build a new system soon

[mdehart]

plan to build a new pc intel core 2 duo which mobo is best to get.

what i need is mobo,cpu,hd,ram.vg,sc,dvd br,monitor lcd,kb mice,case,ps,os

use for gamer , internet email search other stuff , fantasy sports

budget under $2,000 i hope

[Mr.Ferrari]

Processor: You decide after you price everything else up. For budget look at e6300 or e6400, for sweet spot look at e6600 around ~350 bucks.

Motherboard: Before I suggest a motherboard. Do you have a preference towards crossfire? (dual card configuration)

HDD: Any flavor you so wish of the seagate 7200.10 series. Make sure you get the sata versions. Atleast 250Gb. If you so wish and have a few extra bucks left over, I would suggest a 70 or 150gb Western Digital 10k rpm 16mb cache raptor. As your OS and games drive.

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590 or pick something equivalent of OCZ if you prefer something flashier.

GFX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102025

Sound Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102188 (optional) *If you wanna save some cash I would suggest you first listen to onboard audio and if it doesnt satisfy you go for that.*

Monitor: Its your pick, take something from Viewsonic or Samsung in the size you wish. General rule is lower the response time (ms) the better, higher the contrast ration the better, and pick whatever size you so wish, I would suggest atleast 20.1'' for your purposes.

Keyboard and Mice: I would go for a logitech G5 or a Razor Copperhead for gaming purposes, your choice on whicever keyboard you wish.

Case: Once again pick some thing that appeals to you and fits in your budget, some good brands are Thermaltake, Lianli, antec, aerocool, coolermaster etc. A good choice for a ~100 dollar case is the antec p180, comes in white or black.

Powersupply: Before I suggest here Ill need your input on whether or not you plan on going with a dual card configuration in the future, such as crossfire.

[AnotherMuggle]

I've read in magazines that at the moment the motherboards that are being designed for the Core 2 Duo haven't been that impressive...

[Mr.Ferrari]

Actually. Alot of motherboards have been satisfying alot of very high expectations. Just gotta know which ones to pick. Especially with conroe's problem of high fsb, overclockers have been pushing the boards to limits way higher then before. And theyve been bringing good results. Some have been dissapointing, some have suprised.

[mdehart]

Originally Posted by tomkear2006 I've read in magazines that at the moment the motherboards that are being designed for the Core 2 Duo haven't been that impressive...

amd has the am2 that for 4x4 cpu or something else comin out later 07'
i like amd too .

they say the core 2 really fast but amd with price cut you can get really fast amd system too.

core 2 vs amd ?

if amd 939 or am2 ?

[Mr.Ferrari]

Those price cuts are handy for those who have existing 939 systems. Otherwise conroe in the same budget will lay waste to anythign amd has currently to offer. K8L is a 2x2 quad core which has been delayed again and again to now we would be suprised if it came out in the end of next year. Kentsfield is intels quad core which will be coming out in a few months.

[mdehart]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ferrari Those price cuts are handy for those who have existing 939 systems. Otherwise conroe in the same budget will lay waste to anythign amd has currently to offer. K8L is a 2x2 quad core which has been delayed again and again to now we would be suprised if it came out in the end of next year. Kentsfield is intels quad core which will be coming out in a few months.

go with intel over amd

[Mr.Ferrari]

And about the powersupply and motherboard??? *points to second post*

[mdehart]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ferrari And about the powersupply and motherboard??? *points to second post*

dual video cards yes

[Mr.Ferrari]

MSI 975X Platinum

Asus P5WDH <--(currently not yet in stock)

I would see and wait if you can get your hands on the p5wdh as it has been through more extensive testing.

If you want a safe in stock stable platform then Intel 975X bad axe rev.304

And since you want a crossfire ready powersupply..
http://forum.pcmech.com/showpost.php...2&postcount=14
Take a look at that post I made and choose whichever powersupply fits your budget and aestheticly pleases you the best. They are all excellent psu's.

[blue60007]

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe - $270
Intel E6600 - $350
Corsair XMS2 2x1GB DDR2-800 - $210
ATI X1900XTX - $500-$550
Western Digital SE16 250GB - $80
Forton FSP FX-600 (W) - $140
LITE-ON DVD-RW - $30
Win XP Home OEM - $90

That's about $1700, minus case, monitor, keyboard, mouse. You could also try one of the 965 chipsets boards, but I have no comment on those (they run about $100 cheaper, but do not have Crossfire capabilities, and if you do that you could cut back to an Antec TP-II 550 power supply and save another $50)

[Mr.Ferrari]

The fortron 600W wont handle 2 of those cards in crossfire. Only 425w are allocated to the 12v rails. Better to go with the 700W, and if you want more for your money I suggest you go with the Ocz 700w gamextreme I linked to in my post. OEM is fortron's 700w epsilon, just ocz sells it for cheaper, and with a better warranty, best part is, its 140 bucks@newegg.

And the performance diff. between xtx and xt is minimal and you can spend the same cash on a 7950gx2. X1900XT @ 300 bucks is a very good deal in my opinion, you will gain only 3fps on average with xtx.

Otherwise good luck with the build.

965boards technically can run crossfire but will be a very bottlenecked crossfire as the second slot is only 4x. Just a repeat of 955x vs. 975x. 975 is the way to go for crossfire.

[blue60007]

Good point about the XT/XTX difference. Can't use dual 7950GX's anways...

[newbuilder14]

Where can I look at Conroes?

[blue60007]

Just google "Conroe benchmarks" or "core 2 duo" and you'll get a kajillion results. The CPUs should be available to buy in full force within a few weeks.

[Mr.Ferrari]

www.ewiz.com www.zipzoomfly.com

dont even think of buying it from newegg right now. Alot of people are just plain pissed at newegg's insane price gouge.

[newbuilder14]

After reading this month's PC World, I told myself, "I must get a Conroe." Lol. The one that's around $200 looks good, but it's operating frequency is 1.83ghz, that should be fine for me, right?

[Mr.Ferrari]

yup it beats more higherend dual cores from amd. And at 2.4ghz it will lay smack to a amd fx-62. Just so you get a idea .

[newbuilder14]

Nice! What are the requirements for motherboards. I think you need the P965/P975 chipset right? Do you recommend one that's not extremely expensive.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Might wanna start your own thread if you want to go further on this.

But it mainly depends on your budget. If you have plans for crossfire, or have any use of the specialties the 975x chipset offers, go for it. Three of the best competitors in this area is the Asus P5WDH 244-270, Intel Badaxe 253, Msi 975X platinum 200-230.

If you dont have any of those requirements, the best 965board right now is the Gigabyte DS3, overclocking, and performance in benchmarks are the highest in this area and even beat some/most 975x boards, only beaten by the Gigabyte dq6 which is also 965 but is a whole lot more expensive. 144-150 for the DS3, another good one is Asus p5b around 150-160.