Finally decided to upgrade

[cvstrat]

Ok I've done a lot of research and I think this is the best setup for the money right now.

Intel® Boxed Core(tm) 2 Duo Processor E4300

ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

OCZ 2GB Kit DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel

Western Digital Raptor X 150GB Internal Serial ATA Hard Drive

Maxtor MaXLine Pro 500 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Antec P180 Mid Tower Case Black

EVGA 512-P2-N635-AR Geforce 7950GT KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 \ or

XFX GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3

Cost is getting up there. Is the 7950 worth the extra bucks? (i'm guessing yes)

Already have a sony 18x DL DVD burner and I have a thermal take 550w PSU.

The PSU is about 6 months old. Anything it might be missing? The burner and psu are the only things i'm keepin from the old PC. Any suggestions or changes?

Also I wanna OC this thing should I get a better than stock CPU cooler? Not sure which one if I do, any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[lobbyone]

People have been overclocking their E4300 with the stock fan just fine, you could always settle for an aftermarket cooler. I'd be more worried about the PSU, since you will be overclocking.

 

[Boyo]

I would go with the 7950GT KO. Not sure on the PSU. Read up on it.

 

[moosey]

If cost is starting to be a problem, why not change the motherboard (unless you need all the features on the deluxe)? These will o/c fine...
Gigabyte DS3
Asus P5B-E

Also, if you're thinking of something other than stock cooling, I'd say get it now. Otherwise, you may have to take out our motherboard when you do get it to install any kind of special adapters, etc. I know that was the case with the backplate on my Zalman and I'm glad I got that initially.