Hi everyone,

This is my first post here. I hope I am posting in the right place, but if not, I'd request the moderator to shift this to the appropriate place.

Ok, so I intend to assemble a desktop computer at home within the next few weeks. The last time I did this was 6 years ago, that was an AMD Athlon XP based system so its been quite a while and I am not very knowledgeable about whats available in the market and so on.

But here is my rough configuration:

Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme (1333Mhz FSB)
2 GB DDR4 RAM (minimum)
nVidia GeForce GTX200/9800/8800/9600 (undecided) GPU

I'm looking specifically at Asus Motherboards, e.g. the P5K3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP, the P5K, the P5K SE and the P5KC. I am not sure which one to choose.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance
Cheers
Vivek

Ok, so for some reason I can't edit that post...I actually meant DDR3 ram, not DDR4.

go with 4gb ddr2 and 4850 or 4870

ddr3 doesnt worth the money

You've waited a long time to build a new computer, but you need to be aware of something. If you're spending that much money on a system-on an extreme edition for example- you're going to be really really upset when Nehalem and X58 motherboards hit shelves later this year (Q3-Q4) as their performance levels are supposed to blow the current generation out of the water.

Yeah, thats partly because I've had a laptop for over a year, and being an engineering student..have had access to decent computing power. This new computer is more for my home usage and I am not so bothered with the newer stuff that will hit later. Plus my old desktop is ailing, but works reasonably with Linux. Anyway what config would you recommend with the stuff thats available currently?

And th_username, I suppose DDR3 capable motherboards will accept DDR2 as well, right? And why do you say that DDR3 isn't worth the money?

Anyone?

I believe as far as quad cores go this is the new favorite good for overclocking

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115042

Unless you are a die hard fan boy drop the nvidia and go for the ati 4870 they outperform every nvidia card but the 280 and idk about the gx2(im pretty sure this is the case), if you plan on going crossfire(2 cards better performance especially for hire resolutions) get a x48 some specifically say they run ddr2 and ddr3

Doing smething similar and I'd recommend 64bit OS in case you go for more RAM later on. I'm using Vista HomePrem 64bit as 32bit OS has memory limits (3GB I think). That said I don't know what the mem limits are for Linux.

p.s - For the GPU I went for an XFX 9600GT Alpha Dog XXX, oc'ed to 740/2000MHz. Cheap at scan, £105.

Thanks, what are your motherboard suggestions?

Is the ASUS P5K3 Deluxe a good idea for a Core Quad?

I might want to upgrade the CPU later, and would like to have an FSB of 1033 Mhz at least..any ideas?

Anyone?

i just built a new machine about 3 weeks ago using a Q9450 and an ASUS P5K-E P35 board. very smooth build and its working great with 4g of Cosair DHX RAM. You'll definitely need an aftermarket Heatsink as the stock one doesn't have enough clearance over the capacitors that line 2 sides of the CPU. The freezer pro 7 worked great, but there are better heatsinks if you're going to overclock (i'm not).

You'll be very happy with the 9450 and the ASUS board, I know I am.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131196

Thanks, whats the graphics card you're using? Also, whats the wattage rating of your power supply (SMPS)?

Also, this P5K3 board from ASUS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131181)...the website says DDR3 is standard, but surely DDR2 will work too?