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Hi, I'm buying a new PC that can hopefully handle high-end games and flight sims such as FSX, and picked up a leaflet today from the local shop.
Below are the specs of their top-of-the-range model (£629/ 1100 dollars), do you think it'll do straight off the shelf for game-playing or shall I ask them to fit a more powerful processor or vid card or whatever? I want a top-notch machine and don't mind paying more if I have to.

INTEL QUAD CORE Q6600 2.4 Ghz
4 GB DDR II 667 Mhz RAM
500 GB SATA II HARD DRIVE
DVD+/- Rewriter & DVD Drive
Midi Tower Case and card reader
9600GS 256Mb PCIE Video
6 USB2 connectors
WIN VISTA Premium Edition

Mate,that PC should handle high-end games quite fine.It's just that for those money you could get a better system.To start with,i don't think you'll need a cpu with a quad core.An intel dual core at 3 Ghz should be just fine.Unless you want to go for an AMD cpu whose performace/price ratio is better than what Intel has to offer.Second,make sure you buy those RAMs at (at least) 800Mhz,not 667!Third,you might save a buck or two by buying a smaller hard-drive.But this is up to you,if you believe you'll need 500 GB,go for it.I have a 160 GB HD and most of the time is half empty Fourth,unless you plan to use that card reader,it's just bucks thrown on window Fifth,i'd recommend a geforce 8800 or an ATI Radeon 4870 or 4850 instead of the geforce 9600 that system comes with.Sixth,you should purchase an operating system on 64 bits not 32.You won't be able to use all 4GB of RAM otherwise.

Some other things you should pay attention to:
-The motherboard-make sure it can provide the memories with the right voltages.Some cheaper MBs can't and thus the RAMs will operate at a lower frequency than they actually can.Also,make sure the MB has the required number of PCI slots(you might not use any,so that's up to you how many you need).Ideally the graphics interface should be PCI Express 2.0.
-The power source.This is the second vital component after the MB for a system,and i'm amazed how people often overlook it I wouldn't recommend using a no-name PSU on your shiny new-system.You might spend about $100 for a good PSU,but believe me,it's worth it A 500W PSU should do the trick.
-Graphic card and Combat Mission
You might consider the fact that Combat Mission has some troubles running on ATI cards.I'm a proud owner of a ATI 2900 pro card,and i can only run CM by using a much older driver than the current one.For newer ATI cards-from what i could read on the forums-CM doesn't work at all.So,if you plan to play CM-and i'm sure you do -go for nvidia.
- Vista vs. XP
From what i could read in the battlefron/blitz forums Vista+newer graphics cards(the ones which support Direct X 10?) is a no-go when it comes to CM.So,you might want to post on the forums to see which OS+video card combination works does work

HiHi

Just an add on really PoS, especially if you go for an ADM CPU get the largest case you can house in your workspace so you can get extra fans put in (don’t go for cheapos as they tend to be noisy), any puter running Hi-end games etc will generate a lot of Heat that needs to be got rid of, therefore a good airflow is important and extra fans help.

As Raz says think about the Card reader if you want to save money, conversely if you think you will be transferring lots of files between puters it could be a benefit. To re-emphasis Razs point do not cut down on RAM, 4GB should be seen as a minimum for your needs, more would be good.

2 things I would suggest as you are UK, yes?

1. don't buy from a shop you are paying for their overheads, buy online, Komplett were very good when I got them to build my current puter, Mesh also have a very good reputation, with both you can start off with a basic gaming puter, then mix & match your specs using Raz's suggestions.

2. sorry you won’t like this, but DO NOT rush it, take the time to look at Magazines/on line reviews etc for your components, OK like me a lot of the Techy stuff may go over your head but remember 'Word of Mouth' recommendation is worth its weight in gold, so get reading!

Good Luck

All the Best
Peter

HiHi

Raz, I really don't know about this as I am not a Techno, but something is niggleing at the back of my head bone re 64 bit, might that not cause probs with older games etc, dunno, probably wrong, but the niggle is there.

All the Best
Peter

HiHi

PoS just reread and noticed the bit about Vista v XP, again I dunno but this link may be of some help.

http://www.vistareadygames.com/register....de28408de&

You can go looksee if CM is mentioned, it's not my bag

All the Best
Peter

Roger that, in fact my PC queries have been posted around the PC Advice net forums for weeks as well as in Blitz and I'm saving all the replies to sift through, then will buy the new machine in a couple of months..:)