Hello Geeks.

Well i have been out of touch from the IT reviews over the past 2 yrs i think, and i dont know much of the latest hardware around. Tho after some extensive reading, i am thinking its time to upgrade my system. I just need assurance that what upgrades i make are ok...or not ok..

I am not a gamer as such, but i do play games at times (NFS, FIFA, F.E.A.R)
I am more of a Video Encoding guy, i encode movies and convert em etc etc...

Ofcourse i dont want to spend alot, else id have to kill my wife...haha.... But a budget of around 800 to 1K US is orite.

MY OLD SYSTEM:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro SLI Motherboard
Patriot 2 x 1024 GB RAM
Leadtek Nvidia GeForce 7800GT VIVO
Western Digital 250GB SATA
Enermax Liberty 500Watts

MY NEW SYSTEM

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
EVGA nForce 680i SLI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX Motherboard (New T1 Version)
OCZ 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Western Digital / Caviar SE16 / 500GB
Leadtek Nvidia GeForce 7800GT VIVO (CARRIED FORWARD FROM THE OLD MACHINE)
Enermax Liberty 500Watts (CARRIED FORWARD FROM THE OLD MACHINE)

I am really itchy to go out and buy the 8800GTS (320MB).....Should i ?? i dont game much,

Any help will be highly appreciated...

Thanks

Yeah looks good - but I would stir clear from the 8800 320MB - get the GTX - but apart from that I like the move - might be worth checking out if your movie encoding software supports a Q CPU - if it doesn't then not much point spending out any extra.

this is exactly what u need
go for it

also i'd add a lil thing but might be lil bit pricy, as your are in video editing and encoding, then i'd suggest to go with either this card from ATI or this card from Nvidia
one of my friends have tried editing videos with reguler mid-end video card (i.e 7800gtx, 6800gtx, ...etc), and tried the fireGL3000 series, and the fireGL was much much better for editing, but for gaming the regular ones are much better

Ok thanks for the replies so far.

Any reason why you are advising me not to buy the GTS?? GTX is a bit expensive for my liking. But the 7800GT so far is doing the needful for my system, dont u think i should stay with that till the 8 series mature a little and then just change the grafix card at a later date??

As for the FireGL, not really.. i gave it a thot, but then i lil bit extra time in encoding BUT better performance in games made me think to get to the mid end cards.

Everyone on the internet seems to speak of Q6600 and E6600 comparision. They say the Q doesnt give much performance boost etc etc.... and they said to hold back the Quads for now.

But my question is, i dont have a C2D chip.....so i am sure if i were to choose a new conroe chip, my best option would be quad right? considering the quad is for 299... what do u guys say?

Secondly...4GB of RAM, If i use Vista 32bit, i hear there are issues with not all 4gb being utilised...i dont care how much the system displays the ram, as long as all 4 gb can be used in work. I dont want my ram to sit idle doing nothing.

Certainly stay with current graphics card until next release - 320MB is ok but has certain restrictions - thats all.

If your video card is fine for your needs then don't upgrade it, simple as. Same goes for any component.

Personally if I was in your shoes I'd save some money by getting a Gigabyte P35-DS3R motherboard instead of the more costly (and pointless?) 680i version you have there. If you're not using SLI then even though 680i is a good chipset, there's no point getting a 680i board over a P35.

Q6600 is a great choice of CPU for your needs.

Good job on 4GB of RAM, but make sure you're using a 64 bit OS otherwise 1GB of that will be wasted (32 bit Windows XP/Vista can only 'see' around 3GB). If you're using a 32 bit OS then stick with 2GB for now.

Your current PSU will be fine for now, but you may want to look at something beefier in the future when you decide your 7800GT no longer fulfils your needs and you want a new video card.

Thanks guys...i think u just addressed my most recent questions.

Fox : i will be upgrading to Vista 64bit for most of my dail work.

Fox u just almost answered my question which i was going to ask.
But let me still ask it.... I have shorten down my motherboard choices to 2 chipsets P35 and 680i.....I read a review on anandtech i think which said 680 is the best chipset for c2d. I really dont need SLI, i will never use it. I really want to go for the P35, its kinda future proofing my system when the ddr3 comes out.
Can someone give me just 1 convincing point that would sway my mind towards the p35??? apart from the future proof part....please...
The negative i have for the Gigabyte P35 is that fact that it has only 1 IDE port...i need 2 of them...

Uprightman : i would love to know the restrictions 320MB has, coz i havent really had time to read anything related to that, u got a link that explains it? I would appreciate it..Thanks.

I am planning to use :
Thermaltake / Ruby Orb / Socket 775/754/939/940/AM2 / Aluminum Core/Fins / CPU Cooler
As my cooler, just asking to those who know, i heard this is quite big, will this fit in my EVGA or Gigabyte motherboard.

Thanks

some games use more than 320mb for their highest setting on textures, most notably (from a personal point of view as it's the latest in the long line of my favourite games) - GRAW2 won't let you select "High" as an option, you're restricted to Medium, which personally for the small amount extra to get the GTS-640 would be unacceptable to be stuck with Medium

but if you don't game that much and medium settings are acceptable then the 320 is an ok card

If you need two IDE ports I presume at least one of them is for an optical drive? You can buy a new SATA DVD writer for less than $20 so that solves that issue I guess.

How heavy encoding are you doing? That is still a nice system..

Nice system. My only suggestion would be to just use your old ram (2 gigs is still good) and put the money towards a better video card....you said you're itching to get one anyway. Just a matter of preference though

Thanks for the suggestions guys...

Fox...nice idea, .... i think i have decided to sell all my IDE hard drives and buy all SATA, ...so 1 port is enough...Thanks Fox, i am going for the Gigabyte...

amddiesel......Not heavy, lets just say medium ....

jeb....my old 2gb rams are ddr400, which i used with AMD, dont u think performance will be poor with ddr400 compared to ddr800??

----------------

I have another set of few questions..

1. How much difference would there be in performance if i shift

From
2 x 2 gb sticks (4 gb)
To
4 x 1 gb sticks (4gb)


2. I checked the site for motherboard, it says it supports 1.8v rams, and the OCZ ram i want says 2.1v.... Can someone explain me on this ?

You won't be able to use the DDR400 sticks anyway in a DDR2 motherboard.

The difference between 2 x 2GB and 4 x 1GB will be minimal. 4 x 1GB will probably have slightly faster timings on the sticks, but I'd imagine real world difference will be negligible.

I still think if you're happy with your 7800GT then you shouldn't upgrade it. Then in the future when you're no longer satisfied with its performance for your needs, you'll be able to get something better than an 8800GTS for the same amount.

To get the RAM to post you might need to do some fiddling in the BIOS. Without that it possibly won't boot at its proper speed.

Stick with a 8800GTS 320 - they are very good value for money.

The GTX is also good value for money in my opinion, but it is a lot more money and you aren't a big gamer.

But those RAM will work on my motherboard right?

This is the ram i finally decided to purchase, can you please just let me know if this will work on my motherboard...ofcoruse spec wise it will work, i am just worried about the Voltage part...
sorry for such questions, but i am far far far away from the US, and once i buy something, there is no returning for me...lol

OCZ OCZ2P8002GK 2GB KIT (1GB x 2) PC2-6400 800MHZ 4-5-4-15 240-PIN DDR2 DIMM W/HEAT SPREADER

800MHz DDR2
CL 4-5-4-15
(CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)
Available in 512MB modules and 1GB (2x512MB) Dual Channel Optimized Kits
Unbuffered
Platinum Mirrored XTC Heatspreader*
OCZ Technology Lifetime Warranty
2.1 Volts
240 Pin DIMM
Special Features
-OCZ Enhanced Latency Technology
-2.2V EVP**
-------------------------------

Yeah well i think i have settled in with the fact that i will not upgrade my VGA anytime soon...just wait till 8 series settles in welll....and then when i do need that much power, i will go for it.