New shuttle box

[darkgen]

Been out of the game with shuttle since my xp3200 & 45g, but I've decided this qpack needs to go....

So, first up, since I'm currently running an x2 4800 with an 8800gts 640mb. What would be a _decent_ step up, with a mind to reusing the gpu ONLY in the new shuttle box (if that's a possibility, considering physical space and psu wattage).

I've been delaying for too long, so it's time to splash out, I'm not looking for anything particularly OC friendly but if there's a guaranteed OC to be had with a certain combination of chip/memory & box, I'm for it.

I know I'm being vague but please do indulge me, this will primarily be used for games playing only.

Cheers in advance, Paul.

 

[darkgen]

Whoa... i'm going to stop you there.

Why?

A fair comment/question... A change/something new etc, the qpack is hardly what I'd call SFF, just wanted something a bit shinier but did the job equally/ better.

I suppose from a common sense and money perspective reusing the qpack with psu and gpu is the way to go. (Although it was to be reused elsewhere to be fair which was why I was going for a complere new box etc.)

To sharpen up the criteria, it will be running vista x64 and require 4gb of RAM, which was why I was after a recommended combo of RAM/box/processor etc. Money is hardly no object but I can stretch myself here.

Cheers, Paul.

 

[darkgen]

I appreciate that but unless i'm mistaken, a microATX system would overclock better than a Shuttle one, and cost less.

Well, trying my best to seem not internally shallow, I wanted a break away from the current box (qpack), re-arrange furniture etc.

I'm also not a big dabbler in OC anyways (mainly because through own admission I'm not mister patient), The last time I truly had fun with it was back in the celeron 300a days. But having said, trying to push it a little further is never a bad idea

Regarding upgradability, I'm a once a year kinda guy and generally with just the GPU (although I did change mobo as well when I upgraded from a 7900gt), when the 2 year mark hits, I tend to just start again. Wasteful I know ,but the kit is reused elsewhere.

Ball park figure wise, jeeez, I suppose I'll set the upper limit at a thousand. As I say, I'm looking at box/ram(at least 4gb)/cpu/hd and debating whether to bother with a DVD-Writer or even bluray since I've used an external for years.

Cheers, Paul.

 

[darkgen]

Hmmm ok, So I'm currently looking at the SX38P2 with a Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (One assumes the 38p2 can handle this).

My next question is what's the best RAM (I'm after a minimum of 4GB) and HD to compliment this (still in 2 minds whether to bother with a bluray drive).

Cheers in advance, Paul.

EDIT - any advice, especially with RAM type to compliment the cpu on that chipset greatly appreciated! I'm itching to buy!