New comp

**King Edward I** · December 04, 2006, 03:03 PM

Hows this sound:

EVGA 122-CK-NF68 NF680i SLI, S775, PCI-E(x16), DDR2 1200/533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX + Game
1Gb CorsairXMS2, DDR2 PC6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Socket 775, 2.4 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail
Zalman CNPS9700-LED Super Aero Flower Cooler (775/AM2/754/939/940)
768Mb EVGA 8800GTX PCI-E (x16), Mem 1800 MHz, GPU 575 MHz, 128 Streams, 2 x Dual Link DVI-I HDTV
19" Video Seven L19WA Silver/Black TFT, 1440x900, 8 ms, 500:1, 300 cd/m2, Widescreen, Speakers, VESA
LiteOn LH-18A1H 18X DVD+/-RW/RAM Lightscribe beige/blk/silver retail
Samsung SH-S183A/BEBN Black SATA 18x18 ±R Dual Layer DVDRW Writer OEM UK inc Nero 6.x
Arctic Cooling MX-1 High Performance Thermal Compound (it's what arctic use on their H/S/F's)
Zboard Age Of Empires III limited edition gaming keyset ONLY
500w Seasonic M12-500 SLi Modular PSU 2xPCI-E 4xSATA 120mm Fan ATX1.3/2.01
Antec Nine Hundred/Ultimate Gamer Case no PSU
160 Gb Western Digital WD1600YS Caviar RE, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ

Ed

**Freddie** · December 04, 2006, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by King Edward I

Hows this sound:

EVGA 122-CK-NF68 NF680i SLI, S775, PCI-E(x16), DDR2 1200/533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX + Game
1Gb CorsairXMS2, DDR2 PC6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Socket 775, 2.4 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail
Zalman CNPS9700-LED Super Aero Flower Cooler (775/AM2/754/939/940)
768Mb EVGA 8800GTX PCI-E (x16), Mem 1800 MHz, GPU 575 MHz, 128 Streams, 2 x Dual Link DVI-I HDTV
19" Video Seven L19WA Silver/Black TFT, 1440x900, 8 ms, 500:1, 300 cd/m2, Widescreen, Speakers, VESA
LiteOn LH-18A1H 18X DVD+/-RW/RAM Lightscribe beige/blk/silver retail
Samsung SH-S183A/BEBN Black SATA 18x18 ±R Dual Layer DVDRW Writer OEM UK inc Nero 6.x
Arctic Cooling MX-1 High Performance Thermal Compound (it's what arctic use on their H/S/F's)
Zboard Age Of Empires III limited edition gaming keyset ONLY
500w Seasonic M12-500 SLi Modular PSU 2xPCI-E 4xSATA 120mm Fan ATX1.3/2.01
Antec Nine Hundred/Ultimate Gamer Case no PSU
160 Gb Western Digital WD1600YS Caviar RE, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ

Ed

Having 2Gb instead of 1gb of ram would round that system of nicely. Make sure your optical drives are black and not sliver or beige so they match your case. Speaking of cases does your case have fans? If not invest in a120mm fan for rear air extraction so you components don't over heat.

You're power supply is just adequate, don't get me wrong Seasonic makes the best power supplies on the market but if I were you I would look at least 700watt if not more since your buying an SLI motherboard and you a 8800GTX video card which implies you are going to have two of those behemoths in running.

Your hard drive seems very small (capacity wise), 250-320 gb's hard drives are not a lot money. BTW NCQ can often lead to slow performance, NQC is best suited for server builds and operations, not regular home use.

**King Edward I** · December 04, 2006, 03:55 PM

problem is that is already at the top end/ slighly over my budget

2Gb ram (will upgrade later)

HDDs: I have plenty of HDD (sata drives) kicking about so i will be fitting those as well and I have a 36Gb raptor

my case also has plenty of bays for expansion!

PSU: find me a 700W good PSU that is around the same price as that

my case has 6 fans!

**Freddie** · December 04, 2006, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by King Edward I

problem is that is already at the top end/ slighly over my budget

2Gb ram (will upgrade later)

HDDs: I have plenty of HDD (sata drives) kicking about so i will be fitting those as well and I have a 36Gb raptor

my case also has plenty of bays for expansion!

PSU: find me a 700W good PSU that is around the same price as that

my case has 6 fans!

Where are you from? It would to know to find a good place to find some decent parts.

If you cut down to the 8800GTS you could get away with a 600watt PSU such as the Seasonic 600 Watt S-12. The money you would save might help out with your budget as well.

I also wouldn't buy an SLI mobo unless I was 100% sure I was going to go Sli. If it were me I would get the Asus P5B, which should save you money and is the best board for overclocking the E6600, I would tag that with the Geforce 8800GTS and get 2Gb of ram 800Mhz. For me it that system setup just seems more balanced.

**Incinerate_IV** · December 04, 2006, 06:30 PM

If I were you, I wouldn't even bother SLIing the 8800s anymore. A pair of 8800GTXs can even be bottlenecked by a 4.5ghz Core 2 Duo!!! It would take a long long time for CPU to catch up.

**Hadrian** · December 04, 2006, 08:26 PM

I like the set up alot, except for the PSU and the single GB of RAM. One solution is to keep the GTX and downgrade the mainboard to the very reputable Asus P5B and not plan to go SLI in the future and keep the current PSU. I personally wouldn't change out that 8800GTX for the 8800GTS, no way, too much of a concession IMO.

I say build it as is, and in the future, if you do go SLI, then also upgrade the PSU at that time as well as add another GB dimm.

I don't have an educated opinion on the GTX's in SLI being bottlenecked by the likes of an EX6800. That's actually a scary thought....

**freekyjason** · December 04, 2006, 08:39 PM

i had two 7600gt's SLI until the mobo died on me, and i got a new one that is only single. the single 7600gt seems to be operating every bit as good as 2 so im sticking with one atm.

2gb of ram seems to be the way to go these days with the performance needs of a system to keep up with the games and programs coming out. and windows xp of course which says "wow you have a gig of ram, i'll steal that why not"

save money by getting the 8800gts as suggested earlier in this thread, as that is well and truly a great card still. and with that sort of card you can save a bit more by getting a non-SLI mobo, unless you really want to go SLI.

**Hadrian** · December 04, 2006, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by freekyjason

i had two 7600gt's SLI until the mobo died on me, and i got a new one that is only single. the single 7600gt seems to be operating every bit as good as 2 so im sticking with one atm.

It's a fact that to truly get the most out of SLI or Crossfire you need to have top of the line GPUs. Your 7600GT's are midrange GPU's at best so it's no surprise your SLI results were less than desireable. Right now 7800GTX's are really the bottom end for an SLI rig. No offense was intended by my response BTW.

Originally Posted by freekyjason

save money by getting the 8800gts as suggested earlier in this thread, as that is well and truly a great card still. and with that sort of card you can save a bit more by getting a non-SLI mobo, unless you really want to go SLI.

Sure, the 8800GTS is a wonderful VC, but if your going to spend that kind of money on a GPU, then spend a little more and get the best! The GTX is better than the GTS in every way, and it will be even more dominant over it's sibling when they're utilized with the Vista OS.

**freekyjason** · December 04, 2006, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by Hadrian

It's a fact that to truly get the most out of SLI or Crossfire you need to have top of the line GPUs. Your 7600GT's are midrange GPU's at best so it's no surprise your SLI results were less than desireable. Right now 7800GTX's are really the bottom end for an SLI rig. No offense was intended by my response BTW.

yeah the 7600gt's arent really for SLI, and one does fine, most of my settings are on high, with shadows and AA off.

**Incinerate_IV** · December 04, 2006, 09:05 PM

I agree with Hadrian on the 8800GTX. That card could last you a long time, especially when DX10 and Vista actually improves performance.

I suggest you do this, don't bother SLI anymore, it will be just a waste of money. Your processor will bottleneck it too much. No processors exist right now can handle the power the power of 2 8800GTX. Instead get a Asus P5B Deluxe motherboard and use the $100 you saved to go for 2 gigs of ram. Now you don't even have to upgrade your PC for at least a year.

Artic Silver is the way to go for thermal compounds.

**Hadrian** · December 04, 2006, 11:31 PM

Originally Posted by Incinerate_IV

I suggest you do this, get a Asus P5B Deluxe motherboard and use the $100 you saved to go for 2 gigs of ram. Now you don't even have to upgrade your PC for at least a year.

Ed, I think this is the best solution. A proven mainboard and 2GB of RAM from the start. And no concession on the the GTX....

**King Edward I** · December 05, 2006, 01:10 AM

the thing is i know i can raise the fsb on that mobo over 500Mhz

as i did it with an e6300 the SLI i not to worried about - if they did a single card version of that chipset then id get it, how high will i be able to get it on the P5B

im UK based and prefer scan

**UnderdawgIV** · December 04, 2006, 09:16 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341002

OCZ GameXStreme 700W Unit. 85% efficiency FTW!

If you want additional advice, look to the following extensive PSU Purchasing Guide in the HardOCP forum: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1000883

**eyescreaman** · December 12, 2006, 10:09 AM

hey the 8800 right now is mostly for bragging because there are realy no games to play on in direct x10. I would wait until later to buy this card as they will be cheaper and support more games.