Buying a new PC - Yes, another buying a new PC thread!!

[PH]

Seems as though i'm not going to get a shiny PSP pre-Xmas. so going to completely upgrade my PC instead.

Just one question. Is it worth going the PCI-E route or better to stick with AGP for now?

Anyways, i've been looking at Overclockers and Ebuyer this morning. I've pretty much decided on the following, but i thought i would run it past the PC experts first. Will this setup be ok for all the latest games? High detail, etc.

AMD Athlon 64 3200
MSI K8N Neo Platinum nForce3 250 (I read a few people on here didn't rate this make, all i can say is i have used MSI boards in my last 2 PCs and never had one problem.)
Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR PC4000 Ballistix Dual Channel Kit
Abit ATI Radeon X800 Pro 256MB AGP
Western Digital 160GB SATA

Thoughts?

[Valken]

It that mobo and CPU socket 939? If not I would go for a board that supports that for future upgrades.

IMO current cards don't make use of the bandwidth of PCI-E but it's looking like the next gen will.

I just got a load of bits for a system and I stuck with AGP and I don't regret it. I couldn't justify the price of PCI-E hardware tbh.

A videocard like the one you've specified is gonna have a long useful like unless you're a total sucker for having everything up to date.

I would just get PC3200 RAM BTW

[PH]

Thanks for the reply.

The CPU and MB are socket 754. I'm sure your quite correct about going for socket 939 instead, but when i upgrade i tend to start from scratch everytime anyway, replacing the CPU and MB at the same time. The 939 3200 is ?25 more expensive as well.

Yeah, sticking with AGP as well. I read an article on OverclockersNZ and they pretty much came to the conclusion that it was best to stick with AGP for now.

Might i ask why you feel its best to go with 3200 RAM. Does the price difference not match the perfomance difference?

[Valken]

If you're happy to replace the mobo and CPU with each upgrade cycle then stick with what you've got including AGP.

I chose 939 because I usually upgrade my older PCs a little and turn them into my server machine when they become useless as a gaming/coding machine.

I do think PC4000 DDR is a little too expensive given what I feel is only a small performance increase. Decent PC3200 RAM with low latency is more than enough for gaming.