Spec me half a rig please :)

[kreeeee]

I'm really not sure on the motherboard, could anyone confirm that's it's a solid choice?

Which heatsink do you recommend? I can always upgrade the processor in the future for pennies and is it safe to assume the quad cores won't clock as high? Is the RAM good for ~3Ghz?

I'll be using this superb guide to OC, as I'm only familiar with A64/X2 overclocking: http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=103676

[BUFF]

Yes, it's a solid choice but if you don't need RAID or firewire you could step down to the cheaper IP35-E.

[kreeeee]

Yes, it's a solid choice but if you don't need RAID or firewire you could step down to the cheaper IP35-E.

Done, thanks for the tip!

[kreeeee]

Ok, this is finalised unless anyone can point out any obvious improvements/incompatibilities:

256MB Leadtek 8600GT, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1400 MHz, GDDR3, GPU 540 MHz, 2x Dual Link DVI-I/HDTV
£72.84

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Socket 775, 2.4 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail
£134.95

520W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU, ATX, EPS12V, whisper quiet, 5 year warranty
£64.50

Samsung SH-S203/BEBN 20x DVD±R, 16x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM inc. Nero
£18.79

Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£70.49

Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
£31.71

Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
£82.24

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)
£82.24

Total:
£557.86

[McPhee]

Surely if you only play Starcraft 1 + 2 then thats overkill?

Try:

Case - Antec Sonata III inc 500W PSU - £70.83: http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?id=14038

CPU - AMD Athlon64 X2 4800+ - £67.79: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=632077

MOBO - Asus MV2 VIA K8T890 - £39.52: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=116475

GPU - 256MB Leadtek 8600GT - £72.84: http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/126985

RAM - 2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 - £65.38: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=255300

HDD - Samsung Spinpoint 250GB - £37.87: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=247245

DVD - Samsung Lightscribe SATA drive - £18.79: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=466662

Total: £345.98 + Delivery.

Cut and pasted from a spec im looking at with a couple of edits (CPU + GPU). Almost £200 cheaper than the Intel spec you posted above, and i doubt theres much difference in performance

[kreeeee]

Indeed it is but I'd like the performance to play a few other future releases should I fancy it. Also I'm upgrading from an X2 3800, 6800GT, 2GB setup as I'm donating it to my parents. I'd like to keep the PC for as long as possible and figured around £500-550 is a good price range for me.

[kreeeee]

Done, goods will arrive here on tuesday. thanks for all your help guys

[Queelis]

Umm.. Why have you skipped E6750? It's the same speed as E6700, and is priced even lower than E6600, seems like a no-brainer for me.

[kreeeee]

Umm.. Why have you skipped E6750? It's the same speed as E6700, and is priced even lower than E6600, seems like a no-brainer for me.

Because I'm whacking it straight up to 1333fsb which is 3Ghz

[zephod]

6600s should easily reach 3ghz with good mobo and ram combination. atm the 1066fsb core2duo processors aren't good value for money as they were not cut in the recent intel price cut. Either go for something like an e6750/e6850 (fsb1333) or get the q6600, which is best value imo. Also, id put it on a p35 mobo, all major brands have good offerings although perhaps ASUS's p5k is leading atm.

[kreeeee]

The q6600 is £40 more though, will it clock as high as the e6600's?