Final thoughts...

[benopeth]

Okay, so I've decided to make the leap to from AMD to Intel (sorry AMD, lol) and have decided near enough everything on my rig...

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.66GHz (1333FSB) - Retail
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit
Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music 7.1 Soundcard - OEM
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB 3200AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

That gap underneath the CPU cooler and above the RAM is the motherboard.

I've been recommended the "Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard", but I've never used a Gigabyte mobo before, heard very little about them and have heard mixed reviews on here.

Could anyone tell me why I should go for this one? Or, alternatively, why not go for an Asus/Abit equivalent? I'm used to Asus and have always used them so I'm a little biased there but I'm a little out of touch with PC hardware these days so!

Please add your thoughts!

 

[stickroad]

lol any need to make another thread?

Anyway, i suggested the Gigabyte board since it was within your budget. Any of the P35 Boards will do the job just fine, they are all very reliable, solid and have a lot of overclocking potienal.

 

[benopeth]

Yeah sorry about that, it looked as if that thread had lost interest! I'm spending a good old whack of money so I want to make the right decision!

Excellent, thanks for all your advice, really appreciate it!

 

[mk17]

...
Any of the P35 Boards will do the job just fine, they are all very reliable, solid and have a lot of overclocking potienal.

Couldn't agree more, any current P35 mobo will do nicely (my own preference would be for the Abit IP35 Pro - but I'm also biased )

I'm not sure about your choice of gfx card, I'd prefer an 8800 in there - but it depends on what you want to use your rig for.

 

[benopeth]

Well, besides uni work (photoshop, flash, ms office, etc), a crap load of gaming!

I'm sticking with the X1950pro to start with as I'm on a strict budget and it's still a pretty decent card from what I can tell, and have also read. When I'm able to afford it then I will splash out on a 2900XT or something like that, just want to get the foundations sorted first!