Spec me CPU,RAM,Graphics combo for £450-£600

[DoBie_Smalls]

Hi there folks, i'm looking to upgrade my aging system. I wonna spend around £450-£600 no more. I'm planning to be doing gaming along with the odd bit of image editing and video editing. considering the dominance of Core 2's at the moment i don't know whether it's worth getting a lower end Core 2 (e6420) and spending more on Graphics and RAM or getting a High end CPU (e6700) and getting a lower end graphics card with a view to go SLi later. also i'm not sure whether getting 4GB of RAM is worth it, or whether i wont feel the difference in gaming.
I'll be running XP to start with, with a view to move to Vista when i need to (Crysis release).

 

[TheSwede]

If all you need is a Mobo, CPU, RAM and a Graphics Card I would suggest the following.. I would think this would be able to handle what you asked for..

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £127.99 (£150.39)
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard £81.99 (£96.34)
EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (640-P2-E821-AR) £219.99 (£258.49)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) £59.99 (£70.49)

Sub Total : £489.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £87.31

Total : £586.22

The above spec is presuming that you already have Case, HDD, etc etc.... [Your post is not 100% clear if you wanted a whole new system so only suggested what you asked for in the title.] There is not much point going for the E6700 since the difference is minimal in performance but rather large in cost. Also, everyone is saying that with just a tad bit of OverClocking on the E6600 and you will be doing the E6700 speed. [Not done any OC myself so can't vouch for it!]

The Mobo is future proof in such regards that it will support the upcoming 45nm platform when it comes available and it supports both DDR2 and DDR3. The RAM's I have been told is great for OC if you are into that [and so is the Mobo]. Only picked 2GB since you are still on XP, when you decide to upgrade to Vista it will be easy to just add another 2GB [but only if you upgrade to the 64 bit version, with 32 bit 2GB should still be fine]. I would have picked the LeadTeak GTS since thats £30 cheaper, but its out of stock and not sure if you are about to order this now or not so picked whats available. If you would wait until it comes in you could go for the LeadTeak GTS and then add a Noctua NH-U12F Heatsink if you are going to overclock. The total would then be £595.61 including Delivery.

Then again if you are after a whole new system the above spec is going out through the window in record speed!

If not.. I hope the above spec helps you along the way.. [but please wait for the more wise and experience users to give you their opinions also! ]

Cheers
Tom

 

[Dynix]

• Noctua NH-U12F (Socket LGA775/754/939/940/AM2) Heatsink - (£38.76)
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail - (£150.39)
• GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) - (£72.84)
• Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard - (£96.34)
• OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail - (£176.24)
  
  Sub Total: £454.95
  Shipping: £8.95
  VAT: £81.18
  Total: £545.08

Ordered that yesterday, and will be coming today

I'm not an overclocker (hence the GeIL ram), but it allows me to overclock if need be. Didn't see the point in paying an extra £50 for a pre-overclocked graphics card when that one does exactly the same clocks, so saved some cash there.

Won't be getting the above kit until later tonight due to me having an exam in a few hours, but I'll let you know how the above performs

 

[ChrisD.]

He said he maybe going SLI, so why a non sli board? Surely the P5N SLI 650 would be a better choice?

 

[Dynix]

He said he maybe going SLI, so why a non sli board? Surely the P5N SLI 650 would be a better choice?

Sorry, didn't see that.

The Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R does give some pretty awesome future proofing, supporting both DD2, DDR3, C2D CPUs and the new Penryn CPUs however

 

[ChrisD.]

Sorry, didn't see that.

The Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R does give some pretty awesome future proofing, supporting both DD2, DDR3, C2D CPUs and the new Penryn CPUs however

Indeed it does, though by the time all that comes out I reckon the board will be made to look old. I've always read that boards that support multiple things are never as good as one that is just designed for one. If you follow

 

[Dynix]

Indeed it does, though by the time all that comes out I reckon the board will be made to look old. I've always read that boards that support multiple things are never as good as one that is just designed for one. If you follow

Indeed, though there are some impressive reviews for the board. I guess we can only tell when we get some Penryns

 

[triggerthat]

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £68.99
(£81.06) £68.99
(£81.06)
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard £81.99
(£96.34) £81.99
(£96.34)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA804) Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA804) £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM £279.99
(£328.99) £279.99
(£328.99)
Sub Total : £492.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £87.83
Total : £589.74

 

[DoBie_Smalls]

Thanks guys, you were a big help. i shall prob be making a decision as soon as pay day is here!