I would consider 2GB of RAM an absolute minimum these days.
You'll almost certainly get better performance with 2GB of RAM and a marginally slower processor than a faster process with 1GB of RAM.
I was waiting for that.
Im still on XP you see, with nothing in the Notification area on boot-up. So im talking about only 100mb upon bootup to the millions out there including my dad, who used more than double that on bootup.
I will wait for jimlad Vista, then maybe buy more RAM. I dont know how good Dual Channel is meant to be.
1GB - 100MB = 0.9GB left for games
2GB - 200MB = 1.8GB left for games
2GB - 100MB = 1.9GB left for games
The 100MB not being used on startup becomes largely insignificant if you have 2GB of RAM. I can guarantee that all those games you mentioned will perform a lot better if you buy 2GB of RAM.
My computer (running XP pro) has 3GB installed which made an enormous difference over the 1GB I had installed previously. I can highly recommend it.
And I really wouldn't bother with vista yet.
I've run XP with 1GB of RAM and with 2GB of RAM and can state that many modern games run far better with 2GB than 1GB. You get faster level loading, less stuttering in games, etc. For a lot of modern games now such as Bioshock, 1GB is the minimum requirement with 2GB being recommended. Plus RAM is hardly expensive...
CPU wise, at lower price points then there's little between Intel and AMD other than Intel's CPUs being more overclockable. True Intel's higher-end chips leave AMD well behind at the moment, but for a £100 or less CPU, both are worth considering if you're not planning on overclocking the system.
My advice would be to go for 2GB of RAM, a mid-range mobo (say £50-£75 or so) and then look at getting the best CPU you can with what's left. Don't forget that you may also need to replace your power supply if your old one doesn't have the newer 24pin ATX plug on it.
I'd agree with sticking with XP for now personally though.
Show a piccy.
Im using a 550W (shudders) Q Tec, I bought about a year ago (Only been used solid for 9 months).
I thought my only concern would be PCI-E power cables. But I can remidy that with a molex adpater.
PSUs are so bleedin expensive I see. Not for me.
Iv been looking at a 2.6 64 X2 CPU 2mb cache.
Whats the deal with 1000mhz FBS CPUs and no mobos or ram to support it.
GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB <- nice!
What games/demos you been throwing at it?
What Res you playing it?
What games you been enjoying atm?
Should be alright then I'd have thought as it's new enough. It's also certainly powerful enough. My system has a decent 500w supply for instance and runs fine.
Regarding 1,066MHz FSB CPUs, there are motherboards around to support them?! The RAM also doesn't have to match the FSB speed these days - particularly not on AMD systems, although faster is obviously better.
Graphics wise, my card runs nicely. Handles Oblivion at 1280x960 with all the detail cranked up and it's smooth. Can also play Bioshock at that res with most of the detail fairly high. I've recently played HL2: Episode 2 with all detail to maximum and AA/Ansitropic Filtering cranked up and it's run nice and smoothly. So yes. It's a nice card :)