midrange computer build, need advice

[mirage220]

Hi guys,
I'm buying a new midrange computer for gaming and for school. Here's what I have. I have about $100-$200 to spare, but I'm not sure what I should be improving. Thanks

Case Antec Sonata II Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 450W Air Duct 120MM Fan

Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core Processor S939 Manchester 2.2GHZ 512KBX2 90NM

Motherboard ASUS A8N5X ATX S939 NFORCE4 DDR PCI-E16 SATA RAID Sound GBLAN Motherboard

Memory 2 sticks Samsung PC3200 1GB DDR400 184PIN DIMM Memory OEM

Hard Drives Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB SATA2 7200RPM 8MB 8.9MS Hard Drive

Video Card EVGA E-GEFORCE 7600 GT CO 580MHZ PCI-E 256MB 128BIT 1.5GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out Video Card

DVD Writer Samsung SH-W162 16X DVD+-RW 5X Dual Layer DVD Writer Black /W SW OEM

Optional Fans For intake on the front: Antec TriCool 120MM DBB Case Fan 3-SPEED 1200/1600/2200RPM 25/28/30DBA 39/56/79CFM 3 & 4PINS

LCD Display Viewsonic VA912B 19IN TFT LCD Monitor Black 1280X1024 8MS 500:1 0.264MM VGA DVI W/ Speakers

 

[J Macker]

dang... I didn't know that "midrange" definition included 2gb ram and a dual core.
oh, and if you have an extra $100-200 to spend get a Radeon x1800XT for $285.

better yet, get a good pair of headphones (if you'll be in the dorms) or a nice set of speakers.

5.1s are indeed nice, but a ton of cables. and most often you won't be listening at high volumes, even though it's cool to have an awesome speaker system.

 

[mirage220]

I already have a good set of speakers. It's mostly the motherboard and processor that I'm unsure of. I don't plan on doing any overclocking so I figure a good dual core processor and a relatively inexpensive but reliable motherboard is what I'm looking for.

 

[scottatwittenberg]

most people will probably say to upgrade the video card.. it depends if you game or not..
maybe get a nicer case and beefy power supply.. or another hard drive...

i think that the nec and benQ dvd burners are better than samsung..

or save that $100-200 for beer...

 

[krameriffic]

Definately up that video card. The new X1900GT might be a good choice, unless it turns out to suck, in which case a 7900GT or an X1800XT would work just fine for around $300.