Right, seeing as how shit my pc is... I'm going to upgrade. Or rather replace it.
Currently it can barely run the latest games at lowest setting 800x600. And games using the 3.0 shader (?) I won't even
bother downloading/trying as they don't run at all

Currently:
athlon xp 2800+ at 3200+
9800pro
1gb ddr ram
a7n8x-x
soundblaster live! 5.1 (using the onboard for games, this one for the
digital output to my tv for movies and shows)
IDE hd

Considering upgrading to
quad core q6600
2-4 gb ddr2/3 (depending on price)
SATA hd
8800gt (sli?)


I've had good experiences with ocz and GeiL.
Current hd (Maxtor) is partially broken. And it's not my first bad experience with Maxtor

Current screen is good, so no need for that.
PSU should keep up, 500w

Willing up to about 1600€, doesnt mean it has to be that price though.
I prefer bang for buck. I am dutch afterall :p
Only thing i've searched for are the 8800gt 's, want to SLI them although I'm not quite sure it's worth the money
the XFX 8800gt and the MSI 8800gt are already available on www.alternate.nl


Any tips for motherboards, ram or hardrives? Maybe even cooling?

Go intel

Trust me - Athlons are nowhere near as good as the Core Duo Intels atm.

M

Just a quickie through the Alternate site.

Quad Core sounds good but is highly overrated atm. Applications and games hardly know how to handle Dual Core let alone Quad.

The mainboard can take quad core processors so if application are actually gonna make use of all 4 cores you can easily upgrade.

Chucked in 1 8800GT for pricing benefits, I'd wait for the XFX versions tho.

Harddisk wise I'd go for either Samsung or WD, went for 750GB WD here for no particular reason at all.

Last question would be if you're upgrading to Vista? With an OEM Vista package you'd have to add an additional €180.

[edit]
You should ask Macey about the benefits of SLi

[edit 2]
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007. ... &chart=424

Nice link to compare processors. The quad core gets beaten even by the E6750

Ram is cheap as chips at the moment but unless you're getting a 64 bit OS then 4GB isn't really needed as a 32 bit OS will only see about 3.4 GB, having said that even the .4 is better than nothing with Vista using .5 or more just running then ever little helps

Thanks

I had a go with the pc builder on there and came up with:


Grafische kaarten nVidia PCIe -

* MSI NX8800 GT
* 512 MB, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, 256 bit
* 2
* € 269,-
* € 538,-


CPUs Socket 775 Core 2 Duo

* Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6850
* 2x 3000 MHz, 4096 kB, 1333 MHz, Conroe
* 1
* € 259,-
* € 259,-

* Boxed Koeler (ATX Layout)
*
* 1


Moederborden Socket 775 -

* GigaByte GA-X38-DQ6
* Intel® X38, Socket 775, 1.600 MHz
* 1
* € 229,-
* € 229,-

* Ultra DMA/133 Controller
* 133 MB/s, maximaal 2 apparaten
* 1

* Intel® ICH9R Southbridge
* 300 MB/s, maximaal 6 apparaten
* 1

* Serial ATA/300 Controller
* 300 MB/s, maximaal 2 apparaten
* 1

* USB 2.0 Controller
* 60 MB/s, maximaal 127 apparaten
* 1

* FireWire Controller
* 50 MB/s, maximaal 63 apparaten
* 1

* Realtek ALC889A (HD-Audio; 8-Kanaal)
*
* 1

* Realtek RTL8111B
*
* 2

* Realtek RTL8111B
*
* 1


Harddisks 3,5 inch SATA -

* Western Digital Caviar SE16
* 320 GB, 8,9 / 16 / 7200, 0,25 €
* 1
* € 79,-
* € 79,-


Geheugen DDR2-1066 -

* OCZ 2 GB DDR2-1066 Kit
* 2048 MB, CL5 5-5-15, PC2 8500, 2 stuk(s)
* 1
* € 149,-
* € 149,-


Subtotaal:
€ 1.254,-


not sure if the mobo is sli though, havent found a clear answer on that
320gb is already more than enough tbh

Looks good, get a proper cooler tho, boxed = suck. Got the OCZ Vanquisher myself, blows the air out of the case and nice and silent.



Crossfire is ATI and not nvidia

http://www.alternate.nl/html/product/de ... hData=true for an alternative. Supports DDR2 800.

There are no doubts that the Gigabyte Quad series of boards are impressive boards that stunned the DIY community. GA-X38-DQ6 is the newest member and it has brought the same quality standards you have seen on other boards like the P35-DQ6 or P35T-DQ6. Similar to the GA-P35-DQ6, the board comes with all the necessary expansion ports like eSATA, USB, 1394. The most important difference is the native support of Dual PCIe x16 for CrossFire.

Agreed this board is crossfire m8

Fans of nVIDIA will have to wait until Skulltrail before having the ability to pair the two together.

for coolers this is good value Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994

Yes, I was afraid of that.
the gigabyte alternative only shows support up to ddr2 667

Went through a bunch of review sites and am really starting to doubt SLI is really worth the money.


thinking of ditching the sli idea and go for an x38 mobo that supports pci-e 2.0 (8800gt is the first 2.0)

which would turn out like:




Caviar SE16 (250 GB) € 69,-
Core™ 2 Duo E6850 (2x 3000 MHz) € 259,-
2 GB DDR2-1066 Kit (2048 MB) € 149,-
GA-X38-DQ6 (Intel® X38) € 229,-
Performance One P180 (case) € 129,-
Freezer 7 Pro (cooler) € 19,-
EN8800GT/G/HTDP/512M (512 MB) € 259,-

total: € 1.113,-

What about this n3m : http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/ ... r_cooling/

It looks the shit and no doubt wil cost the shit but from what I gather it will be supported on most of the recent intel motherboards. I dunno much about MB's but will the one you're buying support it?

As for games that need quad core - Remedy have said that Alan Wake will benefit from it. Depends how much you rate the prospects of that game tho. It looks pretty nice to me.

Seeing as the boot screen in that review shows the same mobo I'm considering in the post above, I'd say yeah

But €870,- (cheapest I found here) is a bit much for 1 little chip, although it does look good


who knows, maybe in a few months

Aye absolutely. As long as the mobo is futureproofed tbh. Im still torn about getting an X2 6400+ black edition in the short term or not. Its now 25quid cheaper than it was last time i looked.

Asus 8800gt
Antec P180 (case)
ASUS Maximus Formula
INTEL Core2Duo E6850
Western Digital 250 GB
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro (cooler)
Microsoft Windows Vista
OCZ PC2-8500 - 2 GB

Went for this
Got it cheaper than the price above, and this with vista/assembly/delivery
aswell. Could not be arsed with assembly this time

the gigabyte mobo wasnt available from the site I ordered this from though,
that's why I went for the asus. Which is basically the same