need more help buying new coputer

[kajun]

im not getting any more help, don't know what happened, i was getting all kind of help then it just stoped,still not sure if i want a quad ,or dual processor, not sure what video card i need,not sure if i should get xp or vista, how much ram,what size power supply. i hope i didn't affend anyone.

 i would like some more suggestion's

[joevh09]

Are you going to want to build one yourself or buy it out of a store?
Whats your budget?

[kajun]

probably order with what i want in it.  betwwen $1000 & $1500. that includes a19'' to 20 '' monitor.

[joevh09]

Are there any certain brands that you want?
Will you be doing a lot of heavy gaming on this computer?

[ThrowingShapes]

probably order with what i want in it.  betwwen $1000 & $1500. that includes a19'' to 20 '' monitor.

If you are able, I would strongly suggest building it yourself.  If you are unsure how to, many of us would be more than happy to help you do so.  Sorry if this isn't an option, just wanted to suggest it since it can get you a better rig for the price.

What kind of games/applications do you want to run?  At 1680x1050 (native resolution for a 20" right?) you won't need a powerhouse of a card. Also, like joevh has asked, do you have any brand preference or do you look for price/performance over brand name (not saying brand names aren't in indicator of quality, I'm looking at you PSU's).

[joevh09]

If brand isn't a problem for you I went ahead and found a few PC's that you can look at.
These two are quite similar other than the second has a quad core cpu that will give you better performance over the first one's dual core-
1.  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227102
2.  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229047

This one will have a little better graphics than the first two
3.  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229044

 For monitors- (I assume you want widescreen)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009127
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001274
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236041

[kajun]

ok here goes i play games like COD4 want to play COD world @ war my system cant handle it.
 ive only had 2 computers and they both had AMD processors. have bought 2 video cards they were both NIVIDA,cards.

i would love to build my own rig but have read to many horror stories

[kajun]

mainly hard core gaming and serfing the web' i shure would like a rig that when virus scan starts it wont slow my games down to a crawl

[chevronman]

Here is an example of what I believe to be a nice gaming machine without going nuts.
CPU  Intel Core 2 Duo E8600  $260 
CPU Cooler  Xigmatek HDT-S1283  $30
Motherboard  DFI LanParty P35-T2R $190 Expensive, but very upgradable.
RAM  Corsair XMS2 Xtreme 2x2gig $47
Graphics Radeon 4870 $200
Hard Drives  Seagate Barracuda 500 gig 32 mb $60
Sound  Integrated  0 
Network  Integrated Gigabit Networking  0 
Case  Antec Three Hundred $55 
Power  Antec Neo 650W  $90 
Optical Lite-On DH-20A4P-04 Black Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer $22
Monitor Hp w2207h $260
Base computer about $1,250
Don't forget the accessories
Keyboard Logitech G15 $100
Mouse Logitech G5 $36
OS Vista Ultimate 64bit $220
Speakers Logitech z-5500 $250
So by the time it is all said and done you could spend 2bills
hopefully you have some of the stuff already
GOOD LUCK!

[Track]

Might I say - NEVER buy a dual-core CPU if you want a gaming rig. The only reason to buy a dual-core CPU is if you're not going to game and you'd rather not have to deal with that much heat. But even in that case, it's simply ridiculous to buy 2 cores when you can have 4.

[joevh09]

Might I say - NEVER buy a dual-core CPU if you want a gaming rig. The only reason to buy a dual-core CPU is if you're not going to game and you'd rather not have to deal with that much heat. But even in that case, it's simply ridiculous to buy 2 cores when you can have 4.

I have and intel core 2 duo E8400 @3.0 ghz.
THe stock cooler on it was terrible so i ordered a better one for it and it has had no heat problems since.

[ThrowingShapes]

Right now the difference between a quad core and a dual core on games isn't all that noticable, in fact many games only support two cores.  I don't know about the recent call of duty games but I'm sure that source games only use two cores.  Quad cores are mostly for intensive games, notable GTA4 which was an extremely sloppy port but will take those 4 cores and put them to work.

For the same price as the suggested intel cpu you could get one of the phenom 2's an extremely overcloackable quad core, but then you would also have to change motherboards as well to an am2+ socket.  The phenom 2's will require additional cooling if you want to overclock them, but I've seen people getting stable readings at 4.2ghz on air (but that's from an experienced overclocker).  If you are looking into the phenom 2 don't look at tomshardware reviews, because they are simply awful at overclocking their chips.

[cajwa]

try looking at cnet.com

[kajun]

so what does every one else say about dual core or a quad core. that was one of my first questions when i first posted buying a new computer, and i still don't know the answer.

[kajun]

what about if i put a new mother board and processor , and video card in my old system?
how hard would that be?

 i have a emachine T6410 operating system XP w/ service pack 2 have a AMD 64 athlonn 3200 2.19 GHz 2 gb ram , 160 GB hard drive video card Geforce 8400gs thought this was a good card when i bought it will this work.

I think i want a quad  with 2 video cards with at least 4 mg
I have had two comp. both had AMD. processors. I put Gefoces in both.Is there any reason to switch either of these?