Hey all, I'm looking to buy a new gaming computer, and don't really want to spend more than about $1600. (I'm Australian, by the way). I want to get it customised online through an Australian company named "I-Tech". (www.i-tech.com.au). They seem to have good prices e.t.c so I'm gunna buy it with them. I've also made a few drafts of customised computers that are all, at this stage, possibilities. Here is my latest one, each with a link to the page:

Case: COOLER MASTER ELITE 333 W/O PSU HD AUD - $59.00

PSU: THERMALTAKE TOUGHPOWER CABLE MANAGEMENT 750W WITH ACTIVE PFC - $209.00

RAM: Corsair VS2GB667D2 G 2GB Value Select PC-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 RAM, 256MBx64non-ECC - $57.00

CD/DVD Drive: LG GSA-H62NBB 18x +Dual Layer Beige OEM, SATA - $35.00

Motherboard: Asus P5KC S775 QuadCore P35 FSB1333 DDR2+3 2xPCIE, SATA2, F/W.LAN ATX - $170.00

Graphics Card: Asus EN9600GT-HTDI-512 GEFORCE 9600GT, 512MB DDR3, PCIE2.0, HDTV, 2xDVI-I, HDMI, HDCP - $212.00

Coolant System: Asus TRITON 70 COMPATIBLE W/ Intel QuadCore/ Core2/ P4/ Cel/ AMD64x2 - $45.00

Hard Drive: Samsung 500GB HD502IJ HDD SATA II 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, NoiseGuard, SilentSeek - $99.00

CPU/Processor: Intel BX80570E8400 CORE 2 DUO E8400/ 3.00GHz/6MB/ 1333FSB/ LGA775 - $232.00

Monitor: Asus VW222U 22"Wide 1680x1050, 2ms, 330nits, 2000:1, Spk, Dsub, DVI, Black - $319.00 (marked down from $449.00)

Keyboard: LOGITECH G15 GAMING KEYBOARD USB - $102.00

Mouse: LOGITECH G5 LASER MOUSE(2007 ED1) USB 2000DPI -RETAIL - $77.00

Also, please don't say "Oh god, you're processor is shit! You should get this other type, which costs only about $300 more..." e.t.c. I am on a very tight budget and $1600 (or within about $20-$30 of that) is my absolute highest. If, while viewing the site, you come across a greater item for a lesser cost, or a very similar item for a lesser cost, please tell me. May I remind you all once more that I am Australian, and I'm sure that this kind of computer in a place like America, for example, would be cheaper (due to the currency differences e.t.c).

Thanks all for your help in advance.

_________________
I am 68% addicted to Counterstrike. What about you?

trust me bud your processor is more than enough the mother baord is gonna be awesome you'll love it. wish i had bought an asus for my own but i wised up on my GF pc what you might wanna do is upgrade your ram speed b/c thats where your build is bottlenecked right now 667mhz ram isnt that fast try 800 or 1066 if your board supports it it will make a noticable difference with load fast games. btw what OS system are you running i would also recommend adding one more gb of ram 3gb is a safe bet for any system even xp can use up to 3.2gb of ram... (not just 2gb like everyone thinks it can) you wont have a problem with that pc being too slow for quite some time to come goven that OS support and 64 bit applications still cant keep up with the growing hardware market. no game on the face of the earth can utilize anymore than 2.4ghz duo core b/c there is no support for anything higher than that. so dont feel bad that you dont have a quad core the reality is quad cores in the pc market are just for show and bragging rights.

Hey man, thanks for your reply. The RAM I was originally going to get was $102.00, and this was about 1333MHZ I think. Unfortunately, that brought my PC up to about $1700. So, in order to get better RAM, I need to cut down on something else...

I will run Windows XP on it, and also Microsoft Office 07, if that helps! Sorry, I'm not a legend with computers.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

_________________
I am 68% addicted to Counterstrike. What about you?

UPDATE: Now, I am going to cut back on my (already terrible) graphics card... I found this graphics card: XFX Geforce 8600GT 1GB DDR2 PCIe PV-T84J-ZAF7 Doing this saves me about $100 in which I need to distribute amongst better RAM, and a better case. Also, to compensate for the large special on my monitor (i.e, to be prepared for when it jumps back up to $450) I selected this one, which is kind of the same, only the contrast ratio being a large factor. I am also going to get this casing, and this motherboard. I know, I know... I'm giving up my great one for a lesser one, I know... But you see, I am working within a budget, and this one compensates for the major savings that would (end up) costing me about $200 total more in the end. Finally, the RAM that I am going to get is probablythis one.

Mind you, all of this is only temporary. I will probably only purchase this sometime in November - all this is research.

_________________
I am 68% addicted to Counterstrike. What about you?

hehe well since you went over to the dark side with that amd mobo what procesor are you gonna go with??

ill tell you what tell me your budget? i bet i can build one better for the same amount of money even given that your in aus. ill use that website plus another couple i found and let you see. what you think?

Rightio, AfterHoursGaming. My budget is roughly $1600, yet I found that I could (with proper management) earn around $1800+, depending on how much work I get. Go by $1600 though. Thanks!

_________________
I am 68% addicted to Counterstrike. What about you?

heres a better video card for a cheaper price although there is a rebate its worth saving the $$ i also suggest you buy your stuff from tigerdirect there prices are alot cheaper

chttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3897658heaper