New Computer But A Few Questions

[neonplanet40]

Hey guys its that time of the year again, which means upgrade time. I have sold my current rig now which will be gone before xmas so unfortunatly i am not able to wait for the new cpu's etc in january.

Well what i have decided on so far is

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA804)

Now with this i have a question. I am in no way inclined to go 64bit or certainly not vista anytime soon. Is 2GB enough? I have found it a bit lacking in Supreme commander. I was thinking of getting 4 x 1 GB sticks so that i have it when i do. What i want to know is if there is any point in doing this or should i just stick with 2GB. Also If i do get 4 x 1GB sticks will it hamper my overclocking? And is this the best ram at this price for the job?

Asus P5K Premium/WiFi-AP, iP35, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 1066/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

Is this board my best option? Im really not interested in DDR3 as it is far too expensive.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual Core / Core2Duo Read

Is this cooler good enough? I will be overclocking the pants out of this quad core and dont want it melting on me!

Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0 SLACR, 95W, S775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache, Retail

Dont think i need to ask if this is ok or not

150 Gb Western Digital WD1500AHFD Raptor X, SATA150, 10000 rpm, 16MB Cache, 4.6 ms, NCQ

I dont know whether this is worth the money or not?

20" Samsung SM206BW Black Widescreen LCD, 1680x1050, 3000:1, 300cd/m2, 2ms

This is another thing which is doing my head in. SHould i get the 20" or the 22"? Whats your opinions and experiences?

I should also mention that from my current rig i will be keeping

The Enermex 620 Watt Liberty (Is this enough power?)
Creative X-Fi Fatality
XFX 8800GTS XXX 320MB
Akasa Eclipse Case
Western Digital Rapter 76GB
2x Samsung 500GB HDD.

If you's have any recommendations and opinions i would be greatful to hear them.

Thats for reading

Neon

[jamiesalter]

I've currently got 4x1gb ram and it's definitely not hampering overclocking
Personally I'd go for the Scythe Ninja Rev B for cooling, but that's just a preference. Also currently got a Hanns-G HG216D 21.6" screen. If you're looking for a monitor on a budget this is the one to get - awesome for the price. Also the 620 Watt PSU will be fine for that rig.

[LegacyOne]

Get another 76GB Rapter and RAID it with your current Rapter.

[neonplanet40]

The reason i am looking to get the 150Gb rapter is becuase 74gb isnt big enough tbh. Most new games that are coming up are near 10GB in size. The drive soon fills up. Thats for the help Jamie

[LegacyOne]

The reason i am looking to get the 150Gb rapter is becuase 74gb isnt big enough tbh. Most new games that are coming up are near 10GB in size. The drive soon fills up.

That's why I said “RAID it” if you RAID 0 two 76Gb you will get 148Gb and it will be faster too then one 150Gb Raptor.

[neonplanet40]

Ahh sorry i misread. I see what you mean. Any thoughts on the other parts?

[vrykyl]

I agree on the second 74gb raptor - any new intel chipset motherboard has 'intel matrix raid' - which imo is very good, and the two 74gb drives in raid0 will spank a single 150gb raptor.

Right then, in order:

The ballistix is great - i recomend it to everyone - it clocks like mad, and crucial warranty and after sales is amazing. Its a no brainer. As for 2gb vs 4gb, if your not into vista (64bit) then imo 4gb in xp/vista 32bit is pointless....the OS can only use 3gb and games/apps still have a limit on how much they can access. Stick with 2gb and save your pennys.

Motherboard - a nice choice. IMO either the p5k premium or abit ip35 pro are the two best reasonably priced boards to choose for quad overclocking. Its down to personal choice and specific board options (like no. of usb's, wifi etc) that you should decide on - both will be ace.

Cooler - hmmm, if your wanting to "clock the pants off" your quad, then I would personally go for either - Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme (with your choice of 120mm fan), the Tuniq Tower, or the Scythe Ninja - in that order, thermalright being the best. Iv never rated arctic cooling for high end cpu clocking.

Q6600 G0 - Nice

As for the monitor, its all personal preference. I like dell monitors, but its just what you want (inputs, response time, panel quality).

hope thats helpfull?

[Thorsson]

Thermalright Ultima 90, it's almost as good as its big brother and it's a lot smaller/lighter/cheaper.

[neonplanet40]

Thanks alot for the replies guys. Its much appreciated!!

Neon

[amjedm]

Definitely change the cooler as advised, I use Scythe Ninja's

With regards the monitor, I've tried 20" monitors but prefer the larger screens - now have an LG 22" screen.