[mbonwick]

I am thinking of a new build, but I really can't decide on a motherboard or CPU. In fact, this thinking has made me realise the limitations of my knowledge!

I would post a list of possible candidates, but I have no particular ones in mind at teh moment

[alex]

Well the starting point is to ask you budget and usage (gaming etc) ?

[mbonwick]

Quite frankly, budget is irrelevent to me, but preferably within reason (<£2000), less than £1000 would be fantastic.

The PC will mainly be used for gaming, HDD space is important as it will house at least 2 games that take up 20 -40GB each.

[alex]

Okey doke.

Have you already got a screen? If so, whats the resolution as this will have a bearing. If you don't have a screen, what size are you considering?

Are you wanting the whole build spec'd are just the mobo and cpu?

[mbonwick]

No, I don't have a screen, I thnik I'll design that around the machine rather than the other way round.

For now, thank you, I would prefer to have suggestion for the mobo and CPU and I will think about the other bits later.


Thank you for all your help,

[alex]

Okay, for a gaming mobo/cpu. And considering your budget.

I'd be looking at this. New X38 chipset, but the Maximus variety. Cheaper than the P5E-3 Deluxe which is primarily aimed at overclockers. If you are an oc'er then go for the latter board. Also because it supports DDR3.

For the cpu I'd be looking at the E6850 regardless of motherboard selection. As it's the best bang-for-buck dual-core cpu on the market at the minute at stock speeds and isn't a bad oc'er. Again though, if you are an oc'er, I'd be going for the E6750 as it'll oc to the same level as the 6850 but doesn't cost as much.

If wanting a quad cpu, then it's still Intel (obviously) but you can pay silly money for anything over the Q6600. But that is still a marvellous chip.

If you're wanting a dual card optimised setup then you'll be wanting Nvidia (as AMD's cards, at the mo, just aren't worth considering).

For SLi there simply is no better board than this.

[mbonwick]

What brand of RAM do you recommend I use (It's DDR2 btw)

[alex]

My personal favourite is A-Data.

But a close second comes Corsair.

[mbonwick]

Here's what I've got so far:
Asus Striker Exteme NF680i SLI
Intel E6850
Innovision 8800 Ultra 768MB GDDR3 384bit Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card
ST3500630AS Seagate500GB HDD
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 667MHz/PC2-5400 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5 Lifetime Warranty

[mbonwick]

Oh, one thing I forgot to add above, which case and PSU do you think I should get?

Thanks,

[alex]

Firstly, bin the 667mhz ram. In a system like that you want the bandwidth. Go for Corsair XMS2 pc6400 CL5.

For a case, low-cost would be the Jeantech Phong 2. Mid-range would be the Antec 900. High-end would be Temjin TJ-09 or Lian Li V2100.

Psu; Enermax Galaxy 850w (should you go dual-card in the future). If you have no intention of going dual card then the Enermax Infiniti 720w will do very nicely.

[mbonwick]

Is this the RAM that you mean?

THanks,