Forum Overview :: American McGee's Honda Civic :: Re: Plz help with finding a mobo / case combo based on the following:

[quote name="Quentin Beck"][quote name="Motherhead"][quote name="Willldog"]I asked a question <a href="http://www.caltrops.com/pointy.php?action=viewPost&pid=49714">somewhat like this</a> around this time last year but never got around to actually updating my computer. I'm still using the following spare parts from Jan-2002: Case: Enlight Mid-Tower w/ 300W power supply - $46 CPU: AMD Athlon 1800+/266 - $160 MB: Via KT266A (Epox 8KHA+) - $98 Vid Card: Gainward Geforce3 Ti200 64MB - $156 Ram: 2X 256MB PC-2100 Crucial - $82 Total $624, with shipping $674.80 Needless to say, I've not played anything new in a few years. Since then I've some got some more $ in my budget so my current NewEgg wishlist looks like this: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16829102006">EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail</a> Model #: 640-P2-N821-AR $389.99 <a href="http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115003">Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail</a> Model #: BX80557E6600 $316.00 (Should I buy a 3rd party cooling system?) <a href="http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145590">CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail</a> Model #: TWIN2X2048-6400 $221.00 <a href="http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822144701">Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM</a> Model #: WD2500KS $79.99 -$5.00 Instant $74.99 <a href="http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16829102006">Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 70SB073A00000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail</a> Model #: 70SB073A00000 $89.99 I don't know anything about motherboards or cases anymore other then I'll probably 500W or more for a PSU. What I do know is that I want all the parts I've listed to work without being a bitch to set up, and I'd like front panel USB access. A audio out jack in front would be nice too. If someone could recommend a case and mobo that would work, let me know. Also, is there any compelling reason I should hold off? Do I have anything stupid listed? I think these parts are good enough to run anything that's out right now (Obliviion, etc.), but I've been out of the hardware game a while. Side note: I'm not planning on going to Vista any time soon. I'll be too busy catching up on everything released from 2003 onwards. Willdog[/quote] Motherboards. Without getting into a the history of LGA 775 chipsets, I'm just going to point at nvidia's 650i and 680i boards. You can save money using 965 or 975X boards but I prefer these.* 650i: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131142" target="new">ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard</a> <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2894&p=1" target="new">Best budget </a>value in this list. 680i: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813188009" target="new"> EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard</a> Standard reference design for the 680i. It's a solid board, I've used it in a couple of systems. <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131073" target="new"> ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard</a> Asus's take on the reference design. <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131074" target="new"> ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard</a> Wretched excess. Borderline obnoxious. *Some people had issues with 680i boards and SATA data corruption. Nvidia released a bios flash hotfix that corrects it, you can get it either from your board manufacturer or from Nvidia's site. Remember to flash your bios as soon as you have a stable OS install. I personally experienced no data corruption at all, despite the fact that I boot from RAID and all six of my drives are SATA, so don't panic. [/quote] Took the plunge today, thanks for the assist. CASE ANTEC|SONATAII BLK RT - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$99.99) MB ASUS P5N-E SLI NF650I SLI 775 - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$129.99) CPU INTEL|C2D E6600 2.4G 775 4M R - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$313.00) MEM 1Gx2|COR 240P TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$231.00) VGA EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR 8800GTS - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$279.99) SNDCD CREATIVE|70SB073A00000 RT - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$79.99) HD 320G|ST 7K 16M SATA2 ST3320620AS - OEM (Qty=1, Price=$89.99) DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #26999 GIFT (Qty=1, Price=$-39.99) GIFT THQ|SUPREME COMMANDER GM R - OEM (Qty=1, Price=$39.99) Subtotal: $1223.95 Shipping and Handling Charge**: $28.02 Total: $1251.97 ($70.00 worth of mail-in rebates) New Egg offered me a combo for the proc & graphics card that comes w/ Supreme Commander. Neat. I don't know much about it though. Spiritual succesor to Total Anihilation, right? Willdog[/quote]