Some Advice On My Choice of Parts?

[mattmorgan]

Looking to build a new machine, as an upgrade from my current gaming machine which is fine, but i love to waste my money and future proof myself.

here's what I already have:


AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 2.2Ghz s939 1MB
ASUS A8N-SLI SE
2x XFX 6600GT 256MB, 1000 MHz ,GPU 500 PCI-E (SLI)
1280mb PC3200DDR Ram

80gb Samsung SP0812C

heres what i'm looking at getting:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/SpecPage.html?MBB-C2D6PU

Intel Core Duo E6600 2.4 GHz
1024Mb 667Mhz DDR2 240pin

not sure what motherboard come with this set up (msi), but it has sli for my current cards so... they wont go to waste.

or should i save some money and go for;

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MBB-C2D635

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
1024Mb DDR2 667MHz
Gigabyte Motherboard

not sure what motherboard come with this set up however cheaper but only run one of the cards i have, so get a better single card?

can any one suggest one?

i live in the uk, if you think you can find a better setup, or this lot cheaper, please, please point me that way!! i can claim the vat back through my company but my working budget is £600. i only need the motherboard, ram, and processor, possible possible... a nice phat graphics card.

Cheers Peeps!

M@

[blue60007]

Do you have to buy a CPU/mobo/RAM kit? You can get much better parts seperately. MSI and Gigabyte boards are OK, but there are better. I'd also be leery of RAM that doesn't have a brand name listed...

Neither of those boards support SLI. There aren't any good SLI Intel boards. There's the new 650/680i boards, but they are new and big bucks.

I would replace your two 6600GT's with a new card... the 6600GT's are considered lower end cards now and 2 low end cards together won't create great performance. A mid-range 7600GT is at least 50% faster.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=539&model2=529&chart=198

You can also use that to compare a 6600GT to 6600GT's in SLI, there's only a few games where two of them boost performance.

Keep in mind, more DX 10 cards are around the corner. You might just keep using one of those 6600GT's for now, and then upgrade to a nice DX10 video card once there's more selection (and more DX10 games are available, and the OS for them)

[mattmorgan]

Ok, fair. it would be much better to buy separate i guess. any advice on what to get or should i stick with the same set up but buy better brand ram and buy separately?

[mattmorgan]

This is the graphics card I'm seriously considering:

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4BFZ&CategorySelectedId=11003&InMerch=1

yay, or nay?

4x this ram:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3NVB&CategorySelectedId=11150&NavigationKey=11150%2c385080000&v=3

this processor:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=44HD&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=e6600&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

still need a nice motherboard then... any ideas???


ta.

[newbuilder14]

Video card: Awesome.

Memory: Get 2x1gb - you can later upgrade to 4gb.

Processor - Awesome, make sure it is a retail box.

Motherboard - A plan P5B/P5B Deluxe will do you well.

[mattmorgan]

P5B DELUXE/WIFI - i've had an Asus board the last 2 build's the first one was awesome, the second, and most current is average, however this board has very mixed reviews. can anyone clear this up for me. is it a good board or crap board? i cant afford to wast my money.

many thanks.

M@

[glc]

I've yet to see a bad Asus board with an Intel chipset.

[mattmorgan]

doing more research into this board i note that it has the ati crossfire interface, but i've my heart set on a nvidia card, if anything i'd rather save the money but still get a board of this quality or get an sli compatible board so i could maybe double up later when funds allow. any suggestions?

[flanzig1]

If your nor going to do Crossfire, you can use a single Nvidia card in that mobo.

[mattmorgan]

i know i can use the single card, but if i do decided to grab another, the sli interface wont work with this board, any good alternatives out there guys? something that will be good for over clocking this processor would be nice, anyone got any ideas?

[newbuilder14]

SLI is a hassle with Nvidia unless you drop big bucks for the new 680i chipset, and frankly, Intel chipsets just seem much more reliable.

[blue60007]

Why would you ever need SLI with a 8800GTS? ;) If you want SLI those, you are looking at big power supply bucks.

8800GTS certified list:
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html#certified_powersupplies