Recommended Hardware

Seems nearly everyone is thinking of an upgrade right now. To avoid repeating myself and give everyone the benefit of my research over the last month I've created this Hardware chart of what is worth considering to buy.

Platform

There are 3 categories of Hardware;

• Budget is the bare minimum you should be considering buying at this moment in time to give playable performance on the lowest settings.
• Recommended is the best value for money combined with playable performance on higher settings.
• Performance is for those what want the absolutely flawless performances on the highest settings.

Components

Component:	Budget	Recommend	Performance
Processor:	Intel E2180	Q6600
Motherboard:		Asus P5K/EPU - Very good overclocking board using the proven Intel P35 chipset with impressive energy saving functionality. This motherboard isn't recommended if you have a case were the PSU is mounted at the bottom of the case.	Asus P5Q range - These are the new Intel P45 chipset motherboards due out June 2008. They are just as impressive P5K range but with faster memory support, better overclocking potential and some handy new features like Express Gate.
Memory:	Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 (2GB kit) - 2GB really is the absolute minimum you should be using. You should really be thinking 3GB for Windows XP and 4GB for Windows Vista.	Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 (4GB Kit)
Graphics card:		Asus EN8800GT TOP/G/HTDP/512M - The NVIDIA 8800 GT GPU is still king of the hill in terms of price/performance. The Asus TOP version has a better cooler and squeezes some extra speed out the GPU.
Case:	Antec Three Hundred or Antec Sonata III 500 - Really this is a matter of personal choice. The Antec Three Hundred is in my mind better looking. It also has the PSU at the bottom which gives better overall airflow in your case. This is the better choice if you plan to overclock because of the extra fans you can add to improve cooling. On the otherhand the Antec Sonata III 500 comes with a Antec EarthWatts 500watt highly efficient power supply. Which works out at great value for money. The Sonata is also quieter.	Antec Nine Hundred - This is the bigger brother to the Three Hundred and awesome in just about every way you can think of.
Power Supply (PSU):
Hard Disk:	Note: Any SATA 7200 RPM 32MB cache Hard Disk should be enough. Samsung are the best for Price/Performance/Heat/Noise/Power. Hitachi are good quiet/low power drives. Western Digital are good for Performance. Seagate have good prices for their performance. Maxtor and everything else should probably be avoided right now.	Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB SATAII 32MB Cache - In a class of its own is this Samsung Hard Disk. Brilliant performance thanks to its large cache and high density platters. Several reviews show it matches the performance of 74GB Raptors but you get 1000GB of storage with the Samsung.	Note:
DVD Drive:
Soundcard:

Peripherals

Peripheral:	Budget	Recommended	Performance
Monitor:		Samsung SM 2232BW - This is exceptionally highly recommended. Several people in the Community have one. All agree it is phenomenal. Its a 22 widescreen meaning a 1680x1050 native resolution ideal for gaming. Looks amazing too and is really well priced!
Speakers:
Keyboard:
Mouse:		Logitech G5 - Really accurate and comfortable. It is Wired and could probably benefit from the Scroll up button being moved in front of the mouse wheel like the old MX510.
Mouse Pad:

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