HS Grad Computer gift advice

[Goosemaster]

A buddy of mine just graduated HS (yay!) and I wanted to get him a gaming-oriented grad gift.

His current setup:

dell 8200 (I think)
2.8P4
1GB ram
ATI 1600pro (urgh)
380watt PSU.

The idea was to get him a nice video card but that would be a waste due to the CPU bottleneck.... it's not even worth discussing why

Anyways, I figured I'd do the smart thing and at least get him started on the right track by getting him a nice foundation so he can buy a vid card later. Newegg has the following combo
link



ASUS M4A78 Plus mobo
4GB OCZ DDR2 800
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz

Total: $167 after rebate

There are other combos out there but they include slower CPUs such as the 7850 paired with mobo-integrated 8200 graphics but that is last gen stuff all around.

Regardless of what I tell him I got, he won't know is that I am going to throw in an Antec P180


FYI I've tried to do the REALLY smart thing and bought him some linux&hacking and C# books (topics that are at odds just in case it worked ) to see if he'd take but he just wants to game; well so be it

 

[Denithor]

PhII X4 940 + ECS 780G combo $200 - $20MIR
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1066 2.0V $48

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Denithor
PhII X4 940 + ECS 780G combo $200 - $20MIR
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1066 2.0V $48

$that's $60 more though

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: Denithor
PhII X4 940 + ECS 780G combo $200 - $20MIR
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1066 2.0V $48

$that's $60 more though

Put those parts in your box and give him your old parts? :evil:

Seriously though, what exactly are you after here? The system he's got is adequate for schoolwork and not much else. Adding a video card won't change that - his cpu will restrict anything you could put in there, heavily in newer games.

If you're going to give him computer parts that will last for several years, I certainly wouldn't recommend going with anything less than three cores. There are some great deals on the X3 chips you might want to consider.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Denithor

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: Denithor
PhII X4 940 + ECS 780G combo $200 - $20MIR
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1066 2.0V $48

$that's $60 more though

Put those parts in your box and give him your old parts? :evil:

Seriously though, what exactly are you after here? The system he's got is adequate for schoolwork and not much else. Adding a video card won't change that - his cpu will restrict anything you could put in there, heavily in newer games.

If you're going to give him computer parts that will last for several years, I certainly wouldn't recommend going with anything less than three cores. There are some great deals on the X3 chips you might want to consider.

He wants to be able to play Crysis and other games in the same range but I don't have too much to spend right now. I figured that a dual core would provide a dramatic benefit for him at a decent price point at this stage. Later on maybe I can buy him a nice 4870/90, which are at $150 or less right now.