Seeking new PC advice

[jnojr1]

My current PC (AMD 2500+, 512MB RAM, Ti4200 video card) is getting a little dated, and I'm looking to replace it. I don't pay much attention to the PC world any more, and so am pretty out of touch and need some advice.

I do not like spending huge amounts of money for top-of-the-line systems. I use it mainly for Internet access, email, word processing / spreadsheets, etc. I play some games, but I also don't run out to pay $70 for the latest games, either... Half Life / TFC is about the newest I have right now I will probably get Half Life 2 once I have a newer system, and maybe the first Halo to play on-line with my brother. The only other resource-intensive task I do is video editing and burning DVDs. Oh, and this system will be a dual-boot one... XP and Linux, probably Fedora, so I want to avoid anything that may have any driver or compatibility issues.

I also don't like to upgrade PCs. I have a black thumb when it comes to hardware, and it gets difficult to find the right parts after a couple of years.

1) AMD vs. Intel - I've been a huge AMD fan for years, but I hear that the Core 2 Duos are a much better "bang for the buck". Still true?

2) Chipset - It seems like I'd have to pay about twice as much to get the newest chipsets that support 1033MHz FSB. At least looking at preconfigured systems in my area. If those chipsets include a lot of other goodies that will help to ensure some degree of future compatibility, that might be worth it to me.

3) Video card - I don't need the latest $400 card. I want something that will play my older games, have an S-Video output, and that has a DB-15HD as my current monitor is analog only, and I may not run right out for a new one. ATI vs. GeForce?

4) Storage - It looks like everything is SATA2 3.0Gb/s now. Is there anything else I should be looking at? I/O is a big issue with my video work.

5) DVD-R - Currently, I have a Lite-On SOHW-1633S which was, at the time, "the" burner to get... low price combined with good performance and lots of firmware upgrades and hacks. It's important to me to get a burner that is going to play along very nicely, as I burn a lot of DVDs. I'd buy a Plextor if I had to, but I've been very happy with my $30 Lite-On and am hoping there's a newer equivalent that uses SATA instead of ATAPI.

And if there's anything else I should be thinking about... I'll get a good case with a good PS, not the $20 special

 

[rudder]

AMD fan for years, but I hear that the Core 2 Duos are a much better "bang for the buck". Still true?

Generally true, but if you want a budget system.. AMD is the place to be still. I recently was putting together a budget system for my son and there are a lot better deals on mATX motherboards for AMD than Intel. So I went with AMD. If you want a little more power.. you can get an Intel Q6600 quad core for $270 retail. You can't do that with AMD.

 

[jnojr1]

OK, thoughts on this system?

MSI K9N Neo-F V.3 AM2 NVIDIA nForce 560 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Processor Model ADO4800DDBOX - Retail
Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2K2/2GR - Retail
MSI NX8500GT-TD256EH GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Silent Heatsink Video Card - Retail
Seagate ST3500631NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Antec Sonata III Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail
ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T - Retail

I know that there are many individual parts that could be "much better", but I'm looking to keep the price low. Hence the $70 vide card, even though i know there are newer ones that'll blow it away. The point is that this card will blow away the one I have now, and for only $70

I'd love any input on any individual parts... if there's some other comparable part i should be looking at because of chipset, BIOS, capabilities, etc.

 

[MarcVenice]

Replace the kingstan ram for some crucial ballistix 2gb ddr2 800mhz, for 50$. Or check out the hot deals forum for the 15$ AR 2gb ddr2 667mhz HP ram. The money you save that way can be put towards a better videocard. If you buy a smaller HD, you can ALSO put that towards a better videocard. I dunno, the 8800gt just came out, for 250$ it's 1 hell of a deal and it will last you a very very long time. You could wait till ATI releases their new videocards in a week or two, because they probably won't be as good as the 8800gt, so they have to be priced very agressive. So you might get a very good mid-end videocard for 150$. To bad the 8800gt with only 256mb is coming out a little later, coz that would be even better for you, 200$ for a great videocard.

 

[jnojr1]

What will Crucial Ballistix RAM do for me? I'm not into OCing or trying to squeeze every last drop of performance out of my hardware... I just want a simple, inexpensive upgrade for the PC I'm using now.

And I need hard disk space a lot more than I need a fancier video card. I figure that, if I manage to get hooked on some outrageous game, I could always toss the $70 8500 and put in a better card later.

Someone pointed out to me that the 7600GT outperforms the 8500GT. I see that the 7 series is DirectX 9 instead of 10. I'm not sure which is a bigger deal for me.