Which Graphics Card To Get?

[Huugs]

Im still thinking of building a new system and this is the spec Im thinking of so far:
Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £134.99
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £187.99
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £139.99
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case £63.99
Hiper HPU-4K580-MK Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Black UV £54.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £106.99
Western Digital Raptor 36GB WD360ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM £66.99
Subtotal £755.93
VAT £132.29
Total £888.22

I also need a graphics card but I dont really want to go over £1000 really.

So my questions are;
1. Do I get a 7900, 7950 or 7950GX2? I know they will be all give better performance than the others but will it be worth the huge extra expense?

2. Would that be a powerful enough PSU?

3. Any other suggestions?

I tend to play games like Fear, Quake 4, Doom 3 and Half Life 2 so it needs to play these well and also be as future proof as possible. The system I have at the moment is an Athlon XP 2400+ 768MB Memory and a 6800GT on AGP so I want as big a performance leap as possible for that price. Its showing its age now and started struggling when I do a lot just in windows so its time to upgrade.

 

[Its_Me]

Dump the raptor m8, unless your goign to run a pair in raid they are not that much faster(very little in it) then the latest 7.5K drives.
that free's some money up for a GFX card right away.

Your budget now stretches to a X1900XT.
if you want a slightly quieter card, 7900GTO

PSU is ample, since your not going SLI

I would also consider dropping to the 6400, the 6600 does nothing realy to help you in gaming . Not a massive amount difference, but a little extra cash for GFX if you want to bump upto a XTX etc.
(btw I have a 6600, just think a 6400 would have been a betetr buy)

 

[Huugs]

OK cheers so if i get rid of the raptor I can get a BFG 7950 GT OC 512MB with the rest of that for just over the budget.

I heard the 6400 wasnt a true conroe so that was my thinking of going for the 6600.

Would that spec give me a nice big performance leap from my current system?

 

[BillytheImpaler]

E6400 is technically not a conroe core CPU. It's an Allendale core model. What's the difference? It's essentially nil.

EDIT: Even more technically they're not Allendales at all. They're Conroe CPUs with half pf their L2 cache disabled at the factory.

 

[.:dhry:. SiroVa]

E6400 is technically not a conroe core CPU. It's an Allendale core model. What's the difference? It's essentially nil.

EDIT: Even more technically they're not Allendales at all. They're Conroe CPUs with half pf their L2 cache disabled at the factory.

So when will that extra 2mb cache on the 6600 come into its own?

Direct X10?

 

[Darkwave]

Just get an E6300, they can go to at least 3.5Ghz unless you're a doofus like me.

I second the notion about dumping the Raptor by the way, get a WD Caviar 250GB for about £55 instead and spend the savings toward an X1900XT 512MB for £205 in clearance.

 

[Its_Me]

So when will that extra 2mb cache on the 6600 come into its own?

Direct X10?

Heavy office and encoding applications.
Even then its boost is a null point if u ask me.

I would still say the 6400 (over the 6300) if for nothing other then the extra multi.

Then u can save up to buy a 2nd gen DX10 card when price become more reasonable

 

[Huugs]

OK so i think ive got the spec almost sorted. I want a decent CPU Cooler and was just looking at the Vapochill Micro's. Does anyone know whether they are any good and would I need the socket 775 one for an E6600?

What sort of temps should I expect if i got one of those on a E6600 or E6400?

 

[.:dhry:. SiroVa]

OK so i think ive got the spec almost sorted. I want a decent CPU Cooler and was just looking at the Vapochill Micro's. Does anyone know whether they are any good and would I need the socket 775 one for an E6600?

What sort of temps should I expect if i got one of those on a E6600 or E6400?

Overclockers reccommended the Zalman CNPS9500 AT for my 6400.