for 800-1000 smackers...lets see
you can newegg these prices but heres what you might be able to get
x2 3800
x800xl/7800gt (i say go for the 7800gt)
2gb (value ram should be fine i think)
either a 36gb raptor or a 300 gb hd
that should come to around a 1000. but im doing this without actually searching up the prices for all them. if you want, i can probably do that for you later this evening once i get back.
just a few things you should know:
1.) if you're going to play BF2...jumping from 1GB or ram to 2GB will definitely be very very helpful
2.) i choose a raptor for my rig but 36 gb gets full very fast. i would reccomend 300gb. some of the new ones with 16mb cache and all that good stuff are just as fast as the raptors
3.) i think there's another card called the x800gto2...might want to look into that. ive yet to do so but it might fit your price range
4.) having a dual core proc is certainly nice but if you can get along without one, i would suggest doing that and going with a 3700-4000+ san diego core a64. i have the 3700 and it runs amazing. and with the san diego cores, OCing is supposed to be very good so get a good heatsink(xp-120 or so) and you'll be all set for a long time. i have also heard there are some glitches with some games when played on a dual core machine(i'm sure this will be patched but nonetheless, its one of the things that detracts me from going dual core)
5.) the one thing i failed to include in my list above is a motherboard. i have a ATi Xpress 200 chipset (mATX). I got that because it has the azalia audio. i would probably reccomend a NForce 4 SLI mobo. if you get a SLI mobo and nVidia graphic cards, you can later purchase a similar video card and use 2 video cards at the same time. this feature can be very helpful in the future when you feel you need more graphic processing power.
if any information is inaccurate, i apologize in advance for it. when i get back later this evening, i will see if i can help you out a bit more.
hope this helps 🙂
edit: written very quickly so pardon any spelling mistakes, etcs.
edit: here's another guy who is also looking to build a comp. he has a rough idea of what he wants and priced everything out.
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - OEM $119.00
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $161.00 - $20.00 rebate = 141
2 mushkin SP3200 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model $89.99 x 2 = $179.98
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model $233.00
Subtotal: $784.97
Shipping: $22.14
Total $807.11
*out of all those things, i would probably not reccomend the 74gb raptor but thats just me
*the mobo is a solid choice
*to the price of 800 add another 300 for the 7800gt so comes out to about 1100. of course, you can lower that price by going with a different HD and probably a different type of ram if you dont plan on doing much OC.
