Hi guys,

I am looking to get a new PC.  I have a budget of around $AU1600.  This will sound like a lot to you American posters, but computer parts cost a lot more here in Australia.

The website I think it best to use is:

http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?

Keep in mind the fact that their assembly of the computer will cost $AU100 for a medium level system, that I need an operating system, Microsoft Office Home and Student, some sort of virus protection and I do NOT need a screen.  The screen I have is a 22inch Dell found here:

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfo/peripherals/monitor_e228wfp/pd.aspx?refid=monitor_e228wfp&s=dfo

I am open to other websites, but keep in mind I am not competant building the system myself, it needs to be done for me.  And I require a one year warranty.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The computer will be responsible for multimedia, word processing, basic video editing and of course the best gaming the money I have can buy.

Pretty please?

Come on, do it yourself man. You will feel a sense of acomplishment.  :)

At the least get a barebone system and then add ram, video card hard drive and other stuff to it...

I'm probably not the most up to date on cost/benefit analysis benchmarks, but I think a good system would look like this;

• Intel Core i5
• Triple channel motherboard with USB 3.0
• 6GB DDR3
• ATI 5870 (DX11)
• SATA 2TB 7200rpm (you may splurge here with either RAID-0 or SSD depending on sub-total)
• Win 7 PRO x64

Edit: My bad the LGA1156 socket that supports the Core i5's isn't compatible with triple-channel memory.  So drop the RAM down to 4GB and the fundamentals are there.

With my own money I might have, but it's my Dad's.

I'll probably have the cash for my own in about a year

I'd like to do it but I can't risk the family's cash.

Someone may want to look over my list in case I missed something, but under the configure PC thing this is what I chose:

• INTEL
• Socket 1156
• Intel i5 760
• Asus P7P55D-E
• CPU cooler provided with CPU itself
• DDR3
• CMX6GX3M3C 1600c7 6gb (3x 2gb) pc-12800
• blank
• blank
• blank
• SATA
• Samsung 1TB (HD103SJ)
• blank
• blank
• Asus 22x IDE DVD writer - DVD-RW/CDRW, etc
• blank
• blank
• blank
• ATI
• HIS Radeon HD5770
• blank
• blank
• Gigabyte case (I was stumped on these ones)
• Gigabyte GZ-X9
• Corsair PSU
• Corsair 750W
• bunch of blanks
• Windows 7
• Windows 7 home premium
• Office OEM
• Office home and business 2010
• Norton A/V 2010

I configured you a system for $1500 AU or thereabouts if you're interested, including office/windows etc.

Windows 7 64 bit: http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II05240&catpath=0_28_134

$110

Office 2010 with discs :http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II07256&catpath=0_28_135

$144

Saphire 5850: http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II05168&catpath=0_32_140_143

$313

1TB Seagate: http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II04365&catpath=0_14_88

$69

4GB Kingston: http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II05656&catpath=0_18_95

$91

LG DVD burner: http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II04449&catpath=0_10_179

$25

Antec Sonata with 500W PSU: http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II00077&catpath=0_7_77

$153

Gigabyte mATX mobo: http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II07291&catpath=0_20_262

$93

Phenom X4 3.2GHZ http://www.gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II03953&catpath=0_9_81

$158

Installation

$99

Total pre shipping: $1255

How does that sound?

Its a pretty fast and balanced computer with quality components which ought to do you quite nicely.

I prefer Squillam's build to Tanstalas's here because the much better GPU will give you higher game framerates while the slight reduction in CPU power won't really affect the games and is still way overkill for the multimedia/office tasks you're doing.

That said I would rather you WAITED until October 25th because AMD's midrange GPU refresh is coming out (right in your price range) and will likely provide ~30% higher performanec fo the same price. Leaked benches suggest, anyway.

Aside: Do you really need MS Office? Something like OpenOffice replicates 100% of the basic tasks you might need.

I really do need MS office.  Too many family members use too many compatable formats to not use it, which is just the way MS likes it of course.

Will those GPU's likely be available in Australia at the end of the month as well?

So you're figuring I could add in a screen with the extra $250?

Two other questions.  Is the GPU overpowered given the resolution/size of my screen, and why is the CPU so cheap compared to (what appear to be) comparable Intel processors?