Building new gaming PC, need help with specs

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12 Apr 2008
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Hi everyone, I'm looking to build myself a custom PC and it was recommended that I come here first. :)

Now, I know next to nothing about PC components so I'm going to need some help deciding what to get. I want something that's going to last several years before needing an upgrade, and something that can play the Half-Life 2 series smoothly at full graphics. It only needs to be for games and Photoshop/video editing, so I'm assuming that just needs plenty of processor power and a decent graphics card. My budget is anything below £1000.

Someone suggested the following components:

Antec Solo case with Corsair 520-watt PSU
Foxconn board with Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (Penryn 45nm) processor
Mushkin 2GB DDR2-1066 dual channel memory kit
Western Digital 320GB SATA hard disk drive
ASUS DVD/CD writer
XFX graphics card with Nvidia GeForce 8800GT graphics processor
APC 540-watt Uninterruptible Power Supply backup
NEC ASLCD24WMCX 24" LCD monitor with HDMI connection

I don't really know what any of that means, so if any of you could give me recommendations for a build list that'd be great. I'd like a nice widescreen monitor, but not too bothered about speakers or a new keyboard. I've pretty much decided on the 8800GT as the graphics card too.

Hope some of you can help me out.
 
Where did you get your spec from? You should be able to get more for your money:


Dell TrueColour E248WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey
£229.99 (£270.24)

OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz SLI-Ready Edition Low Latency Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2N800SR4GK)
£54.99 (£64.61)

PNY GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
£129.99 (£152.74)

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
£64.99 (£76.36)

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
£121.99 (£143.34)

Asus P5K Pro Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£66.99 (£78.71)

Samsung SH-S203D 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£14.99 (£17.61)

Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
£29.99 (£35.24)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKS)
£49.99 (£58.74)

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)
£59.99 (£70.49)

Sub Total : £823.90
Shipping : £21.38
VAT : £147.92
Total : £993.21

No UPS though but do you really need one anyway?

If you're not going to upgrade for a few years then I think it's better to get a quad core now. It overclocks very well too with the above mobo+RAM+cooler combination.

Also for 24" gaming preferably you need something a little more powerful like that GTS.
 
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