New Build With PSU/Case/Optical drive Skeleton

[AchillesLast]

I've been given the skeletons of a buddy's systemto jumpstart my new build project, which I'm hoping to put together in the next week or so.

Approximate Purchase Date: Should be fully finished in the next two weeks.

Budget Range: Looking to put 5-600 bucks into upgrading and replacing what he currently has put together.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and watching movies (specifically playing SWTOR)

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, PSU, case, optical drive.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: pcpartpicker or newegg

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Would like to have a video card with an HDMI jack for the 1080p TV I use as my monitor.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: my current computer (old Dell setup I'm selling) has my monitor at 1260x768, but I'm not totally sure on this # so if anyone has any suggestions for me to find/double check my resolution I can check.

Additional Comments: I've been given the following system: (sorry for some of the manufacturer direct links, but alot of the parts arent on pcpartspicker etc because they're outdated.

Optical/Floppy drive - not sure
PSU - Corsair TX650w
http://www.corsair.com/tx650w.html
Case - Antex P160W
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?Type=Mg==&id=MQ==

Mobo - Asus P5NSLI
http://ca.asus.com/en/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5NSLI/#specifications
CPU - LGA 775 platform (thats all I know, I ripped off the details of the CPU removing a more than stubborn heatsink/fan
Video Card - Nvidia GEforce 8800 GT
http://www.geforce.com/Hardware/GPUs/geforce-8800-gt
RAM 4x Corsair 1GB DDR2 VS1GB667D2
http://www.corsair.com/memory-by-product-family/value-select-memory-upgrades/vs1gb667d2.html
Hard Drive: none

I'm set on keeping the PSU, case and optical drives, however I'm open to suggestions on anything and everything else, especially hoping to upgrade the mobo/CPU/RAM. I'd like to keep the harddrive on the cheap side, as I have a 1tb external and can barely keep that at 20% full.

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good mobo/CPU/RAM combo (I got very confused trying to figure out the best CPU relative to DDR speed), and whether I should get a new video card to run on its own, or to pair in SLI?

Thanks in advance for your help guys.

 

[willard]

That PSU might be pushing it for SLI/Crossfire. It's a quality unit, but a bit lean on wattage. I certainly wouldn't load the system up with a ton of other crap if you ran more than one GPU on it.

That said, you're going to be hard pressed to find another 8800 GT to pair with the one you've already got for SLI. That card was a monster in its time, but is absolutely ancient by today's standards. I wouldn't even consider keeping it around in the final system.

 

[AchillesLast]

That PSU might be pushing it for SLI/Crossfire. It's a quality unit, but a bit lean on wattage. I certainly wouldn't load the system up with a ton of other crap if you ran more than one GPU on it.

That said, you're going to be hard pressed to find another 8800 GT to pair with the one you've already got for SLI. That card was a monster in its time, but is absolutely ancient by today's standards. I wouldn't even consider keeping it around in the final system.

Hey Willard, thanks for the quick reply. I didn't know they had to be identical to run SLI, if the general consensus is to scrap the card I've got then I'd definitely prefer to go Radeon with my new vid card.

 

[willard]

Hey Willard, thanks for the quick reply. I didn't know they had to be identical to run SLI, if the general consensus is to scrap the card I've got then I'd definitely prefer to go Radeon with my new vid card.

Yep, SLI is same model only. Crossfire is slightly more forgiving, allowing you to pair up models that are essentially the same, like the 6990 and 6970 (which operate as a trio of 6970s if you pair them).