[Ncc Speed]

hey guys im bout to start buying for the first build. just wanted to know if this combo would really be good and save me some money. http://www.compusa.com/applications/...833&CatId=1599
motherboard- XFX nForce 680i LT SLI Motherboard
processor - Intel C2Q Q6600 2.40GHz OEM
memory- OCZ Vista Upgrade Edition 4096MB PC6400 DDR2
would this be a good buy? this is basically what i was gonna buy anyway. except i was going between this board and this one - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128048

[Carbon]

Uh, you post a thread asking for build help a little while ago and then you look at those? The combo screams "too much money, too little sense".

SLI motherboard is going to be near-useless at the moment, compared to the much better P35 single-slot. 680i is getting old and SLI is not worth it unless you have bucketloads of cash as single cards are running most games fine. With the one I listed, you'll be able to run DDR3 when it comes down in price, which will help you much more.

That quad is going to be exactly the same. 65nm Kentsfield, overclocks and little else. Doesn't hold a candle to the 8x00 or the 45nm quads. Alex has a much more positive view of quads but I think both of us would agree that that die is done. E8400 is your best bet here.

4GB is also going to round out the trifecta of uselessness. Benchmarks have shown that even in the best case scenario (x64, etc), when you double the registers, you increase app size, which increases your memory usage. Unless you plan to go up to 8GB (and survive all the massive headaches that come with x64), it's not worth it. 2GB is the sweet spot.

EDIT: Oh wow, "Vista Upgrade" edition. I love that. Hop on the PEBCAK incompatibility bandwagon, OCZ!

[alex]

Carbon's correct in his post. Bang-for-buck the E8400 is quite simply the best cpu on the market. Performance per watt isn't lacking either considering Wolfdale's 45nm architecture. And that's just at stock. If you're oc'ing 4.3ghz isn't unheard of, on air. I've mine at 3.6ghz using 1.15v volt and it's running a peak of 33c, which is basically nothing.

Quad's and dual's are apple's and orange's; It's depends on your usage. For gaming go dual, for encoding/rendering go quad. This at stock speeds if you're not overclocking.

Games, as yet, barely make (good) use of a quad. It's a different story for apps used for encoding etc.

But the Q6600 is stuck at the moment in no-man's land (if not oc'ing). The new 45nm dual core's from Intel are quite simply superb and cheap for the performance (until you get to the E8500 which is a waste of money).

The new Q9*** 45nm series of Intel quad cpu's aren't good value for money yet.

But the Q6600 does shine if you're an oc'er. The G0 revision of stepping model is an absolute beast when oc'd. 3.6ghz on air is less than rare and as mhz still rule in gaming it's also an awesome gaming chip when oc'd. Plus you're still left with a quad should you need to do some encoding work. On that basis (and considering it's price) it's still one of the best cpu's on the market today and quite possibly one of the best cpu's ever.

Yup, don't go for 680i; it's optimised for dual cards and latency's run high in that chipset. P35 is the way to go due to it's cool running, low latency's and overclocking potential. It's the new version of P965 which was quite simply the best stock, and oc'ing, chipset i've come across.

The 4gb is overkill but it all depends on memory mapping and i/o requirements so it's build dependent. I wouldn't bother but as DDR2 is very cheap nowadays it's a case of no-harm, no-foul.

[Ncc Speed]

ok thanks guys. i figured i would ask about it before buying. but now i know even more lol. so ill stick with that other board you sent carbon. so i will start ordering and i will be sure to ask if i have any questions and i will be sure to do a post when i get parts and get it build and let you know how it all turned out. thnx again to all who helped me i couldnt of done it without the help of the ppl in these forums.