require Vista, and new graphics card, and the percentage of people who fit into that catagory isn't very big.,

But I would still get a DX10 graphics card Or a Geforce equivalent. Because forgetting about the DX10 aspect, they are still nice and fast, and thats what you want if your mate plays games.

[staffsMike]

well 8600GT is better than the 2600xt

The 8600GTS is better than both..

and the x1950pro and 7900gs are better than the 8600GTS.

[acrobat]

Would an 8800GTS 320mb be out the question? Scan have got them for £179, but you might be able to find an Inno3d version somewhere else, for cheaper. They are amazing for gaming. If he doesn't want to upgrade for a long while... really need the best you can get, and graphics card is one of the most important components for a gamer.

[silent]

it would be to much. i managed to get his budget from 400 to 5-600

[acrobat]

I'd do what staffsMike said then. With graphics cards, there are thousands of reviews on the net, and most of them show results of the cards and then compare them to other cards etc. So with a bit of searching you can see the best for any price point. So what staffsMike said is probably the best for your mate. (x1950pro and 7900gs).

[silent]

thanks everyone, i think i'll get the 1950 pro card instead. i will of course let my mate know