I gotta question

[Greg-O]

Which of these two systems would be a better choice? I am planning on upgrading from a 478 Celeron 2.0 processor with 512mb memory and an old MX 440 vid card.

Heres the run down.

#1 Gigabyte DS3 mobo (P965), 2 gig of Kingston DDR2 memory, eVGA 7950gt ko 512mb, C2D E6300, for 803.67 shipped

#2 Gigabyte AM2 nForce 570 SLi mobo, Same Memory^, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200= windsor 2.2GHz, and 2 x eVGA Geforce 7900GS 256MB KO. $888.39 shipped.

I am looking for a good system that would definitly last for 4/5 years without many upgrades if any like my pervious ones. I also wanna be able to play a lot of newer games that may come out in the future. Also i already have 2 Seagate 160gb SATA II HDD and i am looking at a psu from a guy on a forum as well as i am going to to take my DVD/CDRW combo out of old pc.

(if this is in wrong Forum please move, and i am sorry i am a noob to this forum)

 

[EQTakeOffense]

Well.... The Intel one for sure from just the limited information you gave.

If you would like some more help, anwser these questions:

What's your budget? What are you going to be using this for (I assume by the video card games). What settings do you want to be able to play games at? What kind of games do you play?

 

[Greg-O]

well i am kind of a moderate gamer but that is due to current pc (Right know more console cus of the pc), i would prefer to be able to play games at higher settings but mainly looking for a computer that can run new games such and Battlefeild 2142,etc. on high and to have it where i still can play any other game that comes out on high as well. I also have a budget where it is around 800 but really and truely as cheap as possible. Also really any one that seems interesting but prefer RTS and FPS.

Hope this helps and sorry for the veagueness.

 

[EQTakeOffense]

Well, for a $800 budget, the Intel system is the way to go.

The thing that's really going to be limiting you in future games is the GPU. The 7900 is really 'last' generation tech, in the sense that there is a night a day difference between 8800GTS and 7900. What this means, is that while that computer is fine for pretty much every game that's come out so far, you'll be able to run them at fairly high settings it will not last you 4/5 years game wise. The option then is to either (In my opinion) get a 8800GTS which will set you close to just under $1,000 with that system you mentioned, or you can upgrade in say two years to whatever's out at the time.

In my opinion, I don't think it matters which way you go as in the long run, you'll probably spend the same amount. A $200 GPU in two years will probably be equal to a 8800GTS/GTX today.

 

[Greg-O]

thanx for the help, and do you know it the Antec SmartPower 2.0 500w psu will be able to power the 8800gts. I might end up getting one of the 8800 because of that reason but i will take longer to get the $$$.

so i would take your vote as for the intel setup.

 

[EQTakeOffense]

and do you know it the Antec SmartPower 2.0 500w psu will be able to power the 8800gts.

So it comes down to, do you need a new power supply? I would suggest nothing less than a 500 watt PSU for our system in question and would feel a lot more comfortable with the headroom of 600 watt +.

It will be fine, you're have a fairly light system, so I wouldn't worry about it. But, if you add a GTS down the line, you're defintely gonna need a new PSU.

 

[Greg-O]

Ok, i will keep that in mind. But i have just thought of this (again) i plan on buying eVGA card(s) because eVGA has their trade up programs so i will be able to get credit for the card(s) when i go to trade it in for a GTS or the GTX which will only decrease the price of them when they lower the price later on.

Also what power supply do you recommend because on newegg's website they only say min. 400w. which is lower than the 7950.