Looking to upgrade

[joejccva]

I currently have:

AMD 64 Venice 3200+
Asus A8N nForce4 SLI motherboard
PQI Turbo 2gb (2x1gb sticks in dual channel) PC3200 DDR400 RAM
Gigabyte Geforce 7800GT 256mb
Thermaltake Soprano Case
Rosewill 550W PSU


...and I was looking to upgrade the motherboard, cpu, and video card. Not sure if I need to upgrade the PSU or RAM, but I have $1000.00 to spend. I mainly play the latest games and I'm looking for a recommendation on what to get.

Can you guys help me spend $1000.00? I know I want a Nvidia video card (maybe a 8800GTS), but as far as motherboard and cpu, I am unsure which is decent.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Arkaign]

Wow, $1k? Yeah, you can get an 6750, 4GB DDR2, P35 mobo, 8800GTS 640, maybe a new monitor, etc easily. You should also be able to recoup quite a lot from your current box. I'd get a nice but cheap case and psu for your current setup, and move your new stuff into that Soprano case. Then you can sell the old kit, and bump your final upgrade cost closer to only $500-$700

 

[joejccva]

Thanks.. any recommendations as the exact type of 6750. I'm not up with the technology these days. What kind of Intel chip is that? Also what brand of RAM is good these days? Which p35 mobo?

Also what is a good air cooling unit for the 6750? And are you talking about this http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115029 ??

Thanks again.

 

[Arkaign]

Yep, that's the ticket. Any of the Asus P35s will be fantastic. Ram, look for Crucial DDR2-800, Patriot is pretty good as well.

This will help you get that 6750 well into the 3ghz range : http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820220144

It's rated for CL4 @ 800, so with looser timings, it's a piece of cake to hit very high FSB.

 

[joejccva]

Can you recommend me 2 more things please?

A nice cooling unit and a PSU?

Thanks again.

 

[myocardia]

Which heatsink you buy will depend on how high you're planning on overclocking. If you aren't planning on overclocking, the stock heatsink will be fine, at least in a case with good airflow. For a psu, this one is about impossible to beat, for the price: Corsair 520 watt.

 

[Arkaign]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835200013

I have one of the Rosewill tower coolers, and it's basically silent and does a great job (E6400@3.2Ghz)

 

[joejccva]

Originally posted by: myocardia
Which heatsink you buy will depend on how high you're planning on overclocking. If you aren't planning on overclocking, the stock heatsink will be fine, at least in a case with good airflow. For a psu, this one is about impossible to beat, for the price: Corsair 520 watt.

So with a p35 mobo, 6750 cpu, and a 8800GTS video card I don't need a 600w PSU? I plan on overclocking.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: joejccva

Originally posted by: myocardia
Which heatsink you buy will depend on how high you're planning on overclocking. If you aren't planning on overclocking, the stock heatsink will be fine, at least in a case with good airflow. For a psu, this one is about impossible to beat, for the price: Corsair 520 watt.

So with a p35 mobo, 6750 cpu, and a 8800GTS video card I don't need a 600w PSU? I plan on overclocking.

That psu will handle an overclocked Q6600, plus an overclocked 8800 GTX (only one of them, though). BTW, if you go with some cheapo brand of psu, a 700 watt psu likely won't be enough-- with psu's, it's much more about quality than quantity.