Purchasing a new CPU any suggestions.

[AndMetal]

Here's my recommendation (minus case/power supply & CD/DVD drive) for a decent gaming machine with plenty of room for expandability:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...Number=8765906

• MSI Motherboard
• AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Dual-Core Processor w/ Thermaltake 100mm CPU Cooler
• 2x 2GB Kingston PC6400 RAM for Dual Channel memory
• ASUS GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Supported Video Card
• 2x HITACHI Deskstar 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive for RAID0 or RAID1

All of that for the low, low price of $510.44 + shipping. The best part is that you can go SLI down the line for another $100, the mobo supports AM2+ so you can upgrade to a quad core down the line, and you can still shove another 4GB (for a total of 8GB) of RAM on the mobo. Just find a DVD drive, a case/power supply, and that should get you where you want to be.

On a side note, if you're looking for specs on video cards, I recommend these pages on Wikipedia:
Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units
Comparison of ATI graphics processing units

Hope this helps

[trevius]

The amount of speed boost you will get from running raid drives probably isn't quite as much as you would get from buying a better processor. IMO, a 4200+ is a little low end if you are wanting to get a more updated PC. That is barely faster than my last PC (that my server is running on atm). Keeping the raid is definitely nice if you can afford it though and a 6400+ AMD isn't really that much more expensive and you get 50% more speed over a 4200+. Normally, when I am CPU shopping, I look at the prices and you can almost see a perfect scale of speed vs price. At a certain point, you will see that the amount of speed increase you are getting per dollar will drop quickly. Normally that is in the <200$ range. After that point, they start to be minor upgrades for a considerably higher price. So, just look for the best bang for your buck.

I normally use http://www.sharkyextreme.com/ to find the latest price ranges for CPUs and it is a quick way to decide which is the best for you.

[sesmar]

Here is what I would suggest:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0 Ghz Dual Core CPU
Gigabyte Motherboard Supports up to 16 GB DDR2 1066 Ram if you ever switch over to a 64 bit OS.
4GB OCZ Platinum Dual Channel Ram
Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 Hard Drive
ASUS GeForce 9600 GSO 384 MB GDDR3 Ram Supports DX10 and OpenGL 2.0, 96 Stream Processors, 1800Mhz Memory Clock and 600Mhz Core Clock
And the above processor comes with a heat sink and fan but if you are looking for something maybe a little bit better or quieter you might try this one ARTIC Cooling Heatsink and Fan Copper core with copper heat pipes. .4 sone noise level and 3000+ RPMS

Total: $510.94

This is just a suggestion. I know the motherboard does not support SLI; however, you said that you are not worried about insane graphics so I do not think it is something that you would need to worry about. Also, for the HD I only put one 500GB drive, if you wanted to do a RAID 0 or RAID 1 system you can easily add a second drive for another $70 still keeping your total under $600 before shipping and without case/power supply. As for a power supply, whatever brand you go with I would suggest a 500W power supply. Antec and Thermaltake are good and well known brands but you are also going to pay for that reputation. I would suggest taking a look on http://newegg.com and see what they have to offer as far as 500W power supplies go. Look for ones with a 5 egg rating and a lot of reviews this way you know that you are getting a decent power supply.

[SourCelery]

I had to reply to this thread because I just bought a new computer. Here's the stats on mine:

Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 at the stock 2.4Ghz
4GB of PC6400 (800Mhz) DDR2 memory
500GB hard drive
GeForce 8800GT 512
Windows XP (F Vista!)

All that and I paid $829 plus $39 for shipping/handling
It's a NIB Dell that I got on Ebay from someone that bought in bulk (she was selling 12 in the auction I got mine).

You said you were looking to spend 6-800 and this is just slightly higher than that and it's a HUGE improvement from what you currently use.

[erik_llewellyn]

I recently built a system for a co-worker that plays live-EQ and 3 boxes. All parts were bought off www.newegg.com and came out to $635 after shipping.

Asus P5Q Intel P45 chipset mobo
Intel Core2 Duo E7200 (45nm wolfdale) 2.53 GHz
2x 2GB OCZ Platinium DDR2-1066 Ram
Nvidia 8800GT 512MB made by EVGA
Western Digital 750GB HDD
generic SOHO case w/ 600W PS and 4 fans