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I would like to order the following components in a few days. This computer will be a toy. I have other computers to do the family business, internet, email, and such. The machine will mostly play games. I will overclock (a little) for performance (not bragging rights).

+ ANTEC Solo Computer Case – Retail
+ ANTEC True Power Trio TP3-650 650W Power Supply - Retail
+ ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi Motherboard – Retail
+ INTEL Core 2 Duo E6600 Processor Model BX80557E6600 – Retail
+ THERMALRIGHT SI-128 Heatpipe Heatsink W/ Panaflo M1A (Medium speed) 120 mm Fan - Retail
+ G.SKILL 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Memory - Retail
+ SAPPHIRE 100150SR Radeon X1900XTX 512MB Video Card Retail
+ WESTERN DIGITAL Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB Hard Drive - OEM
+ NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM
+ CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Sound Card - OEM
+ Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
+ Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

I am new at the PC enthusiast game and I have some questions.

Is the motherboard a good choice? (I think SLI and CF are a waste of $$.) But I may consider a 7950 dual gpu (like) video card in the future (I hope the x1900XTX will keep me happy for couple of years) . The Nforce 590 intel chipset seems to be a dog and future drivers for the ATI RD600 chipset could be scary.

Will the DDR2 800 give me that much more performance (over DDR2 667) for the money? I was thinking 10%-15%: if I OC'ed the fsb=400 for 1:1 for the memory and use 7 or 8 multipliers for the CPU (2.8ghz or 3.2 ghz) (I think the P5B unlocks the lower multipliers.)

Any critiques and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance,

dj

Since you are a gamer I would reccomend if you could wait a while for DX10 cards to come out, if you can't wait everything seems pretty solid.

Thermalright Ultra-120 will beat the SI-128. I will have an Ultra-120, oh yes, I will.

Also, I would not suggest the XTX. The top-o-the-line is over rated. The price/performance is not appealing. Just get the x1900xt if you must as it is very close to the same performance. Or drop down to the mid-range with a 7900GT or GS and wait for DX10.

flip-mode wrote:

Thermalright Ultra-120 will beat the SI-128.....

I liked the SI-128 because it offered some cooling directed at the motherboard, MOSFET, and NB chipset.

flip-mode wrote:

Also, I would not suggest the XTX. The top-o-the-line is over rated. The price/performance is not appealing. Just get the x1900xt if you must as it is very close to the same performance. Or drop down to the mid-range with a 7900GT or GS and wait for DX10.

There is a rebate offer on this x1900xtx, which brings it's price down close to/below the x1900xt. If price is not a factor would the xtx (vs xt) be a better choice?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102689

No rebate even required, if thats not a good price for a top of the line card I don't know what it.

Ohhhh .. I bet hardmoding the voltage regulators would let you OC that thing like crazy. I was about to buy a 7900 GT Reload to replace my aging 7800GT but this seems FAR better. Although I did soft and hardmod my VR on my 7800 and I got MUCH better performance out of it .... wonder if this would be better stock than my VMed 7800 ........?

It says crossfire ready ... does that mean this thing is a crossfire master card? If it is than this is THE card to buy. Two of these should spice up my new Core 2 rig.

PS. I would definately ditch the Audigy and get an X-Fi Extreme Music. Sure you don't get the breakout 5.25" controller, but you do get better sound. You could always pony up the extra 80 bucks for the X-Fi Platinum if you really have to have it, or you can buy it seperately but it costs the same as the jump for E.M. to Platinum.

Your rig choices look pretty solid for how you want to use it.
The New Egg link to the (much) cheaper X1900XTX would be a good idea to get and as another poster suggested...use the extra savings to get an XFi sound card.
The Audigy2 ZS(like I have ) is a good card but having listened to games on my friend's XFi Id say its worth getting.
I wouldn't worry about getting a DX10 compatible card as they wont be out for a fair while and neither will the games that can employ its increased graphics functionality.
You wont notice much performance increase(except perhaps in benchmarks)using the DDR2800 RAM howevewr if you can afford it...why not!
Enjoy the build and please post a few benchies when you've finished it.