help needed with new build (been out of the lop for ages)

[gEd]

Hi

I currently have a 4 year old AMD XP-M running at 2.3Ghz, NFS-2, 1Gb ram, 2 x 120GB in RAID0, 6800ultra, XP all in a CM 201 case.

The PSU has gone pop on the same day I was starting to think about upgrading (so I need to get a new pc up and running asap.

My reasons for needing to upgrade (rather than just replace the PSU) are that I am finding Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom rather slow. (I know some more mem might help but I don't want to throw money at this old rig). I also want to play recent games at 1680x1050, the native res of my panel.

I love the CM 201 but the 80mm fans are noisy and it looks like I might stuggle with the latest tower coolers.

So far I have put together a list of some of the usual suspects:-

Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775) (out of stock atm)
some 120mm fan

graphics: It looks like the 8800 GTS 320MB is the best card for playing recent games at 1680x1050 but I did wonder about just picking up a 1950pro for ~£80 and waiting a while. The games that I am currently playing include C&C TS3, COH, MTW 2, RTW, (hoping to play COD2 again at higher res). I don't seem to play FPS's much any more, not sure why....

My main problem is selecting an appropriate C2D CPU. I have thought about the Q6600 but I am not sure that I really need 4 cores and I would like to spend a little less IF I can get away with it. I am also concerned about the heat output from this baby, I want the system to be as quiet as I can make it (again without going mad or water at this stage)

I want to do an "quick win"/easy overclock to get the best performance from the CPU but I don't want to spent ages trying to eek the last few % out of the thing (although that could be famous last words)

I would appreciate some guidance on the best CPU to choose as I am totally confused by the C2D product range atm. I would also appreciate any comments, suggestions, recommendations regarding the above spec.

cheers.

 

[gEd]

cheers for the reply and you are right, that would be the most effective upgrade. I did look at the asrock some time ago but it feels like a bit of a stop-gap if you know what I mean.

I didn't know the asrock could overclock a C2D to 3Ghz (which is my minimum target).

All good food for thought.

 

[gEd]

thanks for that Cairnsey.

That's my problem really, so many chips to choose from!

The obvious conclusion from that thread is that one should buy an e21x0 and clock the nuts out of it. So why do people buy the e6xxx's? Do you need an uber mobo, uber volts to make the 21x0's sing?

The other conclusion is that I should get a cheap e21x0 and an 8800 GTS rather than a more expensive C2D and an 1950. makes sense I guess.

Will an e21x0 at 3Ghz run much hotter than (say) an e6600 at the same speed?
How do the differing fsb's (800, 1066, 1333) impact on overclocking and performance?

 

[gEd]

really? i thought 320 was supposedd to be enough. a guy i work with has must been telling me about some memory problem with the 320MB version that causes a slowing of fps in gamaes that is cured when u alt-tab and and back into the game. anyone heard of this problem?

I think the 640MB is over budget for my needs. I don;t game as often as I would like to.

6750 ... looks very interesting. was thinking about going down to a 2160 and clocking the heck out of it but I might consider the 6750 as the cache would help with video encoding that i may want to do now and again.

cheers for the feedback