New PC build vs chucking bits out

[spider2097]

Not sure if this is deceptively simple or just me being indecisive

My next project - and aim of my next blog starting soon - is going to be totally re-haul my PC.

My question is, should I re-use as much of my current system as I can or just put together a whole new tower? My current PC case is quite smart & it's easy to upgrade the innards - I'm not replacing the monitor or any of the peripherals. My question more relates to the likes of my wireless card, graphics card, HDD's, DVD writer and the case itself.

Also, which would be best - Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core based processor? I don't really use it for gaming - I'm quite happy with my consoles for that - but it's more for audio & video manipulation & my current system is starting to creak a bit, causing problems with creating watchable DVD's of my various projects.
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"There's no such thing as a grown-up. We get bigger, we get taller, we get older. But, for the most part, we're still a bunch of kids, running around the playground, trying desperately to fit in."

[johnnyfp]

Spider,

if the new system is for video manipulation then certainly a new graphics card would help. The main thing is RAM, make sure the graphics card has it's own memory so it's not using the system Ram.

I suggest 4 mb (that should have been GB)of system Ram.

The Intel Core II is the better work horse, but the choice of processor is dependent on the motherboard.

I find that a good magazine for this type of information is MicroMart.

All the best with your project

[spider2097]

Thanks for the reply.

My project is going to be along the lines of "Build a high spec PC for £50" With the main idea being that from a starting point of £50, could I build up a solid enough run of bets in the space of a month to cover costs of parts etc.

I feel that making £200 is easily possible, that covers the motherboard bundle I'm looking at, and so any extra that I make would go towards a couple of 500Gb HDD's, an 8800 GT graphics card (I think that's the right card - I know the one I want is expensive ), Blu-Ray writer, wireless card, a new tower case, 750W PSU and possibly even a 22" flat panel monitor. All that (including the motherboard bundle) comes to a shade under £1200 and so dropping 1 of the HDD's, the Blu-Ray writer, PSU, wireless card, case & monitor puts it at around £400 - which I think is unlikely but reachable.

The motherboard bundle I'm considering is the "Motherboard Bundle - Athlon X2 Dual Core 4800 AM2 - 2048MB - nVidia 590 Sli- ATX" from Novatech.

Looks pretty mid-range in terms of both price & power - should be more than enough improvement over my current system though. Plus, with that motherboard it's not too much hassle to improve the system, I'd just need to replace the processor with a slightly better version if I felt it was needed.
_________________
"There's no such thing as a grown-up. We get bigger, we get taller, we get older. But, for the most part, we're still a bunch of kids, running around the playground, trying desperately to fit in."