Decent PC for 2008?

[Mus]

Been out of the PC gaming scene for years.......

I am considering buying the system below - I want a decent gaming rig - the gfx card is cheap, and there is a possibility of slapping another SLi gfx card in there and upgraing Ram etc...

Questions

- will it handle PC gaming in 08?
- should I go with an 8600 gfx card? (Are they that much better?)


Cheers


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OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)
DVD: Optiarc (Sony/NEC) AD-7170S-0B 18x DVD?R, 8x DVD?DL, DVD + RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black,
CPU: AMD AM2 Athlon 64 5000 + Brisbane Core, Dual Core 2.6GHz, 2x 512KB Cache,
GFX: 320MB XFX 8800GTS XT, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1700MHz, GPU 560MHz
HDD: 500 Gb HGST (IBM/Hitachi) 0A33437 Deskstar 7K500, SATA300,7200 rpm, 16MB
MoBo: Gigabyte GA M57SLI-S4 NF570 SLI, S AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 400/533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
RAM: 1GB CorsairXMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12
CASE: Aluminium Sharkoon Rebel 9 ECONOMY Silver Edition ATX - (No PSU)
PSU: 650W EZ-Cool Silent SLi pPFC Power Supply PCI-E + SATA AMD & P4 Ready 12cm Silent Fan ATX12v Ready

[Hohum]

No, that spec isn't too great I'm afraid. Points of contention:

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)

64-bit is starting to become more of a necessity, mainly due to memory addressing limitations. Besides which, there is no downside now really; the driver situation has mostly improved, and unless you have some really old applications you want to use then everything will work fine.

CPU: AMD AM2 Athlon 64 5000 + Brisbane Core, Dual Core 2.6GHz, 2x 512KB Cache

Intel Core 2 processors are a better choice, they perform better than the last gen K8 chips from AMD.

GFX: 320MB XFX 8800GTS XT, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1700MHz, GPU 560MHz

The 8800GT is faster, has 512MB, and is cheaper.

RAM: 1GB CorsairXMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12

Isn't enough... these days need a minimum of 2GB for a gaming PC, and in the future 4GB is going to become more common (which you will need a 64-bit operating system to use fully).

PSU: 650W EZ-Cool Silent SLi pPFC Power Supply PCI-E + SATA AMD & P4 Ready 12cm Silent Fan ATX12v Ready

Low quality PSU that could cause you serious problems and maybe damage your hardware (poor voltage regulation and ripple), plus probably has an exaggerated wattage claim. Would you trust a cheap and cheerful PSU to power your expensive equipment? Seriously, don't do it, it's false economy.

Sorry if I kinda ripped your list to pieces, but that system wouldn't last very long. Even less so when that PSU blows up, and takes your hardware with it.

[briareos_kerensky]

I'd say to buy two HDDs, one for the OS/programs (like a Western Digital Raptor) and a more capable HDD for storage, from either WD or Seagate.
And...the case is silver and the DVD unit is black

[Kit]

CPU: Q6600 is the processor of choice atm and the fact it?s cheaper and better than AMD?s latest offering is all you need to know.

Board/RAM: P5K Premium/Deluxe combined with 2GB of decent DDR 2 should power you through 08.

PSU: I have the Corsair HX 620w (modular) so I recommend it by default.

Case: Anything by Lian Li, I?ve had a fair few cases and they really are top of the pile.

OS: Well, I?m not a big fan of Vista but I suppose it's worth it if you're looking beyond 08.

[Mus]

Thank you very much for the info chaps