Zoopy

All motherboards should have onboard LAN and they should suffice for most users. I use my onboard LAN port with no problems. The 8800GTX is a very large card. it takes up two slots and is almost a foot long (it only takes one PCI-e slot to plug into, but it's height takes up the slot below it for the heat sink fan, I think it is about 11" long though). The GTS is slightly shorter and takes one less plug (GTX uses two PCIe power plugs).

I'm not really sure what "improvments" you are talking about with your RAM.... but the 680i can run that RAM fine.



All motherboards should have IDE ports on them. SATA is just a new smaller "L" shapped plug that is capable of having transfer rates of 1.5Gbits/s or 3Gbits/s (SATA 1 = 1.5, SATA 2 = 3. Newer motherboards should support SATA2).

=Sarc=

The speed of the HD and DVD drives will be affected if both are being used at the same time (ie. burning a DVD, installing apps from DVD). It's not going to be huge. It's just a guideline to keep them on separate channels if possible. I have my DVD burner and primary HD on the same IDE channel but it's not like my computer crawls when I try to install a game. You can definitely do this if you don't want to spend extra cash on a SATA drive.

For SLI, you need the same type of card. So if you buy a 8800 GTS 320MB, a second 8800 GTS 320MB (any brand) is required for SLI. I don't think it's worth getting a SLI board for a future upgrade. It'll be more cost effective to sell your old card and buy a single more powerful card when you want to upgrade. SLI is expensive and only worth it when getting top-of-the-line graphics cards (ie. 2x 8800 GTX currently). Although, nVidia and ATI are working on using a second graphics card for physics processing instead of SLI.

__________________
JO Guides & Tutorials
Team Element - It's who you game with.

Cappy

and for the 3rd quarter this year(cant wait) they are going to put the E6600 quad core out for about the same price i payed for my E6600 dual core....

ill find the artical and post it.

oh ya the E6600 is a good choice,, i have it and i love it....

__________________

|TG-6th| Cappy

War.mongeR1

That was a sweet card! It's about the only card from its day that can STILL hang with modern games. It can play Doom3 and BF2 without a hitch and at nice resolutions too. Like you said, just not maxxed out though. Still a fantastic card. You should hang onto that old rig to have around for a second gaming computer so people can come over and game over LAN with you.

__________________
"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

Zid

SLI is not the future it's a gimmick.

__________________

RedTalon

I am liking both the MSI board and the Giga

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128012

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130082

Only difference I can tell in the boards is the bridge chipsets, is there a big difference between the two?

After thinking about it, dunno if I would really go for the SLI...kinda building this comp to last a few years. So do not see myself using SLI. Which makes me learn towards the giga. But the MSI board has two IDE slots which means I would not have to stick both my drives on the same channel. Of course unless I just go for a SATA drive.

Zid if I throw a GTX in the Giga board you think it will have any problems with space, overheating? I know it will cover the PCI-e x1 slots below it...but I do not really care about those.

Thanks so much for answering thee questions...it is soooo helpful

Zid

I have a GTS and it fit's perfectly and there's plenty of room for a GTX just make sure your CASE is roomy.

Also there is a PCI x1 slot above the PCi x16 slot but honostly i'm unaware of any accessories that even take advantage of the slot.

Overheating all depends on your case if you have a good case with several case fans then overheating won't be a problem.

__________________

RedTalon

Well from the back wall of the case to the wall that begins the Hard drive bay is 11.5 inches. So that is my limit, unless the card can fit into the HD bay a fit. As far as overheating,only time I have had a problem is when my CPU gets to hot, and the mobo automactically shuts off. But this is entirely due to the layer of dust that built up between the heat sink and the cpu fan.

Other then that is has 2 front fans , and 1 rear fan. Plus what ever the PSU does. It is a cooler master ATCS
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1386

Older case but I found some pics of it. Mine is just like that, except the side panel is the same silver finish and the window is a greenish tint, that basically looks like glass.

Black_V!per

When it comes to mother boards this is the one to beat:
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131153

SLI at 2x X16 for under $200. Same spec's as 680i board, just tittled at 650i. Plus it looks like it'll support the new 1333MHz FSB for the new intel chips down the road.

__________________

=Sarc=

If you want exact lengths for the GTS and GTX, I think the GTS is 9" and the GTX is 11".

__________________
JO Guides & Tutorials
Team Element - It's who you game with.

RedTalon

11" that should just squeeze in then. Cool thanks

RedTalon

Ok here is the final build I came up with, throwing a CPU fan in there because I plan to overclock moderately, maybe more in the future. Not sure if the fan is nessary. But I do not want to put the thermal paste on there with a stock fan, then find out it is not enough and have to put anohter fan on there and break the thermal paste's connection, especially after it has cured.


CPU:
Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz


Graphics Card:
EVGA 8800GTX 768mb

Went for the big one

RAM:

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB 6400C4


Mobo:
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3

Still not sure about this one, but if I spend any more time looking at mobo reviews I am going to go crazy

Sound Card:
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz

HD:
Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB SATA 3.0Gb

Really did not feel like running a IDE ribbon up to the DVD drive then back down to a HD. So just going for the SATA leep, gives me more space anyways.

PSU:
OCZ GameXStream ATX12V 700W Power Supply

A little pricey, but a 650W which I think my minimum should be, costs like 10 bucks less. So might as well have the extra power.

CPU cooler:
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm

Dunno if I need this or not, was looking at the zalman but the look of this one better, and they seem to function about the same. Combing it with Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

So ya it is totally over what I was planning on spending, but I suppose that is always the case. Anyone come across a good overclokcing guide for the GA-965P DS3 rev 3.3?

Zid

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/...-guide-part-1/'

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=6&t=10706 here is the easy one i used for my e6400

__________________

RedTalon

Thanks again zig...are you running a stock cooler on your CPU? Or an upgraded one?

Zid

Stock.

__________________