New PC build for comments

[House]

So I've decided to treat myself to a new PC after having my current one for a few years. Not that it's terrible - it still performs overclocked as well some I've seen that are newer (AMD 2500 oc'd to 3200, ATI 9700 pro oc'd to bits, etc etc). I've been saving for a bit, and now think I deserve something that will last another few years.

So here's my build so far - I'd appreciate any and all comments that may help me to make this better (or even cheaper).

Asus P5B Deluxe (WiFi)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Corsair TwinX 2gb XMS Dominator, DDR2 PC8500
Scythe Ninja-PLUS
2 x 250GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA2
XFX Geforce 8800GTS 640MB
Samsung 16x-18x SATA DVDRW
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer
Misumi Floppy + Card Reader
Seasonic 600w S12

Added with XP pro 64bit, that weighs in at £1,324. That's at the top end of the budget, so if there are ways to slim things down without harming performance, I'm all ears. If there's a way to significantly boost performance with a little cost increase, I might also be persuaded.

I'm looking to overclock this to get the most out of what I'm buying, so generally looking in that direction in terms of components.

Any thoughts?

[Firerat]

On my mobie so I can't link

but there are a few quad core boards about, they might be worth a look for future proofing

i have my E6600 OCed to 3.4 on air, i skimpt on mem tho twinx 6400 2x512 kit, wish i had gone 2x1024 8500+
still might :)

[House]

Quad board might be a good idea - but from what I've read software is still a way off from fully utilising a Quad chip, so it might be expense for nothing at the moment. Or is that rubbish?

[Firerat]

looking at the prices it might not be worth going that far just yet
if you do decide to go Quad later you can offer up your CPU and Board and get a Quad CPU/Board

as for Software support for Quad , tbh I'm not sure there is much that fully supports dual core, but I'm sure it will be along soon and I guess it wouldn't take much to impliment Quad core support as well

I use Linux , and some of the more CPU orientated apps have Muliti CPU support, e.g. Video encoding

Years ago I had an Abit VP6 dual PIII 550 ( OCed to 800 )
It was my first Dual CPU setup and I loved the fact that I could Compile stuff ( which could take a long time, depending on what I was compiling ) and watch a DVD at the same time, If I wasn't interested in watching a DVD I could set the 'jobs' with make -j 3 and take advantage of both CPUs

[Term]

i don't know if the Gskill HZ series perform better but i've heard they are great clockers and cheaper than the dominator range. Mac has them so maybe pm'ing may not go a miss or someone else with the same setup

[mac124]

mac had them on order but got messed about :evil: so cancelled them and got some CellShock instead which i have heard good things about :D . Time will tell as i should have them tomorrow / monday.


Oh btw the p5b dlx wifi is already quad core capable :wink:

[Biodoid]

is it worth going 64 bit xp pro?? are there still driver issues with some things or has all that been sorted

[Firerat]

[quote:7d94b8acc4=\"mac124\"]
Oh btw the p5b dlx wifi is already quad core capable :wink:[/quote:7d94b8acc4]

so it is, just had a look on Asus,

http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&model=1179&modelmenu=2


looks like the none wifi is as well

[House]

[quote:9debd97287=\"Biodoid\"]is it worth going 64 bit xp pro?? are there still driver issues with some things or has all that been sorted[/quote:9debd97287]

My understanding was that you need a 64bit OS to get the best out of the 6600. I was thinking of Vista, but the driver issues I've read about with that means I won't be upgrading for a while.

[quote:9debd97287=\"Mac124\"]got some CellShock instead[/quote:9debd97287]
Is this Corsair? If not, where can I find it. Probably being dumb and totally missing it. How's it working for you?

Great news about the P5B Dx being quad friendly too, although justifying any future spend might be a little difficult after making this one!

[mac124]

Got it fitted about 5 mins ago, i'll let you know how it goes, but so far so good ;)

[Barley]

God, I know too much stuff about PC's but this thread has even me confused! :?

[House]

[quote:b52526b1c5=\"Barley\"]God, I know too much stuff about PC's but this thread has even me confused! :?[/quote:b52526b1c5]

How so dude? And do you have any thoughts on my potential build? All gratefully received...