New £2,000 System, ideas?

[Seigal12]

Hi all, I am back to make another rare post, and again – I have more questions!

Right, I am looking to build myself a nice new computer, without going much above £2,000.00! Which should be easy, but as usual – cheaper the better

I have currently made a specification equalling £1,867.78 – This consists of:

-AMD ATHLON 64 DUAL CORE 4400+
-DFI LANPARTY NF4 SLI-DR PCI EXPRESS MOTHERBOARD
-CORSAIR 2GB DDR XMS4400 PRO TWINX
-BFG GEFORCE 7900 GTX OC 512MB GDDR3 (PCI-EXPRESS)
-SEASONIC S12 600W SILENT ATX2.0 POWER SUPPLY
---(Among other things)---

Now the question I find myself looking at it this, should I forgo the AMD 4400+ and go for an Intel Pentium 4 Dual Core 3.4Ghz with a relevant setup.

I want something that is generally good all round, applications, games etc… I know AMD would be better for the gaming, but I have loyalty issues with Intel to deal with first!

Can someone please point me in the right direction here; I cannot seem to get many answers. I know it’s the age old question of AMD vs. Intel here, but opinions are always helpful!

Thanks in advance guys, I look forward to the replies!

 

[Seigal12]

This is the full specification I have lined up at the moment, coming to about £1,800

AMD athlon 64 dual core 4400+ [socket 939]
Dfi Lanparty nf4 sli-dr [socket 939] pci express
Corsair 2gb ddr xms4400 pro twinx (2x1gb)
Bfg GeForce 7900 gtx oc 512mb gddr3 (pci-express)
Maxtor diamondmax plus 10 300gb Sata-ii 16mb cache
Thermalright si-120
Creative Sound Blaster X-fi Xtreme Music
Seasonic S12 600W Silent Atx2.0 Power Supply
Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Antec P180 Advanced Super Midi Tower Case – No Psu
Nec ND4570 16x16 Dual Layer Rewriter
OcUK Value Floppy Drive
Akasa Ak-Paxmate Plus Acoustic Absorbtion Mat
Vantac Slot Protector Kit
Vantec Cable Sleeving Kit
Vantec SF120SL Stealth 120mm Fan
Altec Lansing MX5021 2.1 Speaker System
Samsung SM-930BF 19” LCD Monitor

I don't need it soon, it's more of how patient I can be to get a better system.

...and at risk of lining myself up with a stupid question: What is the Conroe?

 

[Seigal12]

So, what sort of spec would you recommend with Conroe then? I mean, GeForce/ATI is another good question.

I will admit, waiting for Conroe does sound a good idea, however it seems alittle experimental to jump at a newly released processor?

And to ask another stupid question, though Conroe will be new - what are its benefits? (I have not done much reading obvoiusly)

 

[Seigal12]

Well, I have been looking into the new Conroe CPU, and it sounds great! I am definatly going to go for it me thinks! And agreing with Spit – I will most likely go for the Extreme Edition.

Though what would be a good spec here now? Obviously the MoBo and RAM will need to be changed from my original specification to compensate for the new CPU – but to what? And is the rest okay?

Especially the ThermalRight SI-120, Vantec Stealth 120mm fan and Antec P180 case, as the comments expressed about the heat generated from these processors makes me wonder, the best – quietest way to keep it all cool

Finally, a question just out of curiosity, the cost of the Conroe?