Complete newbie needs advice

[Midgetboytom]

Hello im looking at spending roughly £500 on a computer (without tft monitor) and wanted to see if i could get some help and advice because i really dont have much of an idea. I would be using it for School/ Business work plus things like music but most importantly gaming Id like it to be able to run the rts games but am also interested in games like fear 3 and diablo 3 in the near future. Last but not least i need help with a case as theres many that i love the look of but looking into it see that they have waaay too many slots and i just dont need it so i wondered if you could recommend one that balances cooling with cost and looks for the following components:

Processor (CPU): AMD ATHLON II X2 260 (3.20GHz/2MB CACHE/AM3)
Motherboard: ASUS® M4A87TD/USB3: DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM): 4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card: 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5750 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk: 1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
Memory Card Reader: INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
Power Supply & Case Cooling: 600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling: STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card: ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options: 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

If you can reccomend anything i need to upgrade or can afford to degrade id be very grateful thank you.

 

[Meds]

You would probably be better off going for a quad core CPU, you can change the Motherboard to a slightly lower spec model and bring the PSU down to a 450W model as you wont need a 600W with the specification you have chosen.

Something along the lines of this;

Case: COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU): AMD ATHLON II X4 635 (2.90GHz/2MB CACHE/AM3)
Motherboard: ASUS® M4A78LT-M LE
Memory (RAM): 4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card: 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5750 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk: 1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
Memory Card Reader: INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
Power Supply & Case Cooling: 450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling: STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card: ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options: 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

You would be looking at around £550 inc VAT & Del for a PC of this specification.

 

[Midgetboytom]

Ok thanks very much for the quick reply, so the RAM, Graphics card and sound card are sufficient? and i was thinking quad core at the start but didnt want to buy what isnt necessary but youve just said exactly what i wanted so now i have an excuse to get quad core Thats brilliant thanks so much, will be ordering within the next week!!! So excited Lol.

P.s
ive heard alot about the AMD/intel rivalry and cant get my head round it because some swear by one, some the other and some say theres no difference, whats your opinion??

P.PS.
i have this Tv in my room, and wanted to know whether with the pc you specified i would be able to run my computer through it and what resolution it would be able to support because it would be nice to play it on a 32" tele but i dont want to compromise the graphics considering ive just paid for a decent graphics card.

 

[HMFC_Riley]

Ok thanks very much for the quick reply, so the RAM, Graphics card and sound card are sufficient? and i was thinking quad core at the start but didnt want to buy what isnt necessary but youve just said exactly what i wanted so now i have an excuse to get quad core Thats brilliant thanks so much, will be ordering within the next week!!! So excited Lol.

P.s
ive heard alot about the AMD/intel rivalry and cant get my head round it because some swear by one, some the other and some say theres no difference, whats your opinion??

P.PS.
i have this Tv in my room, and wanted to know whether with the pc you specified i would be able to run my computer through it and what resolution it would be able to support because it would be nice to play it on a 32" tele but i dont want to compromise the graphics considering ive just paid for a decent graphics card.

My advice is: Make up your own mind. It's like PS3/Xbox 360 users. iPod/Zune. Liverpool/Manchester United. nVidia/ATi Some people can't be reasoned with and will shoot you down for trying

My own personal preference is that I've had both Intel and AMD and both have been fine for what I've needed. Research around your needs and you'll quickly come to your own conclusions. AMD are slightly better for bang for your buck IMO but Intel can't be beaten on overall performance.

 

[Gorman]

AMD are slightly better for bang for your buck IMO but Intel can't be beaten on overall performance.

Thats it in a nutshell really.

And i agree, its totally down to what suits you better. There is no "best" type of card / chip as if you blink, it will have changed. Twice.

Re the tv, you can use a DVI to hgmi adaptor and plug it straight in, the pc will just think its another monitor. The PC can put out any resolution that TV can support.