1500 to 1800 to spend on computer

[moonyangel]

1500 to 1800 my friends tell me that i should buy the, pent 2.6 c .asus p4c deluxe mobo. with corsair xms 3700 ram .and the saphire 256 radion .those are about all the components i need as i have all up to date moniter and hard drive please help as i dont want to waste my money its said i can overclock it to possibly 3;3 mhz thankyou

 

[justly]

You don?t need to re-post this here when you already have the same post in general hardware.

But to help maybe you should be reading Anandtechs or Sharky Extremes buyer?s guides for starters. They may not answer all your questions, or fit your needs or budget exactly but if your not willing to do some of the legwork yourself you won?t be able to tell who to believe or what are the right questions to ask.

Here are some links if you want to read a little (or a lot).

Anandtech : Weekly Buyer's Guide: Cutting Edge System

Anandtech : Weekly Buyer's Guide: Mid-Range System

Anandtech : Weekly Buyer's Guide: Budget System

Sharky Extreme : Monthly High-end Gaming System Buyer's Guide

Sharky Extreme : Monthly Value Gaming System Buyer's Guide

 

[Jeff7181]

For that amount of money I'd be getting an A64 3200+ and either an FX5900 (to save a few bucks) or 9800 Pro (to play any game with 4xAA 8XAF with lots of detail and high resolution). 1 GB RAM, and I'd go with low latency PC3700, not the 3-4-4-8 crap.

 

[Soulkeeper]

you can get almost anything with that money
i wouldn't bother with socket 478 or socket A
go for something new if you got that much money

 

[GotIssues]

I have one word for you: "holycrapyoucouldbuildanawesomecomputerwiththatmuchmoney"

 

[RussianSensation]

if you have that much money it doesn't mean you have to absolutely spend that much on a computer.

3 years ago an awesome computer would cost around 3-4 thousand. Now it's more like 2000 for top of the line.

Still the difference between top of the line and 1000 computer is 20% maybe.

But if you are willing to spend that much money then go for A64 3400+, Radeon 9800xt, raptor HD, all the goods.

 

[Flyermax2k3]

For approximately $1000 I recently configured 3 different systems for a friend (1 A64 3000+, 1 AXP 2500+ @ 3200+, 1 P4 3.0C) each w/1GB PC4000 RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro, "best" mobo for each platform, full-sized case w/500W PSU, water cooling, 1x Raptor 360GD 36GB HD, 16x DVD-rom, Pioneer DVR-106U.
Best bang-for-the-buck system money can buy right now, IMHO. For $1500 you could go with a dual Raptor setup and get a faster CPU, as well as a better video card.

 

[Vette73]

For what you have to spend get a Athlon64 as others have said.