New Build Advice...

[0iD]

Right, i've built many many rigs over the years, but mainly for work & they have been CAD oriented. Last rig I built for me & still use day-to-day for gaming etc you can read from my system specs... and i have to say, most of the time it holds up well.

However, as with all things, it's time to move on & get with the whole PCI-e thang, get a new gaming rig to play Stalker, Crysis & Quake Wars etc. So here goes...

Processor
Breaking with a long personal tradition here & going back to Intel. Does the E6700 have much over the E6600 apart from about £100. Overclockability/performance, woth the extra cash? Plus, a good cooler, air jobby, can i re-use my XP120 perhaps, ooo, or a reserator, always wanted one...

Motherboard
What's a good solid performing option. Will be overclocking, but not to any great extreme. Intel? Foxconn? Asus? SLI/Crossfire unimportant as i'll never be able to afford to do it.

RAM
Always alwasy been a huge Corsair fan, been able to get some silly speed out of even their low-end stuff. But what else is good bang-for-buck value? So mid price/good performance & will be using 4gigs of it.

Graphics Card
What's the fastest single card I can get these days?

Sound
In this day & age is a seperate sound card like the X-fi worth it, or does the mobo give a good enough 5.1 experience?

That's about it. I have a good case in my old Coolermaster Black Widow, good airflow & looks good. I have optical & hard drives a plenty too. Will probably dip my toe in the Vista puddle too to see what it's all about, using the current upgrade to full copy work around.

[Ciber]

Right, i've built many many rigs over the years, but mainly for work & they have been CAD oriented. Last rig I built for me & still use day-to-day for gaming etc you can read from my system specs... and i have to say, most of the time it holds up well.

However, as with all things, it's time to move on & get with the whole PCI-e thang, get a new gaming rig to play Stalker, Crysis & Quake Wars etc. So here goes...

Processor
E6300 or E4300 would seem to be able to be overclocked to be as fast as the high end core 2. You should prolly have a good read of this thread: http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=97294

Motherboard
ASUS P5B Deluxe wifi seems a good choice.

RAM
Corsair is good, I don't really know ddr2, but try the dominator stuff!

Graphics Card
What's the fastest single card I can get these days?
A: 8800GTX quote(hexus):"XFX GeForce 8800 GTX XXX Edition is a pretty simple one. It's recommended to the enthusiast who wants cutting-edge performance from a regular card. For everyone else, a stock-clocked GeForce 8800 GTX is more than fast enough, and it's cheaper, as well."
TBH though, I would get a 7600gt for now as you will want to upgrade anyway when directx10 games and more cards actually arrive on the scene to show the true wheat from the chaff.

Sound
X-Fi Extreme Music generally seems to be regarded as best.


In general I would suggest waiting for vista as well as directx10 hardware to settle down somewhat before building a new vista machine.

[Clunk]

Right, i've built many many rigs over the years, but mainly for work & they have been CAD oriented. Last rig I built for me & still use day-to-day for gaming etc you can read from my system specs... and i have to say, most of the time it holds up well.

However, as with all things, it's time to move on & get with the whole PCI-e thang, get a new gaming rig to play Stalker, Crysis & Quake Wars etc. So here goes...

Processor
Breaking with a long personal tradition here & going back to Intel. Does the E6700 have much over the E6600 apart from about £100. Overclockability/performance, woth the extra cash? Plus, a good cooler, air jobby, can i re-use my XP120 perhaps, ooo, or a reserator, always wanted one...Personally, I dont think the E6700 is worth the extra money. The E6600 is a great middle of the range chip, overclocks well. Cooling wise, the xp120 will be fine if it has 775 brackets.

Motherboard
What's a good solid performing option. Will be overclocking, but not to any great extreme. Intel? Foxconn? Asus? SLI/Crossfire unimportant as i'll never be able to afford to do it.

P5B deluxe wifi - rock solid, and if you do decide to overclock later, this board is worth every penny.

RAM
Always alwasy been a huge Corsair fan, been able to get some silly speed out of even their low-end stuff. But what else is good bang-for-buck value? So mid price/good performance & will be using 4gigs of it.

Ram prices are dropping at the moment, so just get the fastest that you can afford, especially if you do plan to overclock at a later date - something like pc2-6400 and above and corsair is fine, although not the cheapest at the moment.

Graphics Card
What's the fastest single card I can get these days?

Currently the fastest is the 8800GTX, but ATI has a new one coming out, so who knows?


Sound
In this day & age is a seperate sound card like the X-fi worth it, or does the mobo give a good enough 5.1 experience?

In my opinion, a seperate soundcard is a must, especially if you are using half decent speakers, or running through an AV amp. If its just for gaming with some surround pc speakers, a cheap x-fi should do it for you. If you are running through an amp or other decent speakers, have a look at the Auzentech cards.

That's about it. I have a good case in my old Coolermaster Black Widow, good airflow & looks good. I have optical & hard drives a plenty too. Will probably dip my toe in the Vista puddle too to see what it's all about, using the current upgrade to full copy work around.

[moogle]

Graphics Card
What's the fastest single card I can get these days?
A: 8800GTX quote(hexus):"XFX GeForce 8800 GTX XXX Edition is a pretty simple one. It's recommended to the enthusiast who wants cutting-edge performance from a regular card. For everyone else, a stock-clocked GeForce 8800 GTX is more than fast enough, and it's cheaper, as well."
TBH though, I would get a 7600gt for now as you will want to upgrade anyway when directx10 games and more cards actually arrive on the scene to show the true wheat from the chaff.

I agree about the graphics card, get the 7600gt or 7900GTO or one around the £140 range. I read that the 8800gtx sli cant get over 30 fps on crysis on the highest settings/res's. newer cards will be released along. so saving that £260 will help for a future upgrade. ( if you were going to buy a £400 8800gtx )

[CrazyMonkey]

E6700 would be a silly choice, that extra £100 is well spent elsewhere.

I would say 4300, everything that 0iD has posted is great.

The X-Fi seriously sounds great shame the Mic Jack is bust on mine

[Oobie-]

Its all been pretty much said, but I would get an ATI x1950pro or XT version. £130 odd or £160 for the XT isn't bad and thats for the same reason as stated already too.

[moogle]

E6700 would be a silly choice, that extra £100 is well spent elsewhere.

I would say 4300, everything that 0iD has posted is great.

The X-Fi seriously sounds great shame the Mic Jack is bust on mine

I think its an extra £150 for the e6700, I agree it would be better spent elswhere. and yep everything Clunk posted is good.

[0iD]

Cool, thanx guys, time to splash some cash