Planning A New PC

[WITHTEETH]

I'm planning on building a new PC in a few months and I have a few Questions for anyone who might know. I want to buy components that will not bottleneck my PC in the future. I want to get all the new standards. I have built my previous computers and feel comfertable upgrading and even overclocking.

 

First off, what I am thinking about getting is:

Core 2 Duo - or quad if their avaliable and functional as a Gaming PC CPU This seems to be a no brainer at the moment.

 

The Motherboard is typically my biggest bottleneck and concern so money is generally not an issue when I but one. I want the best gaming motherboard out there, i tend to like ASUS motherboards the most. The 975X family ASUS offers looks to be a nice buy, but are new motherboards coming out in the next few months? What do you guys think the best gaming motherbaord for the Core 2 Duo is or will be?

 

The only things Ill probably keep from my old PC are my SATA harddrives, DVD drive, PCI Audigy2 ZS soundscard and case.

Edited October 8, 2006 by WITHTEETH

[angshuman]

I think it would be interesting to see Nvidia's offerings for Core 2.

[Fionavar]

Withteeth - I am assuming you are looking at a desktop solution?

[Ummi]

I recently built a new computer. I have a C2D E6600 on an ASUS P5B. It's not too expensive, but is very powerful. I don't have plans to use Crossfire in the near future so i didn't see the need for a 975x chipset motherboard.

 

Graphics wise i went with RADEON x1950XTX, the most powerful ATI offering out at the moment. I value low noise and this card has pretty quiet cooling when in idle mode. 7950GX2 offers little extra performance at 1280x1024 in most games and is louder. It also drains more power which in turn causes my PSU cooling to be louder, so i decided not to shell out extra cash for that.

Edited October 8, 2006 by Ummi

[mkreku]

I have the exact same setup as Ummi on my way (it still hasn't arrived), except that I opted for the ABIT AW9D-MAX (Intel 975X based) motherboard, so I can buy another Radeon X1950XTX if need be.

 

After my experiences with the Geforce 7800 GS that I have right now, I'm going to try to steer clear of Nvidia for a while.

[WITHTEETH]

Withteeth - I am assuming you are looking at a desktop solution?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeppers!

The Intel chipsets seem to run apps like a champ but when it comes to games its so-so. What are the nvidia chipset names, and which is the top of the line? Thanks in advance! :D

[metadigital]

Tom's Hardware

Best GPUs in October, by price

Cor 2 Du Quadro versus Core 2 Duo

mobo stuff

 

I'm just dragging my heals through the latest Custom PC issue, which details the best DDR2 RAM.