[citation][nom]nafhan[/nom]If you aren't going to overclock, and are willing to go AMD... you can make the following substitutions, and get a system that will be alot faster in many games and $40 cheaper (also swapped out the HD, I love the WD6400AAKS) all straight from Newegg:AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB - Retail - $60.00Foxconn A74MX-K AM2+/AM2 AMD 740G Micro ATX - $48.96OCZ Platinum (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) - $33.99ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB - $139.99Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB - $74.99Antec NSK4480B - $80.00LITE-ON Black SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - $23.99TOTAL: $461.92[/citation]
#1 - Forgot CPU Cooler.
#2 - I could get a Cheap Intel Mobo too......
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135063
I Just saved $85 on the Intel Build since I don't technically need a cooler and I still have an OCing mobo. I could now get the E5200 and the E4850 and have spent less.
Would I do this? No...........
The after market cooler is nice and a choice they made.
They could have chosen to do that.
And I'm not going to quible about choosing to get a nice mobo.
And as others have noted, prices are dropping.
So the choices today are not what was available then.