New Gaming PC

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case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129033 or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129032

motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813127031
cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819116036
memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820134487
graphics card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125062

I'm building a system to play games on. I currently play Counter-Strike 1.6 a game thats been out for a while. I currently have a Dell, 1.8ghz p4, 512mb rambus, 9600. I get fps drops, lags, and things aren't as clear as they should be. With this new build I'd like to run 1.6 at 100fps in high settings w/ 1 or 2 smokes. Currently if I look at a smoke my fps will drop from 100 to 15. I may play some newer games in the future, but I don't need the highest settings on those. Really all I need atm is just a good computer to play 1.6 on. I have a few questions about the build.

1. Which case would be better? I believe antec has somewhat decent power supplies in their cases. The first one is 380watts while the second one is 480 I believe. Which would be best so if in the future I upgrade my CPU or graphics card I wont need to worry about my PSU?

2. I read the article here about the e2160 having the ability to be overclocked to 3.0ghz with stock cooler. What series of the core2duo would that overclock compare to? I was going for a cheap, but good build and I heard this processor can do the job. If it were overclocked to 3.0ghz does that mean each core is 3.0ghz or all together they are 3.0ghz? I don't know too much about all the new technology.

3. I have also read about bottlenecking performance. I was thinking with the overclocking of my CPU that the 8500 would be a good fit. Do you think this would last me a good while without upgrading?

I think the only upgrade I'd do on that computer in the next year or so would be a quad-core processor. Thanks in advance guys.

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This card would do much better. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102700

Here is just one example of the performance difference between it and the 8500gt(blue bars). http://www23.tomshardware.com/grap [...] &chart=275

Here is one guide to overclocking the 2160. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/c [...] e2160.html

I would vote for the larger power supply. However, the the 380 will do for all but the highest end video cards. personally I prefer the all black case.

------------------------------ I know what I know, and I don't know what I don't know.
Reply to tlmck

Thanks for your help. Wow, had no idea the 2600 had that much of a difference on the 8500gt. Also, would 380watts be enough for the 2600?

Reply to platnm

That particular 380 will be fine. It is not top of the line Antec, but good enough. I would be hesitant to run any of the high end cards on it though.(ie -Nvidia 8800 series, Radeon 2900-3800 series, etc...).

For gaming, I would not go below the 2600xt or 8600gts. Cards below those points are little better than integrated motherboard graphics for gaming.

------------------------------ I know what I know, and I don't know what I don't know.
Reply to tlmck

I remember reading that some type of cable included w/ stock PSU's in cases dont have some type of rail needed for a PCI-e card. Anyone know if that case has the proper stuff?

Reply to platnm

It has the 6 pin connector labeled PCIe.

------------------------------ I know what I know, and I don't know what I don't know.
Reply to tlmck
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