New Build

[Tiger_Kit_Computer]

Hello Everyone

This is my 1st post here and i am looking for a little bit of advice. I have $600 U.S. dollars to spend on an upgrade on my computer. This is what I want to replace (cpu, motherboard, memory and maybe video card). I mostly game and do no video encoding, just gaming and dvd ripping. I dont plan on overclocking, because I dont know how, but it is something I would like to learn. I want an Intel cpu and motherboard that can overclock if I decide to do so. Im thinking of replacing my video cards, because I think they would be a bottleneck on the new build and I only have a 19" lcd monitor with a native resolution of 1440x900. This is my current system.

cpu AMD Athlon 64 3200+ single core
motherboard ASUS A8N-SLI
video card NVIDIA GeForce 6800 XT x2 sli
memory 2 MB Generic Ram
Power Supply 500 watt ultra

Yes I know Im going to get slammed on my power supply, but it works and has never caused me problems and until then I am not replacing it. Everything else i can reuse.
Thanks for all your help.

 

[spunks]

Your will half to decide if you want a quad core or a dual core. Dual cores clocked higher than quad cores do better for most games, but future games are sure to take advantage of quad+ cores. overclocking can easily get a quad core to perform closer or better than the dual core, but you can also overclock the dual core pretty far too.

E8400 3.0ghz Wolfsdale $175

or

Q6600 2.4ghz Kentsfield $199

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $94
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996557 - Retail $69 after $20 dollar rebate

Your Choice

9800gtx ($200) or a hd4850 ($175)

You may want to improve on the motherboard if your looking into ever running two video cards, but with that monitor, it be a total waste (you really only need two video cards after you hit around a 24 inch monitor at 1900x1200)

If the power supply pops and wipes out your system (usually just the mainboard) dont cry


Spunks

 

[Tiger_Kit_Computer]

E8400 3.0ghz Wolfsdale $175

or

Q6600 2.4ghz Kentsfield $199

not sure about this, but im leaning towards the e8400

9800gtx ($200) or a hd4850 ($175)

Im looking at the hd4850


GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $94
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996557 - Retail $69 after $20 dollar rebate

I'd love to know where you found that deal.

Thanks for the help.

 

[spunks]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731 (memory)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128347 (board)




Hope that helps,Spunks