Help me with new rig

[Stumben2]

First, I would just like to give huge props to this site, and everyone on these forums. I have lurked here forever, this is my first time posting. Note my new rig is primarily for Gaming.

I am going to order a new rig shortly, and I am torn between 2 places both of which I have heard nothing but good things:

http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/
-edge in price

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv
-well known here in these forums
-more options

After that I am torn between the AMD ATHLON?64 4000 ( single core ) vs the AMD ATHLON64 X2 4400 CPU
The real issue I guess is to go single core or not. Note above the 4400 is $100 or so more than the single core.

MY budget for my whole rig is about 2k right now. I do not want to blow money on the top of the line, right now the "Sweet spot" is what I have mentioned for processors meaning if I go any higher its a huge jump in price. So basicallly I am looking for a high end setup but I fall into the "I-am-married-and-wife-is-already-edgy-" category hehe.

Please, help me decide on which site to order from and if I should jump to dual core or not with a high end ($2000 or so ) but not "uber" budget. ( Im not going to spend $3000 , SLI etc )

Thnx in advance!

**edit , I am already partial to AMD, but if you want to give feedback on amd vs pentium, thats fine. I love amd but they run HOT! : ) **

 

[stevty2889]

Of those choices, I'd go with monarch, but it's probably cheaper for you to build it yourself.

Unlesss you are doing some heavy multitasking, or video enocding, you might as well stick with the single core for now. The video card is the more important factor for gaming by far, the cpu only has a major impact if you are running at lower resolutions, so a 4000+ or 4400+ aren't going to be as big of an impact, just make sure you get at least a 7800GT for the video card.

Oh..and AMD doesn't run hot anymore..it's Intel's Pentium 4's that runs way too hot now..