Would appreciate some upgrade help.

[slappynutz]

I'm sorry to add to the never-ending string of "help me with my build" threads, but, please ... "help me with my build."

My current setup is as follows:

AMD 64 3200
Abit KV8-Max3
eVGA 7800gs AGP
1gb Corsair DDR ram
Antec TruePower 430
WD Raptor 74gb
Seagate 320gb .10
Antec P180 Case
2 DVD-RW drives
Soundblaster Audigy
Logitech G15+G5 Combo
Dell 2407 LCD

It's served me well for about 3 years, and I upgraded the video card last spring knowing full-well that it'd be replaced within the year. The problem is the Abit board ... it's been giving me nothing but problems and half the time won't even boot. Plus its bloody siren goes off whenever I tweak even the smallest thing. So I figure it's time to upgrade everything above the hard drives on the list.

I rarely bother to overclock significantly, and am very interested in keeping my system as quiet as possible. With those caveats in mind, I'm seriously considering the following:

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR nForce 680i
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX
CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 Power Supply

With combos at newegg, I can get the above for just over $1600 shipped not counting $70 in rebates. To me, that seems fair to get a system that should be able to handle games at the native 1920x1200 res of my monitor, plus all the other tasks I'll be using it for.

I've been running 32-bit Vista Enterprise since November, so that's another consideration.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm not entirely in the loop with hardware so if anyone has some red flags with the hardware I've selected I'd really love to hear them. Thanks.

 

[moosey]

Rarely overclocking means that memory is overkill, check these two, they'll do fine
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145590 (5-5-5-12 timing)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145034 (4-4-4-12 timing)

Also, if you're not planning on SLI I'd probably go with an Intel chipset. If you're going SLI then its a good choice though.
Might check out the BadAxe2...real stable and can o/c
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...details.asp?EdpNo=2563503&Sku=I69-2145
Also, check out the Anandtech roundup of the P965 boards, some good choices in there as well.

Nice PSU selection, I actually have that one.

 

[slappynutz]

Thanks a lot for the reply.

The memory I chose because, combined with the eVGA m/b at newegg, there's $15 off and a $40 rebate that makes it about the same price as the low-end ram.

I don't know if I'll ever go SLI but I thought it was a good option to leave open. Plus I've had good experiences dealing with eVGA thusfar and want to break the Asus/Abit cycle of disappointment I've had over the past decade or so.

I wish I could wait to see if ATI finally shows the R600, but with each passing month of silence I can't help but think they're tweaking and fixing it to compete with the 8800 and are having problems. Plus I've never liked the ATI GUI in its media players. Lame, I know, but to me it was an issue.

The other major concern I have is system noise. I'd consider even spending more for the eVGA KO version of the 8800 if it meant a few decibels less in overall system noise. And the last high-end line of ATI cards were kind of noisy.