Rig help, i have no idea about pcs

[MikeHunt]

sorry to post another one of these questions but i am now looking at getting a new pc, (not just for UT3, i'll use it for photoshop and 3d stuff)
i have narrowed it down to 2 but which would be better for UT3? the dual with the 8600gts or the quad with the 8500gt? here are the specs

Processor Type Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Clock-Speed 2.4GHz
Front Side BUS 1066MHz
Cache 8 MB
Operating-System Windows Vista Home Premium
RAM Memory 2048 MB
Hard Disk Capacity 320 Gb
Optical Drive 1 Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
Built-in TV Tuner Yes
Built-in Digital TV Tuner Yes
Built-in Radio Tuner Yes
Remote Control Yes
Graphics Memory 256 MB
Graphics Description nVidia GeForce 8500
Media Card Reader 15-in-1
No of USB connections 6
No of PCI Slots 2
No. of Firewire Connections 1

or

Processor Type Intel Core 2 Duo E6420
Clock-Speed 2.13GHz
Front Side BUS 1066MHz
Cache 4 MB
Operating-System Windows Vista Home Premium
RAM Memory 2048 MB
Hard Disk Capacity 500 Gb
Optical Drive 1 Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
Graphics Memory 256 MB
Graphics Description nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS
Media Card Reader 8-In-1
No of USB connections 6
No of PCI Slots 2
No. of Firewire Connections 1

thanks and again appologies, i know an 8800 class card would be best and that can come later but for now what would offer the best option as they are both about the same money.

[D2F[Rob]]

Which country are you getting it from and what's your budget?

[BuFFY]

I would go with the quad, when UT3 is not that important for you. you can surelly play with decent fps, still a better video card like 8800 gts would pwn the **** =)

[MikeHunt]

i'm in the UK, these two are packard bell machines, the quad is one of their entertainment rigs and the dual is the gaming rig (in the huge fancy case with blue LEDs???)
i know both rigs would benefit from the 8800gts cards but they are both spec'd quite low with the 85 and 86, the quad works out at £630, the dual a little more at around £650, the dual case has much more expansion due to the size of the case and i think more ram can be added but to be honest 2gb is more than enough for what i will do at home, my work mac 8core with 6gb will do the real hard stuff. i don't really want to spend much more than this at the moment, i can always add the 88 card later.

cheers guys

oh and UT is quite important to me, been playing it since the first unreal came out

[D2F[Rob]]

Case: Asus Vintage V3-P5945G-BK Black - S775
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Socket 775 2.4 GHz 1066MHz FSB Conroe Core 4MB Cache Retail
Memory: 2Gb (2X1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2 DDR2 PC5400 (667) 240 Pin Non-ECC Unbuffered CAS 4-4-4-12
nVidia VGA-The Way It's Meant To Be Played™: 512MB XFX 8800GT PCI-E (x16) Mem 1800 MHz GDDR3 GPU 600 MHz 2x Dual Link DVI-I HDTV HDCP Fan
Hard Drives: 320 Gb Seagate ST3320620AS Barracuda 7200.10 SATA300 7200 rpm 16MB Cache 8.5 ms NCQ
DVD Writer: Samsung SH-S202N BEBN 20x DVD±R 16xDVD±DL DVD+RW x8 -RW x6 PATA Lightscribe Black OEM inc. Nero

£662 through scan.co.uk (3xs systems). Huge choice and configuration. That's just an example near your budget.

Key point with this one is that it has a 512mb 8800gt and a E6600 :P (within your budget ^^)

[MikeHunt]

cheers rob, i'll have a look on therem will need to add windows OS to that as well i'd imagine then which is another 200 notes

[MikeHunt]

hmmm, my lack of pc knowledge is holding me back here cos none of that site makes sense, hehe and those prices are without vat so thats well over 700, will continue to try and get my head round this cheers.

[Luseferous]

Go with a Quad and invest in a single 8800GT.

The quad will be a huge help for 3D stuff and the 8800GT will do the same for Unreal.

[MikeHunt]

thats kind of what i was starting to think and i can't find a system with a quad that gets near the price of the packard bell, the 8500gt will give resonable fps similar to what i get with my 8core mac (40-80 on a 7300gt) so will do to start with and i can waitill after xmas to get the 8800 in the sales

cheers again guys