Bro's build

[Kage]

Right, my brother wants to order his PC parts today, and I'm a bit stuck on a couple of things.

Motherboard:

First of all, the motherboard,

I've picked out the Asus P5NE32-E board, which is SLI complient, and supports the new 1333mhz chips for a later upgrade.

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(17737)Asus-Motherboard-P5N32E-SLI-NF680i-SLI-Intel.aspx

This seems better than the board I got, as mine doesn't support 2x graphic cards at full speed.

RAM:

Next, is the RAM.

Now, I got 800mhz PC6400 DDR 2 speed RAM, for mine, but would it be best getting some higher spec RAM (higher than 800mhz) for my brothers build?
Just wondering, since, I'm planning on getting a Tuniq Tower for it, so will hopefully be planning on overclocking a bit.

Other Parts:

I've already decided on a Q6600 G0, and a 8800GTX (OEM model, under £300. Should be fine ), and 2x 500gb drives in RAID 1.

Case:

I've decided on getting another Antec 900, but I'm really wondering for around the same price, is there a better case for cooling, etc.

All in all, this is going to be a better build than mine... tut tut

 

[ssc456]

looks like a nice build i wouldnt bother with anything faster than 800Mhz RAM just yet the prices dont justify the performance difference IMO

 

[Kage]

Thanks, but its a shame I won't be able to make use of it

Hmm... not even for overclocking?

I know at 3600MHZ, on the Q6600, 800mhz RAM runs at 1:1 effective to the FSB, but if I went higher than this (somehow), the RAM wouldn't run at 1:1 anymore, and overclocking the RAM would be neccessary.

The RAM I have you see seems to be really bad at overclocking past its default rate.

 

[ssc456]

yes again like i said you would see a little performance boost but for the extra cash i would say its not worth it.

quad running at 3600 i would say is fine.

 

[Kage]

Haha probably...

I'm going to order now.

That motherboard looks good to me, and the Antec 900, it'll have to be

 

[Kage]

Hmm, I'm still a little stuck. I thought I was decided but alas not

I'm in search of a very nice overclocking motherboard, that will last a long time.

An SLI board was what I was looking for, but I'm even wondering if getting one will be worth it.
DDR3 is coming along now, and there isn't many boards that support that yet.

By the time my brother wants another graphics card, will SLI be worth it, when it'll come a time where the 775 socket will dissapear, and the memory won't be able to be upgraded?

When it comes to the hammer, it may not be worth getting a board supporting these advanced features at all. Mine doesn't, and I'm happy with my 1x 8800GTS, but I was just thinking about the future.

I was thinking about the Asus board above, and the Abit IN9, yet mixed reviews on the IN9 have made me change my mind, since overclocking has been an issue.

What do you guys think? Is it really worth going for SLI now when we may not take use of it, before we have to upgrade the board yet again?

But, does this board look any good?:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(15922)Asus-Striker-Extreme-Quad-Core-motherboard.aspx

I've never gone with Asus before, as I've always gone with Abit, but a change may be good. As long as it overclocks well, I don't mind, and that supports SLI too.

 

[lhuser]

Asus P5KC! DDRIII and Crossfire ready. I don't know for SLI.
I had to return mine along with the CPU for money back, because I suspected the board caused stray voltages. Trust me, I regret the move...for upgradability. The AMD system I have is definatelly faster than my INtel build, but I'm aware that there won't be DDRIII and SLI in my rig...and I don't need SLI.

 

[Kage]

Is that out?

As for Crossfire, I heard it was possible to get SLI working on a Crossfire board?

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(15922)Asus-Striker-Extreme-Quad-Core-motherboard.aspx

Is that a good board?

Seeing as DDR3 is still expensive, I may still opt for DDR2 at the moment anyhow, as when we decide to upgrade, the motherboard would most likely be changed anyhow.

 

[Rubber314Chicken]

really, I would get some DDR2-900 becuase that gives you a faster baseline for not much more, and I'm sure you could overclock it more easily.

 

[Kage]

Decided on this, and its been ordered, so should get it tommorow
Ended up buying from 2 places as it was cheaper in the end, and 1 shop didn't have one item:

Antec Nine Hundred,
OCZ 600watt SLI PSU,
Asus Striker Extreme,
Q6600 G0
Tuniq Tower 120
Arctic Silver 5 silver
Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX
Crucial 2x1GB 800mhz PC2 6400,
2x 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166's

That sound okay?!
Sounds good to me

Order came to just under £1000, at £999.56 haha