I was going to upgrade a little later on, but my old PC died, and with the reality that hardware prices could jump like software prices are I went ahead with it. So this is how much I've spend this month so far.
CPU
Intel E8500. I'll tell you right now that I'm no fan of AMD - just to many disappointments from that side. I was looking for a Q6600 but it seems the stock just dried up when I was buying. Anyhow, they reckon that the E8500 is better than the Q6600
for gaming [for now]. Was going to wait till the i7s became more reasonable, but the DDR3 motherboards and RAM are still a little to demanding on my budget for now.
RAM
4x1GB DDR2 800. Yip, went for 800s because... lets face it, I'm not the gamer I used to be so I don't see the need for higher. I admit that the "casual" option in games is more fun for me right now. I'm getting old
To me, I need more RAM, not faster RAM [again,I could do without the DDR3]
Motherboard
ASUS P5QL-E - More than I would have liked to spend. Motherboards are the bane of my existence. Usually I take the cheapest. Love the power management features of this board though.
PSU
Cooler Master Extreme Power PSU - 550w
My motherboard isnt SLI/CF, 550w should be more than enough for my needs. I personally think that power usage is highly overrated by the gaming community (seriously guys, 1000w PSUs? WTF?). I could have settled for a lower PSU, but the aging will push this boy down to 500w before I retire the PC to the server.
Graphics Card
Geforce 9800GTX+. Again, I'll be honest - I'm no fan of AA. In my opinion, the noticeable difference at high resolutions is so little that you wouldn't even notice it within the action [if you wish to debate this, start a new thread]. And the 9800GTX can play any game high without AA, the GTX+ uses less power and I found it rather cheaply too so it was a sure sell. (I was looking into the
4870 but it was more expensive at the time). Considering I'd prob have to upgrade in a years time anyway, may as well not spend big now and wait to see what happens.
Screen
Busy waiting for a 22", but it's been a hard month cash wise.
Keyboard, mouse
Using my old mouse and keyboard
Case
My old case, going on 5 years old now...
HDD
Old hardrives (SATA)
DVD:
DVD DL Writer (looked into blu-ray but i'll give it a pass till later)
So about R8 000 in total.
