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[BradVanDam]

So i have decided to return to PC Gaming so with that said my

AMD 1.4 ghz / 950 pro isnt cutting it

Heres what I got so far on my wish list

Case
Antec Sonata II Black ATX

Motherboard
eVGA nForce 680i SLI w/ DualDDR2 1200, 7.1 Audio, Dual GB Lan, 1394, Dual PCI-E x16 SLI

CPU
Intel Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 2.4GHz w/ 4MB Cache

CPU Cooling
Retail Boxed Fan

Memory
Corsair 2GB XMS2-5400 Twin2X Dual Channel DDR2 Kit (2 x 1GB)

Powersupply
TTGI 520 Watt - Taken from PC

Cooling Fans
1 front 120mm case fan
1 92mm fan in the air duct to cool the CPU
1 80mm fan for graphics cards

Hard Drive
Seagate 320GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA II w/ NCQ, 16MB Cache

DVDRW waiting on Bluray or HD - DVD Price Drop
LiteOn LH-20A1S 20x20 DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive, SATA (Retail)

Video Card
eVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out

Video Capture Card
ATI TV Wonder 650 HDTV / Analog TV Tuner, PCI

Monitor
Samsung SyncMaster 931BW 19in Widescreen LCD w/ DVI, 2ms, 2000:1, Glossy Black

Soundcards
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer, Retail

Speakers
Have a good set of Klipsch 4.1

Ethernet
Onboard

Mouse & Keyboard
Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 3.0 Comfort Edition (Retail)

Software
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate x86 (32-bit) DVD, OEM, 1-Pack
Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Retail
Windows Live OneCare 1.5
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI

So thats about it pretty much any improvments i can make or any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[UncleScr00ge]

Maybe save a few bucks and pick up the 320MB version of the 8800. Other than that, looks good!

 

[BradVanDam]

i changed my memory selection to corsair

 

[VALIS]

Another GB or two of RAM and a 10,000 RPM drive would go a long way to making your machine that much faster.

I just got my new PC in today (watercooled quad core qx6800 o/c'd to 3.6ghz ) and I'm lovin' it. Vista is quite nice looking, too.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Looks strinkingly similar to my machine, which I am extremely pleased with. Stick with the 640MB-they have dropped enough in price that the performance boost is worth it, and maybe consider a better CPU cooler if you plan to overclock beyond the modest amounts that a E6600 already allows.

I wouldn't change anything else-more RAM might force you into Vista 64-bit driver shitsville, and a 10K RPM drive would be a boost but I'd rather have a larger base drive for storage if you are going to make any changes with your drives. Save the rest of the money to buy some games.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Looks like a fine setup. Personally I would go with an intel chipset for the motherboard due to iffy driver problems I had with the nforce4 motherboard (harddrive and NIC drivers in particular). Also I dunno if it's worth getting an x-fi, unless games for vista start using OpenAL (as there is no hardware mixing in vista under directsound).

 

[saelz8]

Welcome back to PC gaming, enjoy your stay.

 

[krzy123]

typo?

did you mean:
Corsair 2GB XMS2-6400 Twin2X Dual Channel DDR2 Kit (2 x 1GB)

I have a similar pc, thats the ram i used (same mobo, cpu).

I also went w/ an Arctic Cooling Pro 7 for my CPU (good bang for the buck) its around $30 shipped. The Intel stock cpu cooler is adequate though.

 

[Mrbob]

I'm a big fan of Lian Li computer cases, with their thumb screws and roll out mobo tray. Solid sturdy designs that feel and look great. I have one with my current setup, and plan on getting a new one for my upcoming PC build. You might want to check this out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112040

 

[Pimpbaa]

The Intel stock cpu cooler is adequate though.

I was amazed at how cheap stock cpu cooler looked and felt, but yeah it's definitely adequate. The CPU stays pretty damn cool and the fan is far from running full out (at stock speeds). I guess it's due to the core 2 duo being a cool chip. Getting a better cooler is totally unnecessary unless you plan to overclock.

 

[Pokeylongo]

I read that as "Underwear returns to PC gaming."

 

[Mrbob]

Will the stock fan be cool if you want to OC to 3.0ghz? I doubt i'll push much higher.

 

[krzy123]

Will the stock fan be cool if you want to OC to 3.0ghz? I doubt i'll push much higher.

Yes it will ... may be. I had mine OC'ed to 3.0 GHz on the stock cooler and it was fine, but this was when my ambient temps in my house were much lower. I since had to replace the MB (eVGA RMA ftw?) and haven't OC'ed on the new board yet. But you should be ok. You really can't mess anything up unless you overvolt your cpu (you shouldn't even get close to doing that at 3.0 GHz w/ a E6600).

 

[Mrbob]

I've been looking at some cases, and if you want to keep things cool this Antec Case looks great:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

 

[MickeyKnox]

If you are looking for a case then I suggest this one:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._Kandalf_Full_Tower_Case_Black_VA9000BWS.html

It's the one I settled on for building my new rig.