Video card/processor on a budget?

[popcornjake]

Lately i've been looking into buying a new system. Though as i only have a budget of roughly 200 Australian for everything but the graphics card, which i am willing to spend up to 130, i've decided to commit a mortal sin and buy a dell.

Though it doesnt seem all too bad, the optiplex gx620 comes cheap, with ddr2 memory, a pci-e slot and with a more spacious case than some other dells i have seen.

This is where the first hard choice comes in, buying second hand off of ebay the gx620 comes in two flavours, with either a dual core pentium d or single core pentium 4 with hyper threading. Both generally clocked no less than 3.0ghz, it seems a pretty solid low budget choice.

However i'm not at all sure which to pick out of the pentium 4 or d, of course the d is dual core, though being one of the first dual core processor models on the market and it's near non-existence in the gaming world, i am quite hessitant towards it. On the other hand the pentium 4 is guarranted quality and with hyperthreading it seems very solid.

However i have no clue as to which processor would out perform the other, so if a fellow loper could reply and help me out with that i'd be very appreciative.

Also, with only 100-130 dollars (Australian!), preferably less though so i can purchase some more ram, i dont really have many choices with video cards. I've been looking into the 8600gt/gts and x1600 pro though i'm really not sure on the quality of the cards so again if a helpful loper could rescue me from my confusion with some advice/sugestions i would be very grateful.

I know it might not be the right place to some rant about my new system, though none of my friends are very technologically literate so i thought i'd come ask here (if that's not too much trouble).

[Athlete{UK}]

dell aren't bad. i've never understood the hatred people feel for them.
Just make sure the first thing you do is reformat and you'll be fine
Go and have a look at the outlet store for Dell. You wont be able to pick and choose the components you get but i've had very good experiences with them in the past.

the sell systems people have ordered but then cancled so you will be buying a premade system but the price slash is often worth it and you can get some really good prices.

As for a graphics card on its own though I highly recomend the ATI HD4800 cheaper then it's nvidia counter part by miles and not far behind it in terms of power.

[popcornjake]

dell aren't bad. i've never understood the hatred people feel for them.
Just make sure the first thing you do is reformat and you'll be fine
Go and have a look at the outlet store for Dell. You wont be able to pick and choose the components you get but i've had very good experiences with them in the past.

the sell systems people have ordered but then cancled so you will be buying a premade system but the price slash is often worth it and you can get some really good prices.

As for a graphics card on its own though I highly recomend the ATI HD4800 cheaper then it's nvidia counter part by miles and not far behind it in terms of power.

Thank you for the reply.

Though i won't be buying off of the dell site, ebay is the way to go for me, with local pick ups.

However i don't mean to be a whiney little child though would it be too much to ask for to help out with some information in regards to the pentium D/Pentium 4 comaprison?

Also, i couldn't help but near laugh at the ATI HD4800 suggestion, i have only have up to 130 Australian dollars at my disposal, those cards are fetching upwards of a few hundred.

Thanks again.

[The Wanderer]

Thank you for the reply.

Though i won't be buying off of the dell site, ebay is the way to go for me, with local pick ups.

However i don't mean to be a whiney little child though would it be too much to ask for to help out with some information in regards to the pentium D/Pentium 4 comaprison?

Also, i couldn't help but near laugh at the ATI HD4800 suggestion, i have only have up to 130 Australian dollars at my disposal, those cards are fetching upwards of a few hundred.

Thanks again.

Weird I'm finding HD4850 for 150 usd, so i'd imagina the HD4800 to be around 120 easy.

and why do you need comparisons to the pentium processor? That's an ancient cpu, nobody even thinks about pentium anymore, a benchmark comparing to the crappy P4 is worthless.
Why are you even looking for pentium? they haven't been manufactured in years. Pentium is dead (and good riddance).

Also, higher Ghz doesn't mean better performance, get rid of that Intel brainwashing. A 2 Ghz can outperform a 3 Ghz easily. Never, ever look at Ghz except if you are looking at buying one specific model range.

[Athlete{UK}]

Ah I made the short sighted mistake of not factoring into account exchange rates. The 4800 is about £120 at the moment. My mistake. As for the pentiums I should imaging pentium 4s are rediculously cheap at the moment but if you want a system that isn't completely obsolete from the very first day you buy it i'd streatch my budget a little further to a core 2. The lesser models are quite cheap now though you're probably best hitting google up for any comparisons.

[zombie@computer]

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html

pick your cpu from there :p

i suggest, if you are on a tight budget, to stick with AMD. both the cpu's and motherboards are a lot cheaper, it shouldn't be too hard to get around the price of a dell with even a bit more power in it.