new system. upding from 4year old system. help needed! 7600gt sli?

dt

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Aug 10, 2004
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ok so i have been using this slow athlon 3000+ xp for 4 years now and i have finally got 800 dollars to spare ( my max is 1500 but i would like to spend something around 1000)

i also need a good monitor( if its worth it). i have an benq 20.1 ' monitor right now i bought last year and i got it for a bargin.

motherboard - i would like to get something with sli so i can put 2 nvidia 7600gt's that wouldn't hurt my pocket and it would be better than most gpu's in terms of gaming. i would like to overclock

case - a person told me that the p180 is a good case to buy but i think it costs to much. he fully loaded the case and he always had trouble with space when taking something out of the case. ( whats a good case to buy? )

dvd burners- i usually burn 2 movies at once so any kind of dvd burners would be nice. ( light scribe dvd's cost too much so i am not really into lightscribe. magic marker for me :) )

processor - i heard that the c2d's are good processors to use for gaming but i don't know which ones are good for the money. ( anything is better than an athlon 3000xp)

memory - i have 512mb ram in my computer i got now and it sucks! i want good ram so i can actually burn a movie while browsing the web. i would also like to play new pc games that are would so i think the 7600gt sli would do the job for oblivion. let me know if 2x 7600gt's in sli is a good investment.

storage - i have more than enough hard drive space with my 320gb sata seagate.

video card- 2x 7600gt's . (i dont know which kind of 7600gt's i should get ... :( ) im not really sure if 7600gt's are a good idea but i will let you guys decide. I am a noob at video cards. i want to play new games such as oblivion. ( my friend has a all in wonder x1900 and with oblivion on highsettings he can't play it <--- i want to own his a-i-w x1900 )

i have an old compaq keyboard and mouse. if i could upgrade these i would be greatful.
if enough money to spare i would like to get a tv tuner to watch tv on my computer because i am tired of watching tv on my mini tv.
 

Dior

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Jul 22, 2007
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..! Forget SLI !..

Centurion 534 $50
Corsair 520HX $80 (buy.com)
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R $130
E6550 $177 (mwave.com)
Freezer 7 Pro (ewiz.com) $21
Arctic Silver MX-1 $5
2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 $80
320GB Seagate $80
EVGA 8800 GTS 320mb $260

$883 after rebates, no monitor.

With this CPU you'll be able to overlock to 3.0Ghz pretty easily, the 8800 GTS will blow your friend's X1900 away. The best power supply for the money, cheap-ish but very well built case, great, stable MB with the latest P35 chipset, 320GB of space, 2GB of fast ram. Everything is from newegg unless stated otherwise.

Good luck.
 

dt

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thanks, i will check out these parts and post back if i have some questions. feel free to post more builds so i can check them out also.

 

Dior

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RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP with 500W PSU $70
E4400 $119
GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3L $90
Crucial Ballistix 2GB $80
WD 160GB $49
MSI 8800 GTX $480
Freezer 7 Pro $21 (ewiz.com)
Arctic Silver MX-1 $5

$914 after rebates

Core 2 duo with twice less cache than the E6x50, but still a lot faster than AMD X2, especially with it's insane overclocking capabilities (2.8Ghz-3.0Ghz can be easily done) !8800 GTX! Good looking case with an inbuilt PSU which would be good enough to power an 8800 GTX. Slightly less space, slightly worse MB (but still great), same ram.

 

emp

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I second this on everything, especially the PSU and the GPU. Even if you don't OC the CPU it'll still be a very good one, about as fast as an E6600 (Which is blazing fast). The only thing I'd change is that I'd get 2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 1066, not 800, but even if you do get DDR2 800 it'll still be awesome.

By the way, you don't really need a bigger screen, especially with your budget, because the next step on screens is also going to need a beefier GPU to go with it, and will essentially be putting the cost in around $2000 or so. Keep that one and play like a happy man, if the Res isn't doing it then crank on the AA.

EDIT: Dior your first build was flawless in every aspect if you ask me (only upgrade that could be done was the ram, and even that was pushing it), but your second build is missing a decent PSU like the Corsair above (Raidmax are horrible psu makers) and the E6550 is a better OC'er than the E4400, there's really no point recommending old E6X00 or E4X00 anymore (except for the E4300) with the new E6X50 CPUs out which are way way better OC'ers than the previous gen.
 

dt

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Aug 10, 2004
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what ram should i get for high ocing? 3.0ghz or even higher ?

also, what about a p180 case? are they actually big enough or is the Centurion 534 better? ( trying to find a good full tower case if i put a lot of upgrades in the future)

also, what about this case? :

Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Casehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166004
 

Dior

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Jul 22, 2007
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Emp, I agree, the first build was pure bliss, the second one was semi-experimental, I just wanted to see If I could get an 8800 GTX in there without sacrificing much. I read the reviews about the 500W included with that case and few people were saying they ran a 8800 GTX without any problems. But yeah, even though it's sort of a tough choice, I'd still go with the first build due to quality.
P.s - Crucial ballistix 1066 is 2x more expensive than the 800, but I think 800 will be more than enough to reach 3.0Ghz overclock, don't you think?
P.s2 - dt2, that full tower is just fine. Centurion 534 was recommended due to the limited budget.

 

dt

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:( my friend has a p5b duluxe ( wifi/ap) mobo with e6400 and he got 3.2 ghz .

hmm... but then again.. he paid a who lot of money. more than me lol.

i am trying to find the Arctic Silver MX-1 on newegg but i can't seem to locate it
 

dt

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Centurion 534 $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119106

Corsair 520HX $80 (buy.com)
http://www.buy.com/retail/product. [...] =PriceGrab ber&SearchTerm=203

270716&Type=PE&Category=Comp&dcaid=15890

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128050

E6550 $183 shipped (zipzoomfly.com)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] 5520&prodl ist=pricegrabber

Freezer 7 Pro (Directron.com) $28.56 - shipped
http://www.directron.com/acfz7pro.html

Arctic Silver MX-1 $11 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100401


Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $85 shippED
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

Desktop Memory - $85 shippED
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146565

seag ate 320gb -free ( already have it)

EVGA 8800 GTS 320mb $266.32-AR BR - 286.32
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130082


$853.88 before rebates, 833.88 after rebates

also, that case looks kind of cheap... any ideas on another better case?

ps. dell rips people off on pc's! a pc of this calibur is worth at the minumum 1.8k on dell and thats including an 8600gts, 2gb ram ddr667 mhz ,no ocable mobo.

if only there was a way to build a laptop...

 

dt

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with shipping the e6550 hits $186.09 @ mwave.


Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $85 shippED
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

thanks for that. i guess i will get the ddr800. it can't make that much of a difference in ocing could it?

hmm.. anyone have a better suggestion for a case? i want to have some room for upgrades. someone pick a good case :)



 

rodney_ws

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7600 GTs in SLI? *bangs head repeatedly into wall*

How many times can people ask this same question? Man, the marketing gurus at Nvidia deserve a real good pat on the back for coming up with SLI because EVERYONE wants it and hardly NO ONE needs it. Give those men a raise!
 

Dior

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:lol:
 

dt

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Aug 10, 2004
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i thought sli was for people with big monitors? :(

hey, i was wondering if i were to add a q6600 to this build would i still be able to oc it to 3.0? if so do i really need it or wait til next year around this same time and get the q6600 for about 180-190?

also, with the q6600 can dual core apps use this processor? ( actually using all of its cores)
 

dt

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Aug 10, 2004
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is this a good motherboard for overclocking?

i am willing to spend a few more hundred on some more things. that is, if its actually worth it :)


doh, wait a second, that review is for the E6850. im buyin the E6550 :p