GeForce GTX 260 Newbie Build

I would suggest avoiding a dual core processor...

Why? You offer your opinion but won't explain why. Considering most games don't take advantage of multiple core processors, a dual core will be fine. However, I do agree upgrading to an AMD Phenom II x3 720 tri core will easily outperform the AMD dual cores, mostly because of better architecture, good overclocking potential, and an L3 Cache.

I personally don't have any experience with a 7 series Nvidia chipset, I have heard a lot of horror stories and that the 7 series have really bad stability issues and are not recommended. What kind of monitor do you have? Unless it is a 24" or bigger with 1920x1200 resolution or higher, you won't need SLI. Multiple GPU solutions like SLI and Crossfire only offer real performance increases for the bigger resolutions. If you're not going to need SLI, I recomend an P45, P43 (same as P45 but no DDR3 support, only DDR2), or the uber high end X48. These chipsets offer much more stability than Nvidia 7 series and will give you the most overclocking potential from a Core2Duo or Core2Quad CPU.

Intel are over priced in this segment .

You can get a stronger cpu and an upgrade path by buying
amd 720 be triple core + 790 series mb + ddr3 ram for less money . This will spank the e8400 every where including gaming

Unless you are desperate to stay with C2D and waste money stay away from nVidia chipset mb's . They dont work as well as intel p43/45 series and the only advantage is sli support which is usually poor value for $$$

EDIT
PS the barracuda .10 series is old and slow but wont have the issues that affected later models ... but since its slow buy a WD black series or Samsung which are considerably quicker

If your handed a suggestion you should do your research...if you really care for what your buying....

If he purchased....which ever it is im not completely sure as im not in the market for one...but one of the amd motherboards that will support the current phenoms and the phenoms to come would be a better choice in the long run...

He could go with a 720 at this point and if it proved to not hold up as well when games start using more cores etc he could always upgrade with his motherboard supporting the faster chips yadda yadda...

Gaming can only get farther away from dual cores atm...and i find intel is kind of expensive...so i vote amd...

But i believe his motherboard for that build would also support one of the intel quad cores as well....so that could always be an option to....

This would be my $6xx quad-cum-GTX 260 build   Anything less than 1920 x 1200 i feel there is no need for multi GPUs so i agree with JTP hence:

Free shipping so it comes to $663.88 after MIR

Wow that's a tall order to go with an SLI rig for your first PC building experience. I'm thinking you have in mind to add another GTX 260?

Can't recall off hand the minimum power requirements for dual GTX 260s, 45 amps on the rails and 650 or 700 watts PSU? So that would be something to consider.

Having built an SLI rig, Asus P5N-D, and playing with it for about 6 months and comparing that rig to my other systems, swapping video card configurations, I agree with Outlander that it's overrated and a better value to go with one higher end video card.

My SLI rig generates so much heat on Crysis, I have to leave the case side panel out and blow a desk fan into the video cards and NB heatsink. And on top of that, I run the fans on both of the 9800 GTs to 100%. Too much noise!!

Basically, I'm regretting that I went SLI and just used that budget for a better video card.

Totally agree

First of all thank you all for the detailed advice. It's been a little intimidating browsing for parts so far, and it's nice to have some support from people who probably don't need to check "SATA 3.0 MB/s" on wikipedia before they click a link on newegg. I think I have officially been talked out of SLI supported MOBOs, and will go with a P45 instead of nVidia. I hadn't taken the extra power consumption of running 2 cards in mind, and now that I think about it, I would guess that there would be a fair amount more heat to worry about if I were to add a second video card.

There was a question about the monitor that I'll use. I'll be using my wife's Samsung SyncMaster 205bw. It has 19 diagonal inches of viewing space, and a lovely line of dead pixels. I would upgrade it as well, but, unfortunately, I convinced my wife to tough it out despite the dead pixels, and so would be a hypocrite if I didn't follow my own advice.

I'll hit the online stores and see if I can come up with a complete list based on the advice I've gotten.

Again, thank you very much.

Back from shopping again. This time I have:

Case: One of the half dozen I already own.
HD: Old Seagate I once bought by mistake (It's SATA 3.0 GB, the MOBO I had was IDE Only)
PSU: Good 500 Watt one I bought recently to try to get a Sapphire AGP Card to run, which it did, for a few months.
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 205bw with a pretty line o' dead pixels going down it (till my wife forgets what the monitor looked like).

MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $98
Video: EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Sup... - $180
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7400 - Retail - $134 including Arctic fan below
Cooler: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Mem: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail $46
Media: Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model DVR-216DBK - OEM $23

Is this an improvement over my initial selections? Any strong objections to the choices?

Its 5 am...my mental state is a bowl of mush in a dome with a hint of amd in the air...

Iv probably missed it...

I highly suggest you get an amd platform...even though i said earlier yes you can go quad when you need to...am i wrong in saying that the lga775 socket is dead? ie they will stop production on em? i apologize but im not in the market for that cpu as well but im reading alot of posts about the 775 being dead and that they will stop producing em and there is a replacement bla bla bla etc

And think about it...when ever that dual-core chip gets "old" for you and you need to go quad they will have stopped production and the chip can only be more expensive due to being rare etc...iv got to be making some since

If you went with a phenom build you know you will be able to support upcoming processors and current processors that have just lifted off...

I have no recommendations other than to start your build around a Phenom 720 which is in your price range AND will outdo that 7400....and when overclocked is neck to neck with a high powered e8400

A board that supports future phenom processors and has some nice overclocking options to push your buck past the "damn what a deal i got on this" mark   as well


I know iv not gone into details with "a board that supports future cpus..." but iv not read so much up on it atm...so sorry :S

But im sure there will be some here to agree with the truth/since between my bs im spewing from the mind bowl...

Thanks Rewindlabs. I didn't understand what you meant before, but I've done some reading about the topic now too, and I get what you are saying. Not sure yet which way I'm going to go based on this train of thought, but it's 7:00 AM, and my brain is a bit mushy too.

You should definitely do as much research as possible...have you seen the new 955...4GHZ quad core....and at that price....needless to say im going to start going back to work  

So at this point you can go for the 720 but down the road you can pick up that 955 without a problem and probably for quite a bit cheaper...   you have alot of nice options when going with the phenom setup

You think your guy's brains are mush . . . what about my stomach? FYI Never eat at Buffalo Wings and Rings . . . even though they do have giant 100oz cylinders of beer  

Anyways Rewindlabs beat me to recommending an AMD platform. If you're an Intel fanboy thats cool, but I implore you to check out the benchmarks for the AMD Phenom II x3 720 BE with an AMD mobo with SB750 southbridge. It'll cost you the same for your Intel system you posted, and at stock speeds has better performance than the e7400. Not to mention the overclocking potential.

AMD Phenom II x3 720 BE - $140

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P - $110

The above board is an AM2/AM2+ which uses DDR2 memory. You could also upgrade to an AM3 board and DDR3 memory, but based on a variety of reviews DDR3 doesn't offer any better performance for gaming over DDR2. The only reason to upgrade to DDR3 at this point is future compatibility considering DDR3 is becoming the standard. So basically its a trade off between saving some money now or future compatibility. In the end its up to you.

+1 on the amd 720

i would go with the ddr3 now they are about the same price and offer a way better future like a post pheromone II drop in.