Gonna buy a new PC

[Satangel]

IMHO quad core is overkill. I have an AMD Opteron 148 & x800GTO2 and I have yet to come across a PC game I have been unable to run. Sure it's starting to show it's age with the lack of HDR or some newer features but the point is that going for something as extreme as quad core really isn't necessary if you want to game. Quad Cores are more useful for people who professionally video edit (I'm talking Adobe Premiere Pro here, not windows movie maker) and other processor intensive tasks, gaming relies more on the GPU so if you want to balance out the budget I'd spent more on the graphics card than the CPU.

Dual Cores are cheap as chips right now and will serve you well, my Opteron is only single core, not even overclocked and I've had no problems whatsoever. Don't let yourself get caught up too much in the PC building game, save the money for something else.

I'd recommend a decent AMD Dual Core, or the Intel equivalent (I hear Intel have the edge these days with the Core 2 Duo). And then look at getting a Radeon X series graphics card, something like an X1800XT or an X1900 should be able to keep up with the latest games out no problems.
Get a decent motherboard but don't go for the best if you don't plan to overclock, I'd say 1GB RAM at the minimum but you should really go for 2GB as memory prices have come down alot. PLEASE get a decent PSU (power supply) it's the number one thing people always skimp on, and regret later on down the line. If you have mid to top of the range stuff inside your PC you want a decent PSU that'll give you peace of mind.

If you need any more PC help I'd suggest http://www.overclockers.net/ tell 'em roughly what your after in their forum, and they'll give you a list of what to buy, give 'em a budget and they'll get it done for you

Just be wary of what I said about getting pulled in, give them a lower figure than your willing to spend so that you can get value for money.

Good Luck, hope that helped. Oh btw, if there's one peripheral worth investing in, it's a nice monitor!

Got already a 21 " monitor, that should be enough

Tnx for the tips.
I dont need Quad Core, true, I should better spend my money on a kick ass graphics card

 

[Mangofett]

Here is a good premade if you're thinking of getting one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883107398

Just pop in a better GFX card. But you'll have to find a different place to get it from.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-Pavilion...roductDetail.do

Here is a Quadcore system with 2GB of Ram for 600$, but I will warn you that the case is VERY small and you'll need to upgrade the PSU to get any GFX card working.

 

[FAST6191]

Some good advice thus far in my opinion, perhaps not exactly what I might have suggested but a good base. Build yourself is a good thing, that is not to say store build are always bad but I have personally lost count of the amount of times I have had to replace PSUs, network cards, modems.......

Still core2: make it an e6600 at least (anything less will have a smaller cache which makes a nice impact), quad may not be all that special (it requires some serious coding to take full advantage) and price will be nasty. I have not played with the e6750 personally but it looks OK:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/07/20/re...re_2_duo_e6750/
While quad core is overkill dual most certainly is not. Any OS worth the price of the media you waste can make very good use of it.

network: chances are you will hit a phone line limit before you hit a card limit.

graphics: the DX10 line has not proven its worth yet to me but the one you first mentioned was good. Check around though as different vendors use the same chipset but with less/lower quality memory and clockspeeds..... If you want a long lasting machine though go it. AMD/ATI are clawing their way back but NVIDIA still hold it in my opinion.

PSU: make it decent, a bad one can have no end of ill effects.

Keyboard, speakers and mouse: I have said this on many occasions but see fit to again, for all the stuff underneath this is what you end up interacting with. Spend something here and get something nice.

RAM: if overclocking go for decent ram, if not still go for good ram. 2 gigs minimum for a remotely long lasting rig.

Motherboard: something at the £150/€200 should do fine. SLI, right now perhaps not but a year and half down the line when your current card barely holds a candle you be able to pick one up for the price of a good night out.
For that kind of cash you should be getting onboard network and sound as well (unless you are a true audiophile the difference will not be apparent: my one from a few months back has 7.1 onboard)
Also look to see what it supports: in 2 years you will be 18 and have some reasonable spending ability: being able to drop a new processor, ram, and/or graphics in there is quite nice.