Will One Of These Computers Meet My Requirements?

Hey guys, I'm looking at buying this computer because I dropped my laptop and the screen cracked and I really dont want to buy a new screen for it. Here are some specs it's cheap its only $500NZD, note that I am only going to be doing a little bit of multi tasking, the mosth I will be doing is running maplestory and internet explorer at the same time. The games I wish to play are WoW, CSS, Cabal Online, and just a few other small ones like maplestory, here are the specs -

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CPU: AMD Athlon64X2 Processor
5000+ 2.6GHz HT2000FSB 1MB L2
Cache
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Motherboard: Asus M2N-MX SE
motherboard Support AMD Socket
AM2+ Athlon 64 CPU, 6 Channel audio
onboard, 6xUSB 2.0,100MB LAN, RAID
ready.
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Video Card: Onborad Graphic Card.
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Memory:1GB DDR2 RAM (Can pay $35 to upgrade to 2GB)
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Hard Drive:160GB SATA 7200rpm HDD
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CD/DVD:Liteon 20X DVD-R/+R, Dual
Layer DVD Writer
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Case:400w tower Case
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1) What upgrades should I get?, I am definately going to get it upgraded to 2gb of ram, and I am going to buy a new case. Is there a good cheap video card out there? I don't want to buy a 9800GTX because this computer wont need it until I get my one at the end of the year. Just a $100-$150 card that will be worth actually buying.

2) Will I lagg on any games?, note that the most demanding game I will be playing will only be WoW or Cabal online

3) I am going to get vista home premium is this allright?

4) Is this computer any better, it is the same price -

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core 5000+ 2.6Ghz AM2 - Very fast Dual Core CPU enhanced multitasking
Motherboard: Asus M2N MX SE AM2 (1 PCI-E slot, 2 PCI slots, 2 DDR2 slots up to 4GB of ram)
Ram: 2GB DDR2-800 High performance memory with low latencies
Hard drive: Western Digital 250GB SATAII 7200RPM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 6100 integrated with shared 256MB memory
Network: Gigabit LAN
Sound: SoundMax High Definition Audio
DVD: Liteon 20X Dual layer DVD writer
Case: Black Excel IR11A case with 400W power supply unit and front 12cm cooling fan.

Thanks very much for any help/suggestions.

 

1.8600GT is a perfect choice for those games, and it will work with your PSU. They also don't need a supplementary power connector. I have a 8600GT myself and it plays WoW over 40+ FPS all the time.

most 8600GT's are under 100$ aswell.

2. if the most demanding game your going to be playing is WoW, then you don't have anything to worry about.

3. Vista is just fine.

4. I'd go with that computer you have listed on the bottom. It has a 250GB Hard drive and already has the 2GB of RAM, and DDR2-800 RAM is pretty good.

 

^^ I am summing up wether to pay the $500 for the computer and just have my shit screen and buy an xbox 360 instead of a new asus 24", not to sure yet. Thanks for the help when I get it I will upgrade the components

 

i have heard vista is junk and everyone i know who got vista has gone back to windows xp

 

if your getting vista get 2 gigs ram, or u will hate your life.

 

Vista is way under rated. It's not AS bad as people say it is. The main thing that pisses people off is that Vista gives warning message popups often when opening programs that are obviously non risk. It really doesn't bother me, but some people are touchy about it. It's better to be safe than sorry though, :-\.

 

The warning messages are UAC ( user account control) and you can disable it in vista.

 

Yeah, I used to hate vista myself but I came to get used to it. I am going to be purchasing the bottom computer. I wil post some picz up when it arrives.

 

Yes, the second computer is better because it has a newer motherboard, larger hard drive and the 2GB RAM. Go with that one.

As for the video card, I'd recommend getting one similar to this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3990172&CatId=1558

Wherever you shop get a GeForce 9600GT with 512MB of DDR3 memory from either NVidia, eVGA, BFG, or XFX. If there are a few 9600GTs within the same price range (under 150 like you asked) compare their core clock speed, memory clock, and other details that are provided (if not in store, then specifications can be found online). Just make sure you're getting a PCI Express card as that's what you need, and it doesn't matter if you get PCI Express 1.0 (x16) or 2.0 because your motherboard supports 1.0 and the two interfaces are backwards compatible.