Spec me a new machine, please and thank you.

[Lateralus]

Well, after finishing paying off my car, I have the ability to save up a bit now for new shiny things, and have decided that I'm fed up with my PC randomly failing and am going to replace it. I currently have the following bits, and am planning to try and retain the ones in bold so that I can save a few pennies and thus buy a new PC earlier. I've had a look at the budget machine thread, but it's all crossed out. In terms of timescale, it'll be hopefully 1-2 months before I can buy, so if there are particular new things on the horizon that are worth waiting for then feel free to shout about it.

AMD64 3700+
GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
2GB PC3200 RAM
Hiper Type R 530W
Asus A8N-E Motherboard
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 soundcard
300GB SATA
80GB SATA
Iiyama 19" CRT
DVD-RW
Logitech MX510
Microsoft Multimedia keyboard

Therefore, the bits that I think I need to buy, with my current pencilled-in options and OCUK prices, are:
Case - Antec 300 - £50.59
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3 Intel P43 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 - £86.24
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - £151.79
RAM - OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Fista Gold Series DDR2 - £39.09
1TB HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA-II 32MB - £97.74
DVD RW drive (SATA) - Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter - £16.09

Total Price: £441.53

That is right at the top end of my budget, so I don't want to spend more if I can in any way help it, but are there any obvious flaws in that setup? My knowledge of hardware is so out of date that I was surprised that computers aren't coal-fired any more, so any useful pointers would be gratefully received. For example, for a few pennies more I was looking at quad-core, but is it worth it? I know that the next round of CPUs has just emerged, but I'm buggered if I'm paying that.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

That'll work

Though I'd consider replacing the psu, partly because old hipers have some bad habits (and might not like the extra load) and partly because that'll leave you with an almost complete (apart from gpu) spare machine, much less hassle that way.

The cores thing is odd, but I reckon the E8500 is a good choice for you, otherwise, get a Q6600 slacr. There's probably not that much between them, but I've not looked at any benchmarks.

[HereComesPete]

The e8500 makes use of the 45nm and faster fsb. I doubt you'll do anything that requires the extra cores as a matter of course. I think the quad is slightly better in terms of speed and over clocking, but ofc the newer chip is cooler, cheaper to run etc.

That mobo I would push for the p45 chipset, which can be yours for just £12 more. This is a gigglebite of p45 flavour.

You're going to need fista/7 for all those rams as well.

If you can afford it, get faster ram. That stuff is 800mhz. You might as well get summat like this which is 1066.

I'm aware all this stuff is slightly more expensive than your current picks. But those few quids make the machine that extra bit faster. Ofc the difference in what you run now to the build you want is big anyway.

You will want a new gpu as well.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

The e8500 makes use of the 45nm and faster fsb. I doubt you'll do anything that requires the extra cores as a matter of course. I think the quad is slightly better in terms of speed and over clocking, but ofc the newer chip is cooler, cheaper to run etc.

That mobo I would push for the p45 chipset, which can be yours for just £12 more. This is a gigglebite of p45 flavour.

Yes

You're going to need fista/7 for all those rams as well.

If you can afford it, get faster ram. That stuff is 800mhz. You might as well get summat like this which is 1066.

Nope

He'll still get 3.25gb on XP, which is (IMO) plenty, get W7 once it's final and saved more pennies for spending.

As far as the faster rams go, they're nice, but pretty pointless IMO, I've never seen any noticable difference between 800 and 1066mhz rams, if you have the fiver spare, get the faster, but don't expect miracles.

You will want a new gpu as well.

Yup, but that can wait until he buys W7

[FatherJack]

The difference from 800 to 1066Mhz RAM is barely noticeable. A slower quad core would probably be better and cheaper than a faster dual, the Q6600 is still a fine choice.

I'd spend on a GT graphics card with half a gig or more, depending on the age of the GTS you own - some of the early ones weren't much cop and the difference in that is what you'll notice most.

[Lateralus]

PSU - if it works in that setup, I'll keep my current one until I get a newer GPU at a later date.

Mobo - seems reasonable enough

OS - I'll wait for W7. Don't want to buy an OS that's on the way out, and 3gb is fine given that I currently only have 2.

RAM - I don't particularly care about squeezing out every last frame per second, so I'll stick with 800Mhz.

CPU - I guess I'll see what's cheapest when I actually come to buy.

GPU - It's currently the best bit of my computer, so I'll try to keep it for a while and upgrade a couple of months after getting the rest of the stuff. My main priority is to get all the base bits that I can then build on incrementally.

[FatherJack]

The RAM limitation is on a 32-bit OS, not which version it is.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

The RAM limitation is on a 32-bit OS, not which version it is.

but only a special would run XP64 willingly, so it's easier just mentioning fista/w7, but obviously, they do need to be the 64bit versions.

[fabyak]

32 bit server 2008 (Enterprise and above) can play with more memory than 4Gig so I suppose they *might* put that into W7

[Lateralus]

Well, as of payday next week, I'll have my £450 for a new computer, and going by the sounds my HDD has started making it's not a moment too soon. So, is this spec still the one to get?

Case - Antec 300 - £50.59
Motherboard (as suggested by Pete) - Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3L Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 - £86.24
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - £151.79
RAM - OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Fista Gold Series DDR2 - £39.09
1TB HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA-II 32MB - £97.74
DVD RW drive (SATA) - Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter - £16.09

If you were buying a case, mobo, CPU, RAM, 1TB HDD and optical drive, and had £450 to spend, what would you buy?

[Dr. kitteny berk]

I'd do something like that, yeah.

Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB though, save 20 quid.

[HereComesPete]

Seems about right.

Maybe this ram instead. Cheaper, lifetime warranty still, corsair imo slightly better than ocz.

Spinpoint HDD like Berk said.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Corsair imo slightly better than ocz.

Agreed, but 6400, rather than 8500. not a huge amount in it really, but still.

[HereComesPete]

Huh?

Both those rams are 6400.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

my bad, I assumed it was the same stuff I found poking about on ocock earlier.

I'd buy this.

[HereComesPete]

my bad, I assumed it was the same stuff I found poking about on ocock earlier.

I'd buy this.

If you can afford it, get faster ram. That stuff is 800mhz. You might as well get summat like this which is 1066.

Nope

Make your mind up.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Well, while there's a significant price difference, get the cheaper stuff, when there's a quid in it, yeah, get the fast stuff

[Lateralus]

Cheers chaps. That lot now comes in at £448 including delivery, so spot-on. Think it's probably worth waiting until after my last uni deadline in 2 weeks before I dismantle my PC and attempt to build a new one.

[HereComesPete]

Seems sensible to wait. But you know the money is now burning a hole in your pocket and you might as well order it now so it's all there ready for when you finish.

No doubt you'll have it all under control but if you need a hand gimme a shout and I'll pop round.

[fabyak]

mmmmm wolfbagging processor