Major upgrade, just a few questions

[skywalker9952]

Well I finally upgrading my old s939 AMD 3800+ system to a new c2d one. This will be a primarily a gaming system.

My initial thoughts on a build:
Motherboard, I am thinking either an ASUS P5K or GIGABYTE DS3L. I am making the assumption that I should be able to buy a decent motherboard for ~$100. If I should look higher please give me some suggestions. I am not initially going to OC my system, but will probably play around with OCing once it gets old (or I get bored) so I would like to be able to OC:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131189
$100
Processor, either an e8400 or a q6600 (Pretty locked in on one of these two, if you have a decent argument for something else let me know):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
$200
RAM, I found some decent looking A-data ram on sale, any suggestions here would be welcomed. I am not to sure what I really need in the way of RAM :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211188
$100
Video Card, I have a PCIe video card from my old computer I will use until the 48XX series from ATI come out.

PSU, Have an old ANTEC true power 500

Case, Gigabyte something:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233026
$150

initial upgrade estimate ~$550
+$250 for VC
I should keep my total build cost under $1000 so I have some wiggle room on the component listed above. I am mostly looking for suggestions on the mother board and RAM. If I am not interested in SLI do the Nvidia chip sets (650,750) offer me anything over the P35? What the frak should I get for RAM 667? 800? 1066? Does it even matter that much in an Intel system?

 

[lcaley]

As far as your ram speed is concerned, get the fastest speed your motherboard supports. It should be listed fairly plainly in the specifications of the mobo. Now, on to the mobo, I've heard a lot of iffy things about the P35, and this is just my preference, but I'd stay away from it. I'd go X38/48 I think if you are for sure not interested in SLI, or a 750/780i if you might possibly in the future want to SLI. People also say that the 680i has caused lots of problems, but thats what I'm running (my system is in my sig) and I have had no problems with it. It even let me push my e6600 to 3.4 stable on air, but it ran just a bit warm for me, so I backed it off a bit.
As far as brands of ram, I don't have any personal experience with A-data, but I know brands like Patriot, Corsair, and OCZ you can't really go wrong, and I also really like my G.Skill ram, no complaints at all about it, and it's usually a bit cheaper than the other guys.

Hope this helps, good luck with the build

 

[akhilles]

Def. not SE crap. Either DS3L or P5K-E. Don't waste time looking at other boards unless you know what they are & their o/c-ability.

If it's primarily a gaming rig, go for e8400. No regrets. Ask if you want a benchmark for proof.

Ram choice largely depends on your target clock speed. i.e. If you want to o/c the e8400 from stock 3ghz to 4ghz:

4000 / 9 = 444.44~

You need ram at 888mhz. Don't worry about how. Ask after you put the pc together. The higher the o/c, the higher the FSB speed. Stock is 333.33mhz.

Look at Ballistix, Firestix, G.Skill HZ, or any micron d9 chips.

http://ramlist.ath.cx/ddr2/

 

[skywalker9952]

Thanks for the inputs on RAM.
Based on some more research and the fact that ATI won't have the 48XX series out for at least a couple of months I have put together a couple of potential system builds on new egg. Both use a Gigabyte DS3L and G.Skill RAM.
One has an E8400 with a 3850
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=8606746&WishListTitle=Intel+fast+Proc+BVC

The other a E2180 with an 8800GTS(G92) OC.
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=8606726&WishListTitle=Intel+Good+VC

Which one should I go with? How high can I safely OC the E2180 on the stock intel (This will be my first real OC attempt)?

 

[akhilles]

The GTS512 build will wipe the floor with the HD3850 build in gaming. Everything will be faster on the E8400 build. But you can get the E8400 for now & sell the HD3850 when the new ATI HD48XX are out. It'll be about 20% faster than 9800GTX.

You just have to up the FSB to 400 & keep multiplier at stock or less. The E2180 is 2Ghz.

2000 / 10 = 200

The FSB is 200 at stock. 10 * 400 = 4Ghz which is impossible on air. Most likely you'll do 8 x 400 = 3.2ghz which is more then enough for gaming.

The ram is crap, btw. I said HZ. It's ok with the E2180 build cuz it needs only 400mhz fsb to o/c. That means 800mhz ram. Anything else from G.Skill is crap to me. I know the price tag is high, but it's not the only good ram. Look at Ballistix. If you prefer G.Skill, look at their faster ram like PC2-8500 1066mhz or faster if you go with the E8400 build.

If you go with the e8400 build, just play with o/cing until the new gpu is out. Start with 400mhz x 9 = 3.6ghz and go up. Leave everything else as is or at auto.

The Gigabyte board is the easiest to overclock.

You'll still need a good cpu cooler. Look at xigmatek hdt-s1283 heatsink

 

[skywalker9952]

Thanks for your help I ended up going with an E8400 and a 3870.