will my rig be able to?

As the topic says, I'm up for a new pc since mine is 5 years old now and can't run anymore games lately. Im aiming for the game Age of Conan and Call of Duty 4. All I need is the rig since i still have a 21" Monitor and keyboard and mouse. On a website I build the following.
My budget is about :shaun:
- 800 euro's
- $1260,-
- 640 Pound

* XFX GF8800GT XXX "Alpha Dog Edition",
* Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 64 bit,
* Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600,
* Cooler Master Real Power M520,
* Cooler Master Centurion 5,
* AOpen DSW2012P,
* Asus P5K PRO,
* Samsung SpinPoint T,
* GeiL 4 GB DDR2-800 Kit,

I'm looking for a "future-build" pc. A pc which can be upgraded after 2/3 years with a new cpu, a new graphic card or stuff like that if you get my point. The pc I build was about 820 euro's. It's got 2 casefans in it and it will be build by the factory. I also would like to overclock that Q6600 to 3.2Mhz, as I'm new to overclocking will I be able to with the topic in this forum and the tutorials on the web? After I got some more cash I also would like to buy another 8800GT to put it with the other.

Now my question is: Will I be able to run the latest games on 1600x1200 max'd out? I know that Age of Conan does support Quad Core processors, and i also think that a Quad core is more future aimed than a dual like E8400.

Please make any suggestions, thanks in advance.

Justin

your system looks pretty good... i have a similar setup and i can run call of duty 4 on high setting but the 8800gt drops a few frames maxed out... but other than that it looks good enough... oh and also not sure how much power you need but a 520w supply might not be enough:S

520W is plenty but go for the corsair HX rather than the coolermaster. Far better PSU.
I wouldn't go for XFX or an XXX edition as the 8800GT has a pretty bad cooler as standard overclocking it seems to be a bad way to go lol

Everything else looks pretty good :)

vista basc is a bit naff, id go for home premium if you can.
There are new graphics card coming out very very soon. next week and the week after, maybe worth the wait.

The quad is more than capable of running those games and the system as a whole should be great :)

that should be ok. thing is that the new graphics cards are coming out in the next week or so, so might be better to hold off till then. also the new intel cpus are going to be out later this year. they won't be compatible with motherboards out right now.

also the motherboard you've picked doesn't support sli (more than one nvidia gfx card at the same time), it'll support cross fire (ati equivalent). but the cross fire will be via a 16x and 4x bus, so one of the cards won't have the full bandwidth.

Just a small point, try and get Vista Home Premium if you can rather than Home Basic. It is probably about the same price now, so why get basic? Most computers do not ship with it anymore.

Edit - oops, just seen that staffsMike mentioned that!

I would stay away from overclocked 8800GTs I use an BFG OC2 and it hits 90C under load in a very very well ventilated Kandalf.

Hey, thanks for all the replies first of all.

Then are there any recommendations on any motherboard for about 100 euro's? I still havent got the money yet so it will still take a while. What about the new Nvidea's coming? Arent they way too expensive?

Thanks,

Abit IP-35 dark radier or the Asus P5K-E wifi for me I think.

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Originally Posted by Jay

I would stay away from overclocked 8800GTs I use an BFG OC2 and it hits 90C under load in a very very well ventilated Kandalf.

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I wonder if it's because of some bad thermal control software on the reference card. After all, if I leave it on "Dynamic mode", the fan stays at a constant 30% speed (and thus near silent) but temperatures creep up to 90. Surely the point of a Dynamic mode is to use the fan to keep the temperture below a certain point.

If I turn the fan onto fixed 100% speed, you can push it a lot lot further, but the noise is irritating.

I don't think your plans of upgradability will be available in 2/3 years time, the new CPUs from intel are coming out end of the year and after a few years pcie2.0 might be more relevant.

about the 8800gt being overclocked... yes it gets very hot mainly because the fan is set to 30% as default... I have an 8800gt BFG OC and using riva tuner to set up some profiles it never goes above 70 degrees... although if u put the fan on full it is very noisy...

I read on the forums that the P5K-PRO doesnt support SLI which is critical to me as i would like 2 GFX cards later on. What about a P5N-D which is only 10 euro's more than the P5K-PRO. Would it be better to pick?

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Originally Posted by crazyfool

a 520w supply might not be enough:S

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A 520W like the CM or Corsair can run your system :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sQueex

I read on the forums that the P5K-PRO doesnt support SLI which is critical to me as i would like 2 GFX cards later on. What about a P5N-D which is only 10 euro's more than the P5K-PRO. Would it be better to pick?

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i would not bother with sli. unless your getting a really big screen its a waste of time for most people i.e. >1920x1200. as custom pc's test showed. also nvidias chipsets for intel vary from from not that bad to crap. at this time youd be best off with a 9800gtx and a good quaility p35 board like a p5k or and ip35.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alsenior

i would not bother with sli. unless your getting a really big screen its a waste of time for most people i.e. >1920x1200. as custom pc's test showed. also nvidias chipsets for intel vary from from not that bad to crap. at this time youd be best off with a 9800gtx and a good quaility p35 board like a p5k or and ip35.

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ye but a 9800GTx is 250 euro's while the 8800GT is 150 , ofcourse it's a big difference but ive got a budget, i can always buy that 9800GTx later.

Hey, i was also wondering, an 8800GTx is 210 euro's. 2 x 9600GT in SLI is 240. What do you guys recommend?