Computer upgrade advice

[monstermunch]

Hi,

I'm looking into upgrading my computer and I would appreciate some advice on if I have made a good choice for parts in terms of performance and cost. I mostly use my PC for email, web, photo manipulation, music, video, programming etc. and I like it to be very responsive. My current PC is an AMD 2500 with 512Mb RAM and a GeForce 5200. I'm wanting to go dual-core due to the multi-tasking performance increase and want more memory to avoid the page thrashing I get sometimes. I also want to play games on my machine. I don't need to be able to play games on the best settings available but I would like to play new games as they come out and my current computer is getting too slow for this. Also, I'm not really interested in trying to overclock my machine.

Here's what I've picked out so far (I'm going to reuse my keyboard, mouse, monitor, DVD-RW):

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BVBOX) (CP-134-AM)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_AMD_64_X2_567.html
£ 216.14

Motherboard:
Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-119-AS)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Socket_939_483.html
£ 58.69

Graphics
BFG GeForce 7600 GS OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-024-BG)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/..._Catalogue_7300___7600_Series_356.html
£ 99.82

Memory:
Corsair 2GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS3.0 Kit (2x1GB) (VS2GBKIT400C3) (MY-080-CS)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/...ogue_Corsair_Value_Select_DDR_311.html
£122.14

Hard disk:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 NCQ 120GB ST3120813AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-054-SE)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Seagate_191.html
£ 49.29

Case:
Antec SLK2650BQE Black Quiet Mini Tower Case - 350W SmartPower PSU (CA-051-AN)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Antec_160.html
£55.17

Total: £601.25 ($1094)

Does this seem like a good choice of components? I've tried to choose a hard disk and case that will make the machine quieter.

Also, is it a good time to be buying dual-core? I hear that AMD will be bringing out DDR2 memory support in a couple of months and newer chips. Would it be best to wait a few months, or will it not really matter that much in terms of price and performance? Will having DDR2 support be so good that I should wait or will it be, for example, so expensive when it comes out and the performance increase so marginal that there isn't much point delaying?

Finally, can anyone recommend a good online shop I can purchase the components from? Newegg seems a lot cheaper, but I'm in the UK and it doesn't look like I can order from here. scan.co.uk may be marginally cheaper from what I can see. dell.co.uk seems to have some really good deals on (it looks like you get a 19" flat panel monitor for free), but I want an AMD 64-bit chip and a quiet case.

Thanks.

 

[furballi]

Overclock the CPU and add at least another 512MB.

 

[conlan]

IMHO, Everything looks good except the PSU and VidCard/ Mobo combo. I would rather have an Asus A8N-E or A8N5X nForce4 mobo, and would go with a 7600GT rather than a GS. Also the 350W PSU is gonna be a little light. I would get a Fortron 450W to replace it with, then sell off the 350W.


EDIT: 2 GBs is plenty

 

[monstermunch]

Thanks for the replies.

I found a graphics card and motherboard that conlan mentioned:
256MB XFX 7600GT Mem Clock 1400 MHz ,GPU 560 MHz ,12 Pipes, Dual DVI-I , S-Video/TV Out
http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=368197
£135.13

ASUS A8N-E NF4 Ultra, S939, PCI-E (x16), DDR 400, SATA II, SATA/IDE RAID, ATX
http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=298780
£64.04

I have heard that the GT performs better than the GS, but why do recommend a different motherboard? The specs for the one I had says it has "nForce? 410":
http://www.asus.com.tw/products4.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=768&l1=3&l2=15&l3=0

I think 2Gb is more than enough myself. I've got 2x256Mb in my current machine though, so i could always stick them in the new machine as well.

 

[conlan]

Originally posted by: monstermunch
Thanks for the replies.

I found a graphics card and motherboard that conlan mentioned:
256MB XFX 7600GT Mem Clock 1400 MHz ,GPU 560 MHz ,12 Pipes, Dual DVI-I , S-Video/TV Out
http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=368197
£135.13

ASUS A8N-E NF4 Ultra, S939, PCI-E (x16), DDR 400, SATA II, SATA/IDE RAID, ATX
http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=298780
£64.04

I have heard that the GT performs better than the GS, but why do recommend a different motherboard? The specs for the one I had says it has "nForce? 410":
http://www.asus.com.tw/products4.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=768&l1=3&l2=15&l3=0

I think 2Gb is more than enough myself. I've got 2x256Mb in my current machine though, so i could always stick them in the new machine as well.

The Asus A8N-VM CSM has onboard GeForce 6150 graphics

 

[Bobthelost]

If you want low noise HDs then you want a samsung spinpoint not a seagate.

Check out komplet and dabs, very occasionally scan is worth a look.

 

[monstermunch]

Originally posted by: conlan
Also the 350W PSU is gonna be a little light. I would get a Fortron 450W to replace it with, then sell off the 350W.

Would 400W be sufficient? How do you know? overclockers have the same case I was looking at with a quiet Antec 400W PSU installed for a similar price which looks appealing.

 

[monstermunch]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
If you want low noise HDs then you want a samsung spinpoint not a seagate.

Thanks. I googled for some reviews and it appears that samsung and seagate offer similar low-noise hard disks, but samsung have better performance.