I need to upgrade my desktop. A poor old machine that was built in 2004. Only I haven't a freaking clue what to go buying, because I haven't cared about PC hardware since 2004. ><

So starting with what I've got...
MSI K7N2 Delta-L Motherboard
AMD Athlon 2500XP
1GB Ram (2x 512) DDR 400 PC3200
Sound Blaster Audigy ES
ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128 MB

Hard drives are a non issue. I bought a 500 gig drive a few months ago. Optical Drives are the same way, I have a DVD drive, I don't care about a burner, I have one in my laptop.

What I need is something that'll run UT3 all pretty and stuff. I'm taking a class, we're using the latest version of UEd, and I have no wish to sit in lab dealing with our ITS department and Dells, when I can do my work from home. I attempted to run the UT3 demo on my laptop a few months ago. It looked like JK. My desktop can't be much better as it's about four years older.

So hardware that'll make UT3 run smooth and pretty, and last me awhile, preferably for about 500-600 bucks. The lower end of that spectrum would obviously be better.

Some other goodies I'd like, but don't really NEED... I'd like to replace my soundcard with something newer. I probably don't have to though. I'd also like a good capture card. The TV Wonder VE I have sucks.

Helps compooter geniouses?

I would honestly recommend you pretty much build a completely new system. Theres not a whole lot you can save from your current system, other than HD and DVD that you mentioned. The lastest cpu's from AMD or Intel will require DDR2-800 memory. You didnt mention what powersupply you currently have, but the latest ATI/AMD or NVIDIA pretty much require a 500W powersupply.

If I were in your shoes I would look at something like: (Newegg.com prices)

Intel side:
RAIDMAX ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail 89.99
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Motherboard - Retail $99.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 65W - Retail $174.99
EVGA GeForce 8800GT 512MB PCI-Express 2.0 - Retail $249.99
2xWINTEC AMPX 1GB DDR2 800 Retail 2x$20.99=$41.98
Total: $656.94


Amd side:
RAIDMAX ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail 89.99
ASUS M2N-MX SE Plus AM2+/AM2 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $54.99
EVGA GeForce 8800GT 512MB PCI-Express 2.0 - Retail $249.99
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ AM2 89W - Retail $139.99
2xWINTEC AMPX 1GB DDR2 800 Retail 2x$20.99=$41.98
Total: $576.94

Thats without OS, without shipping. You could save your sound card, if you really have an issue with onboard audio.

You can go cheaper and still play UT3 decently, I have a Socket 939 AMD X2 4200, Geforce 7800 GT, with 2 gigs PC3200 and it plays fine on this system. Go look at some UT3 benchmarks and determine what minimum video card you deem acceptable.

That's not really true. Depending on the specific system, 400 is probably fine as long as you buy a real power supply from the likes of Seasonic or FSP Group. Seasonic units are found rebranded as Antec and Corsair, FSP units are sold by Sparkle Power, OCZ, Nexus and Zalman.

But you're usually better off just getting one straight from Seasonic or FSP since they are cheaper and you can be guaranteed that they are good.

That's the general idea. I'm just saying what I've got so there's no questions later, and so people have an idea of where I stand now.

I don't need an OS, I don't need a case, and I can go without my wishlist or save it for another time.

True, but I always err on the side of caution. While the minimum recommended powersuppy for a Geforce 8800 is 400W, who knows what the future will bring. I'd like to think that ATI and NVIDIA are reversing the power consumption trend, but a little futureproofing cant hurt.

I agree, but you said "need" and I had a problem with that.

Get one of these.

Yeah. That doesn't help.

I was going to joking suggest he buy a PS3.

how about this for a power supply. cooler master is a decent brand, and 10bux after rebate aint bad.

For PSU's on the cheap, go FSP.

Try :20bux: and yes it's a good deal.

And not just on the cheap, Yoshi. As I mentioned above they're a major manufacturer for high end brands.

After going Seasonic I wouldn't ever go with anything else. They're not the cheapest, but they also don't massively exaggerate their wattage. They provide a lot of power on the rails, and that's why their 450watt PSUs oftentimes kick the pants off a PSU in the 600 watt range. Not to mention they're really reliable and the cabling is nice.

Yeah FSP and Seasonic are full of win.

ah. i bought one when they had a 10 dollar instant savings too, which was only friday. so i got mine for 10bux

FSP is the same way--my 400w from them outperformed a 450w CoolerMaster. FSP is just what I consider the budget version of Seasonic--cabling isn't so great, but they are reliable.

quick, woot.com has the razer barracuda ac-1 sound card for $75 incl. shipping. it retails for $200 normally. supposedly it's the ****.