KillDaddy

the P182 apparently lets you route all your cables behind the motherboard tray... I like that.

Also, I really want to get the E8400 CPU, but newegg seems to constantly be out of stock on it... gonna have to look around. It's still awhile before I build, but that's definitely the CPU I'd like.

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birdie_in_Texas

dude..get a quad core..the Q6600 is soooo overclockable! microcenter has them in store for $199..!!

now, if i had $199 i would go get one! hahahaha

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birdie_in_Texas

that is a nice system Sir! and you did not have any problems with anything there on 64-bit OS..?

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birdie_in_Texas

Fry's has the E8400 on sale with a good board for $300..!

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Long Bow

I'm itching to update my build right now but I'm still 6 month away. There are so many nice products for cheap compared to 3-5 years ago.

The most recent benchmarks I have seen show the 8500 dual core can OC to low 4GHz range It apparently will out shine the Q6600 in all games at that level (assuming the Q6600 is OC'd as well) However after using a Q6600 on my friends it was really nice to multi task like a madman

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SledgeHammer

Thanks guys so who wants to build this one for me? LOL I havn't even cracked the case on a machine to do more that install a LAN card in like 4 years. Thanks for all the help. I am really lost in all the specs any more. I use to try and keep up but I have been out of the loop for more than 4 years and well you guys can imagine how much it has changed since then.

Grieg

The memory running at 800 is fine. Its the capabilities of the motherboard to SLI and to have PCIE 2.0 which I was concerned about. Besides, the 1066 memory will be very accomodating for that system on overclocking, where voltage and frequency becomes much more of an issue with 800 speed ram.

You can spend 100 bucks more and get a motherboard which supports 1066 if you want, but I was concerned about his budget.

And again, the 182 is very very nice, but the price being a factor again... that specific p180 was the cheapest one I could find.

I'll post a single video card spec with upgraded parts in other categories too... but I think the SLI config would be the way to go. Most of these games are driven by the video card, not so much RAM. Heck, the CPU plays a key factor, but even at stock speeds the 6600 is jsut fine.

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Grieg

I'd build it for you, but I do have reservations... you don't know me in real life, and I'd not want the responsibility incase something goes wrong.

But, if you have questions, I'd be more than happy to spend the 1000+ rollover minutes I have on my cell walking you through setup and installation. Its really not hard.

The hard part is overclocking. Its a very long and time consuming process. Lap the heat sink, lap the processor. Adjusting the bios to overclock, like FSB frequency X Multiplier to get your processor speed, adjusting voltages to get the system stable, doing 12 hour break-ins with Prime95... doing all that again after tweaking RAM settings and voltages... doing it all again to see if you can squeeze out more performance with just a few more settings tweaks... etc.

I've spent about 180 hours on my overclock process, easy.

Oh, and my specs:

Intel Core2 duo 6750 @ 3.4Ghz, air cooled. P182 case. 2 8800GTs. 2 Gigs of RAM. 750W Corsair PSU. yadda yadda yadda.

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Doctor.

To sell overpriced hipster crap to mindless sheep

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|TG-Irr|Doctor

Doctor.

To sell overpriced hipster crap to mindless sheep

But ya a Mac can handle photo/video editing and 3d graphics design better at a commercial level then a pc I will argue that a pc can handle most audio production even at a professional level :P

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|TG-Irr|Doctor

Grieg

I remember in a Maximum PC article, they took the highest end Mac they could get their hands on, and put it against 3 other PC's.

The results, as put by the editor (and was solidly backed up by their benchmarks), was: "People who think MACs are better at audio and video editing are quite simply so full of crap they could double as septic tanks." Even mid-range PCs were out performing the MACs in every graphic suite, game, audio creation software, etc... benchmark they threw at it.

Now... OSX is nice and stable, I'll give them that. IMO, PC > Mac, simply based upon the sheer number of users, applications, and platforms PCs fill roles in. Macs are a niche computer.

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Size12point5

My new system is almost identical to Gunners. Same motherboard, same chip and graphics card. I don't have mine overclocked and it runs the game flawlessly with no noticeable framerate drops at all. I'm seeing a whole lot more on the game than I used to. What a difference. The detail on this game is amazing!

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KillDaddy

Here's the setup I'm looking at buying. Gonna keep my case, optical drives and Power Supply (they are all pretty brand new, 500W PSU with 22A on the +12v rail).

• XFX nForce 680i LT SLI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX Motherboard
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz Socket 775 OEM Processor
• Cooler Master X Dream 4 CPU Cooling Fan - Socket 775, Copper Core, Aluminum Fins
• OCZ Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 2048MB)
• EVGA GeForce 9600 GT Video Card - Superclocked, 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Video Card
• Western Digital Caviar SE16 400GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, SATA-300

TOTAL (Shipped): $719.42

Rebate Total: $40

Final Price: $679.42

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birdie_in_Texas

don't get that board...beware the xfx board..
get one of the 780i's, preferably the Abit...
other than that, that is the shizzle bedizzle nizzle!

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KillDaddy

well the board, cpu and ram all come in a package for $425, then it has a 25 dollar rebate.

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