Time to upgrade

[NemesisChiken]

My graphics card bit the dust over a week ago and I have been chasing my tailfeathers around trying to come up with a solution after finding out my AGP is only a 4x slot - WTF !! Bottom line is that between the two of us (Mini and I) we're gonna construct a new system. Of course, I'll be the one getting that one and Mini gets my current one so that we both get a serious boost from the experience.

It has been a LONG time since I had to spec out new hardware (last one I did was for HW2 release - so u knowww that was awhile ago ;) )

I did a lot of research this week on graphic card replacements for my aging INTEL P4 mobo and am pretty sure I want to stay on the INTEL bandwagon. Quad core seems a bit overkill, but I'm thinking the minimum I want to spend any money on would be a Core 2 Dual.

So with that said and since you peeps got way more time to keep up with the changing mobo/cpu/gpu landscape, anyone got suggestions on parts I might want to consider or slots i wanna make sure and have (PCI-e vs 16x PCI-e, SLI, etc).

[SPRINGCHIKEN]

i have loooooooooooooooooooooots of time om my hand & read all kinds of stuff on new hardware, That said get me on ts & ill help you out.
but here is a list of stuff from low to omg it rocks.
MB--nvidia 650i - nvidia 680i are good but going out of date.
id go with a intel p35 chip set that just came out or on the very high end (if had cash id get)x 38 this chip set is ready for 8 core chips.
Nemmy id say bang for the buck is a p35 intel right now.

on the CPU front i only say one(unless it's a none gaming rig) . http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115028

best bag & best gaming chip.

RAM--ID GO WITH 2 MATCHED 1 GIG STICKS. if you go with a p35 they can us 1333(this is a oc ram but some Mb will us it),1066,800 speeds highest being in the higher end p35 MB. 800 speed you can get cheep(What i got was 800 & $157)but can find for $57 bucks. 1066 cost more but speeds your rig up id get this if i could $$$$.

Graphics cards--- well get a 8800 theres the gts 320g & 640g ,gtx & ultra both at 768g of ram ultra being higher clocked. If you want ATI Ill need to look in to it there some good lower end ATI cards but the 8800 Ultra beats all right now.


HARD DRIVES-- WELL here a 10,000rpm Western Digital Raptor is the fastest but are very high priced per gig. Id go with a 7,200 rpm

Well that all i got to day but just get me on ts.

[GunslingerChiken]

Hey Nem, you can put a good Quad together of that's just what you want. I personally love mine, but at the same time I've never used a Duo so I don't know how to compare the two. I just built this system a few weeks ago. I bought Quad Core Q6600, ASUS P5N-E SLI mobo, 2gigs RAM, GeForce 8600 and a new case for about $1000 total. Then I just took my sound card and HDs out of my old rig and was good to go. I guess it really depends on how much you're looking to spend. I figured it was worth the extra $ to go ahead and get Quad, so I can run it for a long time.

[DysedChiken]

Nemi,

This is what I took delivery of last month and I have to tell you its as slick ass all get out.

Quad Core processor
Asus P5K Deluxe mobo running a 1066 FSB
Antec Case with 600w power supply
Terabyte hardrive (pretty sure is a Western Digital) Sata
2 gig DDR2 1066 MHz mem. OCI matched sticks
2-nVidia 8600 GTS hoocked SLI
1 CD Burner
2 DVD Burners
3 1/2 Floppy cause I still use em
Samsung 22 HDMI monitor
Altec Lansing surround sound

Currently I am only running XP but this thing is optimized for Vista. My only regret is I am running the onboard 7.1 soundcard....if I would guess I would say ya get the state of the creative labs has out and that should be the bitchiest machine going for ya.

BAWK! Hope it helps.

[LoneStarChiken]

BAWK!

Dysed, Christmas is fast approaching and I'd love one of those configs under my tree. :D

[Yin Yang Chiken]

Yup, I am in the same boat Nemesis!

I agree with Spring about the E6850, the best bang for the buck...EVGA is now making motherboards and they are still doing a good job with the i680 chipset.

As for the GFX card, the EVGA 8800GTS 320mb or 640mb is the way to go, the 640 for faster refresh rates and higher resolutions. If your not going to use higher res' then the 320 will be fine...

The hard drives are bigger, faster and mo betta now...Samsung and Hitachi being two good makers...

You will probably going to need a bigger PSU too...8800's use 26amp/12 volt rails, minimum 400 watts and 500 for SLI.

hope this helps, but I am sure Spring can help you out.