[sguffee]

Yep its that time again. With the Intel price cut coming later this month It's time for me to build a new rig. I'm definately going to go the core 2 duo route just not sure what the best bang for my buck will be after the price cuts. I'm needing some advice on components though. What do you guys recommend? I do plan on overclocking. This is going to be a gaming computer. My budget is going to be around 1200-1400. I will not be needing the following components. This is what I currently have.

1. Keyboard/mouse-Logitech G11 and MX 518
2. Soundcard-Soundblaster audigy 2 se
3. Speakers-Logitech z5300
4. Ram-G. Skill 2x1GB DDR2 800mhz
5. Monitor-Hanns G. 19" widescreen LCD

Thanks for the advice.

[mrfluffles]

What model G.Skill do you have? (in case you don't have good overclockers)

I recommend something like this:

E6600 (don't even consider any others) $300

8800GTX $550 (or GTS 640 if you want to save a couple hundred)

Gigabyte DS3 (good mobo for the $)/DFI Infinity P965-S (new but considered one of the best overclockers yet. Might be a little hard to find. OOS at Newegg) $120/$140

Seasonic 600W / Corsair 620W $150/$130

Seagate 7200.10 320GB, buy two and put them in RAID0 if you want faster speed

Tuniq Tower/Zalman 9700/Big Typhoon/Scythe Infinity or Ninja

Random $35 DVDRW

And for the case, depends on what you like. Some of my favorites are the 3D Aurora, any Lian-Li, Antec 900/P180 etc.

[sguffee]

I have the G. skill HKs so I know they are pretty good over clockers. I'm kind of wondering if the E6600 is really worth the extra money over say a E6300 with the awesome overclock ability that they possess? Thanks in advance for your responses.

[Nagasama]

or even an e6400.
why not consider the others?
uh, yeah...g skill hk's are REAL good overclockers.
if you do get a 6600, consider the 680i mobo. supposed to really kick a$$ with the 6600 and above c2d chips.

[sguffee]

Ok, so here is the list of components im thinking of. Let me know what you all think.
1. Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129021 $129.99

2. FSP Group (Fortron Source) FX600-GLN ATX12V, V2.2/EPS12V, V2.91, 600W RoHS Quad. SLi Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817104014 $124.99

3. Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822144701 $74.99

4. ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131045 $179.99

5. Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115005 $182.00

6. ZALMAN 9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835118019 $57.99

7. EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail $559.99

Subtotal: $1,299.94

Any changes or suggestions? Thanks for all the help.

[Sora]

Um wait a week and a half and get an E6420 I would say...they will be the best bang for your buck as an 8x multi is nice for 185 bucks it will be with 4mb cache.

Also the P5B-E is a better OC'r than the Deluxe actually.

[ThirdLeft152]

i agree with sora, the new c2d's, eg e6420, will be cheaper and better.

[sguffee]

Ok, I was planning on waiting for the price drop anyways so I'll go with a e6420 and change the board to a P5B-E. Any other changes you would make? Is that a decent power supply and what about the CPU cooler?

[Nagasama]

thats quite enough power supply.
cooler is the best air IMO.

[Sora]

get the Corsair and the Tuniq Tower as the Corsair is better than the FSP and not much more. The Zalman is good and looks good but its not nearly as good as the Tuniq Tower which costs less even.

If you want the pretty lights and the looks of the Zalman it's good enough but the TT 120 is still better.