Recommend me a good gaming PC

In 3 weeks I'm starting college, so I'll be getting £20 a week. £18 of that a month is going towards the internet, and so the rest is for a new computer

I just need some good advise on a good computer. I was thinking of a dual system, just buying a new motherboard, and 2 Intel Xeons with 1GB memory. Or is there a system that performs better that is cheaper?

The PC I have now is:

AMD Duron 1800MHZ
512MB DDR PC2100 Memory
Syntax SV266A
Pine 3D Phantom XP-3800 SiS315-E 64MB 4X AGP
SeaGate Baracuda 40GB ATA-100 (ATA-133, board doesn't support it) 7200RPM 2mb Cache
SeaGate Medalist 3GB ATA-33 5400RPM 256mb Cache
LiteOn Combo Drive
CoolerMaster Musketeer 1 Silver
C-Media Sound Card (AC'97 compatible)

Need a new case aswell, this one is cr*p

Thanks to any one who answers!

Max I want to spend is £1000

[Richard M]

No need for a dual system, it will actually perform worse than a single CPU system because games don't use dual CPUs and the memory they need is higher latency.
You're better off getting a modest Athlon 64 system such as:

Athlon 64 3400+
1GB PC3200 DDR RAM (2x512MB, the best you can afford)
An NForce 4 chipset mobo when they come out in a few months or maybe an NForce 3 250. (try Asus or Abit)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, which is the best value for money right now.
Western Digital Caviar SE 200GB HD (IDE version, 8MB cache)
Antec 450-550W PSU
Audigy 2 ZS

That little lot would cost you around £600-700 if you bought it right now.
www.overclockers.co.uk and www.scan.co.uk are good suppliers, but avoid using Scan for anything like mobos or graphics cards.
You could also swap the Radeon for an NVidia 6800GT which are also very nice but cost about £150-£200 more.

[Jon M]

Another general rule of thumb.. if you need all the software.. go with a pre-build. If you have it already then building your own is an option.

If you buy software and build from scratch.. you'll always spend more.

What will be its prime use? No point in spending for new technology that you dont need

Any ideas on a good case? Something that doesn't have cheap thin metal

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by gary_580

What will be its prime use? No point in spending for new technology that you dont need

I think the clue is in the thread title .....

Recommend me a good gaming PC

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by Electrolyte

Any ideas on a good case? Something that doesn't have cheap thin metal

Didn't we do this for you already?

Yeh, but I found they were rubbish PCI slots, so I got the Cooler Master Musketeer 1 Silver instead (fan controller, with lovely blue analog dialogs)

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Richard M

You're better off getting a modest Athlon 64 system such as

If you use windows XP then there is no point buying an Athlon 64 as it will be no faster than AMD's fastest 32 bit processor.

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by Electrolyte

Yeh, but I found they were rubbish PCI slots, so I got the Cooler Master Musketeer 1 Silver instead (fan controller, with lovely blue analog dialogs)

Huh? You said to recommend you a good case, wtf has the musketeer (which is essentially an overblown fan controller) got to do with it?

[Jon M]

Originally Posted by Electrolyte

Any ideas on a good case? Something that doesn't have cheap thin metal

If you want sturdy go with any of the globalwin non-aluminium range. If you want fancy/riceboy go with anything by Lian Li

Originally Posted by s1lv3r

If you want sturdy go with any of the globalwin non-aluminium range. If you want fancy/riceboy go with anything by Lian Li

Cheers

I was just thinking of getting the fastest AMD 32-bit CPU that is out there, until XP 64 has a final release.

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by Frank

If you use windows XP then there is no point buying an Athlon 64 as it will be no faster than AMD's fastest 32 bit processor.

The Athlon 64 3400 pretty much wipes the floor with the 3200 under XP (32 bit) for gaming, Admittedly there's a 200mhz speed jump for the 3400, but in most gaming test's up to even over 1/3rd faster.

[Richard M]

Originally Posted by Frank

If you use windows XP then there is no point buying an Athlon 64 as it will be no faster than AMD's fastest 32 bit processor.

Sorry but my CPU disagrees.
I also have a Barton 3200+ and as Bifta said, my FX really does wipe the floor with it.

I think I'm going to go with Richards first computer spec, sounds like the best idea to me

Thanks to all that posted