Ok I believe its time to do a new computer setup, advise would be welcome.

[AlphaAlex]

I'd get more ram 4 gig with 64 bit vista and I'd stick with Nvidia. I used to be an ATI fan but I've had too many problems with them. I curently have 2 8800GT alpha dog editions in SLI in my comp and I never skip a frame, not even in Crysis with the settings on high and high res.

[Harkoliar]

Originally Posted by AlphaAlex I'd get more ram 4 gig with 64 bit vista and I'd stick with Nvidia. I used to be an ATI fan but I've had too many problems with them. I curently have 2 8800GT alpha dog editions in SLI in my comp and I never skip a frame, not even in Crysis with the settings on high and high res.

Yeah I am going for 4 gig of ram seperated into 2 1066mhz Kingston DDR2

[Harkoliar]

Ok I have decided to downgrade certain parts and upgrade others to save on cost

Asus M3A32 MVP Deluxe WIFI- 245 Phenom x4 9550 - 182 (2X) 2GB Kit DDR2 1066 Kingston HyperX - 81 Seagate SATA 500gig - 99 LG Retail SATA Blu-Ray Combo Player - 169 Antec Nine-Hundred - 167 Thermaltake ToughPower 600W - 148 Leadtek DVR3200H - 85 Gigabyte ATI HD4850 - 242 Total - 1499 ------------------ Added Cost: Service - 70 OEM 64 bit Vista Home Premium - 149

Ditched my wireless card and upgraded my motherboard for onboard wireless and lowered my hard drive capacity for now. Always room to upgrade in the future anyway. Went with the advice of getting the 4850 and going for Windows 64bit OS to fully utilize all 4 cores for future purposes. I wanted to get a cheaper PSU and Case however I would prefer something of quality, cooling and protection for the future. Lastly I have given a though with the processor and I must admit not much of a difference (is there?) from 9550 and 9750 so since there is no 9850 in the market, I would stick with the low end of scale and save me a couple of dollars.

Thanks for all of your advice, and any other would be welcome

Originally Posted by Harkoliar Ok I have decided to downgrade certain parts and upgrade others to save on cost Ditched my wireless card and upgraded my motherboard for onboard wireless and lowered my hard drive capacity for now. Always room to upgrade in the future anyway. Went with the advice of getting the 4850 and going for Windows 64bit OS to fully utilize all 4 cores for future purposes. I wanted to get a cheaper PSU and Case however I would prefer something of quality, cooling and protection for the future. Lastly I have given a though with the processor and I must admit not much of a difference (is there?) from 9550 and 9750 so since there is no 9850 in the market, I would stick with the low end of scale and save me a couple of dollars. Thanks for all of your advice, and any other would be welcome

I can't find any sites (reliable ones at that) where the 9550 is tested. The 9550 is 2.2ghz and the 9750 is 2.4 ghz. Just by glancing at performance numbers of the 9750 and lowering those numbers a bit, I'd take a gander and say that the 9550 has the same performance of a X2 5000 or 5200. Which in reality, I think is more than enough. Most games have their performance depend mainly on the GPU and RAM anyways.

Also for a cheaper PSU/Case, how about an Antec Sonata III bundled with a 500W PSU? Kill two birds with one stone and it is relatively cheap.

[Harkoliar]

Originally Posted by SecretMaster I can't find any sites (reliable ones at that) where the 9550 is tested. The 9550 is 2.2ghz and the 9750 is 2.4 ghz. Just by glancing at performance numbers of the 9750 and lowering those numbers a bit, I'd take a gander and say that the 9550 has the same performance of a X2 5000 or 5200. Which in reality, I think is more than enough. Most games have their performance depend mainly on the GPU and RAM anyways. Also for a cheaper PSU/Case, how about an Antec Sonata III bundled with a 500W PSU? Kill two birds with one stone and it is relatively cheap.

My biggest worry is that would a 500watt be ok as standard these days?

[AlphaAlex]

500 watt isnt enough. High end vid cards need lots of power. I've got a 750W in my comp and when I upgrade it again the the latest and greatest, ill get a 1200watt.

edit: ok here are the requirements for the vid card:
500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)

So you'd want more than a 500watter for trouble free gaming. (best to stay above the minimum requirements)
Remember, the more you plug into your machine the more power is required.

Edit again:
okay ATI's site say this:

450 Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)

So I dunno...

[Harkoliar]

Originally Posted by AlphaAlex 500 watt isnt enough. High end vid cards need lots of power. I've got a 750W in my comp and when I upgrade it again the the latest and greatest, ill get a 1200watt. edit: ok here are the requirements for the vid card: 500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode) So you'd want more than a 500watter for trouble free gaming. (best to stay above the minimum requirements) Remember, the more you plug into your machine the more power is required. Edit again: okay ATI's site say this: 450 Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode) So I dunno...

I may have to stick with 600 watt then. I prefer to be safe and spend alittle more then fry everything

Originally Posted by Harkoliar I may have to stick with 600 watt then. I prefer to be safe and spend alittle more then fry everything

500 Watts should be enough.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Use this calculator to gauge what your usage would be.

[Harkoliar]

Originally Posted by SecretMaster 500 Watts should be enough. http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp Use this calculator to gauge what your usage would be.

Great site, it recommended for me to get a 602 watt. . I might have to get a 650watt then. doh!

[AlphaAlex]

Using that site I entered my comp specs and it recommended 566Watts. Thats less than what my motherboard manual states and what it states on the side of my Vid card boxes. (Dual 8800gt in SLI: 600watts or greater). So either the site is wrong or the Manufacturer is wrong. LOL