[tssman]

I am building a computer and have made some decisions on what to use and would like a few people to check my decisions and make suggestions before I buy.
Motherboard: Asus P5N32-E SLI nvidia 680i chipset
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.0 GHz
Graphics Card(s): 2x EVGA 8500GT 1GB GDDR2
Memory: Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 Dual Channel kit
DVD-ROM drive and DVD burner

Unsure on a case or a power supply. How beneficial is it to go Quad-core or is will Dual-core be fine? Graphics card, should I spend two hundred on one great graphics card, or should I buy two graphics cards for less. Any opinions are great.

[Triple6]

A single good card will beat two budget cards in SLI almost any day. The 8500GT's are not good gaming cards, and the 1GB of RAM on them is a pure marketing ploy and completely useless. I'd be looking at a Geforce 9600GT or a Geforce 8800GT is you are a serious gamer.

See here: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/d...%2C1605%2C1563
There's no comparison between 2 x 8500GT's in SLI to a single 8800GT.

As for the CPU, it depends on what you will use the computer for or what games you play. For most things a dual core processor will be just as good as a quad core, but some applications that are specifically designed to take advantage of multiple cores can see high gains going to a quad core. It'll also depend on you budget as to what you can afford.

Again check out some benchmarks: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/c...%2C1310%2C1309

[Compiler]

Two useless 8500s = weak gaming experince... It might equal a single 8600GT and that is considered a LOW LOW end video card by todays standards.

What is your budget?

$30 high end case (after rebates) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129018 Then add a 500watt Coolermaster PSU for $50.

But I'd take a Corsair PSU for possible SLI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139004 ($85 = 550 watt) But usually SLI is a waste of money. IE: reduce money on SLI setup - buy a more powerful single card...




Or silver version for $150 with a 500watt PSU.

[Compiler]

LOL... 2x 8500GTs are STILL slower than my 2year old 7600GT!.. Man, those 8500s go up to $85~100 still?! They're 1/5 the ability/performance of a single $120 9600GT.

[Rich-M]

And I have a problem with Asus board. They are noting but trouble lately ...oh and buy the better video card and then Intel chipset motherboard, not Nvidia. Nvidia is not really experienced at playing with Intel cpu's.

[Compiler]

Ah man... Intel is not perfect... Remember how VIA shot up? because intel totally screwed up with the 820chipset back in the P3 days. The massive recall, the down time. Intel had CPUs to sell and no motherboards to put them on. VIA had the reliable chipset which companies used and they made reliable chipsets for AMD. It wasn't until the 815 came out (yeah, lower number, but it was one of intel's best chipsets) that they recovered.

Nvidia came to the scene with their Nforce1 chipset... but once they hit Nforce2 - they haven't stopped, in general.

That said... I'd still take the intel chipset mostly because the lack of need of SLI... Nvidia is still used for top-end rigs. But I think the P35/38 chipsets look pretty good, for intel

But for motherboards - ASUS has been screwing up a lot, lately. Gigabyte is my choice.

[Rich-M]

Me too Gigabyte is all I am using.

[Compiler]

ABIT is trying to get back their status... I think they're doing pretty good and have bought some of their boards, but I'm still finding myself going to Gigabte > MSI > Abit > ASUS - 6 months ago: ASUS > MSI > GIGABYTE > ABIT

Oh well...

[tssman]

Ok,
One graphics card, how much on-board memory do you think? And any manufacture ie. MSI or Evga in particular to buy?
Gigabyte mobo, is there anything special to look for?
With the processor it would be going from the 3 GHz duo to an entry level quad, but i have heard good things about over clocking.
Thanks for the help

[Rich-M]

I will no longer use Asus. I had been sending back every motherboard and video card until I got tired of it. I guess they got too big without good inspection, always the first place a mfgr cuts when they need to save money.

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by tssman

Ok,
One graphics card, how much on-board memory do you think? And any manufacture ie. MSI or Evga in particular to buy?
Gigabyte mobo, is there anything special to look for?
With the processor it would be going from the 3 GHz duo to an entry level quad, but i have heard good things about over clocking.
Thanks for the help

I have used this board and it's predecessor a lot. If you decide to go with Penryn cpu's though you will have to flash bios first but for Quad 6600 or 6700 it's ready and most C2D also.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128059

[tssman]

I think I'll go with that mother board.
As for a video card MSI, evga, BFG? I have no idea if one is better than another. Also how much on board memory should the graphics card have?

[tssman]

Is say a 640 meg 8800GTS overkill?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130317

[Compiler]

The 8800GT is cooler, newer and faster than the GTS 320/640.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=7

Down to $160 with rebate... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...chInDesc=512mb

[tssman]

Does BFG make good cards? I've never understood why Nvidia makes the chips but other company's put their touch on it and sell them.