Hey all,

I am an x-WoW enthusiast looking to move to AoC, but the PC I have now just isn't cutting it for me.

My Current PC is an :

AMD Turion 64 bit 2.0 Ghz Clock
55gb 5400rpm HD
ATI X1800 Mobile graphics(128 MB)
2GB Ram
Its a laptop.

AoC's recommended requirements :

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz (E6600) or better
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7950GX2 or better
RAM: 2GB or more

I used to be very into PC hardware, and used to follow it religiously, but I took a tour in the service and it seems I am miles behind.

From the posts here it seems that an

E8400 Wolfdale
4GB Corsair
500W+ PSU
Windows XP
8800 GT

Is ideal, but there seem to be a lot of conflicting opinions. I have used ATI in the past but now it seems Nvidia holds the cup for best graphics card?

My price limit is $1200 US. I realize you see these kinds of posts a lot but I would appreciate help

Purely for gaming, that CPU is great at stock or OC. I recommend you leave it as stock to save money on cooling, since 3.0 GHz is plenty for games today.

Why not go with Vista? A copy online is $40 cheaper and gaming performance is the same unless you have XP already.

With 4GB of RAM, get a 64-bit Operating System (OS) to utilize all the RAM. 32-bit OS can use 4GB, but remember other components use RAM too like video cards.

ATI 4850 is a little more but is a great bang for the buck, it may run hot around 80C. It's priced at 199.99 at Newegg.

Also, getting a great brand PSU will make sure your system is stable, look at brands like Antec, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling. Look for 550W or higher that will allow you to use Crossfire (ATI multi GPU solution). Look at amps on the 12v rail.

Getting a case with plenty of room will make building your system easy, my P150 while perfectly big enough, a little more room would have made it easier to work with. Look at Antec Three Hundred, review here.

Thanks for you're quick responses!
I own a copy of both vista and XP so that is not a problem

64Bit OS's usually have driver problems do they not?

I will look at the 4850s but I was told that if I wanted one I would need more case cooling

Sorry, English is not my first language XD