Rig upgrade (need some comments)

[Gester4498]

Well, I'm upgrading one of my computers for gaming. Heres what i'm looking at:

Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-M59SLI-S5 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Windsor 2.6GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA5000

RAM:
Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 (PC2 8500) 1066mhz

V-Card:
HIS Hightech H195PRQT512DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 IceQ Turbo HDCP


The ram might be a bit of overkill (even unsupported maybe?)

I'd like to get an 8800gtx, But to be honest i'm not paying $600 for a single component.

Should I drop the extra cash and get a 2.8 or 3.0gig processor or OC? (Never done any serious OCing) or just take it as is.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[freakitchen]

No need for an SLI motherboard with an ATI video card, or in my opinion, for the vast majority of builds. I'd suggest switching to an ASUS M2N-E

That speed RAM is overkill, yes, and may cause compatibility issues. I'd get some Corsair XMS DDR2-800

Have you considered an Intel Core 2 Duo system? Their processors are outperforming AMDs offerings at the minute, on a like-for-like basis, and are very strong overclockers - if you're interested in that.

[Gester4498]

I thought that about the ram. I'm doing some digging atm to see what else I can come up with.

I was looking at C2D setups. Whats a reliable manufacturer for mobo / CPU?

[Gester4498]

K made some changes.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400

ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

With the above video card (hows the card btw?) been a while since I used ATI cards.

[freakitchen]

Great choices there. You can get away with DDR2-667 memory with a Core 2 Duo system, but you need the 800 if you're planning on an over-clock.

The x1950Pro cards are GREAT value for money. I recently bought one for myself and am very happy with it. Don't forget, though, that it's a Direct X 9 video card, and DX10 will soon become the standard. A DX9 card will play games written for DX10, you'll just miss out on some visual features. We've been advising members to go for a cheaper, 'placeholder' video card (like an nVidia 7600GT) to tide them over until the full range of DX10 cards/games have been released, and they can upgrade. Entirely up to you which route you want to go.

Assume you're using these parts with some existing ones. Keep in mind that you'll need a strong ATX2 power supply for this system - 450 quality watts and above. P965 Chipset boards, also, require SATA hard drives - there's only 1 IDE channel, and it's not native to the board.

Should also mention that the E6600 is due a significant price drop at the end of this month, if you can wait 'till then.