I am building my first computer in 3 years. My first build was a AMD based system. For this new rig I plan to use Intel. My choices so far the CPU are Q9450, 9300, 6600 or Dual core E8400. I do a lot music encoding as I have over 200 Gigs on one of my hard drives and I plan to get into some photo and video stuff. I play a few games like World of Warcraft and the Sims. I have not overclocked before I might try it with this build. I have more time to get in overclocking now. I have a HP 24" monitor already and I plan to use this motherboard GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R it supports DDR2/DDR3. I would like suggestions on which CPU (Dual vs Quad) and Motherboard (P35 vs P45) I should use. Money is not a real issue but don't plan to spend more than $1500.00. Any Help will be much appreciated.
List of likely components: Nvidia 8800GTS card have not decided on a brand
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) or G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Vista 32/64 Worried about drivers for 64 bit
Would like to get this Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion but i have heard of driver issues with Vista
List of likely components: Nvidia 8800GTS card have not decided on a brand
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) or G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Vista 32/64 Worried about drivers for 64 bit
Would like to get this Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion but i have heard of driver issues with Vista