I've been trying to work out what I need for a couple of weeks now as I want to build myself a new up-to-date gaming rig over the Christmas hols 
However...as this is going to hammer my credit card, I thought I'd make sure I'm doing things right, so if any of the gurus here could help, I'd be really grateful.
I want to replace my "old" DFI LanParty 875, P4 3.2 and 6800Ultra so that I can get some decent frame rates in the upcoming games and also run Oblivion in high settings in 1680x1050 without jerk-o-vision.
I've come up with the following spec so far:
C2D E6600
Corsair Dominator 8500 (2GB)
Any 8800GTX (not sure which manufacturer to go for at the mo - prob BFG as it's on T.W.O. special
)
Enermax Galaxy 1000W PSU
This is where I need help though - I'm a complete n00b when it comes to overclocking and never do it, but so many people are getting incredible performance increases out of the C2Ds (although this seems to be batch revision related), and I'm still not sure whether I'd attempt it - all this stuff about changing voltages scares me too much. What I'm trying to get my head around is that I'd picked the dominator memory because it's 1066, so I thought that it would match the processor FSB, but I'm obviously missing something here because everybody else is using much more sensibly priced memory....
Secondly, I chose the Enermax Galaxy because of the amount of 12V rails - I thought that although I'm only using a single 8800GTX initially, I wouldn't mind adding another one in 10-12 months when the price has come down and the Enermax had four of the power connectors to support this, but again I'm not sure whether this is overkill. I'll only be running 2-3 SATA HDDs, a floppy and a Pioneer DVD-RW along with fans in addition to the graphics card(s).
Finally, I wanted to get the Asus Striker Extreme because I like the heatpipe cooling solution (for less noise) and of course the LEDs and EL I/O - I like me lights , but as the stock seems to be continuously put back at the mo, i can only assume it's because of the 680i problems. The new MSI P6N Diamond looked quite good but I'm not sure when it's released and I'm too impatient to wait. As I wanted to build this over Christmas, I was considering the EVGA 680i (despite the problems) as OcUK has all of the other stuff and this in stock. What do you think I should do? - I have got an Intel D965RYC which I could use temporarily, but it would mean reloading / repairing Windows when I get a 680i.
Sorry for the long post, but it's getting really close to my last chance for ordering before Christmas, so any advice that all you experts can offer would be very very much appreciated!
However...as this is going to hammer my credit card, I thought I'd make sure I'm doing things right, so if any of the gurus here could help, I'd be really grateful.
I want to replace my "old" DFI LanParty 875, P4 3.2 and 6800Ultra so that I can get some decent frame rates in the upcoming games and also run Oblivion in high settings in 1680x1050 without jerk-o-vision.
I've come up with the following spec so far:
C2D E6600
Corsair Dominator 8500 (2GB)
Any 8800GTX (not sure which manufacturer to go for at the mo - prob BFG as it's on T.W.O. special
)Enermax Galaxy 1000W PSU
This is where I need help though - I'm a complete n00b when it comes to overclocking and never do it, but so many people are getting incredible performance increases out of the C2Ds (although this seems to be batch revision related), and I'm still not sure whether I'd attempt it - all this stuff about changing voltages scares me too much. What I'm trying to get my head around is that I'd picked the dominator memory because it's 1066, so I thought that it would match the processor FSB, but I'm obviously missing something here because everybody else is using much more sensibly priced memory....
Secondly, I chose the Enermax Galaxy because of the amount of 12V rails - I thought that although I'm only using a single 8800GTX initially, I wouldn't mind adding another one in 10-12 months when the price has come down and the Enermax had four of the power connectors to support this, but again I'm not sure whether this is overkill. I'll only be running 2-3 SATA HDDs, a floppy and a Pioneer DVD-RW along with fans in addition to the graphics card(s).
Finally, I wanted to get the Asus Striker Extreme because I like the heatpipe cooling solution (for less noise) and of course the LEDs and EL I/O - I like me lights
, but as the stock seems to be continuously put back at the mo, i can only assume it's because of the 680i problems. The new MSI P6N Diamond looked quite good but I'm not sure when it's released and I'm too impatient to wait. As I wanted to build this over Christmas, I was considering the EVGA 680i (despite the problems) as OcUK has all of the other stuff and this in stock. What do you think I should do? - I have got an Intel D965RYC which I could use temporarily, but it would mean reloading / repairing Windows when I get a 680i.Sorry for the long post, but it's getting really close to my last chance for ordering before Christmas, so any advice that all you experts can offer would be very very much appreciated!
