I did it- I brought a fancy computer for cheap!

check this out:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.asp?id=76786879

Sure, the video cards looking a little low, but MAN! Look at the amount of software and ram. And its a dual core!

And it comes with vista rc1, and when that finishes, Windows XP Pro!!!

Did you buy it after the auction closed mate? How much ya pay?

1100 was the fixed price offer
seems like a really good price

Nice buy, just one thing, I dont think Pentium D is dual core CPU, I maybe wrong tho?

Sounds like a good buy mate, well done. 3 gig RAM? mmmmmmmmm, tasty

Pentium D is Dual Core

Wow man, awesome buy!

also, the Asus 7300GS scores around 5000 in 3dmark03. Better than my old laptops 3000.

Think about it.
-The RAM is nearly twice as fast, and theres 3 times more than my laptops
-The HDD is over 3 times bigger
-The video card is nearly twice as fast, with double the memory and a pci-e interface instead of AGP
-Windows Vista RC1 means slightly improved gaming performance
-17" moniter!

I have a small feeling Im gonna have alot of fun with this computer

P.s, should i partition the hdd so when I uninstall vista when the time runs out, I can easily install XP Pro onto one partition?

You'd be better off asking that question on a specially dedicated group of forums. I recommend gamefaqs.com if you're a member, they have a very knowledgeable PC board.

a tidy little computer, glad you're happy.

as for vista, cross that bridge when you come to it.

i mean worry about the partition issue when the vista beta expires, its not worth thinking about yet

Good score,nice price,just one thing,will 3Gb CPU be enough or does dual core make that no problem? I would have bought it too at that price and the guy has a genuine reason for selling and it's damn near brand new! Well done
Codge

if im correct, the CPU is 3Ghz dual core, so it should be 6Ghz. Its not however, and it goes around the speed of 4-4.5Ghz. Still good.

yeah as you say, its not as easy as 3GHz x2.
these days, processor clock speeds are not an accurate measurement of speed- for example, the Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 runs at just 2.4GHz, yet is one of the most powerful on the market- whereas my 3.0GHz P4 is comparitively very slow.

yes id make a partion on any drive that has op system on it ,spilt in to three bits then if your system goes down and you need to reinstall you will hopefully only lose whats on the c/drive not the d: and e: ,,it just make sence dude ,you run for six months and then have to install xp and without partion you have to reformat 200gb "you lose everything " now thats 6 months down the drain ,or alot of back up disc
your choise but if i was you "partion any system with only one hard drive "
oh and great buy on the new puter ,what a find !!!
mike.....

Thanks for the advice. So, how big do you say the partitions should be? I heard that for Windows, I should leave about 20GB, just to be a little on the safe side.

i have one 160gb split into two 75gb partions ,and i have others spilt into threes /halfs/quad partions ,so for your maybe 50gb for c: and two other d/: and e: into 70gb each around about the numbers given would look like 47gb c: 69gb x 69gb they wont be exact ok but theres a little guide line for you ,
then you have one partion for op and other for fs9 and other for work and download storage

It makes sense to partition your drive.I have 4 partitions on mine.I made my c:drive 10 gb,then split the others as near equally as I could.My flight sim sits on one partition all by itself.That allows for expnsion good buying mate, now you have a machine that will do it for you.Best of luck with it