First System Build

[Halo1Mike]

This is what im planning to get for my first build, probably around the middle-end of august. I'm open to ideas, but would like to keep things close to the same price(or less ;) ).

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (will consider E6600 if people think its worth the extra 100 bucks) 239.99
Asus P5W DH Deluxe 269.99
Sapphire Radeon X1600XT Crossfire 110.99
Seagate Barracuda 80 GB SATA HD 47.99
Rosewill 550W Power Supply 58.99
Dynapower Blackwidow Case 39.99
G.Skill 2GB(2x1GB) DDR2 800 189.99

Later I plan to add on another video card to run in crossfire, a 320 gb hard drive, and some extra cooling. I am getting all the other stuff like cd rom drives and stuff, but didn't feel it necessary to list that stuff too. Thanks for the help.

[macbeth]

How about this VGA?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161160
Not much price difference between them in newegg but better stock cooling. Or wait for the upcoming X1650XT.

[mp91]

the X1600XT is a good VGA card. but its does'nt match PRETTY GOOD to the Conroe.
u can buy the E6300 and than buy some beter card.
LIKE A x1800 OR 7900

[randomperson21]

i'd stray away from the x1600. not the fastest card.

think about a 7900gt/gs. or an x1800 series card.

also, for about $10-15 more on newegg, you can get the same seagate barracuda but 160gb.

[BigD6997]

get a x1800xt 512 :)

and whatever everyone else said

[FLY3R]

Yeah dude unless your just getting that grafics card to hold you over for DX10, I would seriously chose another. Try spending a little less on the CPU like an E6300, becuase the only difference betweent that and the E6400 is clock speed and the E6300 can hit that no problem.

[mp91]

Yeah dude unless your just getting that grafics card to hold you over for DX10, I would seriously chose another. Try spending a little less on the CPU like an E6300, becuase the only difference betweent that and the E6400 is clock speed and the E6300 can hit that no problem.
yep, beter buy the 6300 and buy some beter card like X1800XT256 or 7900Gt.

[pt]

yep, beter buy the 6300 and buy some beter card like X1800XT256 or 7900Gt.

my tought too, get a x1800XT, get a cooler for the CPU and overclock it, so it can pass the e6400 speeds

[wtf8269]

I say get a $70 x1300 pro to tide you over until DX10 cards come out. (Aren't nvidia's DX10 cards coming out next month?)

[randomperson21]

I say get a $70 x1300 pro to tide you over until DX10 cards come out. (Aren't nvidia's DX10 cards coming out next month?)

i thought dx10 cards aren't coming out for a few months at least. i mean, dx10 is coming with vista, which (may) come in January. Thats still like 5 months minimum. then dx10.1 is coming out after that, and i think that requires a hw revision for the cards.

Personally, i'd get a midrange dx9 card now, and then in about a year, when dx10 becomes mature and vista actually works, and games come out that actually use all the cool stuff dx10 offers, then i'd get a dx10 card.

but thats just my opinion.

[magibeg]

You should either get the e6300 or the e6600 for your cpu. The extra 2mb of cache on the e6600 is nice to have but if you dont want to spend the money just go with the e6300 and overclock it a bit :)

[wtf8269]

i thought dx10 cards aren't coming out for a few months at least. i mean, dx10 is coming with vista, which (may) come in January. Thats still like 5 months minimum. then dx10.1 is coming out after that, and i think that requires a hw revision for the cards.

Personally, i'd get a midrange dx9 card now, and then in about a year, when dx10 becomes mature and vista actually works, and games come out that actually use all the cool stuff dx10 offers, then i'd get a dx10 card.

but thats just my opinion.


http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13911&highlight=g80 I'm not saying this is a bible by any means. Just that I had remembered reading this.

[drade]

You should either get the e6300 or the e6600 for your cpu. The extra 2mb of cache on the e6600 is nice to have but if you dont want to spend the money just go with the e6300 and overclock it a bit :)


E6600 is much better.

[FLY3R]

E6600 is much better.

I have to disagree, the E6600 is not better buy a large amount, i find that the E6300 keeps up, and untill programs and games can utilize 4mb of coach then it will gain leaps and bounds.

[drade]

I have to disagree, the E6600 is not better buy a large amount, i find that the E6300 keeps up, and untill programs and games can utilize 4mb of coach then it will gain leaps and bounds.


Another bad thing about the E6600 is the price..

[BigD6997]

Another bad thing about the E6600 is the price..

the only time you will realy know a difference is in superpi :eek:

[magibeg]

just wait until in the future when your run of the mill cpu has 1gig L2 cache :P. But it all depends on if he plans on overclocking or not. If hes running stock speads the e6600 is pretty much like having a slightly overclocked fx62