E8400 or higher?

[gapton]

Hey guys, Im just building a new system, just wondering if you guys can give me some suggestion/advice and perhaps what do you think of my system config

Core 2 Duo E8400
Motherboard - havnt decide
2x2GB Ram - Brand undecided, Kingstons or OCZ
Nvidia 9800 GTX

I have two rather old Seagate SATA HDD, one 80GB one 250GB.
I am happy with them so I am keeping them for now.

I use this PC to play games and also everyday stuffs, plus programming.
I dont see myself doing a lot of video/media editing, but i do use photoshop a bit.

Gaming wise, I dont play the latest titles in ultra high details but I am using a 1440x900 widescreen, so I need a little extra power from the gfx card.

I do OC mildly, however I dont think I will install sophiticated cooling for that, change a fan and use better CPU heat paste at most I guess.

I also need help deciding the MB. I dont mind big MB coz I have a big case anyway, I hate small case where everythings cramped up. I am not a fan of SLI for the amount of problems I may have to go through. I dont need any special feature and so on, just a functioning motherboard will do, with good BIOS and reliable.

It would be great if you guys can suggest some MB or other CPU/GFX combo for me. Much thanks, love you all.

 

[auscanzukus]

GA-EP45-DS3L will do. DS3R if you plan to raid.

Keep the cpu & gpu. Maybe look into 9800 GTX+. Go with OCZ Reaper if possible for some overclocking. You can just do 9 x 400 = 3.6Ghz on stock voltages & cooling.

 

[gapton]

Thanks for the info, it seems a bit pricey tho, I wonder if there is anything else thats a bit cheaper. I heard that Gigabyte is not the best make for MB, I heard Asus is better?

I am not experienced when it comes to choosing Ram and Motherboard, if you guys have any information it will be really helpful

About the clock speed of the Ram, I was just going to get some DDR2 800mhz ones, if I go for DDR3 1222mhz it will be much much more expansive

A side question, what is 240pin DIMM? I thought for desktop Ram it always has the same socket?(unless for really old stuff back with the pentium3/4)

 

[gapton]

Oh I think I am switching to HD 4850 btw

Cheaper and has better performance than a 9800GTX (rated best for $170 in THG newest GFX review)