New PC

[JazzyJake]

assuming you mean the E6300, i would go with that simply because of the price savings, and the difference in speed would be EASILY obtained by a mild and simple overclock someone here could walk you through

no matter what, get a 7,200rpm hdd with 16mb of cache.
those drives, (in W/D and seagate flavor) perform almost on par with the old(er) raptors
if you are having trouble decided between 160gb and 500gb, it seems like you aren't too worried about the space, and maybe a 250gb would solve all your confusion.
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

i'm not positive on the power requirements on that video card, but i think at least a 550w PSU would do you well.

i would suggest looking into OCZ, or Antec. Those 2 brands seem to hit the sweet spot between power and quality.
Newegg.com - OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply 100 - 240 V - Retail
that PSU should give you quite a bit extra power, if needed.

cases are based on personal preference, and build quality.
first decide if you want something flashy with windows and lights, or something smooth and sleek.
also decide how much you want to spend on your case, keeping in mind the case dictates how easy the build is, how well your components are protected from outside things, and heat deprivation.

some current favorites are the antec 900 (flash)
Newegg.com - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

and most anything by Lian Li, (sleek n sexy)

hope that helps!
Jazzy

[Computer-Ed]

I would have also suggested the Seagate just 6 months ago but Seagate as a company has begun to lose some of their appeal. Seagate no longer supports cross shipping on RMA. This means that you will have 2 to 3 weeks wait for an RMA to return and that long with no HD. WD supports cross shipping, which means I get a replacement HD within 3 days of the RMA request. The performance is so clsoe between the two brands that it is really not an issue.

Get the E6600, if you plan to overclock this means that you have a fast chip in case the overclock does not work.

For getting a PSU I posted a buyers guide on this forum:

Buying a PSU

Use the calculator to get the wattage your system will need and then add 50%, make sure the PSU is 80Plus certified and you will not go wrong.

As for the build which is more important, super cool, or quiet? If super cool look at the Nine Hundred case, great air flow. If you want quiet get a P182, still good air flow but very quiet.

[frosty satan]

thanks for all your help guys, i should be gettin it within the week after the 22nd.

Originally Posted by JazzyJake

assuming you mean the E6300, i would go with that simply because of the price savings, and the difference in speed would be EASILY obtained by a mild and simple overclock someone here could walk you through

a pc shop near me is selling a 6320, its basically the same price as the 6300, but has 4MB L2 memory, i think thats the only difference

its strange, i looked around more this time and the 2nd PC build is only gonna be like $80 AUD extra

edit:im probably gonna build it myself, something to do, iv never really had much experience building, so is it fairly easy, it seems to be coz in the pc i have now, all the plugs and coneections are labelled, is that the case with newer stuff. also if i have good quality parts, there no real chance of frying stuff is there?

and does the sound card matter or is onboard good enough?

[Jokerswild]

Yea it's pretty easy to build you just need to take your time the first time and ask questions if your not sure of something.

[frosty satan]

i just found out i don't have $700 i thought i had dam...

so then im thinking of buying the case/power supply first, then motherboard.Then the rest when i can afford them.

do you think its better to wait till i can afford all the parts at once, or just buy in pieces when i can afford them?

[Jokerswild]

I would wait because prices will fall and new stuff will come out.

[Hitman]

Computers are a waist of money. Go buy some golf clubs and enjoy the summer.

[frosty satan]

do you think itd be better to get the 2nd build i mentioned or to replace the graphics with the GTX, and the MOBO with a P5B Core 2. turns out the same price

[Capper]

Originally Posted by frosty satan

I'm buying a new PC here are the specs im thinking of:any suggestions welcomed:

Albatron 8800 GTS 320MB $424
Asus s775 P5B Core 2 motherboard $189
PNY Technologies Twin Pack 2x1 Gig ddr2 800MHz $219
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz $459 (probably buy after price cuts tho)
Western Digital 500 Gig 7200rpm SATA-2 $239
XG Extreme Gamer Viper black/blue 500-watt power supply $175

I would never recommend a PNY product......its overpriced and usually not the best quality. If you can wait a week, INTEL will be dropping the prices on their processors (4/22).

Make sure you check out our Recommended Hardware pages, that'll give you a good baseline to start with....then you can mix/match as your budget allows.

I'd personally look at :

INTEL Core 2 Duo E6300

ASUS P5B Deluxe Motherboard, Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 or DS3 motherboards

2GB of OCZ DDR2-800 Platinum Rev 2 Memory

eVGA 8800GTX, or GTS depending on your budget

OCZ PowerStream 700W PSU or Corsair HX620 PSU

ANTEC Nine Hundred Case

Thermaltake big Typhoon or Cooler Master GeminII CPU Cooler

This is a pretty good mix of performance and price, what I'd call the sweet spot right now. The E6600 has a bigger cache, but the E6300 OCs better, and nearly as far very easily. That OCZ kit is a damned good value at well under $200, and unless you are a benchmarking whore (no offense) you can get away with the 8800GTS and be perfectly happy playing any game on the market in its full glory.

[frosty satan]

if the cache on the E6600 is the 4MB L2 thing than theres another CPU called the E6320 which is the same as the E6300 but has 4MB of L2, only $10 extra

well the main games i wanna play are Medieval 2:Total War, C&C 3, Oblivion and the new Stargate Worlds when it comes out, otherwise iv got about 4 years of PC gaming to catch up on.

edit:would the 320MB model be good enough to play those at full graphics or near full?
also im used to really, really (really) bad graphics on the PC. (really bad)