Need Advice for new computer parts

Good Day,
well ive been away from my computer for a year and a half right now i have:

amd athlon 64 +3000
Asus A8N-SLi
6600gt
1gb ram

well i check and it dosnt run games the way i like them like crysis and NFS Pro street so i am in need of a new computer.

I am planning in getting a core 2 duo - one of the 4000 ones.
and a 8800 gt 512mb maybe the BFG OC2 version.

besides those parts that i know im getting i have no idea what socket motherboard i need so i basiclly need advice on mother board, RAM and a power supply maybe, right now i have a 500W.

all and any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks

 

If you want to get a Core2Duo then you need a socket775 motherbord i can recommend this mobo its brillaint Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R (Socket 775) As for a CPU i recommend getting the E2160 its the same when you overclock it as any other Cor2Duo.

As for memory i think you should get 2GB PC2-6400 DRR2 (800Mhz) or if you can afford it get 4GB. something like this OCZ 2GB

I don't know what make your PSU is and if its any good but i recommend getting this PSU ---> Hiper 580W

Also what about Hard Drive and are you planning on using on board sound???

As for you BFG 8800GT is a gd choice but hope you can find it in stock.

 

Well, if you're planning on getting a C2Duo you would have to get a socket 775 mobo. If you plan on overclocking an E4xxx then get a socket 775 with a p35 chipset. It is the best overclocking chipset out right now. Now if you'd like to upgrade later and add a second video card then grab a 775 with a 680i or x38 chipset.

 

I would have the X38 chipset over the 680i anyday. But the P35 is a brillaint chipset highly recommend it.

 

Naturally you would, it's the best chipset out right now, just expensive. If he wants a 4xxx series than he is a mid budget buyer. Budget buyers go for the E2xxx, mid 4xxx (more cache), then you go into the E/Q6xxx series. So I gave him the option for full SLI with most of the trimmings or all of the trimings.

 

I think SLi is a waste of money single GPU is much better.

 

Not for ati cards. Even now with their still junky drivers the 3850 and 3860 in crossfire are beating out 8800s in SLI.

 

I still wouldn't get a crossfire why not invest the money into one great graphics card instead of having 2 cards.

 

Exactley. and less power usage.

 

Two 3870's will give amazing performance, take VERY VERY little power, and not cost too much.

 

I don't like SLI for the fact that when you want to upgrade, you end up with 2 old components not 1. Seems a waste to me.

 

One 880GT is more then enough to play games on DX10 so i don't understand why you need two of them. I guess for those people who have the money and love getting the top components then i guess it's their choice.

 

One 8800GT will not run crysis to it's full capability. Although it is a dull game the people with bigger boat syndrom just feel like they have to be able to play it. I would bet that even SLI'd 8800GT's would not be able to play at full capability. The new "Spider" setup with the four 3870's in crossfire most definately would be able to though, lol.

 

Thanks for all the comments they helped me a bunch...
just one more question, i dont think ill get the mobo,coreduo and memory for a few weeks but i want to get the 8800 now will it be able to hook uo to my current system? an A8n Sli mobo...
i think i read it need special cables or something or is that just a power cable for the fan? and will it run ok if i dont have a pcie2 because all the a8n has is the regular pcie express.

THanks again for the help

 

PCI-Ex 2.0 is fully backwards compatible with plain old pci-ex. It woudl work just fine, you may need a power supply adapter, but most cards come with it. It should work just fine in you ASUS board, it's socket 939 but it has got the PCI-ex. The only thing is that if you plan on SLI'ing it, you will only go at 8x on the two cards instead of 16x with just one.

 

Ok thanks!

what is better for gaming the :
BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB PCIe 2.0

or the:
eVGA GeForce 8800GT 512Mb Superclocked

and do i need vista or can i have dx10 with xp?
Thanks again

 

Personally i'd go with the EVGA 8800gt, maybe slightly biased as i have one.

DX10 is for Vista, though the current gen or 8800 cards seem to have problems with frame rate when run with Vista.

Ive shunned Vista and stuck with old mostly reliable XP. The frame rates are amazing.

At the end of the day it's up to you, if you wanna go Vista then Home Premium seems to be the best one for your bucks.

 

ill probably stay with xp although i do have a copy of vista home.
so i wont be able to play with dx10 will this cause a substantial difference in graphics like in crysis?

is it either better fps with xp or better graphics with vista?

Thanks

 

There is a large difference between dx9 and dx10, but the framerate that Vista has been delivering has been pegged as horrible. I have actually heard that it is mostly hype now a days and that Vista has gotten alot better. But it is completely up to you. Personally I would stick with XP, but I hope to never ever switch to Vista (it's another Windows ME in my opinion.)

 

Well this months copy of Custom PC had a review of the Asus 8800GT. Running 'World in Conflict' on a reasonable resolution 1280 x 1024 on vista it came in at 14fps. Compare that with running in the same res on XP it came in at 37fps.

So for lag free gaming id go for XP.