Help me Build a new computer

[Lifeforce]

My old XP 3000+ Barton is getting a little old and dented. The graphic cards AA circuit is broken, the PSU is so unstable on the 12 V line it resets the computer if you do too intense things on it. Not speaking about it has no real chassi so the HDDs and alot of cables are lying everywhere.

I figured I need a new computer. Haven't been in the loop for a while so maybe some of you have better ideas than me. Thought of something like this:

PCU: Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo E6600
Ram: 2x512 Geil 4-4-4-12 (will upgrade to 2048 later)
Motherboard: ??? would be good to have a SLI board but they haven't released any Nforce590 SLI boards for intel yet? Since I want to go with SLI it would be cool with 590 to get the full 46 lanes.
Graphic card: I want 2x7600GT in SLI, XFX or leadtek seems pretty cool
Sound Card: Something with Optical line support
HDD: I'll use my old SATA150s
Mouse: Razer Copperhead (already bought)
Keyboard: My HP keyboard from 199X
Speakers: Logitech Z5500 (already bought)
19" TFT screen (already have)

I'm gonna use this system for playing games like Oblivion, UT2004, Titan Quest, HOMM5 etc @1280x1024 setting... It will also be used as a media station where I watch movies and listen to music.

Any good ideas for a motherboard with Nforce590 for Intel? If they even exist as of now. Soundcard would be cool to if you know of any which support Optical line since I've read the Z5500 really benifit from it.

 

[Jester FPS]

post this at eocf.com or xtremesystems.org

 

[The Juan and only]

Yes! the core 2 duo is awesome, and the e6600 is by far the best value for money.

Asus have just started shipping Sli boards, so be patient.

AND FOR **** SAKE, get a single 7950gx2. Great performance/price ratio and also leaves you the option of buying another one (for Sli) in a couple of years should the single card start to fall behind.

 

[Skilla_Staz]

newegg.com

 

[Panda 2000]

7600GT is a very good choice, it's got great price per performance ratio and it performs very well under SLI. I'd have to disagree with buying a single 7950gx2, because even when the card technology is a bit outdated, you still get lots of raw power with SLI. Although you may want to wait a little for DX10 cards to come out just for, you know, DX10.
But anyway, very very good rig.

 

[Create Reality]

Wait a few months for the corporate version of Vista to come out. All of the older generation equipment will go on sale cheap!!

 

[Call_Me_Daddy]

Try one of the new LCDs. You might like one.

Or you can try one of those LCD tv's. Its like having a really big screen.

Also, if you use nLite, and tweak with the system you can remove alot of crap that windows does not need that runs in the background. You don't need it for your system, but you will see a small speed boost because of it.

What about AMD for processors? There are Nforce boards for them.

 

[Lifeforce]

Thanks for the response everyone. I've read up on DX10 and Vista. Seems like I should wait but the only hardware effected by the DX10 upgrade would be the graphic card (I doubt the RAM, CPU or MB would get much cheaper). The ability to share the power between CPU/GPU would be pretty cool and the Shader 4.0 supported in DX10 should probably make games run better.

The current one I have is AGP so I need some kind of new card if I'm gonna get the new computer to work. A single 7600GT would offer pretty good performance for a pretty low price 1500SEK/209$. A huge step over the outdated 9800PRO with broken AA-circuit I have now. Then I'll buy a new card when the DX10 cards start to pop up. The 7950 seemed pretty cool though. Two of those in a rig and wow!

I won't go AMD because Intel currently has the performance crown. The C2D E6600 really kicks AMDs ass. About as good as the FX-62 for less than half the price. That not including less power consumption, great clocking and most of all, less heat! Maybe NForce is unnecessary if I need to change the graphic card anyway. Who knows how ATI will perform towards Nvidia on the DX10 cards.

A new screen would be awesome. The sad thing is I can't afford it. To get the stuff I buy now I really have to sell a leg and a hand.

Juan and only: Yeah, I really have a biased opinion of ASUS. Since P5AD2 Premium I'm sold for ASUS-products. I'll go for another motherboard. One which stood out IMO was the P5B Deluxe which are alot cheaper than the 975chipset flagship and only marginally slower. Seems to perform well both on OC and in games too.

So the final product might be something like:

CPU: Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo E6600
PSU: Tagan 2Force 580 W
Ram: 2x512 800 Mhz DDR2 Geil 4-4-4-12
Motherboard: P5B Deluxe
Graphic card: 1x7600GT Asus
Sound Card: I'll do with the built in 7:1 for a while
HDD: Twin 160 GB in raid
Mouse: Razer Copperhead w/ exactmat
Keyboard: My HP keyboard from 199X
Speakers: Logitech Z5500 5:1
Screen: 19" TFT screen