** edit at 31/10/07 **

i have made yet another change

CPU - Intel Core 2 Q6600 Latest G0 stepping / SLACR S-spec = $328 purchased
GPU - Asus ATI HD2600XT 256mb DDR3 (temporary gpu til next-gen come out) = $135 purchased
MOBO - Asus MAXIMUS FORMULA X38 DDR2 PCIe 2.0 (future proofing) = $449 purchased
RAM - Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX = $151.65 purchased
PSU - Corsair HX620W = $144 purchased
COOLER - Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme + Scythe S-Flex SFF21F = $96.8 purchased
THERMAL COMPOUND - Arctic Silver 5 = $12 (forgot to buy, will but tomorow)
DVD - Samsung SH-S203B SATA = $42 purchased
CASE - Thermaltake ARMOR SILVER ALUMINIUM VA8003SWA = $263 purchased
CASE SIDE PANEL - Thermaltake A2356 with 200mm fan = $59 purchased

** edit at 24/10/07 **

okay another change to my build:

i am going with the ASUS 8800 ULTRA instead of the GTX since it is the fastest asus card out now and i will be getting the best P35 asus mobo and reasonably fast ram

so i will be buying the HX620W instead of the 520 PSU from corsair instead to supply the ultra with enough power.

any last thoughts guys? i have ordered my case, ram, heatsink and scythe fan..

havent bought the main hardware yet
hi guys im sorry if this question has been asked over and over again...

** edit at 20/10/07 **

ok so i have more or less decided on my build thanks for all the replies so far you have been a big help or atleast gave me ideas .

can you please comment further on what is good or bad, or what you would change, wait for new releases like HD2950 from ati or go for the 8800 Ultra? will the ati radeon HD2950 kick the 8800 Ultra's ass you think?.. btw keep in mind i am persevering with a old pc look at my specs above it is very painful .. thankyou everyone

i will be using the following from my old build:
Samsung SyncMaster 957DF 19''
Seagate Barracuda 160gig and ide 80gig harddrives (i plan to buy a raptor 150gig and a 750gig sata in the future)
Altec Lansing 2.1 sound system (only 2nd hand part of my original pc, my cousin sold it to me for $20 xD )
Windows XP Pro 32bit (might go vista 64bit if it is worth it)

*prices in australian dollars*
CPU - Intel Core 2 Q6600 Latest G0 stepping / SLACR S-spec = $328
GPU - Asus Nvidia EN8800ULTRA/HTDP/768M = $749
MOBO - Asus P5K Premium/WiFi-AP Black Pearl Edition = $329
RAM - Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX = $215
PSU - Corsair HX620W = $144
COOLER - Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme*** + Scythe S-Flex SFF21F = $89
THERMAL COMPOUND - Arctic Silver 5 = $8
DVD - Samsung SH-S203B SATA = $42
CASE - Thermaltake ARMOR SILVER ALUMINIUM VA8003SWA = $205

***i read on newegg Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme had machining issues, is it worth the hassle?..

TOTAL = $2109

The following is my other options to replace my current motherboard and case selection if you can give any good reasons (cheaper price? same performance?..), also what do you think about the two HDD Coolers; any good?..

MOBO - Asus P5K-E/WIFI-AP = $208
CASE - Antec NINE HUNDRED = $168
HDD - Western Digital 150gig 10K rpm RAPTOR WD1500ADFD = $275
HDD COOLERS - Vantec Vortex 2 black = $33 or
Scythe Fanless HDD Silencer = $26

To buy in 6 months or so:
SPEAKERS - Logitech Z-5500 = $405 (been craving these for so long )
LCD 22'' - Samsung 226BW 2ms = $459 ( for real?! most manufacturers lie through their teeth )

thanks for your time everyone

** original post **

i currently have a asus ati 9600xt gpu, a amd athlon xp 2500+ cpu, a msi via KT400 mobo chipset, antec trublue 350w psu and corsair 512mb 400mhz DDR ram.. this gaming rig was assemled around feb 2004 and i cant even watch HD anime without the video lagging behind the sound let alone play the lastest gen of games with good settings...

now my dilema is i have been saving for about a year now for a new system (finally)

i had this cpu, gpu set-up in mind:

gpu = asus nvidia 8800 GTX = 795 AUD (australian dollar)
cpu = intel Q6600 latest G0 stepping (i have no idea if this version is better than the first Q6600 release) = 340 AUD

i would like to use a ASUS motherboard these are what i can find in my area:
ASUS P5K PREMIUM/WiFi-AP BLACK PEARL Edition Core 2 Quad ready 1333FSB = 345 AUD
ASUS P5K DELUXE WiFi Intel P35 Dual-channel DDR2 1066/800/667 MHz= 325 AUD
ASUS STRIKER EXTREME nForce 680i Gaming Series Quad-core CPU INTEL CORE 2 DUO READY = 459 AUD
ASUS BLITZ EXTREME Intel P35 Express Gaming Series QUAD CORE 1333FSB Ready = 445 AUD

now this is where my problem starts.. i havent been reading the toms articles on the latest tech thoroughly for the past 2 years.. i have just been scanning the titles and reading conclusions, lets say i was busy..

i do not know what would be the best chipset for the motherboard, what is the best PSU max watt capacity and brand to buy and what speed/brand of DD2 ram to get (corsair, patriot, crucial) and should i go for the max speed of ram that the mobo can handle like 1k+ mhz or is 800mhz ram fast enough..

and since i have persevered this long with a "slow" pc is it best to wait for the later generation of quad cores from intel or is time for a upgrade as these components are fast enough..

if you guys were in my shoes what would you do?..

thanks for your help

From those boards, if u dont need SLI go for P5K-E , _not deluxe_ because they have the same specs , but the deluxe one has more copper and more gigabit lan

if u want SLI , dont get ASUS STRIKER EXTREME ,get P5N32-E SLI PLUS instead , because STRIKER has some features like LED poster which wont become useful

thanks alot for the reply! i dont think i will be going SLi.

i think its a luxury i cant afford.. i just want a board that has strong performance, im not really fancy and i dont overclock..

i would cry if my system went up in smoke xD

any idea's on the ram and psu?

For ram go for DDR2 800 RAM (Brands like OCZ, CORAIR , GEIL, PATRIOT...)

For PSU , go for brands like OCZ,CORSAIR, THERMALTAKE

yeah i have been reading other posts and i have been seeing those brands mentioned alot

another question about the ram, you are suggesting that 800mhz is fast enough?.. i see patriot and corsair have ddr2 modules with 1066+ mhz

is the performance gain good enough for the price?

thanks again, your replies are a big help

i recommend DDR2 800 over DDR2 1066 because the difference between DDR2 800 and DDR2 1066 isnt very much and also both will OC good , so i say get DDR2 800 and save some money

thankyou i will research some more on the ram..

more replies about the motherboard and chipset, also the psu will be helpful

If your sticking with Asus, then go with what Maziar suggested. If you are up for other brands than consider Gigabyte's DS3R or Abit's IP35 (there are 3 versions, IP35 low end - no RAID support, IP35 RAID supported, and the IP35pro which has just about everything one would need). I'd go with whatever mobo of those 3 (Asus, Gigabyte, Abit) that has the features and options that you want, and get the cheapest one of the 3. As far as the memory, stick with the DDR2 800mHz, especially if you get the CAS 4 DDR2. It'll OC more than the CAS 5, but if your not OC'ing than just get the cheapest name brand DDR2 800mHz that you can get (OCZ, Corsair, Crucial, Geil, GSkill, Adata).

thanks for the tips, as i said earlier i will have to research more about the memory.

the shop i was looking at did have the corsair 620W psu that everyone is talking about, do you guys think it would be powerful enough for a q6600 and a 8800gtx OCed or non OCed?

Corsair 620 is fine for a Q6600 and a 8800GTX , and dont worry about OC'ng , it will handle it

i am thiking of just the 520W from corsair as i read the 620W is SLi certified when i dont plan to go SLi..

thanks for your reply

The 450w Corsair would be fine too, but the 520w one will give you more upgrade power. Here a link to show you what you can do with a 380w QUALITY PSU. I'm not saying to get that PSU in the link, but just showing you what could happen under certain conditions, thus proving that the 450w Corsair will be enough (also the 520w one too).

8800gtx on 380w Antec PSU!
http://www.overclockers.com/articles1452/

thanks bro, its interesting but kinda scary with only 380watts

Yeah, but you could use it, if you really had too. Not that I would do it for that much $ into the build, but I use that like to prove the point that you don't need 1000w PSU's that alot of these newer posts ask about. Here are some links to some good QUALITY PSU's.

PSU - $100 shipped , hard to beat for this price.
Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, TUV, CE, FCC, CCC, CB, C-tick – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817103941

PSU - $130 shipped Nice a quiet and cheaper from OEM, not from newegg.
ULTRA-QUIET PSU: SILENCER® 610 EPS12V
http://www.pcpower.com/products/vi [...] how=S61EPS

PSU - $75 shipped - $20 MIR = $55! Can run a single 8800gtx system.
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W Active Power Supply Retail ***Free Shipping***
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10006428

PSU - $100 shipped - $10 for google checkout = $90! Good solid PSU for the $, hard to beat.
Corsair 520W SLI Certified Modular ATX Power Supply - CMPSU-520HX
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-52 [...] 70716.html

PSU - ~$125 shipped Good solid PSU, straight from OEM and cheaper than Newegg
ULTRA-QUIET PSU: SILENCER® 610 EPS12V
http://www.pcpower.com/products/vi [...] how=S61EPS

i was already considering the "Corsair 520W SLI Certified Modular ATX Power Supply - CMPSU-520HX"

the pc shop near me sells it for a steep $155AUD

i can probably ask for a discount if i buy 3-4 components from them

i was reading the 27/09/07 article about x38 motherboards and i think im going to stick with a P5K mobo from asus with DD2 ram

my ram choices are:
CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 6400C4DHX 800mhz 1gig DDR2 Matched Pair 4-4-4-12 = $215AUD

CORSAIR TwinX DOMINATOR XMS2-8500C5D 1066mhz 1gig DDR2 Matched Pair = $299AUD

OCZ DDR2 1gig PC6400 Reaper HPC 4-4-4 matched pair = $189AUD

what do you guys recommend? i would think corsair would be the better choice because of their status

Never used OCZ, heard some rumblings about compatability on some of them, but I don't have any hard proof on this, just what I remember reading on several different forums. Never have had issues with Corsair, especially on compatibility, but maybe I just am lucky there (since I try to research as much as I can before buying). I wouldn't spend the extra $ on the Dominator's, they seem to be overpriced, from what I've seen. The XMS2's are the ones that I would buy, but someone else could probably help you out on the OCZ's, because I don't know much about them.

thanks for replying anyway, i too am using a value select corsair memory stick at the moment and its alive and kicking

anybody want to comment on the OCZ ram?..