Need advice on new Computer setup - QUICK!!!

[Guest Soulman]

Hey Guys,My old workhorse decided to die on me last week, just as I lined up on Rwy 7 at YSSY as QFA583 to Perth in none-other-than the PMDG 737-800. Was pretty shattered as I looked like getting away on time!Anyways, I'm in the market for a new system and I was hoping to get your opinions on the following.I bought my last box from Ebay and it was hassle-free, so I'm going that option again. Always look for reputable buyers and have done a fair amount of shopping there, so I know what to buy and what not to, or more importantly - who to buy from!Option 1.Item: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Computer System Description: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor Gigabyte 8VM800M Motherboard 512MB DDR 400 RAM 52x32x52x CD-Rewriter 80GB 7200RPM Hard Disk Drive Integrated 3D Graphics Integrated 6 Channel Sound Integrated 10/100 Network card Stylish Case 400 Watt Power Supply 4x Rear USB 2.0 Ports 2x Front USB 2.0 Ports, 2x Front Sound Option 2.Item:AMD 2800+ 512DDR 120Gb Dual Layer DVD Burner 128VideoDescription: ATX Tower Case with 2xUSB at front Motherboard: AMD KT600 motherboard CPU: AMD Sempron 2800+ RAM: 512 Mb DDR RAM Hard Disk: 120GB 7200RPM Floppy: 1.44 / 3.5" Floppy Disc Drive Optical Drive: 1 Dual Layer DVD Burner Graphics Card: 128Mb AGP8X Video card with TVO & DVI Sound: Integrated 3D Sound AC97 compliant LAN: Integrated 10/100 USB: USB2.0 2 front, 4 rear Software Drivers CD and MB manual - Windows sold separatelySo, with the upcoming release of the Queen of the Skies, I'm obviously after a reasonably fast system. But do I go with the new 64 bit processor (Option 1), or Option 2 with the good Graphics card? I am awaiting a reply from the seller to find out if the Motherboard on Option 1 has an AGP so I can add my own when I get the cash - does anyone here know if it will support a later upgrade?There is approximately $100 Australian Dollars between the two, with the latter being more expensive.Some prompt replies would be great as the auctions close soon!Cheers,Jeremy Soulsby.

[Tabs]

Your options listed there for graphics cards sent up warning flags for me right away man. "Integrated 3D graphics" is code for "crap" honestly. Stay as far away from that as possible.There is absolutely no reason you should have anything less than an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro on a new system. That Athlon 64 will do nothing for you if you don't have a good graphics card to go with it.There's a couple really good cards in the $200 range that just came out - namely the Nvidia GeForce 6600GT and the ATI Radeon X700 Pro - those are the cards I've been looking at if I was building a system right now.

[Guest niceguy2782]

Yes, please be aware of what you're treading into here. Looks like one of the many silent cheaters.The overall good system but with integrated graphics and then they surprise you with a low price you wouldn't believe .. well you'd have to believe it because there ain't no graphics card in it. Rendering the rest of your good system virtually useless for Fsim use.Also with 128mb 8x etc .. don't fall for it, as which card it is, do your research and then buy.It seems they've mixed and matched a lot of things, some good in the first and some good in the second jsut to adjust the price tag to look a lot more friendly, i wouldn't buy from them, who knows what they'll tell you next.i've seen a lot of these kind of sales.. just my opinion..

[Guest Soulman]

Thanks, like I said - the two things I was worried most about were indeed the Processor and the Graphics Card.Further searching yielded these results:Option 1.CPU AMD Athlon64 3000+ CPU Hard Drive 160 Gig SEAGATE/WD ATA100 Hard Disk Memory 512 Megs PC3200 DDR Memory Sound 6 Channel OB SoundNetwork LAN 10/100 Intergrated Motherboard Gigabyte VT800 64 bit Video 128 Megabytes FX5200 AGPx8 Directx 9 VideoBurner 12 x +/- DVD Burner Case ATX 480 WattsFloppy 3.5 Inch Drive Postage All Computers are sent with Australia Post, with Registered and Insured Delivery---------------------------------------------------------------------Option 2.In-Win L564 Mini Tower [Highest-quality PC case made out of SECC Japanese Steel]. Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz 800MHz FSB 512Kb Cache with HT Technology Kingston 512MB 400MHz DDR-RAM. MSI 865GM2-LS Motherboard featuring the Intel Springdale 865G Chipset. Seagate Barracuda 80GB Serial-ATA 7,200rpm High Performance Hard Drive. Pioneer DVR-108 DVD/CD Burner [The DVR-108 is the industry's first DVD writer to support 16x write speeds on both DVD-R/+R along with the option to write at 4x speed on Double Layer media]. Leadtek WinFast A340 T FX5200 8x AGP 128MB DDR Graphics Card with TV-Out [Experience cinematic-quality effects and studio-quality colour, and the industry-leading performance and rock-solid driver stability]. C-Media 9739A Integrated 6-channel Audio with high performance S/N ratio & Dynamic Range (>90 dB). Intel 8262EZ Integrated 10/100 Fast Ethernet Controller. 7 USB 2.0 Ports [6 rear, 1 front]. Front Panel Card Reader [sC/MMC, SM, CF/MD] Bundled Software:Microsoft Windows XP Home [Genuine - comes with original CD] MSI Fuzzy Logic MSI Live Update MSI PC Alert PC-Cillin Anti-virus Nero Suite 3 [Nero Express 6, InCD4 (packet writing), Showtime (compatible with Nero Digital & other MPEG-4 formats), Backitup (includes disc spanning feature), Recode 2, Startsmart (Standard & Expert modes), Cover Designer (disc label design),Toolkit & Nerovision Express 2 with Dolby AC-3 audio encoder] WinFastDVD WinFox II Cult 3D Coloreal Embedded Coloreal Visual Coloreal Bright ** All Components are covered by different factory-backed warranties, please contact me for further information **It sounds a bit more promising - what do you guys think???Cheers,Jeremy Soulsby.