NZFF

Ok after much research the hot contender for my new build will be:

Motherboard

Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R

I did look at the later X38 chipset board but there just doesn't seem to be any real advantage over the P35...yet.

CPU

Q6600 with GO stepping

Great overclocker. From my reading seems to have an edge over the E6750 or E6850

What recommendations are there for good (sensibly priced) RAM. Looking at 4 GB Dual channel.

Vid card? Must be DX10

Is a Raptor drive a worthwhile investment or better to go for a bigger drive?

Any comments appreciated.

Thanks

cowpatz wrote:

QUOTE (cowpatz @ Jan 8 2008, 06:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What recommendations are there for good (sensibly priced) RAM. Looking at 4 GB Dual channel.

Vid card? Must be DX10

Is a Raptor drive a worthwhile investment or better to go for a bigger drive?

RAM:
OMG... i cannot believe how cheap RAM is these days... 2 Gig (2x 1 gig) Corsair TWIN2X DDR2-800 packs are like $100!??!!? I got mine just over a year ago and it was like $400... however I assume you will be wanting DDR2-1066... or perhaps some DDR3 seeing as the board is capable of it... but I'm not sure if the marginal increase in performance is worth the money difference tho...

I would recommend getting something decent like Corsair, Geil, OCZ etc... playing with generic stuff has always ended in tears for me

GPU:
At this point in time you have 3 options...

1. Get an 8800GT... they outperform the older (non 65nm) GTS's and are close to the older GTX's... and a 256MB is around $350...
2. Get the new G92 (65nm) GTS... but these are currently $520+
3. Wait for the new 9000 series cards...

If you cannot wait... I would probably go Option 1 from a price/performance point of view...

HDD:
I do not think the performance of a Raptor is worth the extra expense and limited capacity... a large capacity (ie 400+ GB) 7200RPM SATA drive should be more than adequate...

I wont bother with the DDR3 RAM at the moment. It is hideously expensive and there is very little performance gain. I can wait until the price comes down and then upgrade later. I would rather get a fairly good quality DDR2 RAM.
The board is not SLI or Crossfire capable but with the newer graphics cards either on the market, or coming out shortly, I dont think I really need it.

The new HD 3870 cards are meant to be good competition to the 8800GT, and they overclock like nothing else Ive ever seen...
The 256mb 8800GT is supposed to really fall flat on its face when it comes to the crunch. That lack of memory just cant keep up with the GPU.
Also, dont go down the dual graphics path that I went down. Its just extra hassle, and FS doesnt take any advantage from it.

As for the HDDs. I cant really say anything there. Im still running 2 IDE drives....

For the RAM, I say get a decent set of DDR2 800 (OCZ or Geil) and if for some reason you REALLY need more, overclock it to 1066 or higher.

As you can see, I like overclocking...

Actually I am now looking at the E8500 CPU. Runs cool and very overclockable. Justr got to look for a suitable board now. Always the trouble when you take too long to commit!