Hi all, I'm building a partially new PC and hope for some advice on my current choices. here are my current selection: (I have supplied Sku numbers from NCIX.com in case anyone want a closer look at the parts) Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (SKU: 27784) Mobo: Asus P5Q Pro ATX LGA775 P45 (SKU: 30418) Ram: Corsair XMS2 2X2048 6400C4 (SKU: 18580) Case: Antec Nine hundred mid tower (SKU: 21123) CPU Cooler: Zalmen CNPS9700NT (SKU: 21680) PSU: Antec Earthwatts 650W (SKU: 30037) I'm reusing some parts from my old PC, such as: Video card: Diamond Viper Radeon HD3870 HDD: 2 X Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 750GB SATA2 DVD rom: Samsung SH-S202J DVD+RW IDE My questions are: 1)How's does this setup look? will it be sufficient for modern gaming like Crysis or the up coming Farcry 2/Fallout 3. I'm a video game artist so i'd also be doing a fair bit of 3D modelling. 2)My current HDD has an installation of XP SP3 on it, i've heard of ways to preserve the OS after changing system, would it be possible or a good idea for me to do so?

As far as the set up goes, looks pretty good! I just have a few questions for ya: 1. What is your exact budget? 2. Is your XP 64 bit?? The only suggestion I could make at this point were to up the RAM to 4GB, but that would also depend on if you have a 64 bit OS or not. I think maybe a year from now computers will finally catch up to Crysis :P In its full glory that is. But I think that should be sufficient. Also cant wait for Fallout3 and Far Cry 2!! One warning: You can't just switch your mobo and a whole bunch of other parts and then put in your hard drive expecting it to work. Cause it won't! That OS is expecting certain hardware and it will get uber confused. You can try things like Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image, though I believe those are for the same computer configuration. I would suggest just backing everything up and starting fresh. That's the best way to start with a spankin new machine! AMD Phenom X4 9850BE Gigabyte 780G 4GB Patriot DDR2 1066 Radeon 4850 Barrucuda 7200.11 500GB

1) setup looks pretty good. 2) you can try doing a repair installation: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/... "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction

thanks for the feeeback, its good to know i'm not doing it wrong my copy of windows is 32bits, thats why i only went with 2GBs. i think in a few years i can always add more ram when windows 7 comes out, none of that vista nonsense for me i'm skipping it hey marshall, hows that phenom working for you? to be honest i'm still torn between intel and amd, i'm an amd fan but it seem intel is having a good year this gen as far as my OS goes i think i'll try that repair install thing, cuz right now i have no way of backing yp my data. my reason for building a new pc is cuz my old one broke

Better come up with a way to backup your data. You should have a DVD recorder for that, or a second hard drive if you have too much data for DVDs. By not backing up regularly, you are really asking for a big headache someday.

The Phenom is working out awesome. FAST! But your right- Intel is beating AMD out by a pretty good edge this generation around. The reason I went AMD is because its hella cheap Quad Core vs. the Intel ones and the added benefit of helping a struggling compay :P If your looking for dual core- I think I would just stick with the Intel. Quad core- depends I guess. Even Intel's lowest offering can ALMOST beat AMD'd current top of the line parts for quad cores. AMD Phenom X4 9850BE Gigabyte 780G 4GB Patriot DDR2 1066 ATI Radeon 4850 Barracuda 7200.11 500GB NZXT Tempest