[memyselfand1]

I hate to make my first post a completely open ended ‘what should I get’ thread but I’m not positive if I can do anything BUT that. My last computer’s specs are roughly as follows, so you know what I’m working on now:

Intel Bonanza D875PBZ Motherboard
3 GB Low Latency 400 MHz DDR Ram
Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz with Hyper threading
128 MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro All In Wonder
3 Hard Drives totaling ~700 GB
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz

I built this thing what seems like forever ago but was probably ~3 years ago. Now I’m ready to build another with the release of the Core 2 by Intel, I just don’t know what all to get. I’ve got the coin to spend a few thousand if needed, though I’m obviously looking for the most bang for my buck. I do a moderate amount of gaming, a ton of DVD creating and copying, and quite a bit of video/image editing.

I’m not sure just how far I should go, to what point am I going to see fairly diminished returns? For example, is there really that much difference between the Core 2 Extreme and the E6600?

Something I don’t have now is a dual monitor setup but I’d like to implement it this time around. In fact, the desire for that is what set me towards buying a new system. So, I was initially awed by the prospect of SLI but since it isn’t compatible with dual monitors- what else are my options?

I’m not crazy about running a RAID 0 config, as I’ve read the real speed increases are negligible on a home system, and I don’t want any decrease in reliability. So I’ll probably stick to a few large separate SATA disks.

I’m pretty much clueless about all the new cool toys out there, so any suggestions or leads would be great and really appreciated.

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There is a performance difference between the 6800 and 6600, but not enough to justify the price increase. Also, SLI is pretty much a flash in the pan with DX10 coming out. Companies have also begun incorporating 2 GPUs on one card (nvidia 7950) which don't require SLI compatible mobos.

Also, if you're looking for good writeups on hardware, check these sites out:

www.anandtech.com
www.hardocp.com

Edited by kidnova, 17 August 2006 - 06:53 AM.

[kidnova]

There is a performance difference between the 6800 and 6600, but not enough to justify the price increase. Also, SLI is pretty much a flash in the pan with DX10 coming out. Companies have also begun incorporating 2 GPUs on one card (nvidia 7950) which don't require SLI compatible mobos.

Also, if you're looking for good writeups on hardware, check these sites out:

www.anandtech.com
www.hardocp.com

Edited by kidnova, 17 August 2006 - 06:53 AM.

[memyselfand1]

What is DX10? I mean, I'm assuming... directx? Anyone have a link detailing what's coming out, when... and how it's different?

Thanks for the response, btw. I really appreciate it. Good links.

Edited by memyselfand1, 17 August 2006 - 02:47 PM.

[rumble291]

Direct X 10 is going to be used in Vista but it can only work in Vista. Because of the more graphical interface of Vista it will need quite a powerful graphics card to run it. DX10 is designed to take the strain away from the CPU aswell i read somewhere. The DX10 graphics cards are going to be alot more powerful than DX9 graphics cards but with a big price tag of course. There isnt an excact release date yet but its due soon.

[memyselfand1]

Will they be compatable with PCI-E and the current slew of motherboards? In other words, if I were to get a lesser Graphics Card right now... would I be in a position to be able to upgrade later?

[warriorscot]

Yes they will work in PCI-e, i dont get where you are seeing anything about the price tag i dont see where people are picking up on them being expensive certainly new cards are rarely cheap for a good one however they arent unusually highly priced.

DX10 is only compatible with windows Vista and future windows OSs however the cards will function on XP and other operating systems and im in no doubt other OSs will have DX10 functionality eventually.

[memyselfand1]

I appriciate all the help thus far. I'm looking at the E6600, does anyone have any suggestions on memory to match with it with overclocking in mind?