Right now I have a P4 550 @ 3.4 Ghz running on a Nforce4 motherboard that doesn't support dual-cores, with 2 gigs of 533 Mhz DDR2 and a 6600GT. I plan on building a Q6600-based system around early August, but I want to turn this computer into a viable second gaming rig so I can play LAN games against my brother. Keep in mind I'm in Canada, so no Newegg for me, and prices are a bit higher.
I found a bundle on NCIX that includes a Biostar Tforce P965 board, 2 gigs of 4-4-4-12 Corsair DDR-667 RAM, and a Pentium E2160 for $275 canadian:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....TF965/2G5400&manufacture=BIOSTAR&promoid=1008
To this, I plan on adding a 7600GT for around $130 from tigerdirect, mostly because they have a retail store 10 minutes down the road from my house. I can't really afford an X1950pro, because the cheapest one is around $180, and that's too much of a jump. Power supply shouldn't be a problem, I just upgraded to a 500W Ultra X-finity when my old unit died, and I'm going to carry over the old case, cooling drives and everything else. I plan on overclocking that E2160 to around 3 Ghz, which should be possible because it's basically an E4300 with half the cache disabled, and this board and memory should easily support 333 Mhz FSB. As for CPU cooling, I plan on using the CoolerMaster (I think...) Big Typhoon I had on the P4, which is a giant brick of copper with heatpipes. Please tell me if this is worth the money, or if there is a better option that costs around the same amount of money. Thanks for your help.
I found a bundle on NCIX that includes a Biostar Tforce P965 board, 2 gigs of 4-4-4-12 Corsair DDR-667 RAM, and a Pentium E2160 for $275 canadian:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....TF965/2G5400&manufacture=BIOSTAR&promoid=1008
To this, I plan on adding a 7600GT for around $130 from tigerdirect, mostly because they have a retail store 10 minutes down the road from my house. I can't really afford an X1950pro, because the cheapest one is around $180, and that's too much of a jump. Power supply shouldn't be a problem, I just upgraded to a 500W Ultra X-finity when my old unit died, and I'm going to carry over the old case, cooling drives and everything else. I plan on overclocking that E2160 to around 3 Ghz, which should be possible because it's basically an E4300 with half the cache disabled, and this board and memory should easily support 333 Mhz FSB. As for CPU cooling, I plan on using the CoolerMaster (I think...) Big Typhoon I had on the P4, which is a giant brick of copper with heatpipes. Please tell me if this is worth the money, or if there is a better option that costs around the same amount of money. Thanks for your help.