So after humming and hahing, I have decided to stick with PC format and got this quote yesterday for a new system.
I want something that will run XP atm, but will handle Windows 7 or similar down the track.
I shoot raw all the time, and want to run LR and CS4, with room to spare. This is possibly a bit of overkill, but i would rather be over specced than under.

This is what the guys at the store suggested:

Cooler master elite 333 NO PSU HD AUD $85

Vantec ION+ 500w ultra quiet SLI $95

Gigabye GA-EP45-UD3LS775 P45 FSB1600 4DDR2 PCIE2.0 GbLAN UD3 TX SATA2 $220

Intel core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33ghz 1333FSB 4MB CACHE, 775 $315

CORSAIR TWIN2X4096-8500C5 4GB (2X240-PIN DIMMs NON ECC Unbuffered 5-5-5-15 $140

SAMSUNG 1TB SATA II 32MB 3G/Bs $185

GALAXY GEFORCE 9500GT PCI-E 512MB DDR2 128-BIT NVIDIA SLI-READY DUAL LINK DVI 2560X1600 RESOLUTION $110
Assembly Charge $40

Total: $1190 ( probably get 5 % off that.)

I have software, dvd burner, monitor etc.


I would appreciate your thoughts on this if you have a spare minute. I understand a little of the specs but much of it is just letters and numbers.