Which PC System?

[Scotch_uk]

I am about to upgrade my pc to something cutting edge in terms of gaming. I have never built a pc before and am not really interested in starting now - I am after a pre-built system that I can configure on line when I order.

I currently have a Dell and saw their latest XPS Gen 4. It looks the business to me but what do I know?

I have also heard about Alienware, who claim on their site to put together a far superior system to the XPS.

Does anyone have any guidance? Forget the price at the moment, I am interested in your dream machines.

A couple of other techie questions that you may be able to help with:

1. What processor is better - the AMD or Pentium? I have heard that the AMD 64 bit processor is better but no reason as to why. Is the AMD compatible (if that's the correct phrase) with PCI express?

2. Some sites also offer SLI graphics which I understand allows you to run two graphics cards simultaneously. Is it worth getting? Is it only compatible with NVidia?

Any other tips on what I should look out for when buying would be great.

Thanks

Scotch

[Glanzer]

A few thoughts:

--Do some research to find which mobos are good, which hard drives are good, etc... Then find a company that allows you to choose those components and put them into a system built for you that also is guaranteed. My favorite company is http://www.monarchcomputer.com (http://www.codboards.com/redirect.php?http://www.monarchcomputer.com), but they are located in the U.S. and may not ship to the UK.

--AMD 64 is probably the fastest chip. And yes it's compatible with PCI Express. The motherboard will determine the compatibility of course, so just make sure that the mobo is made for both AMD 64 and PCI Express.

--I don't know anything about pros/cons of dual monitors. That's not important to me. But if you could run your game full screen on one monitor, and have your ventrilo window open on another.... SCHWEET. Right now I play CoD in a window to have both open.

--Use this as an opportunity to do some good research on how the hardware works for each of the components. Read every review you can.