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[SiegfriedFM]

I'm currently putting together a fairly cheap computer to replace my aging P4 2,67GHz with Radeon 9800. I'm not going to play an awful lot of games on it, but it's pretty much a requirement that I'll be able to max out WoW with no worries and some to spare. If it can't even do that, I'll just buy a new toaster instead.

Mostly, it will be used for work. I'm doing some Photoshop work and occasionally I run into memory shortage and processing speeds on my current setup.

There's a builder at this address:

http://www.komplett.se/k/config.aspx?ConfigSystemId=10161

It starts at 4000 SEK and I can't go much above 6000, so what priorities should I make?

Here's my current plans:

* Standard 400W power
* MSI K9AGM2-FIH, AMD 690G+SB600, HDMI, Socket-AM2,m-ATX,DDR2,Firewire,PCI-Ex16 (this only has soundcard onboard, right?)
* AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.3GHz Socket AM2,1MB (only a bit more expensive than the regular set for 0.2 more GHz)
* No floppy, standard DVD reader (I've never ever needed a DVD burner yet)
* TwinMOS DDR2 PC5300 2048MB Dual Pack KIT ,w/two matched DDR2 PC5300 1024MB CL5 (here it gets tricky - 2 GB is a must but I'd consider doing 4 GB if it's possible to add four of these on that motherboard)
* Samsung SpinPoint T166 400GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM (space is fun, I've got another 120 GB that I'd probably just transfer over from the old one to keep all my old

Spoiler

porn

crap, but it's not a super high priority)

Graphic cards are my major problem, I have absolutely no idea what is hot nowadays. This rig isn't gonna run Crysis any time soon so I'd rather just go with a decent card to save money.

Asus GeForce 8500GT 512MB DDR2 Silent, PCI-Express, Tv-Out/DVI-I/HDTV
Asus GeForce 8600GT 256MB GDDR3 Silent, PCI-Express, Tv-Out/2xDVI-I/HDTV/HDCP
Gainward GeForce 7300GS 256MB DDR2, PCI-Express, "BP7300GS-256-TV-DVI"
Gainward GeForce 8500GT 256MB DDR3, PCI-Express, DVI/Tv-Out, SilentFX
PowerColor Radeon HD 2400 XT 256MB GDDR3 ,PCI-Express, DVI/Tv-out/HDMI, 64bit
PowerColor Radeon HD 2600 PRO 256MB DDR2 ,PCI-Express, 2xDVI/Tv-out/HDMI, 128bit
PowerColor Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3 ,PCI-Express, 2xDVI/Tv-out/HDMI
Sapphire Radeon X1950GT 256MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, HDCP, 2xDVI-I, Lite-Retail
XFX GeForce 8400GS 450M 256MB DDR2, PCI-Express, DVI/HDCP/Tv-Out,450/800Mhz
XFX GeForce 8500GT 500M 256MB DDR2, PCI-Express, DVI/HDCP/Tv-Out, Heatsink
XFX GeForce 8600GT 540M 256MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, 2xDVI, 540/1400Mhz

Any of these are within my budget really, but some might be overkill for the rest of the setup. Another thing, my old Viewsonic monitor has had problems with my current graphics card and it gets really really dark, so any new card would need good settings to compensate for this (it's not the screen, it was the same on an excellent LCD screen I tried). Also, it absolutely MUST NOT, like the Radeon, reset to standard gamma settings after exiting games for this reason. I've lived with some weird stuff on this computer for a while now but I'm not going to tolerate it on a new one. Oh, and this one makes me reset the USB keyboard every time I restart the computer. Joy.

I'm not getting any optional stuff for it. It looks like Vista Basic is the way I'll have to go, since a new XP license actually is more expensive. Will I run into compatibility hell with oldish software like PS7, Office 2002, Note Tab Light (can't live without it) and such?

 

[mambadragon]

Sorry I'm not sure how to build a non high end PC, but for the video card at the $150 price range you want a Radeon 3850, much better than the 8600GT.

 

[Servbot #42]

you might wanna go for a 500w power supply,that way you can be sure that medium to high end video cards don`t drain your psu,plus it leaves you space to upgrade later.