Buying New Parts

[McKenzie 1st MRB]

Alright so I gota friend who just spent an asscrack load of money upgrading his PC and is selling off all his old parts. He was offering to sell them all for 200-250 and because I know a lot about software and not a whole lot about hardware, thought I'd ask for an opinion. For 250 I could get...

550W PSU, 8GB DDR2 RAM (4x2 configuration) ASUS M4A79 motherboard, 2.80 gigahertz AMD Phenom II X4 920, and the Thermaltake case.

It needs a HDD (no big whoop), a DVD Drive (Again, not a big deal) and the GPU.

What do you think? Should I scoop it up while I got the chance? Or should I pass on it?

I want a decent machine that can play DOD:S well enough and not freeze up, as well as keep up with most modern games, and still be able to upgrade later.

[Firth]

What graphics card has it got? The hardware you specified so far seems pretty decent and 250 sounds like a bargin if it all works, if it has a graphics card then it should run dod no problem

[Dillon 1st MRB]

There are two factors:

1. Brand of PSU - if its a quality one (just give me the manufacturer, but model helps too.

2. Type of Thermaltake case.

These two factos will determine if this is a fair deal, or a great deal.

Here is the thing: I am rocking an AMD Phenom II 980, and I'm looking to upgrade. It just isn't as fast as an intel Core i3 these days, and there are new chips coming out soon (Ivy Bridge is coming within 3 months). Prices are going to drop.

Right now, a Core i5-2500k w/ motherboard can be had for ~$260-$300, depending on the motherboard and what you need. Its a way better cpu.

So, if its a $40 PSU and a $50 case, I'd say pass. RAM like you listed is running for $30. You are looking at a $100 difference between your buddy's system and building a rocking Core i5 system.

However, if you just don't have funds to do this and get a gpu, it is't a bad deal, by any means. Do you have a full on budget set for a system?