Friends New Comp Help

[Jming1084]

Hey guys. Man I haven't posted here in a while. Anyways on to my question. My friend is getting a new computer and he wants my opinion. He basically wants a mid/high end gaming rig. One that will last him for the next gen games like BF2142 ect. I told him he should get a custom built one and that I would help him out. Well he found a deal on Dell and wants to know what I think. Total price is $975 with coupons. When he told me he was looking to get a new comp. His budget was $1500. So basically he could get this and do some small upgrades like gpu and memory and try to sell the rest of the stuff on ebay. So tell me what you think. Other things to consider are that he doesn't have much computer knowledge so he doesn't really know how to swap out components and check stuff which is why a prebuilt system is nice for him. Here are the specs.

Dimension E510

CPU: Pentium® D Processor 930 with Dual Core Technology (3.0GHz, 800FSB) I don't know much about Pentiums as I'm an AMD fan so I don't have much of an opinion on this.

Mem: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x512M) I think he should get atleast 2 gigs and at higher mhz.

GPU: Radeon x600 SE Haven't really looked at this card but sounds like a budgeted one. I was thinking about the 7900gt

Other misc. things are a 250 ATA harddrive which i think is fine. 19in monitor, windows, mouse, keyboard, dvd drive, ect. I also wanted to know how dell mb are. Are they good for gaming and upgrading. Sry for the long post.

[Jming1084]

Also should my friend wait for when the new Pentinum chips come out in July for price drops or is that just a rumor I'm hearing.

[chuckskull]

If they can wait, then get a conroe when they lauch. The X600 is nowhere near high-end and will be even further away by the time BF2142 is lauched.

[Jming1084]

Yeah I agree with the X600. Also being an AMD fan should my friend wait and get an AM2 custom built system or is there little difference between Pentium and AMD?

[chuckskull]

Current gen AMD's hammer pentium for games, but next gen (conroe/AM2) is looking like it will be the other way around.

if he wants his PC soon, then an AMD X2 3800+, 2 gig of decent RAM and a 7900GT should come in well under budget and go like hell.

Maybe even 4400+ depending on what other costs you have.