Hey! I'm nearing in my final order and need some advice!

I'm ordering over the next day some basic components for a serious upgrade I'm doing on my PC. I already have an Antec 500w psu and a NEC DVD-RW drive on the way.

I plan to buy a decent DX10 card in the begining of 2008. I'm currently debating between two CPUs and how they affect the rest of my budget. I already have a 80GB IDE HD
The desired setups (CPU being the main difference):

1. Gigabyte P31 DS3L
Intel E6420
2GB Corsair DDR2 667 RAM
Gigabyte 6200TC 256mb
Vista Home Premium 32bit
(I'll buy a new HD with the DX10 card)

2. Gigabyte P31 DS3L
Intel E4400
2GB Corsair DDR2 667RAM
Gigabyte 6200TC 256mb
WD 250GB SATAII
Vista Home Premium 32bit

I have to know ASAP...need to order anytime soon and I'n loosing my mind here!

BTW I plan to OC!

Thanks!

I would go with the E4400 setup. If you want to save even more on the processor and buy a bigger hard drive the E2140/E2160 might be a option. I don't think cache makes that much difference.

Hmm...well I was thinking if maybe I should stick to DX9 a little longer and get an X1950Pro, an E2160, 1gb ddr2 ram and no HD...therefore not having to wait half a year to play games. an extra GB and a new HD can come some time later.

First, you can get a P35 board for the same amount of money, no reason to go P31.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusear [...] ia=BA24072

or

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspe [...] ia=BA23929

Cache is definitely something you don't wanna be saving money on, especially if you plan to game on the PC.

E6420 isn't worth getting since there is faster E6550 which costs the same (4MB cache, 2.13ghz vs 4MB cache 2.33ghz).

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10005520

Also, if you plan to OC your CPU, Corsair value isn't the best choice. It doesn't overclock well at all, there are kits for the same amount of money which are better. Like this one for example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220144

Good luck.

Ok, well with what my budget lets me do this is what I came up with:

Gigabyte GA-P35 S3L
Intel E2160
Palit 7600GS (getting at leats the 8800GTS in the begining of '08 )
2GB PQI DDR2 800Mhz RAM
80GB IDE (Current) + WD 160GB SATAII
Antec 500W PSU
NEC DVD-RW
Vista Home Premium 32bit

That should work well as a decent mid-high end PC, no?

6420 is way better !!!

get some good ram its cheap! 4-4-3-8 ddr800

Ok, the order will be made within the next few hours...still going through many thoughts and setups in my mind. Until I get the DX10 card I plan to do no serious gaming with current games. Will stick to GTA SA, COD 2, Sims, maybe COH at the most. This setup I now have in mind:

Gigabyte P35 SL3
E4400
2GB PQI 800Mhz DDR2
7300GS DDR2 80GB IDE+ WD 160GB SATAII
ThermalTake 470W (they didn't have the Antec in stock)
Sony NEC DVD-RW
Vista Home Premium 32bit

BTW I have a couple of questions:

1. The MB I listed doesn't have solid caps while the other MB I listed (P31 DS3L) has. I heard solid caps are important for OCing so wouldn't it be better getting the P31 version?

2. Is the E4400 really worth the 50$ (where I live) over the E2160? Would the decision affect me in a year or once the both are OCed the different is very minor?

3. Finally, is the 7300GS sufficient for basic setting on the games I mentioned with the rest of my setup? Just until the begining of 2008 when I have some more money for the 8800GTS.

What cpu fan are you going to choose?

Another thought on the ram. Works well with Gigabyte.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] 264&ps=ho1

For now stock

Ok. At the moment stock cpu fan. Without OC, I presume for the time being.

Hmmm? I'm confused...

BTW I live in Israel so I can't just buy anything you link me.

Also does anyone know anything about the other questions? Not sure what to do about the GPU (7600GS vs 7300GS) and the CPU (E2160 vs E4400) and of course there's the MB (P31 solid caps vs P35 non solid caps).

P35 Mobo should be fine, haven't heard any issues with it. I would go with a 8600gt/2600xt minimal for mild gaming. You won't be able to max out alot of games, but it will give you a start for around $100 USD right now (not sure what your price would be there). From what I've read the 7300gs is horrible and the 7600gs is not much better. If you don't have access to a 8600gt/2600xt, than I would look for a 7600gt.

The 7600GS is the most I'm going for since I'll be changing it not too long after. It's only temporary.

BTW I can get for the same price a 7300GS and an E6550 minus the HD...worth it?

The current E6420s will likely out OC the current E4400 according to current reports. The E6420s appear to be monsters. However, the E6420 setup will be quite a bit more costly because it will require DDR2-800 to get good OC speeds instead of the DDR2-667 which is all that is needed with the E4400. The added savings could be put to a better GPU which would cause the E4400 system to game better than the E6420 system.

With the prices are you talking about, get the cheapest C2D available, E2140 so you can maximize your GPU budget. At these price ranges every $20 or so adds give gains. The E2140 will OC to about 3.0Ghz which is more than fine for games, despite it's limited CACHE. Your biggest limit in games is going to be GPU not CPU so that is what you need to bump.