Motherhead wrote:

Willldog wrote:

I asked a question somewhat like this 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:

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Model #: 640-P2-N821-AR
$389.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
Model #: BX80557E6600
$316.00 (Should I buy a 3rd party cooling system?)

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
Model #: TWIN2X2048-6400
$221.00

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD2500KS
$79.99 -$5.00 Instant $74.99

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 70SB073A00000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
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

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:

ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Best budget value in this list.

680i:

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Standard reference design for the 680i. It's a solid board, I've used it in a couple of systems.

ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Asus's take on the reference design.

ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard
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.