General Spec questions

[[SCUM] Leroy]

Thought now might be a good idea to upgrade my aging Dell because the PSU is going all pete tong.

Just need some general pointers in the right direction as I've been out of the loop for 6 odd years when it comes to new hardware (except HDs)

I'm generally leaning towards Intel. So...Duos ,Quads, i7s etc. ? How about DDR3 RAM? 4000 series ATI? 200 series GeForce? Or DX11 card?

I'm looking to get a new case, mobo, cpu, RAM and GPU for now. Budget wise I'd say I could push it up to £500.

[[SCUM] McPhil]

It's important to keep in mind that all computer parts fail so you need to make sure the parts you purchase are easy to RMA and the manufacturer doesn't have partitions in the way to inhibit you from returning your product for replacement. The recommendations I make here are good equipment that have a good or better RMA policy DIRECTLY WITH THE MANUFACTURER. Stay with larger brand names. Don't purchase a brand you never heard of or a new brand (PowerColor or 3DC anyone?) that may not be around in 2 years.

Case: Can't go wrong with an Antec. "Gaming Cases" are nice and vent heat well with a lot of lights. "Performance One" cases are built to be extremely quite with no flash.
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?Series=NDE=

Mobo: I use only Asus and EVGA for the warranty and the boards are great. You'll want to look at LGA 1156 and LGA 1366 motherboards. LGA 1366 are mostly Triple-Channel memory boards so you'll spend more on DDR3 memory. Performance of Triple-channel memory is questionable. I personally like the LGA 1156 mobos but you have to purchase DDR3 memory that is specific for LGA 1156 or the memory probably won't work on the board. LGA 1156 compliant memory isn't anymore expensive than standard DDR3 memory. LGA 1156 is dual channel. Here is where you want to spent your money. Buy a very high-end motherboard. Upgrading a motherboard is a pain-in-the-ass, but upgrading memory or adding memory or upgrading the CPU is easy.

Cpu: Same as the mobos. if you have a LGA 1366 mobo you need a LGA 1366 CPU, same for LGA 1156. Get a lower end CPU to save money unless you have a rich uncle.

RAM: Again, memory will fail. Get a brand that's easy to RMA directly with the Manufacturer. Memory that is easy in the UK = Crucial, Corsair, and OCZ. Mushkin is too but will have to be sent to Joimany with the Joimans... If you get a case with a window, you may want to consider memory with LEDs if you're into that. LED memory is usually the same or similar price of the non-LED memory. Never a performance difference with LED versus non-LED memory of the same brand and chip manufacturer. Again, if you go the LGA 1156 route, you'll need to confirm LGA 1156 compliant memory. LGA 1366 is a triple channel kit which equals more lent from your pockets.

GPU: Right now if you're going to run Windows 7 and you want DirectX 11 running, you'll have to go with ATI Radeon HD video cards. The 5870, 5770, and 5850s are the best performing cards for the price in the market right now at this moment in time. They are PCI-Express x16 2.1 so they only work in newer boards that have the PCI-E x16 2.1 slots and they are not backward compatible with PCI-E x16 1.0 and 2.0 slot version boards. ATI hasn't lead the gfx market for a very long time so who knows what nVidia has in the immediate pipeline, if anything. They have been really quite so who knows. Again with video cards you will have to decide about what manufacturer are easy to RMA with. For ATI cards, I like Sapphire and Diamond but both go into Europe for warranty replacement from the UK. ASUS warranty is in the UK but for video cards they usually are ass-slow and replacing the card. One person I know they got the same failed ASUS card back from ASUS and it appeared ASUS didn't even open the box.

A lot for you to think about and research. Let me know if you have more questions.