** edit at 31/10/07 **
i have made yet another change
CPU - Intel Core 2 Q6600 Latest G0 stepping / SLACR S-spec = $328 purchased
GPU - Asus ATI HD2600XT 256mb DDR3 (temporary gpu til next-gen come out) = $135 purchased
MOBO - Asus MAXIMUS FORMULA X38 DDR2 PCIe 2.0 (future proofing) = $449 purchased
RAM - Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX = $151.65 purchased
PSU - Corsair HX620W = $144 purchased
COOLER - Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme + Scythe S-Flex SFF21F = $96.8 purchased
THERMAL COMPOUND - Arctic Silver 5 = $12 (forgot to buy, will but tomorow)
DVD - Samsung SH-S203B SATA = $42 purchased
CASE - Thermaltake ARMOR SILVER ALUMINIUM VA8003SWA = $263 purchased
CASE SIDE PANEL - Thermaltake A2356 with 200mm fan = $59 purchased
** edit at 24/10/07 **
okay another change to my build:
i am going with the ASUS 8800 ULTRA instead of the GTX since it is the fastest asus card out now and i will be getting the best P35 asus mobo and reasonably fast ram
so i will be buying the HX620W instead of the 520 PSU from corsair instead to supply the ultra with enough power.
any last thoughts guys? i have ordered my case, ram, heatsink and scythe fan..
havent bought the main hardware yet
hi guys im sorry if this question has been asked over and over again...
** edit at 20/10/07 **
ok so i have more or less decided on my build thanks for all the replies so far you have been a big help or atleast gave me ideas .
can you please comment further on what is good or bad, or what you would change, wait for new releases like HD2950 from ati or go for the 8800 Ultra? will the ati radeon HD2950 kick the 8800 Ultra's ass you think?.. btw keep in mind i am persevering with a old pc look at my specs above it is very painful .. thankyou everyone
i will be using the following from my old build:
Samsung SyncMaster 957DF 19''
Seagate Barracuda 160gig and ide 80gig harddrives (i plan to buy a raptor 150gig and a 750gig sata in the future)
Altec Lansing 2.1 sound system (only 2nd hand part of my original pc, my cousin sold it to me for $20 xD )
Windows XP Pro 32bit (might go vista 64bit if it is worth it)
*prices in australian dollars*
CPU - Intel Core 2 Q6600 Latest G0 stepping / SLACR S-spec = $328
GPU - Asus Nvidia EN8800ULTRA/HTDP/768M = $749
MOBO - Asus P5K Premium/WiFi-AP Black Pearl Edition = $329
RAM - Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX = $215
PSU - Corsair HX620W = $144
COOLER - Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme*** + Scythe S-Flex SFF21F = $89
THERMAL COMPOUND - Arctic Silver 5 = $8
DVD - Samsung SH-S203B SATA = $42
CASE - Thermaltake ARMOR SILVER ALUMINIUM VA8003SWA = $205
***i read on newegg Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme had machining issues, is it worth the hassle?..
TOTAL = $2109
The following is my other options to replace my current motherboard and case selection if you can give any good reasons (cheaper price? same performance?..), also what do you think about the two HDD Coolers; any good?..
MOBO - Asus P5K-E/WIFI-AP = $208
CASE - Antec NINE HUNDRED = $168
HDD - Western Digital 150gig 10K rpm RAPTOR WD1500ADFD = $275
HDD COOLERS - Vantec Vortex 2 black = $33 or
Scythe Fanless HDD Silencer = $26
To buy in 6 months or so:
SPEAKERS - Logitech Z-5500 = $405 (been craving these for so long )
LCD 22'' - Samsung 226BW 2ms = $459 ( for real?! most manufacturers lie through their teeth )
thanks for your time everyone
** original post **
i currently have a asus ati 9600xt gpu, a amd athlon xp 2500+ cpu, a msi via KT400 mobo chipset, antec trublue 350w psu and corsair 512mb 400mhz DDR ram.. this gaming rig was assemled around feb 2004 and i cant even watch HD anime without the video lagging behind the sound let alone play the lastest gen of games with good settings...
now my dilema is i have been saving for about a year now for a new system (finally)
i had this cpu, gpu set-up in mind:
gpu = asus nvidia 8800 GTX = 795 AUD (australian dollar)
cpu = intel Q6600 latest G0 stepping (i have no idea if this version is better than the first Q6600 release) = 340 AUD
i would like to use a ASUS motherboard these are what i can find in my area:
ASUS P5K PREMIUM/WiFi-AP BLACK PEARL Edition Core 2 Quad ready 1333FSB = 345 AUD
ASUS P5K DELUXE WiFi Intel P35 Dual-channel DDR2 1066/800/667 MHz= 325 AUD
ASUS STRIKER EXTREME nForce 680i Gaming Series Quad-core CPU INTEL CORE 2 DUO READY = 459 AUD
ASUS BLITZ EXTREME Intel P35 Express Gaming Series QUAD CORE 1333FSB Ready = 445 AUD
now this is where my problem starts.. i havent been reading the toms articles on the latest tech thoroughly for the past 2 years.. i have just been scanning the titles and reading conclusions, lets say i was busy..
i do not know what would be the best chipset for the motherboard, what is the best PSU max watt capacity and brand to buy and what speed/brand of DD2 ram to get (corsair, patriot, crucial) and should i go for the max speed of ram that the mobo can handle like 1k+ mhz or is 800mhz ram fast enough..
and since i have persevered this long with a "slow" pc is it best to wait for the later generation of quad cores from intel or is time for a upgrade as these components are fast enough..
if you guys were in my shoes what would you do?..
thanks for your help
i have made yet another change
CPU - Intel Core 2 Q6600 Latest G0 stepping / SLACR S-spec = $328 purchased
GPU - Asus ATI HD2600XT 256mb DDR3 (temporary gpu til next-gen come out) = $135 purchased
MOBO - Asus MAXIMUS FORMULA X38 DDR2 PCIe 2.0 (future proofing) = $449 purchased
RAM - Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX = $151.65 purchased
PSU - Corsair HX620W = $144 purchased
COOLER - Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme + Scythe S-Flex SFF21F = $96.8 purchased
THERMAL COMPOUND - Arctic Silver 5 = $12 (forgot to buy, will but tomorow)
DVD - Samsung SH-S203B SATA = $42 purchased
CASE - Thermaltake ARMOR SILVER ALUMINIUM VA8003SWA = $263 purchased
CASE SIDE PANEL - Thermaltake A2356 with 200mm fan = $59 purchased
** edit at 24/10/07 **
okay another change to my build:
i am going with the ASUS 8800 ULTRA instead of the GTX since it is the fastest asus card out now and i will be getting the best P35 asus mobo and reasonably fast ram
so i will be buying the HX620W instead of the 520 PSU from corsair instead to supply the ultra with enough power.
any last thoughts guys? i have ordered my case, ram, heatsink and scythe fan..
havent bought the main hardware yet
hi guys im sorry if this question has been asked over and over again...
** edit at 20/10/07 **
ok so i have more or less decided on my build thanks for all the replies so far you have been a big help or atleast gave me ideas .
can you please comment further on what is good or bad, or what you would change, wait for new releases like HD2950 from ati or go for the 8800 Ultra? will the ati radeon HD2950 kick the 8800 Ultra's ass you think?.. btw keep in mind i am persevering with a old pc look at my specs above it is very painful .. thankyou everyone
i will be using the following from my old build:
Samsung SyncMaster 957DF 19''
Seagate Barracuda 160gig and ide 80gig harddrives (i plan to buy a raptor 150gig and a 750gig sata in the future)
Altec Lansing 2.1 sound system (only 2nd hand part of my original pc, my cousin sold it to me for $20 xD )
Windows XP Pro 32bit (might go vista 64bit if it is worth it)
*prices in australian dollars*
CPU - Intel Core 2 Q6600 Latest G0 stepping / SLACR S-spec = $328
GPU - Asus Nvidia EN8800ULTRA/HTDP/768M = $749
MOBO - Asus P5K Premium/WiFi-AP Black Pearl Edition = $329
RAM - Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX = $215
PSU - Corsair HX620W = $144
COOLER - Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme*** + Scythe S-Flex SFF21F = $89
THERMAL COMPOUND - Arctic Silver 5 = $8
DVD - Samsung SH-S203B SATA = $42
CASE - Thermaltake ARMOR SILVER ALUMINIUM VA8003SWA = $205
***i read on newegg Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme had machining issues, is it worth the hassle?..
TOTAL = $2109
The following is my other options to replace my current motherboard and case selection if you can give any good reasons (cheaper price? same performance?..), also what do you think about the two HDD Coolers; any good?..
MOBO - Asus P5K-E/WIFI-AP = $208
CASE - Antec NINE HUNDRED = $168
HDD - Western Digital 150gig 10K rpm RAPTOR WD1500ADFD = $275
HDD COOLERS - Vantec Vortex 2 black = $33 or
Scythe Fanless HDD Silencer = $26
To buy in 6 months or so:
SPEAKERS - Logitech Z-5500 = $405 (been craving these for so long )
LCD 22'' - Samsung 226BW 2ms = $459 ( for real?! most manufacturers lie through their teeth )
thanks for your time everyone
** original post **
i currently have a asus ati 9600xt gpu, a amd athlon xp 2500+ cpu, a msi via KT400 mobo chipset, antec trublue 350w psu and corsair 512mb 400mhz DDR ram.. this gaming rig was assemled around feb 2004 and i cant even watch HD anime without the video lagging behind the sound let alone play the lastest gen of games with good settings...
now my dilema is i have been saving for about a year now for a new system (finally)
i had this cpu, gpu set-up in mind:
gpu = asus nvidia 8800 GTX = 795 AUD (australian dollar)
cpu = intel Q6600 latest G0 stepping (i have no idea if this version is better than the first Q6600 release) = 340 AUD
i would like to use a ASUS motherboard these are what i can find in my area:
ASUS P5K PREMIUM/WiFi-AP BLACK PEARL Edition Core 2 Quad ready 1333FSB = 345 AUD
ASUS P5K DELUXE WiFi Intel P35 Dual-channel DDR2 1066/800/667 MHz= 325 AUD
ASUS STRIKER EXTREME nForce 680i Gaming Series Quad-core CPU INTEL CORE 2 DUO READY = 459 AUD
ASUS BLITZ EXTREME Intel P35 Express Gaming Series QUAD CORE 1333FSB Ready = 445 AUD
now this is where my problem starts.. i havent been reading the toms articles on the latest tech thoroughly for the past 2 years.. i have just been scanning the titles and reading conclusions, lets say i was busy..
i do not know what would be the best chipset for the motherboard, what is the best PSU max watt capacity and brand to buy and what speed/brand of DD2 ram to get (corsair, patriot, crucial) and should i go for the max speed of ram that the mobo can handle like 1k+ mhz or is 800mhz ram fast enough..
and since i have persevered this long with a "slow" pc is it best to wait for the later generation of quad cores from intel or is time for a upgrade as these components are fast enough..
if you guys were in my shoes what would you do?..
thanks for your help