Advice on this setup?

[MK-84]

This setup is essentially identical to a friends PC that we tested AH on.  Results were that Hi Res textures worked, and we had to remove shadows completly, and slightly detune a few of the other options and framrates stood at about 36 offline.  I assume that online we'd have to lower some setting even more but WOW compared with the laptop I use. (which has almost everything at min and FR is about 26 dipping in big battles or too much stuff burning down below.

Thoughts, ideas?

All these specs were priced out a couple days ago from NewEgg:

AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0 GHz 4 X 512KB L2 Cache ^MG L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor  $109.99

Team Elite 4GB (2 X GB) 240pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory $41.99

ASRock A785GM-LE AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $58.99

Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB cache SATA 3.0B/S 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive $49.99

StarTech FANK8AM2 92mm Ever lubricate Universal AMD 64-bit CPU cooler $14.99

I know very little about computers, so I typed this from the sheets I was given.  What do you all think?

[1701E]

Some notes. Never heard of that brand of RAM, OCZ/Corsair are some of the more recommended plus DDR3 is the new standard. I'd suggest a Black edition hard drive. Also, what brand PSU and kind of GPU does it have?
Someone else will chime in soon to help more.

[The Fugitive]

You might want to add a video card. On-board video won't be nearly as good as a card, also you have to factor in an operating system.

[BaldEagl]

Why buy an AMD quad core when AH only uses two cores on Intel chips and only one core on AMD chips?  You could save $50 easy right there.

Get a smaller WD Black HD.

You need a GPU, PSU and OS unless you're using something you already have.  You could save another $15 on the cooler and use the stock one for now.

[Debrody]

What you need?
-a case   its on your taste
-a motherboard   if youre buying an AMD one, it MUST be AM3+ compatible, with place to put on 4 ram sticks    i use a Gigabyte one, works well, heard the Asrock ones are good too
-a PSU      a quality 500W will be enough for everything. I would go for a chieftec.
-CPU    quad core phenomIIs work very well, can be overclocked like crazy, cheap, upgradable to the new coming bulldozer
-RAM    DDR3 is a must have, at least 4GB. Dont buy noname stuff, the Kingstons are cheap and good quality. DDR3 1600mhz is the way to go
-HDD   is you only wanna run AH, dont spend so much on this, that Western Digital one may serve you well
-GPU   well, there are many choices. If you want to run AH with all the eye candy on, you may need a radeon hd 6850. If you remove the shadows, a radeon 6570 will get the job done.
-DVD rom     dont spend too much on it unless you wanna write blu-ray films
-OS    it can be expensive, but free is you already have one
Its all together about 550-650 bux here (EU), depending on your video card choice. Its a decent, upgradable machine.

[cattb]

Watch for  the specials on newegg or other tech site. The are some very good sales at times. I would go for a medium range GPU as mentioned, 6850 ot the nvidia 460 or 560.
Make sure you get the correct motherboard for processor. A AM+ AMD motherboard will not run AM3 CPU. A AM3 motherboard will run a AM+ CPU.
Get the correct RAM for motherboard, some RAM may need higher voltage then the board will supply. (had that happen to me once). I think ddr3 is pretty much 1.5 volts except some of the low voltage RAM. ( Not hundred percent sure for all ddr3)
DO research into what your buying.
Look at warranties. SOme video cards have a life warranty and some do not. Also warranty may vary with RAM. If you plan on having this PC for more then 3 or 4 years without upgrades, I think I would look more for the lifetime warranty on your hardware..
Get Black WD hardrive as mentioned before, better performance and I believe a better warranty.

[MK-84]

excellent advice, thanks