Need some help purchasing a machine

[xathras]

Hiya guys,

I am looking to build a machine to replace my current one:

AMD 2600XP
ASUS AV78x8 (i think)
1.5GB RAM (DDR)
160GB
80GB HDD
DVD-ROM
DVD-WRITER
5200FX NVIDIA
17" TFT
WINDOWS XP PRO

I am looking to spend around £500.00 give or take (willing to spend extra if something looks good), I like playing games i.e. Champ Man to Doom 3, Splinter Cell.

I do a bit of downloading and burning/converting (not a lot!)

I have been looking at scan's mix it and have found the following:

630 Intel Pentium® 4 LGA775 CPU (3Ghz 800FSB) HT 2MB Cache with Intel® EM64T *Retail*
512Mb PC3200 (PC400) DDR Memory (Major) Retail
Asus P5SD2-X S775 SiS656 DDR400 PCI-E SATA 6Ch Audio GbE Lan USB2
160Gb SATA300 Samsung SpinPoint™ HD160JJ (7200rpm,8mb) - NCQ
128Mb ScanFX PCI-E GEFORCE 6600GT TV+DUAL DVI

£317.24 inc vat

OR

AMD Athlon 64 3000 32/64Bit CPU S939 "Venice" 90nm *OEM*
Abit AX8 V2.0 S939 PCI-E Dual Core Ready DDR400 SATA Raidx2 Gbit Lan USB2/1394a 5.1Ch Audio
Akasa AK-855 Copper Base S754/S939/S940 Hi End, 32 dB(A)
2 x 512Mb Corsair Value Select PC3200 non-ECC 184 DIMM unbuffered CL2.5 Lifetime Warranty

£213.84 inc VAT.

Plus i am liking the case + cpu below

SilverStone "TEMJIN" J05S (Silver) Aluminum front & SECC Body
+ 560W Silverstone ST56F Strider 80%+ Eff' 120mm Fan Dual +12V Rails PCI-E SLi ATX12x 2.01 EPS 12v

£140.94 inc vat

http://www.scan.co.uk/mixit/

any recommendations please message me, oh one more thing i don't want a noisey pc but not going to extreme of silent!

[MSIC]

Go for the second option.
You will also need a PCI-express graphics card (unless your current one isn't AGP).
Something like this GeForce 6800 will do all current games very nicely, at under £140:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=322310

Other than that, try upping the A64 3000 to a 3200 for an extra £9.

[Jonny]

If you go for the second one, why not use your old RAM with the new system? Save some money?

[johnny02004976]

againt the second option seems the better choice - the Silverstone case is very nice

[xathras]

is does look pretty good, have been hearing pretty good things about them recently

[RavenNight]

For the same money you could have a Gigabyte 3D Aurora Case (Fully Aluminium with Dual Rear 120mm fans and 120mmt fron intake), and a Modular Hiper 580W Type-R PSU. It might also be worth requesting that on Mix-it combo.

[johnny02004976]

is does look pretty good, have been hearing pretty good things about them recently

yeh Silverstone have a very good reputation, they make some nice cases. However, as RavenNight said, the Gigabyte 3D Aurora Case would also be a good choice, especially when powered by a superb Hiper PSU

[makavien478]

http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=2175

What about this board ? great overclocker stable and can take two cards if you want to upgrade at a later time also cheaper as well ...

A review of the board here
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2506

I bought one and it is far better than the Abit fatality AN8 it replaced

[Zak33]

I'm sorry to be an old bore, but just get a nice AGP card, and that "old" machine will do fine

6800 GS for £164 inc vat http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=314618

or even 6600 GT for £107 inc vat
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=314618

Then do a FRESH install of XP, and you'll be amazed how many games you PC will still play
That current card of you'rs is....err.....slow!

[xathras]

yeah i know!!! (little britain style!!!)

it does play doom 3 like but not perfect.

I am looking to go fresh for mobo to since every now and again when i switch on the screen goes blank and once reseting it goes to bios. tried different screen just in case.